The Kingdom and the Cross: Moving Beyond Conversion to True Discipleship

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:05:03] Who's glad to be back in the house together this morning? Yeah it's good isn't it? Sometimes we take stuff for granted until it's taken away from us a little bit and then we realize how good is how good it really is to be with family. Amen?
[00:05:15] Alright well this morning we're gonna sing, we're gonna worship, we're gonna seek the face of the Lord. We're looking forward to hearing from Him this morning together to see what He has for us.
[00:05:30] Would you guys go ahead and stand and pray with me this morning? Lord we just take a second to acknowledge your presence in the room this morning.
[00:05:47] We know that you're moving.
[00:05:49] We know that you're working.
[00:05:52] Even sometimes when we can't see it in our lives, we know that you're at work.
[00:05:58] And just like we're in winter in the season right now, Father, we know that you are bringing spring.
[00:06:06] Soon it'll be warm.
[00:06:07] Soon we'll see what you're working on, and we can't wait.
[00:06:12] So this morning, I pray that we would see you high and lifted up, that we would get out of our own way, to be able to see you move, to be able to see you work,
[00:06:22] to trust you in a brand new way this morning, Lord, to see you in a new way,

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:06:28] we're grateful we love you in jesus name would you sing with us the person i was before i

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:22:31] encountered christ i don't walk like i used to i don't talk like i used to i was washed from the inside i was washed from the inside it's getting harder the person i was i don't walk like i used
[00:23:13] and I don't talk like I used to wash from the inside I was washed from the inside presence of God heart experience I get your work working you never stop you never stop working you never stop you never stop I don't see it you work
[00:28:27] when I don't feel it you're working you never stop you never stop working you

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:28:35] That is who He is.

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:30:55] If you have in your life at any point in time, I love that song.
[00:31:00] If you've experienced the way-making power of God when you're staring at a brick wall and somehow He makes a way around it.
[00:31:08] If you've experienced a miracle in your life, there is no denying that that is who He is.
[00:31:13] So we're gathered here today.
[00:31:15] God, we are so grateful that that is who you are, that we don't have to question that that is who you are because it is.
[00:31:22] God, you made a way for us to the Father and you won't stop now.
[00:31:27] Never stop on our behalf.
[00:31:29] God, you've done miracles in the past and you're not gonna stop now.
[00:31:33] And we can come in this morning and we can worship you for who you are, trusting full force, full sin, that that is who you are, that we can lean on you.
[00:31:42] And God, we're grateful for that part of your nature that we come here together and celebrate and praise. And so for all of that, God, we just say thank you. And we love you in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:31:55] Amen. I love that song. I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely love that song. It is such a good reminder to my soul. We are so glad that you guys are here. Really, really glad. And for
[00:32:07] all of you online. It's been a little bit. We've been absent from this building for a couple of weeks due to winter weather, but we're really grateful for joining online during those weeks and we're really happy to be back as a body in this building together. If you would like to
[00:32:23] connect with us, we have a couple ways. You can do so by using that QR code and filling out a digital Connect card. If you would like to have a physical copy, you can go to the welcome desk and they can
[00:32:35] get you one of those. We do have a couple of announcements this morning. So our first one is our next women's gathering. That should be on the screen behind me. Yes. So this one's going to be
[00:32:47] here at the church. It's going to be this coming Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. So please come out for a meal and meet some new people. This is always an awesome time. Because we are going to be providing
[00:32:59] a meal, please do register either using that QR code or you can visit the welcome desk.
[00:33:05] And I do apologize for my voice. I think I keep singing too hard to that song right before I come up here. So please do register because we want to make sure we have enough food for everyone who is
[00:33:17] coming out. Our next announcement is our business meeting. So this is February 15th. It's going to be 6 p.m. right here in the sanctuary. This is open to everyone. So if you would like to attend,
[00:33:28] we would love to have you. And then our third announcement is sons and daughters. So as you can see behind me, we have three different classes. They're all going to begin March 1st.
[00:33:39] And so these are fantastic classes. They cover our identity as believers, our authority as believers, and then our calling and purpose as believers. And so if you would like to plug into one of these
[00:33:52] classes, you start at one and then two and then three. It's all sequential. You can scan these QR codes to register. And again, if you need any help, you can go to the welcome desk and they will get
[00:34:04] you signed up. And then our last announcement today is if you're a parent with children in our new You Kids building, you saw the new flow. If you haven't been over there to see that yet and
[00:34:16] you'd like to, you can go by after the service and just take a little walk through. The team did a fantastic job. It looks amazing over there. If this is your first time with us and you're
[00:34:28] wondering a little bit of context, so we are building a new kids wing here behind this building but it's not done yet. So temporarily, we are housing our U kids down at this building at the end of this street. And you may have seen a really great little video that was
[00:34:44] shared this week. Caitlin did a great job with a little walkthrough. But while we're in this in-between season, our new space is over there. You're welcome to take a walkthrough this afternoon. And our new space is there, but you're welcome to bring your kids in here.
[00:34:59] If you would prefer to have your children with you, that is perfectly fine, and they're welcome in here with us. And we do know that due to that, it is kind of a long time for little
[00:35:09] babies and toddlers to stay content in here in a seat. So if your babies and toddlers are just not having it, a mind would reach what we call a time limit. When that time limit was up, they were
[00:35:20] going to go off like a kitchen timer and there was no stopping it. If you experienced that, we don't want you to feel like you have to just sit in the seat and try and keep them quiet. We know that's
[00:35:29] hard on moms. There is a nursing mom's room right back here in the back. It's that door right before the exit on this side. And you're welcome to go in there and take your babies and toddlers. There's
[00:35:40] a couch and the service is streamed in there. There's a TV. So you'll be able to watch along with us, but please do feel free to utilize that room, especially during this season when you
[00:35:49] normally had your babies in sprouts. If you'd like to keep them with you for now, that room is open to you if you'd like to use it. And then finally, we're going to pray over our offering
[00:35:59] today. I'm sorry, my voice is giving out. We do have four ways to give in person in the lovely drop box next to Ms. Heather in the back. We have on the app, you can mail it in or you can use
[00:36:12] the fancy QR code. I'd like to pray over our offering as well before we go to meet and greet.
[00:36:19] father thank you so much for what you do through this body through all of the the churches gathered around this county in this community god that your love is being shown to those who need to see that
[00:36:31] lord i thank you that we are just a body of generous givers lord you've taken these finances and you've done so much more than we could have imagined you've provided you've opened doors and lord the ministry that goes out of this building each and every week is always astounding so lord
[00:36:48] I thank you for that. Lord, I ask that you would bless all those who are giving today, that you would bless them as they give. That would be an encouragement to them. And Lord, we just thank you for our service today. We ask that you would just be that presence that we
[00:37:03] can't deny, that is just right beside us this morning and as we leave the building. We love you in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. With that, why don't you find somebody to say hello to?

