TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW JESUS

Key Verse: Matthew 16

The Bible is filled with words and many times it recorded actual spoken words.  It opens in Genesis with God saying something seven times.  God spoke creation into existence (Genesis 1:3-26) And God said, “Let there be …. These sayings are in quotations because God said them.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV

If we are to pull wisdom out of Gods word, we have to know what the words mean.

Matthew 16:24-27 ESV

 This passage lays out what it will look like for those that are called to be His followers.

Many believers and nonbelievers like Jesus, they see Him as a good teacher with wisdom but He is much more than that. Many people even subscribe to what Jesus did, they believe that he feed the poor, healed the sick they might even believe that He died for our sins , etc.  That is good and true. But how many people actually can say that they follow Jesus?  We, as Christians don’t just like Jesus, we love Jesus.  We believe and subscribe to everything written in the Bible, BUT are we following Him?  What does Jesus tell us to do if we wish to follow Him? Three Things: Deny yourself, Pick up your Cross, and Follow Him.

If we wish to follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves.

1. DENYING YOURSELF

Denying ourselves means Dy-ing to our wants of this world!   It is dying to ourselves so Christ can reign in and through us.

1. When we deny ourselves we no longer Live by our Own Rules 

John 14:23-24 ESV

Denying ourselves is keeping Jesus’s words: Humility, Servitude, Generosity, Slow to Anger, Compassion, Forgiveness. 

Q. Which of these virtues do you have trouble in keeping to and which come a bit easier for you and why (and don’t say humility LOL)?

B. When we deny ourselves we not longer Live for Ourselves 

Philippians 2:3-4 ESV

Salvation is free and requires no act on our part except surrender.  Once we surrender, we need to do something with this gift.  It is not about us.  Jesus came to be a servant of all and expects us to be servants as well.

Q. What are some ways you have counted others (other than your children) as more significant than yourself and how (ie doing better to or for someone else than they have done to or for you but not for selfish gain)?

C. When we deny ourselves we no longer Live for our Sexual desires

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 ESV

People get pulled out fo the church by girlfriends or boyfriends all the time. Peoples own sexual desires pull them out of church more often than most other things.  The world says to follow our hearts, but Jesus says denying ourselves means dying to our wants of this world! 

Q. In what ways have you followed your heart instead of God’s will where it brought you away from Him (or even away from the Church)?

10 Ways/Words to Become More Like Christ:

1. Unconditional Love

2. Prayerful Life

3. Forgiveness

4. Humility

5. Jesus studied The Word of God

6. Compassion

7. Seek First the Kingdom of God

8. Self-Control

9. Authority

10. Obedience

Leader: Discuss these ten things and talk about how to show Christ to others by doing these things in His name.

A true follower of Jesus gives up what they want for what He wants.

Next Jesus tells us to pick up our cross. This is a term that has permeated American Society.  We think it means to carry our own burdens, that family member, that health issue, the co-worker who is a pain, but that is not what it means.  The cross represents fulfilled prophecy.  The cross in Jesus’s day symbolized brutal and shameful death of a slave or criminal.  

To Christians, the cross represents the most incredible gift we have ever received.

2. PICKING UP YOUR CROSS

Picking up your cross means: Identifying ourselves with Christ and, yes,  suffering for Christ.  The world may put pressure on us to accept what they believe or we may suffer persecution. We, as Christians, need to be ready to follow Christ.  Jesus wants us to put to death our plans and desires that do not align with His.

1. Picking up your cross means Obedience to God

Philippians 2:8 ESV

We are to be willing not just to listen, but to act, hear, and obey God.  He loves us more than anyone every could.  Being obedient may sound harsh, but it is actually the best way to live.

B. Picking up your cross means Guarding your thoughts

Philippians 4:8 ESV

What we talk about, what we think about, and what words we use matter.  We come to church to get refreshed and renewed but once a week isn’t enough. We all need help in following Christ.

Q. In what ways has a particular thought (good or bad), or certain words spoken (good or bad) affected you or someone else in a memorable way (Something you may have had a hard time forgetting about , etc.)?

C. Picking up your cross means Becoming Christ-Like.

Colossians 3:12 ESV

Although we are to follow Christ as He command, by denying ourselves, and picking up our Cross, we don’t have to do it alone, in fact we can’t. We first need Him and The Holy Spirit to give us strength and we need help from others, thats why we are a community.

There is nothing worse than a half hearted Christian.  This is not works (to be better Christians) but rather than to have more identification with Christ.

Sermon in a sentence: Following Christ means learning to be more like Jesus and less like yourself, picking up your cross, being obedient and losing your life so that you can gain your soul.

Challenge: This week be intentional about finding ways to put others first to show the love of Jesus.