Take Up Your Cross Daily

[0:00] Thank you, Jared. Go back with me to Luke, would you? And let's go to Luke chapter 9.

[0:12] Luke chapter 9. Jesus said, if you're going to follow me, you've got to take up your cross daily.

[0:24] Take up your cross daily. Folks, what that means is you've got to take up your cross daily.

[0:56] What's that? You can do that for the 5K? I don't think so. My goal is to not knock over this computer right now. That means it's going to be cumbersome sometimes and inconvenient and it might be painful.

[1:13] And you're going to wish you could set it down. Because it would be a whole lot easier to go through your day without it.

[1:26] Huh? I know I could set it down. And yeah, that's what the world says. Why are you carrying that around? Why don't you set it down?

[1:37] It would be a whole lot easier. So, Luke chapter 9. Let's look at it. Verse 57. As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go.

[1:52] How many people have said to Jesus, I'll follow you? How many of us have sung along, I'll follow Jesus. I'll follow him.

[2:04] Jesus replied, foxes have dens to live in. Birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head. He said to another person, come, follow me.

[2:17] And the man agreed. But then he said, Lord, first let me return home and bury my father. But Jesus told him, let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.

[2:31] Your duty is to go and preach about the kingdom of God. Another said, yes, Lord, I will follow you. But first let me say goodbye to my family.

[2:42] But Jesus told him, anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.

[2:54] My challenge, folks, is to take a one-way journey. Take a one-way journey. This thing is cumbersome, isn't it?

[3:09] It's annoying. I'm going to pick it up again later.

[3:33] I'm going to pick it up again later. I've done that a lot in my life.

[3:47] I've picked up my cross and then I've set it back now. Jesus said three things here.

[3:57] Do you understand the message he's sending to these people?

[4:22] Does it sound harsh? Does it sound cruel? Are you sure you want to follow Jesus? You sure he's the one you want to follow?

[4:36] Or would you rather follow man-made religion? Would you rather follow traditional church?

[4:46] Because I'll be honest with you. Traditional church is nicer. It's comfortable. It's nice.

[4:58] We get to have nice things. And it's pleasant. And we get to have a nice social club. And we get to, you know, have nice beautiful things.

[5:11] And we get to have a nice long tradition of doing things one way. And everybody gets to be comfortable. And we get to have a nice pleasant world that we live in for a long time.

[5:27] Everybody gets to know everybody. And everybody gets to be comfortable. And everybody gets to have a nice us four and no more way of doing things. And that's comfortable. And it's pleasant. And everybody knows what to expect.

[5:42] But when Jesus comes in and shakes things up, it gets uncomfortable. And then it's like, now slow down here.

[5:55] Jesus, what are you doing? This isn't about you. This is about what we have going on. And if we aren't careful, we find ourselves doing that.

[6:12] We find ourselves, the church of Jesus, telling him it's not about him. And he says, you're not my followers.

[6:26] And we talked about that last week. And instead, his challenge is, pick up your cross. You haven't picked up your cross in a long time.

[6:39] You've got to give something up. You haven't given something up in a long time. You haven't lain something down in a long time. You haven't sacrificed anything in a long time.

[6:51] You haven't put anything to death in a long time. The Jesus way is a way of death. You haven't died in a long time. The Jesus way is a way of death.

[7:05] You haven't died in a long time. The Jesus way is a one-way journey to death. Do you realize what the Emmaus Road was?

[7:21] They called it the Via Dolorosa. Do you realize what the journey to the cross was? It was a journey to death. It was a one-way journey to the cross.

[7:35] He wasn't getting out of that. It was a one-way, no looking back, the cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back.

[7:50] I'm going to die. And Jesus said, if you want to follow me, you must go and die. It was a one-way journey to death.

[8:03] Turn over five chapters, would you? Turn over five chapters to Luke chapter 14. Take a one-way journey with me. If you don't, it's okay.

[8:14] It's okay, guys. It's okay if you don't want to do it. Just don't call yourself a disciple yet. It's okay if you're not there on your journey.

[8:26] It's okay. Hey, Jesus is so patient with you. He's so kind. He's so patient with you. You're not there yet on your journey. Just don't try to say that you're a disciple yet if you're not ready to take a one-way journey to the cross.

[8:48] Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14 and verse 25. Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15.

[9:01] Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15. Jesus said, if you will be my disciple. After the fact, we get to read about these guys, and he calls them his disciples.

[9:15] but before then they were disciples in training now we can all be disciples in training right jesus is teaching them how to be his disciples so if you want to be this if you want to be a jesus follower this is how it has to look so luke chapter 14 let's skip down to verse 25 verse 25 a large crowd was following jesus this is the cost of being a disciple cannot be my disciple are y'all sure that you want to be jesus followers are you sure you want to be disciples of jesus if you don't it's okay a lot of people don't there's billions of people in this world a lot of them don't want to be jesus followers jesus says otherwise you can't be my disciples if you don't carry your own cross and follow me you can't be my disciple here we go again if you don't carry your own cross and follow me you cannot be my disciple verse 28 but don't begin until you do what count the cost so that's number two count the cost for who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it otherwise you might complete only the foundation before running out of money and then everyone would laugh at you they would say there's the person who started that building and couldn't afford to finish it or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10 000 could defeat the 20 000 soldiers marching against him and if he can't he will send a delegation to discuss the terms of peace while the enemy is still far away so you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own salt is good for seasoning but if it loses its flavor how do you make it salty again flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile it is thrown away anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand have you become flavorless salt have you become the king who goes to war without enough soldiers to get the job done have you become the building with only the foundation and not enough to finish the building do you understand what i'm saying have you become the christian who won't carry his cross have you become the christian who didn't count the cost of being the disciple this is a hard thing to think about but i think this is why jesus wanted us to stop and remember his sacrifice so often we do the lord's supper or communion four times a year why do you think jesus wanted us to do it so often so we wouldn't forget his sacrifice right why do you think he wanted us to remember his sacrifice because otherwise we just get caught up in life and we forget the dear cost of what it took to forgive us to buy us back from the jaws of death because we get wrapped up