[00:37:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:37:12] All right. Well, good morning, everybody. It is great to see everybody. And I say that every week, but it is really great this week because I actually get to see you all. We had a couple of weeks of being kind of snowed out. And so I know a lot of you joined in
[00:40:34] with those prerecorded services that we did, and I'm glad we got to do that. But nothing quite like being together in the same room, though. And I was jokingly saying earlier, I'm not sure if I, I don't know if I was ever going to see you guys again.
[00:40:47] We talked about having church and then it would snow again and it would ice again.
[00:40:51] So, but here we are and I'm glad to be here.
[00:40:54] Glad you guys all came back.
[00:40:55] Didn't know who'd come back.
[00:40:57] You know, you never know.
[00:40:58] So, but I do want to actually just mention those pre-recorded services.
[00:41:04] Those were largely due to Dustin and his expertise.
[00:41:07] So let's give him a big hand for that.
[00:41:09] And also those that joined on the worship team for those videos.
[00:41:14] If you did watch those with us, which a lot of you did, we had quite a few views on those.
[00:41:18] Glad you guys were able to join us for that.
[00:41:20] You saw me sitting in my living room, feet up.
[00:41:23] I was sitting in an easy chair.
[00:41:25] I could really get used to that.
[00:41:26] I tell you, that was great.
[00:41:28] I said, there's no building to have to keep up with, no power bill.
[00:41:31] We're to sit right here and do church this way.
[00:41:34] But it is not the same.
[00:41:35] So I'm glad all of you can make it back today.
[00:41:38] Hope you all stayed warm and safe during the storm.
[00:41:41] We're going to be in the 60s some this week.
[00:41:42] So I think what we still have left out there, yeah, there we go.
[00:41:46] Now we've got a celebration.
[00:41:48] I think everything will finally start to finally melt away.
[00:41:52] So that's really, really good.
[00:41:54] Although that groundhog, he saw his shadow, didn't he?
[00:41:57] So we'll see what happens these next six weeks.
[00:42:02] Also, I want to just acknowledge and thank everybody that helped us move all the U-Kids stuff.
[00:42:09] We had to do that during all the ice, by the way.
[00:42:11] We got that done.
[00:42:12] We had to shovel to the porch over here at the U Kids building, shovel to the porch of the new building, the door.
[00:42:18] But thankfully, we are all moved.
[00:42:21] And I would mention names, but I'm sure I'd forget somebody.
[00:42:24] But thank you to everybody who helped us move everything, those that helped set up the new building over there.
[00:42:29] And as you heard Molly say, we're getting construction is underway back here.
[00:42:33] Just behind this wall will be our new kids' wing.
[00:42:36] Now, construction always takes longer than you think it does.
[00:42:39] You wives are shaking your head.
[00:42:41] Yep, my husband just fixing that one screw takes a long, long time.
[00:42:46] So you can imagine how long it takes to build a kid's wing.
[00:42:49] But I'm hoping, though, sometime this spring we can have our grand opening back there.
[00:42:53] But thankfully, this building is going to serve us really well down the street there as long as we need to have it.
[00:42:59] So it's going to work out really well.
[00:43:00] But we'll get the kids back in here as soon as we can.
[00:43:03] But thank you again to all of you that helped us move and helped set up over there and clean up and all that.
[00:43:09] It was really a blessing.
[00:43:10] We've got it all done in spite of the weather, and here we are.
[00:43:15] So that being said, I'm going to jump into the message for this morning.
[00:43:18] Now, if you were here before all the weather set in, we've been in a series called Building the Kingdom.
[00:43:26] I want to pick up with that series today.
[00:43:29] I'm going to do a quick review since it's been a few weeks since we've been together.
[00:43:32] But the first message I did in this series was called The Kingdom and the Church.
[00:43:37] The second message was called The Kingdom and the World.
[00:43:41] And in this message, I'm going to title this one, The Kingdom and the Cross.
[00:43:46] We're going to talk today about the message of the cross, how the cross is the only entrance into the kingdom, is the cross of Jesus.
[00:43:55] But before I get to that, let me kind of review just for the sake of those that maybe weren't here or those that may have forgotten and has been a few weeks, but we talked about the fact that the church and the kingdom are not the same thing.
[00:44:08] Now, we are a part of the church.
[00:44:10] You know, we're here.
[00:44:10] We are a church.
[00:44:11] We're a congregation here.
[00:44:13] But the church is so much more than just this building or any one building.
[00:44:17] The church is the people.
[00:44:19] The people of God make up the church.
[00:44:22] But the kingdom, that is God's eternal kingdom under the lordship, under the kingship of His Son, Jesus.
[00:44:29] And so we are called to live in the kingdom, not just the church.
[00:44:33] We talked about how we're called to build the kingdom and not just build any one church brand.
[00:44:40] If our goal, if our programs, our outreaches, the things that we do, if they're just designed to get people to come into this building, we're really missing what God wants us to do.
[00:44:50] What God wants us to do is build His kingdom.
[00:44:53] We discussed together how the message that Jesus first began to preach, and He never changed it.
[00:44:58] But when He first stepped into His earthly ministry, His message was, repent, for the kingdom is at hand.
[00:45:06] And he said, go into all the world and make disciples because he's calling us into the kingdom.
[00:45:11] And the kingdom has a king.
[00:45:14] And you and I are not that king.
[00:45:17] You and I as his people, we have to bring our lives into submission to his lordship.
[00:45:22] That's what it means to live in the kingdom.
[00:45:25] We talked about that, how the kingdom differs from the church.
[00:45:28] We talked also about how the kingdom differs from the world.
[00:45:31] You look around this world, this world can be shaken.
[00:45:36] And it is in many ways shaking, but the kingdom can't be shaken.
[00:45:40] And if you and I are building our foundation in this temporary world, our foundation will shake.
[00:45:46] But if we're building in the kingdom, building on the foundation of Jesus in His kingdom, that foundation can never be shaken.
[00:45:54] Really, even right now, look around the church.
[00:45:56] The church is shaking in many ways.
[00:45:58] There are things shifting, things are changing.
[00:46:01] In many parts of the church, there are things coming to light that need to come to light.
[00:46:06] And movements are changing, that kind of thing.
[00:46:09] But the kingdom is eternal.
[00:46:11] The kingdom cannot be shaken.
[00:46:13] So if you and I build our foundation either in the world and on the world, or build our foundation on the church, those are temporary foundations.
[00:46:24] Building on the kingdom is eternal.
[00:46:27] And again, the kingdom cannot be shaken.
[00:46:29] This world and the things of the world, they are passing away.
[00:46:33] But it tells us, we read together in 1 John chapter 2, that he who does the will of God abides forever.
[00:46:40] And in the last message that we did a couple of weeks ago before the weather delayed our getting together, we talked about how earthly-mindedness, we have the option of being earthly-minded or being kingdom-minded.
[00:46:52] Earthly-mindedness started in Genesis at the beginning.
