Sunday, October 12, 2008
This is the sermon for today (12/10/08) :DMatthew 16:24-28
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
- Isaiah 55:8-9
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God’s ways are higher than our ways.
- Psalm 103:7
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
Acts 11:26
26and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Disciples = Christian
God wants us to be his disciples
What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?
1) Deny ourselves
-Relinquishing our Rights
Deny - disconnect
- lay down all the rights we have as a person
John 6:66
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
"Discipleship is receiving all our rights from the Lord and then giving it back to him, willingly."
"Discipleship is holding on to your treasured possessions lightly."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Matthew 16:25
25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Commitment is the KEY
Hesitant -> no decision
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Jim Elliot
2) Take up our cross
- Loving the Lord
Luke 9:23
23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Hebrews 12:2-3
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus' motivation -> Joy (hear God say that he is pleased with him)
3) Follow Jesus
Obeying his Orders
Matthew 21:28-31
The Parable of the Two Sons
28"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
29" 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30"Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go.
31"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered.
Matthew 16:27
27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
FINANCIAL CRISIS
Haggai 2:6-8
6 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 8 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty.
What will remain is what cannot be shaken
Hebrews 12:26-27
26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." 27The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Jeremiah 17:7-10
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 "I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve."
He who trust the Lord will bear fruits even in season of drought.
~RACHEL
loved by God;
- 7:41 PM