[13:15] in what our kids are doing and we get wrapped up in what our next vacation is and we get wrapped up in how we're going to pay the next bill and we get wrapped up in just the cares and everyday life and we forget what jesus had to do and we forget what it cost and we forget the cost that he asks us to pay look if you don't want to pay the cost i understand most don't but i ask you to consider it forget what i ask jesus is asking you to consider it consider paying the cost he's asking you to be his disciple he's asking you to come following but he's telling you count the cost pick up the cross and carry it because it's worth it it's worth it but your priorities have to change the things that are important to you right now have to become less important and the things that are not as important to you right now have to become more important people getting saved have to become most important to you people getting baptized and lives being changed have to become most important to you what's important to god has to become most important to you if that changes then it all falls into place it all starts to make sense if that doesn't change then it won't ever make sense it'll all still steam out of order to you and you'll still be frustrated and you'll still be irritated and you'll still be mad and i won't be able to help you and nobody else will be able to help you i promise you last one romans chapter 8 you don't have to turn it there it's one verse i've got it on the screen for you if you live according to the flesh you're going to die but if you by the spirit put to death the deeds of the body you will live if you by the spirit put to death the deeds of the body you will live dietrich bonhoeffer had to have been referencing kind of that scripture verse when he said this quote when christ calls a man he bids him come and die jesus said if you follow me you got to pick up your cross what happened when jesus picked up his cross and walked that road he was carrying it to his death well he couldn't make it all the way could he somebody else had to come and carry his cross for the first time and now there was a man called simon and now every one of us is called to pick up our cross and carry it and now we're called to die daily not physically but spiritually every one of us is called to put ourselves and our desires and our flesh and our priorities and our motives and our wants and our needs to death and jesus said my way is better trust me you trusted me with salvation you trusted me to forgive you you trusted me to give you eternal life now trust me that my way

[17:16] is better and kill off you and let me live through you and if you're not willing to do that then you'll never taste my life because you'll never put yourself to death so the challenge is to die daily we've said it every week the jesus way is a way of transformation it's always a way of transformation but it always has to start with death first that's the little secret that's the uncomfortable part that's the hard part y'all carrying this thing around i'm glad it looked awkward i'm glad it looked uncomfortable because trust me it is that was not fun up here okay it was awkward and uncomfortable did it look awkward and uncomfortable it was and trust me in real life it is in church life it is in family life carrying your cross cross is in all your relationships carrying your cross is awkward difficult painful uncomfortable but it's worth it that's why he asks you to do it so our takeaway today and we're done following jesus means daily following him to the cross and dying to myself you gotta do it gotta follow him to that cross gotta pick it up follow him to that cross nail your flesh to that cross nail your priorities to that cross nail your lies your fear to that cross nail your worry to that cross. Nail your pain to that cross. Nail your cares to that cross. And then say, Jesus, replace it. I got nothing to carry now. Now give me your grace. Give me your hope. Give me your life. Give me your comfort. Give me your peace. Give me your kindness. Give me your joy. Give me all that you promise. That's what he fills you with.

[20:13] The fruit of the spirit. Now all the people in your life, brother, man, what happened to you? I picked up my cross. God did the rest. Let's pray together. God, right now, you're working on my heart. I pray that you're working on somebody else's too. You ask us to do difficult things and none more difficult than to pick up our cross and follow you.

[21:07] Every day you just bring things into our day that seem more than we can take on. But nothing is too hard for God. You said, is anything too hard for God? We know the answer is no.

[21:37] God, right? When you were facing your own cross, which is more than we'll ever have to face. You prayed to your father, let this cup pass from me and father, if it be your will, let this cup pass from me.

[21:56] But you knew that you were going to walk that road and you were going to lay down your life for us.

[22:09] And with everything that we have to give, we thank you for doing that.

[22:22] We would have no hope. We'd have no reason to gather. We'd have no reason to live without the forgiveness and the new life we have in you because of your salvation, because of your sacrifice.

[22:38] So as we remembered your death, your broken body and blood in the Lord's Supper today, we remember your sacrifice, we remember your cross, and we're challenged to take up our own.

[22:56] God, that means laying down some things. By your spirit, I pray that you would show us exactly what we need to lay down, what we need to put to death.

[23:17] Convict our hearts, God. If there is a spirit of discord, if there is a spirit of strife, if there is a unholy spirit, quench it, Lord.

[23:43] I pray that you would unite us together around your heart for the lost, around your mission. That is what would reign supreme.

[23:59] Let us be a people of love for you, for one another. Amen. Amen. Church, is there someone here in our house who would like to turn from their sins and turn to Jesus this morning?

[24:22] With our heads bowed and eyes closed, would you lift your hand and say, I'd like to do that? Thank you.

[24:35] With everyone's heads bowed, I'd just love for you to slip up here and sit on this front row, if that's you right now. If your hand's up, just come on up and sit on this front row and I'll come talk to you.

[24:55] Is there anybody else who would say, I just need prayer? Just slip your hand up and I'll pray for you. Thank you. I need prayer for something going on in my heart.

[25:07] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Lord, you know what's going on in their hearts.

[25:18] I just pray that you would touch them right now. You'd work in their situation. You'd work in their life. God, just move in our church, Lord. This is your church.

[25:31] You founded it. You'll see it through. You work, God. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.