[00:46:56] Cain, we can see Cain, that first generation, after Adam. He was a tiller of the ground and he brought a sacrifice to God that was the best that he could produce in his own strength. But that, as we know, that never satisfies the Lord. The best
[00:47:12] that you and I can do will never produce the righteousness of Jesus, the righteousness of God.
[00:47:19] We talked about how it began there. That was in its infancy. That earthly mindedness was starting there. And then we fast-forwarded to the book of Revelation where we see one day a beast will come
[00:47:30] out of the earth. That thing is going to be mature. That thing is going to be grown to full maturity.
[00:47:37] And you and I, we are a generation. We have to get back to the message of the cross. We are a generation that cannot afford to compromise the true gospel of Jesus. And so I want to pick up
[00:47:49] right there today and begin talking about the kingdom and the cross. And as we talk, there's a distinction between the kingdom and the church, also the kingdom and this world. Now that being said, you and I right now, we live in the world. And Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would be in
[00:48:07] the world, but not of the world. And that's what's important for us to remember is there's that distinction between being the people of the world and being God's people. Now, what does it mean to
[00:48:19] be in the world. Obviously, we've got to have a job. We've got to earn money. We've got to have a house, somewhere to live, and food to eat. And so we're called not to be in some Christian
[00:48:28] compound somewhere. If we try to live in that, we probably find pretty quick we don't want to be there. So we're not called to be separated, but we are called to be separate. We're not called to do
[00:48:39] things the way the world does them. We're not called to behave the way the world behaves. And so we're called to be in the world, but not of the world. And sadly, we're going to discuss
[00:48:50] some this morning. You look around, it's getting harder and harder at times to tell who are the people of God and who are the people of the world. Because so much of the world has
[00:48:59] spilled over into, even the way we do church, but the world can never spill over into the kingdom. You and I are called to be in the kingdom. I want to start today, we're going
[00:49:11] to pick up right there, talking about the message of the cross, talking about the importance of you and I building our foundation on the unshakable kingdom of Jesus.
[00:49:22] I want to read together something in the book of Exodus.
[00:49:24] I'm going to share a number of scriptures today.
[00:49:27] These will all be on the screen behind me.
[00:49:29] I want to start in Exodus chapter 4.
[00:49:32] And I've read this many, many times.
[00:49:34] I was reading it again this week, and it jumped out at me in a way that it really had not before.
[00:49:39] The Lord kind of opened my eyes to see something I had never seen before in this passage.
[00:49:44] And this is something from the life of Moses.
[00:49:47] And I'm going to read something that happened in the life of Moses that is not one of the more common things that we think about.
[00:49:52] We think about Moses and his going to Egypt and the ten plagues and then him leading God's people out of Egyptian slavery through the wilderness into the promised land and all that happened there.
[00:50:03] But here's something that's only a couple of verses long.
[00:50:06] And if we're not careful, we could miss this.
[00:50:08] But there's something really important for us.
[00:50:11] And I believe that we as God's people in this generation, we are standing at a similar place as Moses was in these verses.
[00:50:20] I'm going to read these and explain to you what I mean as we go.
[00:50:24] Let me give a little bit of context of what's been going on with Moses and the Lord prior to these verses.
[00:50:31] What's been going on here is God has called Moses.
[00:50:33] We know that he had been for 40 years in the wilderness, the backside of the desert, literally.
[00:50:39] And God called him and said, I want you to go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let my people go.
[00:50:45] And you all know the story.
[00:50:46] Moses is like, God, you've got the wrong guy.
[00:50:48] I can't do that.
[00:50:49] I can't even talk very well.
[00:50:50] How am I going to go before the most powerful man in the world and tell him that?
[00:50:55] And God said, No, I'm going to use you.
[00:50:56] I'm going to manifest my power through you.
[00:50:58] And Moses is still like, God, I think you've missed it.
[00:51:01] There's got to be somebody more qualified than me, somebody better at this than I would be.
[00:51:06] and finally God said, I'm going to bring your brother Aaron along beside you and he can be your mouthpiece.
[00:51:12] He can help you share the message that I give you.
[00:51:17] And what's interesting, and this is kind of a side note, you go through and you look at Moses, really we'll say his ministry, but his purpose that God was moving him into, he didn't need Aaron very long.
[00:51:29] When he began to finally get involved in what God called him to do, he was doing what God called him to do.
[00:51:33] But that's a little bit of a side note.
[00:51:35] but here's where we're going to pick up. God has just said, okay, you're going to meet Aaron.
[00:51:40] Go now. You're going to go meet Aaron. They were having a conversation. Aaron's on his way. As you go, you guys are going to cross paths and tell him, hey, God's called you to work with me in
[00:51:50] this thing. Well, Moses was probably a little bit shocked at what happened next because here he and God were having great conversations. They were talking about things, and in verse 24, God shows up in a very dramatic way. Here's what it says. And remember now, God has just sent Moses to go.
[00:52:11] So Moses is going in obedience to the Lord. And it says in verse 24 of Exodus 4, now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the Lord met him, met Moses, and sought to
[00:52:24] put him to death. Now if I'm Moses, I'm thinking, God, we were just talking and everything was good.
[00:52:30] What happened?
[00:52:31] Now I'm seeing you and you're ready to kill me.
[00:52:33] What did I do?
[00:52:35] And we're going to see that it's not what Moses did, it's what Moses did not do.
[00:52:39] And I want to discuss why I believe he did not do what he was supposed to do.
[00:52:43] Now God never really intended to kill Moses because he would have, obviously.
[00:52:46] We know that.
[00:52:47] If God wants to do something, God can do it.
[00:52:50] But he showed up, though, because here's Moses standing in a place where he's about to be released into what God has called him to do.
[00:52:58] I believe you and I, as a generation of God's people, we are at a similar place.
[00:53:03] And I believe that also many of us are finding ourselves, though, where Moses was.
[00:53:09] And so here God shows up, and God's about to kill Moses.
[00:53:13] And God gives him no explanation.
[00:53:16] It's like, God, I can tell you're mad.
[00:53:18] I can tell you're about to kill me.
[00:53:19] I don't know why.
[00:53:21] Well, then it says, verse 25, we see what happened.
[00:53:24] This was the solution.
[00:53:26] And this is what God was accomplishing the whole time.
[00:53:29] It says, Then Zipporah, and Zipporah was Moses' wife, took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin.
[00:53:38] So she circumcised their son.
[00:53:41] I'm going to explain why that was important here in just a minute.
[00:53:44] Cut off her son's foreskin and threw it at Moses' feet.
[00:53:46] And she said, You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.
[00:53:51] That's a little bit graphic, and I apologize.
[00:53:53] But obviously that is a graphic act that just took place.
[00:53:57] And verse 26 says, and he let him alone.
[00:54:00] So God, from that moment on, left Moses alone.
[00:54:03] No more was God ready to kill him.
[00:54:05] What God was wanting was for that son to be circumcised.
[00:54:10] And why was that?
[00:54:10] Was it just, well, that boy's got to be circumcised?
[00:54:12] No, they lived at that time under a covenant where if you were an Israelite, it only applied to them, by the way.
