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Our culture is geared toward comfort. The way of Jesus is the way of the cross - self-denial, cross-bearing, and following. How exactly do we live that out? There's a big difference between serving the God of comfort and serving comfort as a god!
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:27-38 (NIV)
God's plans are always bigger, different, more dangerous, and better than we can imagine!
Free Church, 3 years old, 3 sharing words: Rebuild, renew, restore
The Mark of a Disciple - Maybe more appropriate "It's about to get a little uncomfortable"
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Whoever - invitation
Wants - desire & decision
MUST - obligation, not an option
Deny themselves
NOT self mortification, NOT self-restraint
Self-denial is simply a way of coming to understand that we do not have to have our own way. Our happiness is not dependent upon getting what we want. Richard J Foster - Celebration of Discipline
Take up their cross -
1st level Roman times - the condemned would have carry the cross to an execution site as the ultimate act of humiliation. Not a reduced metaphor, Jesus was being very literal - this may cost you your physical life.
2nd level - for I have been crucified with Christ (Gal 2). Putting to death of sin in your life. (Rom 6)
Follow me - not a set of beliefs, ideas, a way of life - formation - doing what Jesus did, becoming like him.
All framed against the idea that if you want to gain your life, you need to lose it!
The way to really live is to be prepared to get uncomfortable. This might cost you everything!
Our culture is 100% geared toward comfort - life on easy street.
Can we talk about your comfort?: Your will, your way, your timelines, your preferences…! Don't mess with that! You avoid pain and suffering wherever you can. Binge on things that will make you feel good. Convenience & instant gratification is important. You say things like "I deserve…"
Comfort culture produces picky Christians
“Comfort is the god of our generation, so suffering is seen as a problem to be solved and not a providence from God.” - Matt Chandler
What does the comfort god (idol) promise? Happiness, contentment, fulfillment. But it always over-promises and under-delivers.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
There's a big difference between the God of comfort and comfort as a god
The kingdom advances wherever comfort is set aside
Our world has a shortage of followers of Jesus who carry these marks. If we want to see the kingdom advance, we need more! So what should we do?
Well, you can't do it on your own! Peter tried by willpower and failed (when he denied Jesus just before he Jesus was crucified). Yet, later, restored and empowered by the Spirit, he became the disciple Jesus called him to be. If Jesus can use Peter, he can use you!
No matter what you have done, by grace, through the empowering of the Spirit, you can live in the way that Jesus invites you into - not by willpower, but by His Spirit.
LIFE GROUP GUIDE
Like last week, set aside time to break bread at the table. As we break bread; our dining tables become sacred spaces of celebration and remembrance of our hope in Jesus.
Additional questions to discuss
How do you cope when you don't get your way?
In what ways can you put into practice self-denial yourself and take up your cross?
Share an example of the Spirit empowering you to do something you could not do on your own.
Pray for each other to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18)
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