[00:54:21] If you weren't a Jewish person, it didn't apply to you if you'd been alive at that point in time.
[00:54:25] And this was a temporary covenant as well.
[00:54:28] But Moses was alive during the time when this covenant was still in effect, that all of the males that were born in the house of Israel had to be circumcised.
[00:54:39] Well, Moses would have known that.
[00:54:41] Moses himself would have been circumcised.
[00:54:44] And so when I read this this week, I thought, Man, Moses, he knew better.
[00:54:47] Why didn't he do it?
[00:54:50] I believe the answer is because for 40 years, He was living in a different place, and he had assimilated into that culture.
[00:55:00] And in Midian, there wasn't circumcision.
[00:55:03] He, even though he was God's mouthpiece, he was the person that God was picking and God was choosing and anointing to do what he had called him to do, Moses had gotten more comfortable living in a foreign land
[00:55:16] than in the kingdom of the Lord.
[00:55:19] And here was a clear commandment that God had given him, that you will circumcise all of your sons.
[00:55:25] Moses had not done that.
[00:55:28] Even though he himself had been circumcised, and he knew what the rule was, knew what the covenant required, he had not done it.
[00:55:36] I believe because here he was, he was married to the very daughter of the priest of Midian.
[00:55:42] So he was fully assimilated into Midian culture, and he was not obeying what God had called him to do.
[00:55:48] I believe right now, I mentioned a minute ago, that sometimes you look around the church, it's kind of hard sometimes to tell a difference between the people of God and the people of the world.
[00:55:57] I wonder, have we, even as God's people, have we assimilated more into this culture than we have the kingdom?
[00:56:07] And I believe in many cases the answer is yes.
[00:56:11] Have we adopted the ways of the world?
[00:56:14] Have we compromised?
[00:56:15] Have we taken the standards of the world instead of the standards of God's Word?
[00:56:19] Have we taken the redefinitions that this culture has given us, or are we pointing to and standing on the truth of what God's Word says?
[00:56:28] How God's Word defines what needs to be defined.
[00:56:33] So I said a minute ago, you and I as God's people, we're called to be separate.
[00:56:37] Now that doesn't mean again that we go get some compound and all live together over there and we never go out in the world.
[00:56:43] We're called to be in the world but not of the world.
[00:56:46] So being separate is not being rude and judgmental and critical.
[00:56:51] Now, many in the church have gotten really good at doing that.
[00:56:54] Being separate is this, it's living under the kingship of Jesus and in obedience to His Word.
[00:57:01] Now, the church in many ways, I don't mean just unified church, but the body of Christ in our contemporary society, in many ways we have wavered, we have swayed, we have gone away from.
[00:57:16] the Word of God. We've gotten much more comfortable in this temporary world, and we're building our foundation here when God has called us to be separate. So being separate, again, is not being judgmental and rude and critical. Again, we've done that long enough. Being separate is living
[00:57:37] under the kingship of Jesus and obeying His Word. Being separate is being eternally minded and being kingdom minded. Now, you and I are eternal beings. And one day we're going to step out of time where we are right now, and we're going to fully step into eternity, either when
[00:57:57] Jesus returns or when our natural lives end, either way. But right now, even now in time, we're called to build on eternity. Let our foundation be upon the kingdom, the unshakable kingdom of Jesus. And we talk about here this morning the message of the cross. I want to
[00:58:17] bring up two words that have become kind of unpopular in our modern society. And we've discussed this before. This is not anything new, but it's something that we really have to come back to. As this current generation of God's people alive today, we cannot afford to compromise
[00:58:35] in these areas. Here are the words, surrender and denial. Surrender and denial. I'm going to explain these as we go, but without those two things, not just those words, but us actually doing those words, we can never live in His kingdom. We can be a Christian. We can be a
[00:58:58] convert, but we can never go on to being a disciple without surrender and denial. Now, Those words have become very unpopular in our modern society.
[00:59:09] Sadly, they've become very unpopular in many of the messages being preached, even in pulpits.
[00:59:15] Surrender means that we give up our control to somebody else.
[00:59:20] And none of us likes that.
[00:59:22] Nobody wants to do that.
[00:59:24] I want to keep my own control.
[00:59:26] I want to decide what's right for me, not let somebody else decide that for me.
[00:59:31] That's how the natural man thinks.
[00:59:33] but surrenders, we say, okay, there's a kingdom with a king.
[00:59:37] I'm not that king.
[00:59:39] I've got to receive him and do things on his terms, not mine.
[00:59:44] You can see why that word has become so unpopular because what we've started doing is trying to build the church and not the kingdom.
[00:59:51] And so we've taken the gospel, made it more palatable, and we've built the church, but we have not built the kingdom.
[00:59:59] I believe that's why we as a generation have got to shift our focus back to where it's supposed to be.
[01:00:06] These words, surrender and denial, although they have become unpopular, they are inseparable from the true gospel of Jesus.
[01:00:15] They are inseparable from the true message of the cross.
[01:00:20] So here we have surrender, which means we turn over lordship to somebody else.
[01:00:24] No longer are we in charge of ourselves.
[01:00:27] No longer do we decide what's good for us and right for us, and I decide my truth and you decide your truth.
[01:00:33] I do me, you do you. No, we do Jesus. That's what surrender means. Denial means we say no to something that we want to say yes to. Now, we don't like that word, but that word is all in
[01:00:48] the Bible. We're going to see it today. We're also going to see that, like it or not, we are denying something. Just the important thing is, what are we choosing to deny? So surrender means we turn
[01:01:00] over the reins to somebody else. We receive the king on his terms. We live in his kingdom on his terms. Then we have the word deny, which means we have to say no to something that we want to say
[01:01:14] yes to. And those two words, again, are inseparable from the gospel of Jesus, the truth of God's word, the message of the cross. Now, this all starts with salvation. We know that. We come to know
[01:01:28] Jesus through salvation. But it doesn't end there. Salvation is a free gift that we receive. We're saved not by our own works. You know, Cain thought he could bring his own works. We discussed that.
[01:01:39] That was never going to be good enough. You and I are saved because of God's grace. But again, that doesn't stop there. Because the very same grace that saved you and me now has the power
[01:01:51] to change you and me.
[01:01:53] And the convert gets saved, a disciple gets changed.
[01:01:58] A convert meets the Lord, a disciple follows Him, and follows Him through a lifestyle of surrender and denial.
[01:02:07] Taking up our cross, which we're going to discuss some more with the time that we have left together today.
[01:02:13] And so His grace saves us to begin with, but from there His grace also has the power to change us, to transform us. And His grace empowers you and me to live our lives differently than we can live
[01:02:27] them apart from Him. His grace, the very same grace that saved us at the beginning, empowers you and me now to be the people God's called us to be. And we can never be those people without
[01:02:40] that grace. We can never also be those people if we choose to hang on to ourselves and we don't surrender to the cross of Jesus. We don't deny ourselves and take up our own cross as we're
[01:02:53] going to see and follow Him. Now, this goes against the thinking of the world, as I've pointed out a few times. The thinking of the world is this, oh, we're all okay. We're all fine the way we are.
[01:03:04] Don't worry about it. Go ahead and take Jesus and put Him here with all the rest of your stuff.
[01:03:09] Never works. Jesus has got to be number one. He's got to be number one. And this watered-down, compromised message that has filled up the buildings but left the kingdom empty, we got to get away from that. We got to come back to the message of the cross. And so the world says things
[01:03:31] like, oh no, we're all okay the way we are. You do you and I'll do me. Now to a degree that's true because I should be authentically who God made me to be. You should be genuinely and authentically
[01:03:43] who God has made you to be. But here's the thing. I can never find who I truly am. You can never find who you truly are anywhere except for the cross of Jesus. If we're looking anywhere else, we're
[01:03:55] always going to be settling for the wrong version. We're going to settle for who the world says that we are, and we're going to be content to be those people. But who you really are, who I really am,
[01:04:08] They are only found in the cross of Jesus.
[01:04:13] Now people think, I don't want to hear that.
[01:04:15] That doesn't help me.
[01:04:17] That's not what I want to believe.
[01:04:20] That's the gospel though.
[01:04:21] That's the gospel you and I have got to get back to.
[01:04:24] We hear things like, nobody else can tell me what's right for me.
[01:04:28] The king does.
[01:04:30] And the king has.
[01:04:32] And you and I can't afford to compromise on what the king has said.
[01:04:37] Here we have his written word.
[01:04:39] We have His Holy Spirit living in us, speaking to our hearts.
[01:04:43] And He will never speak anything to us directly that contradicts what He's given us right here.
[01:04:50] He never will.
[01:04:51] As we see things shifting and changing, even in the church, as parts of the church are shaking, the Word of God stands forever.
[01:04:59] The grass will wither, the flower will fade, all these trends, all these things that are fashionable now, they may change, but the Word of God stands forever.
[01:05:07] That is our unshakable foundation.
[01:05:11] So nobody else can tell me what's right for me, but the Bible says there's a way that seems right to us, but the end of that way is death.
[01:05:18] And so our Creator, the One who made us, knows what is right for us.
[01:05:24] He knows who we really are.
[01:05:26] Let's go together to Luke chapter 9.
[01:05:28] This verse will be on the screens behind me.
[01:05:30] I'm going to read verse 24.
[01:05:33] And we're going to come back to Luke 9 and read a few more verses here in just a few minutes. But let me read what it says here in Luke chapter 9 verse 24.
[01:05:44] Now Jesus is talking here to everybody in the crowd, but His disciples are among those who are hearing what He's saying. And He says, for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.
[01:05:57] But whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it. If you and I take the the idea that is so prevalent right now in the world that I do me and you do you and nobody can
[01:06:10] tell me what's true for me or anything else. I make my own truth. We are losing our lives. We may think we're saving them, but we are falling in the category of people that Jesus is talking about
[01:06:22] that says if you try to save your life, you will lose it. But if you lose everybody that you think you are apart from me, who you are apart from me, who you hope to be apart from me, if you lay that
[01:06:34] down, you will find the life I've really called you to. Let me read to us in Colossians chapter 3.
[01:06:42] We're going to come back to Luke 9 before we're done. There's a lot more there I want to read together and unpack together here in a few minutes. But in Colossians chapter 3, let me start in verse
[01:06:51] 1. Colossians chapter 3 verse 1. So Jesus just said there in Luke 9, if anybody seeks to save their own life, they're going to lose it. But whoever loses their own life for His sake
[01:07:04] is going to find it, is going to save it. Here it says in Colossians chapter 3, therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Verse 2, set your mind on the things above, not on the things
[01:07:25] that are on the earth. Here he says, be very deliberate about where you put your mind, what you think about. He also is saying here, we have the ability to choose that.
[01:07:37] Let's choose to set our minds on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.
[01:07:44] Not being earthly minded, but being kingdom minded. And then verse 3 says this, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
[01:07:55] That's why I said a minute ago, you and I, who we truly are, can only be found at the cross of Jesus.
[01:08:01] I'm trying to be anybody other than who God says I am.
[01:08:06] I'm not living my true life.
[01:08:08] My true life, your true life is only found at the cross of Jesus.
[01:08:13] It says here, your life is hidden with Christ in God.
[01:08:17] Then verse 4 says, when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
[01:08:26] So God has taken your true life and my true life.
[01:08:29] He's hidden those in Himself.
[01:08:33] Now, He's not hidden those things from us.
[01:08:35] He's hidden those things for us.
[01:08:38] We find them in the cross of Jesus.
[01:08:41] That's where you and I find who we really are.
[01:08:44] We can only find the life He's talking about right here at the cross of Jesus.
[01:08:50] Let's talk for a few minutes together here today about the message of the cross.
[01:08:54] What is the message of the cross?
[01:08:57] I want to start in 2 Timothy 3.
[01:09:00] And I believe that what it says here in this passage describes the days that you and I are alive in just about as well as any other.
[01:09:11] Now, Paul's talking here, and here's what Paul says.
[01:09:14] He says, but realize this.
[01:09:16] This is 2 Timothy 3, verse 1.
[01:09:18] Realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come.
[01:09:24] Now, Paul was writing this roughly 2,000-ish years ago.
[01:09:28] If he was writing about the last days then, how much more are you and I in that time now?
[01:09:35] How much more do these words apply to us?
[01:09:39] And here he tells us in the following verses what will make these last days difficult.
[01:09:45] Now, we don't know how much time we have left.
[01:09:47] If we are in the very last of the last days, some believe that, some believe we're not.
[01:09:51] We don't know for sure.
[01:09:52] We know that nobody knows the day or the hour, but we also know that we're closer than anybody ever has been before.
[01:09:58] And so, let's listen to what these words are.
[01:10:01] It says, For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
[01:10:32] And then verse 5 gets to one that we've got to really pay attention to.
[01:10:36] holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power then it says avoid such men as these so the first and there's 19 things I counted 19 things there that Paul said would define these days loving ourselves loving money being
[01:10:56] arrogant being unloving and all these things but then at the end of the list he rounds it out with something that looks a little bit differently people that have a form of godliness, but they have denied its power. Now I said a minute ago, we're
[01:11:10] going to deny something. In this case, we're about people that have denied the very power of the Lord. They look godly. They have a form of it, but there's no power in their godliness. Here's why.
[01:11:26] We're going to see as we go, they have rejected the cross of Jesus. They're trying to be who they are apart from Him. There's a lot of forms of godliness out there that say, oh, Jesus is okay.
[01:11:37] He's one of the ways. Maybe. No, He's the only way. He said, I am the way, the truth, the life.
[01:11:45] Nobody comes to the Father except they come through me. And He is not going to allow Himself to be put in the same place as anything else. He has to be number one. He has to be number one.
[01:11:58] And so we're seeing here, Paul's describing people that are the people that we were apart from Jesus.
[01:12:05] He's describing people that don't have Jesus, number one.
[01:12:08] Also, he's describing who we could continue to be if we don't take up our cross and follow Him.
[01:12:15] If we don't live that life of surrender, that life of denying ourselves.
[01:12:21] Instead, they are choosing to deny the very power of the cross.
[01:12:26] Let's go now to 1 Corinthians.
[01:12:28] I'm going to begin to tie some loose ends up here.
[01:12:30] We're going to take communion together before we're done.
[01:12:32] But before we get there, let me read a little bit more to us just to make this increasingly personal for us about the message of the cross.
[01:12:41] Now, we know what it says in Romans 8, verse 1.
[01:12:45] I quote that verse very often.
[01:12:46] There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus.
[01:12:50] Nothing I'm saying today is meant to be condemning.
[01:12:53] It is meant to be challenging in any area where you and I, as God's people, need to return to the message of the cross.
[01:13:02] That's what I want to challenge.
[01:13:04] I want to challenge us to do that, to not deny the power, not to be content with some form of godliness, but to be only content with a true walk with Jesus, following Him.
[01:13:17] And so it says here, I'm going to read first of all in 1 Corinthians 2.
[01:13:21] And Paul's talking to, obviously, the Corinthian church here.
[01:13:23] he's writing this letter to them. And the Corinthians had been, at this point in time in history, they were under the Roman Empire, as much of the world was. They had been, though, under the Greek Empire. And so the Corinthians were used to words of wisdom, worldly wisdom.
[01:13:40] They loved to have things explained very eloquently, and they were content to stay in the place of just philosophy and intellectual things. And so Paul, understanding that, deliberately did not come to them with any of that. Instead, this is what he says. I'm going to read in chapter 2,
[01:13:59] starting in verse 1. He said, and when I came to you, brethren, so he's talking to other believers here, not to the people of the world. He's talking to believers. He says, when I came to you, brethren,
[01:14:10] I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God, For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
[01:14:24] I didn't want the philosophy.
[01:14:26] I didn't want the wisdom that you guys point to.
[01:14:29] I only care about the cross of Jesus.
[01:14:33] And that was the message that Paul said he came to them with.
[01:14:37] Verse 3 says, I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
[01:14:43] And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
[01:14:59] We're seeing there a very clear distinction.
[01:15:03] Kingdom versus the wisdom of the world.
[01:15:07] A life of power versus just a mere form of godliness.
[01:15:12] Okay, let's back up now to chapter 1.
[01:15:14] I'm going to read a couple of verses in chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians.
[01:15:17] I'm going to read verses 17 and 18.
[01:15:20] And he says here, and he's been talking about baptism and how he wasn't the one that was baptized.
[01:15:26] And we're going to kind of leapfrog that part and discuss the second part of verse 17 and verse 18.
[01:15:32] He says, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
[01:15:45] Think about that.
[01:15:45] Think about if our focus, if our trust, if our approach is clever speech, we are making the cross of Jesus void in people's lives.
[01:15:55] We have a form of godliness that looks great, but there's no power.
[01:16:00] And Paul said, avoid those like that.
[01:16:05] If I ever begin to preach a gospel different, I'm talking about me.
[01:16:09] If I ever stand here and preach a gospel different than the gospel of the cross, avoid such men as me.
[01:16:16] You and I cannot afford to compromise in this area.
[01:16:19] We have to be true to the standards of God's word and to the message of the cross.
[01:16:26] Then he says in verse 18, For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
[01:16:38] The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.
[01:16:42] So what our generation has done, I believe, and again, no condemnation, but we're being called to something higher.
[01:16:47] What our generation has done is we recognized this doesn't sound good to people.
[01:16:52] We want people.
[01:16:54] And so we're going to change our message to one that sounds good and brings people in.
[01:17:00] And we have successfully built the church that way.
[01:17:02] but we have failed at building the kingdom that way.
[01:17:06] The kingdom is only built on the message of the cross.
[01:17:11] And it says here, the word of the cross, that message is foolishness to those who are perishing.
[01:17:17] They don't understand. They don't get it.
[01:17:18] They don't want to hear about it.
[01:17:19] But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
[01:17:24] You and I are standing in a generation right now that I believe they have a form of godliness, but they have denied the power of the cross.
[01:17:34] You and I are being called back to that.
[01:17:38] We're being called to build the kingdom, build our lives in the kingdom, and to have the form of godliness, certainly, but to be godliness built on, produced by, resulting from the message of the cross.
[01:17:54] So as God's people, nothing wrong with good communication.
[01:17:57] I try to communicate well on Sundays, clearly and effectively.
[01:18:01] I hope I do, but that's not where it's at.
[01:18:04] It's the message of the cross.
[01:18:07] As God's people, you and I have come to a time, I believe, where we have to shift our priority and return to the message.
[01:18:16] The wisdom of the world says, okay, take your natural mind and see how the cross fits.
[01:18:22] Let's look at the cross through the lens of this world.
[01:18:26] The gospel says, look at this world through the lens of the cross.
[01:18:30] Look at your own life through the lens of the cross.
[01:18:34] Don't rationalize and interpret and explain the cross away.
[01:18:39] Instead, come to the cross of Jesus because that's where you really find who you are.
[01:18:44] That is the only entrance to the kingdom.
[01:18:48] And so what's become common is where does the cross fit into all that we know?
[01:18:53] How can we rationalize it and interpret it through the lens of intellect and knowledge?
[01:18:59] But instead, we've got to ask ourselves this.
[01:19:01] Where does everything else in my life fit when I view it through the lens of the cross?
[01:19:07] How does the cross define everything else?
[01:19:11] And here are some practical examples of this.
[01:19:13] How does my behavior look through the lens of the cross?
[01:19:18] And let's all just think about that.
[01:19:20] Let's all, with the Holy Spirit's leading and guidance, Think about that.
[01:19:24] You don't have to tell me, but how does our behavior look through the lens of the cross?
[01:19:31] How do my opinions and ideas look through the lens of the cross?
[01:19:36] How do my pastor's Sunday morning sermons sound through the lens of the cross?
[01:19:42] And that being said, friends, again, I believe we have to come back to this.
[01:19:46] And so I'm going to give you guys a guarantee.
[01:19:48] that'll be the message that I preach is the message of the cross and if I ever stop you guys need to leave if I ever stop this message avoid such men as me we're coming into a time
[01:20:04] and I'm going to say this I probably shouldn't I've already started so I've got to finish it I can always stop we're coming into a time I'm not talking about just unified city church We are a part of the body of Christ.
[01:20:22] But we've got to return, as we're saying, to the kingdom, not just the church.
[01:20:28] And we have built the church well.
[01:20:31] But if our programs and if our outreaches are designed just to attract people to our church brand, our focus is misplaced.
[01:20:40] Now, those are things I've already said.
[01:20:41] I'm getting to the good part here in just a minute.
[01:20:45] I believe that the times we're living in are going to be defined by this.
[01:20:50] Success may not be marked by who comes to the church, but who leaves it.
[01:20:57] Now, I don't want any of you guys to leave.
[01:20:59] I want you all to stay.
[01:21:01] But if we're just doing church as usual, that is not the kingdom.
[01:21:05] And so if our message has been, one, to attract people, and then to therefore keep people, it is a departure from the gospel.
[01:21:16] It is a departure from the message of the cross.
[01:21:19] We've got to come back to that.
[01:21:22] My job is not to build a church.
[01:21:26] Our job is to build the kingdom.
[01:21:28] And I never want to stand before God one day and have Him ask me, why did you not tell my people the truth?
[01:21:35] Why did you water it down?
[01:21:38] I never want to hear that.
[01:21:40] I will be standing before Him having failed in what He's called me to do if I ever hear that question.
[01:21:47] My heart is to bring the message of the cross.
[01:21:51] My heart is for us, you and me, as God's people, to live our lives, taking up our cross every single day, denying ourselves, surrendering to His Lordship, living our lives in the kingdom.
[01:22:05] So again, how do my pastor Sunday morning sermons sound through the lens of the cross?
[01:22:13] How does what I believe about God look through the lens of the cross?
[01:22:17] How is what I believe about myself and my own identity, how does that look through the lens of the cross?
[01:22:26] My marriage, my other relationships, what do they look like through the lens of the cross?
[01:22:31] The cross has to become the lens through which you and I see everything else.
[01:22:37] We can never allow anything else to become the lens that we see the cross through.
[01:22:43] If we are, then the power of the cross is being made void in our lives.
[01:22:50] Okay, I'm going to read just a few more things, then we're going to pray together, take communion together.
[01:22:54] I'm going to get back to Luke 9, like I said I would here in just a minute.
[01:22:58] The message of Jesus, and this is just to reiterate what we've already said a few times, was repent, for the kingdom is at hand.
[01:23:08] Repent, for the kingdom is at hand.
[01:23:13] The cross of Jesus is the only entrance into that kingdom.
[01:23:20] There is no other way in except through the cross of Jesus.
[01:23:25] And Jesus told His disciples some of the final words He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel.
[01:23:33] Go into all the world and make disciples.
[01:23:36] He never said, go into all the world and make converts.
[01:23:40] And then create a place where they want to come.
[01:23:44] Now, I'm not criticizing church.
[01:23:46] I mean, I'm pastoring one, obviously.
[01:23:49] But we've got to get back to what He's called us to do.
[01:23:51] I believe that is a call to this generation is come back to the cross because there's really, truly no other way in.
[01:24:01] Now, there are a lot of ways to get into the church, but not the kingdom.
[01:24:06] Life in the church could be as simple as programs and services.
[01:24:10] And I want to have the best programs and good services so we can serve God's people, so that we can glorify Him through what we do.
[01:24:19] So we need to be in a church.
[01:24:21] We know that.
[01:24:21] I've discussed that many times.
[01:24:23] But Jesus is calling us now, I believe, to expand our vision to be kingdom-minded, eternally-minded people.
[01:24:33] I believe it's very important that we are plugged into the church.
[01:24:36] And you guys have heard me say it many, many times.
[01:24:38] I don't believe that God ever calls His people to extended periods away from the church.
[01:24:44] Even though the church and the kingdom aren't exactly the same, the church is part of the kingdom, and we need to be plugged in.
[01:24:50] I've looked around, and I've seen even people that I know, some I know well, that do this sort of thing itinerantly.
[01:24:57] And they go from church to church, and they speak, and they teach the Bible, and it's wonderful, but they aren't plugged in anywhere.
[01:25:04] And that, I believe, is a dangerous place to be.
[01:25:07] We've got to be plugged in.
[01:25:12] And so we need to be in the church.
[01:25:13] We need to be the church of people.
[01:25:15] So, God's people who are building on the foundation of the cross in the kingdom.
[01:25:22] Let me read here again as we prepare to kind of finish up here in Luke chapter 9.
[01:25:28] Luke chapter 9, I'm going to go to verse 22.
[01:25:30] We read verse 24 a minute ago.
[01:25:33] Let me back up and read a few more verses either side of verse 24.
[01:25:37] So, Jesus was talking here and He spells out what's about to happen to Him.
[01:25:42] But His disciples, kind of like me, they can hear this and they still didn't get it.
[01:25:46] And we can read in the chapters to follow, and He was saying, guys, I'm about to go to the cross.
[01:25:50] You're like, what does He mean by that?
[01:25:52] And He really meant, I'm going to die.
[01:25:54] So here He says, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day.
[01:26:07] So He was talking about, that's what's going to happen to me.
[01:26:10] And then verse 23, He looks at them and says, And if anyone wishes to come after Me, he has to die also.
[01:26:17] He says, He must deny Himself and take up His cross daily and follow Me.
[01:26:25] He put that word daily in there.
[01:26:27] And when we take up our cross, it's salvation.
[01:26:30] But every single day we have that choice to make.
[01:26:33] Not of getting saved again.
[01:26:35] But here's the choice that you and I, as God's people, have to make every single day.
[01:26:40] Here's how we define the cross, our cross.
[01:26:44] He says, you've got to take up your own cross and follow me.
[01:26:46] Deny yourself.
[01:26:48] Say no to the things that you want to say yes to.
[01:26:51] Surrender your life to my lordship.
[01:26:53] Take up your cross daily and follow me.
[01:26:56] Every single day, the decision I have to make and the decision that you have to make is in those moments where my will and God's will cross, what are we going to do?
[01:27:08] in those moments where my will and His will cross.
[01:27:13] That is my cross right there.
[01:27:16] God, I don't want to obey you today.
[01:27:18] God, I don't want to forgive that person today.
[01:27:20] My will is not to do that, but your will is.
[01:27:25] That is what it means to take up our cross daily and follow Him.
[01:27:30] You and I will be faced with that decision every single day.
[01:27:35] and the disciples of Jesus are the ones that take up their cross and say yes.
[01:27:40] So he says there, If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.
[01:27:48] For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it.
[01:27:58] And then he says in verse 25, words that we've all heard many times, For what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
[01:28:10] If we're going to be earthly-minded people, what gain is there for us to have all this earth has to offer?
[01:28:19] Not even just the smoking the cigars and chewing tobacco and robbing banks, but also great big glorious church services.
[01:28:27] but then who we truly are the life that's hidden in Jesus we've never stepped into it what does it profit us to never step into that life again the cross of Jesus is the entrance into that life so Jesus was saying I'm gonna be
[01:28:45] dying soon and so must you and he associates our cross with denying ourselves let me read one more verse to assume we're gonna take communion this is Luke chapter 14 I'm gonna read verse 27 and we could read this entire portion
[01:29:06] of Luke 14 and it would be very fitting for what we're talking about let me just kind of end with this one verse Jesus talking to his disciples he says whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple that's
[01:29:26] the same, I believe, invitation that you and I are hearing today. Now, you've heard me say before, many of you, as we've explained this verse, Jesus was very deliberate when He used the word cannot. Now, a lot of you have been in school before, I've done this before, and you've raised
[01:29:45] your hand, teacher, can I go to the bathroom? And he or she says, well, I'm sure you can, That's not the right question to ask me.
[01:29:56] May I go to the bathroom?
[01:29:58] Yes, you may.
[01:30:00] Because the word can has to do with ability.
[01:30:03] The word may has to do with permission.
[01:30:06] So in school, teacher, do I have your permission to go to the restroom?
[01:30:11] Yes, you do.
[01:30:12] Jesus wasn't talking about permission.
[01:30:14] He was talking about ability.
[01:30:17] He says, whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me He doesn't say, I'm not going to allow that person to be my disciple.
[01:30:26] He says, that person cannot be my disciple.
[01:30:29] Because if we're not carrying our cross, if we're not choosing surrender and denying ourselves in those moments where our will and His will cross, we can't follow Him beyond that point.
[01:30:43] We can't follow Him beyond that place.
[01:30:48] That's not about salvation.
[01:30:49] We can be fully saved, have salvation, and still not move beyond that point.
[01:30:55] God is calling you and me to be a generation of people that follow Him beyond that place.
[01:31:01] And so in closing, I'm going to say this.
[01:31:04] If we're not taking up our cross, we know that we're called to do that, but if we're not, if we're going to be those that are content to have a form of godliness but to deny the power,
[01:31:18] if we're not taking up our cross, then this is what is happening.
[01:31:23] We are denying something, either ourselves or the power of God.
[01:31:29] And if you and I are not taking up our cross, we are denying the power of God.
[01:31:35] If we are not taking up our cross, then we are aligning ourselves with this world and not with the kingdom.
[01:31:43] We may be gaining the world, but in reality, we're losing ourselves.
[01:31:49] And let me say this, and these are very direct and clear words, But I believe that as this generation, we have to hear them.
[01:31:58] And we have to heed these words as well.
[01:32:02] If you and I are not taking up our cross, then ultimately we are not responding to the message of Jesus.
[01:32:13] If you and I, not as the world, but as His people, if we are not taking up our cross daily, then we are not truly responding to the message of Jesus.
[01:32:27] Because His message includes, come to salvation.
[01:32:32] But His message goes beyond that, to come take your place in my kingdom.
[01:32:38] And the only entrance, as I've said, into the kingdom is His cross.
[01:32:44] And you and I are taking up ours.
[01:32:47] The cross is our entrance into His kingdom.
[01:32:51] So we're going to pray together, but before we do, let's take communion together.
[01:32:55] Probably no better way to end a message like this one than to celebrate and remember what Jesus has done for us.
[01:33:04] If you didn't get one of these when you came in, BF is coming up the aisles and you can just raise your hand, he'll bring you one.
[01:33:14] But once you've got yours, go ahead and take the little wafer out.
[01:33:22] And we're going to take this together here in just a minute.
[01:33:26] But Jesus said that whenever we do this, to do this in remembrance of Him.
[01:33:34] To remember what He has done.
[01:33:37] So as you and I have talked today about the cross, the kingdom and the cross, let's remember that His body, that this bread represents, was hanging literally on a cross.
[01:33:51] And His body was broken.
[01:33:54] And let's remember also what that means for you and me today.
[01:33:59] So this piece of bread represents the body of Jesus.
[01:34:02] And He said, every time you take this, take it remembering what I have done.
[01:34:06] And the Bible tells us that His body was wounded for our transgressions.
[01:34:15] That it was bruised for our iniquities.
[01:34:18] That it was chastised so that we could have peace.
[01:34:22] And by the stripes that His body took, you and I can be healed.
[01:34:28] So let's remember all that as we take this together.
[01:34:45] And now let's prepare to take this cup together as well.
[01:34:50] And this juice that's in this cup represents to us the precious blood of Jesus.
[01:34:57] As we take this, let's remember that His blood was shed.
[01:35:00] When His body was broken, when they took that crown of thorns and they shoved that down on His head, and they beat Him with the whips and the sticks and all that they did, their own fists, and finally they hung Him on the cross.
[01:35:19] and when the spear pierced His side, all those things caused blood to come.
[01:35:26] This is what the blood means for you and me today.
[01:35:29] We take this now, remembering that blood and what it means for us now.
[01:35:33] The Bible tells us that you and I, as God's people, we've been justified by His blood.
[01:35:40] That means we've been declared righteous.
[01:35:43] We've been given what we could never have produced.
[01:35:48] His righteousness.
[01:35:50] It also says we've been sanctified by His blood, which means we've been set apart.
[01:35:54] We belong only to Him and nobody else.
[01:35:57] His blood has purchased us.
[01:36:00] It says His blood redeems us.
[01:36:04] It says His blood cleanses us from all sin.
[01:36:08] It also tells us that His blood gives us access into the very presence of the Lord.
[01:36:15] We also know His blood enables us to be victorious over the enemy.
[01:36:21] let's remember all those things that apply to us today as we remember what Jesus did for us and take this together so Lord Jesus today as we prepare to end this service we as your people right now
[01:36:49] in a fresh way we just surrender to you and if that's your heart today just tell him that just say Jesus I surrender Jesus I lay my life down right now at the foot of your cross.
[01:37:07] I lay my life down that I may walk in the fullness of the life that you've called me to.
[01:37:15] The life that you've hidden with Jesus in yourself that we can only ever find in your cross.
[01:37:27] So right now, Jesus, we do that.
[01:37:29] We come to your cross.
[01:37:30] We lay our lives down so that we truly can step into the life you've called us to.
[01:37:37] We take up our cross today.
[01:37:40] And we follow You.
[01:37:45] And we just say, Jesus, You are our Lord.
[01:37:47] And You are our King.
[01:37:50] You're the Lord of lords.
[01:37:52] You're the King of kings.
[01:37:55] So we as Your people, we surrender to Your lordship, Your kingship.
[01:38:00] And we follow You.
[01:38:03] I thank You, Jesus, also for Your precious blood that You shed for us.
[01:38:07] To make us clean.
[01:38:09] To wash away our sins.
[01:38:13] To restore us into a proper relationship in right standing with Your Father.
[01:38:19] And as we go face this week, this coming week, I pray that Your precious blood would cover us as well, that You would continue to cleanse and purify us and also keep us in that place of safety and protection
[01:38:40] from every attack of the enemy.
[01:38:44] We thank You for this in Jesus' name.
[01:38:48] Amen.
[01:38:50] All right.
[01:38:51] Well, again, great to see you all in person again.
[01:38:54] Weather permitting, we'll see you guys again next Sunday.
[01:38:57] So you guys have a great week.
[01:38:59] And don't forget your kids down the street.
[01:39:02] Any kids left behind, we're going to give a kitten to and a puppy.
[01:39:08] We're going to have the prayer team.
[01:39:09] They'll be either side of the stage.
[01:39:11] You guys need prayer for anything, come and see them.
[01:39:13] Otherwise, have a great week.