Part 5 following Jesus
The fine print
• Being a sinner is a prerequisite
• Not believing is ok
• You should have questions
Jesus say:
• Bring your questions to me
• Bring your unbelief to me
• And start a relationship with me
Jesus wants you to:
• Have faith that overwhelms your fears
• And every day wear:
o Compassion
o Kindness
o Humility
o Gentleness
o Patience
o Forgiveness
o And love
So today we talk about the fine print of following Jesus! In every contract there is fine print and following Jesus also has some fine print, so we need to talk about that fine print!
• There are a lot of advantages to following Jesus
• But there is also a price to pay to following Jesus
• Like anything worth having, we in some way pay a price and following Jesus is no different
Are you in this, following Jesus, for what you can get?
Mark 8:27–30 (NIV)
27Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
• Peter came up with the right answer
• He was proud to be close to the chosen one
• He brought him fame, he made him special
• And then Jesus said, “don’t tell anyone”
• Then he goes on to tell them why
It’s all good, tell someone or something bad happens
Mark 8:31–32 (NIV)
31He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
32He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
• As soon as things get real Peter shuts him down
• “you’re the messiah, you’re the Christ”!
• everyone loves you and because of that, everyone loves us
• aren’t we all like that, we ride the gravy train, but jump off when things get tough
o sports teams
o work lay offs
o relationships
o we run at the first sign of having to pay a price
It gets real
Mark 8:33 (NIV)
33But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
• We all get like this
• It’s all good until you are no good for me
• We want what we want, and we want it our way
• And Jesus comes down on him hard, because he knows that when times get tough people tend to flee
• And being a follower of Jesus will cost you something, at some point
• And Jesus see an opportunity to teach us all something about the price, the fine print, of following him!
Jesus speaks to the crowd, and explains the fine print
• He explains the cost to following
• Not just being a consumer
• We can follow from a distance
• Become a better person
o More giving
o More caring
o More loving
o Better marriage
o Stronger realtionships
• But to get the full benefit of following Jesus, there is a price to pay
The literal facts about following Jesus
Mark 8:34 (NLT)
34Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.
• This was a scary moment
• Understand the cross was not a metaphorical term for them
• The cross was real. Crucifixion was real, painful
• And hopefully none of us will be persecuted for following
• But sometimes being a follower has a high price to pay
But if you truly follow Jesus, you will, at some time, have to deny yourself
• We do it all the time in small ways
o That desert after a meal
o That drink before you drive
o The care you always wanted
Denying yourself means to say no to me!
• At some point, there are going to moments when what you want and what I want will cross paths
• And I will want something different for you, than what you want for you
• And you are going to have to deny your wants, for my wants
• There will be points of tension
• And at those moments you are going to have to decide
o Follower or fan
o Follower or consumer
o Am I going to drink the Kool-Aid or not!
• And Jesus is saying to us all someday we will have to decide to take up our cross and follow him
o It will cost us something or someone
o At a minimum, it will inconvenience us
o And we have to decide weather, weather we are willing to pay the price and follow
Is it worth it??
Mark 8:35 (NIV)
35For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
Your life is temporary
• No matter how good you eat
• No matter what bad habits you break
• No matter how much you exercise
• Your life will come to an end
• Nothing you buy now can go with you
• Nothing you do here will be remembered
• And if denying Jesus now will get you a little less pain, its still only telmpoary
Jesus is forever
• No matter what you lose because you follow him can be saved
o Lost relationships because of following, will not last past this life
o Your stuff won’t last past this life
o Your money won’t last past this life
o It all will be lost
o But when you chose to follow Jesus, to deny ourselves for his sake, we will save our eternity with him
Therefore, finding our identity in anything other than Jesus is temporary
• Jobs are temporary
• Relationships are temporary
• Things are temporary
• Opportunities are temporary
• And if we are going to lose them any way, it just makes sense to choose the life that last forever
What is your soul worth?
Mark 8:36 (NIV)
36What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
• Is having everything you want worth your soul
• The most awesome life imaginable worth your soul
• Do you think it would be worth it
o Money
o Cars
o Horses
o Homes
• What price are you willing to pay for eternity?
• Satan wants it, Jesus is trying to save it
• Are will to forfeit it for the things that Jesus is asking you to change?
Think about it this way
Mark 8:37 (ESV)
37For what can a man give in return for his soul?
• If at the end of your life, you had it all
• What would you give for eternity
• What would you be willing to pay for it
• The answer is “everything”!
• Because you are going to lose it all anyway
What have you learned about yourself?
My Soul is worth more than my things
• Your soul means more to than any relationship
• Your soul means more than any Job
• Your soul means more than any opportunity
• You’re going to lose it anyway, make it worth it
Salvation is free it cost you nothing, but following will eventually cost you something
• Jesus paid for your salvation at the cross
• He endured the pain the suffering of death so you don’t have to
• Salvation is a gift
But following Jesus will cost you something
• At some point, there will be a conflict of interest
• At some point, you will have to choose between Jesus and the world
• The conflict will be yours, you will feel it and have to make the decision
o Fan or follower
o Fan or consumer
• It won’t be something everyone else must do or not do
This will be your cross to bear, your choice to make
• I can’t go
• I must go
• I can’t take that job
• I must move here
• I need to walk away
• I have to stand firm, even when others don’t agree
It will feel like a death
• You will have to die to that dream
• You will have to die to that opertunity
• You will have to die to that relationship
• Because if I am to follow Jesus, I have to die to myself
It will be your defining moment
• In that moment, you will discover what you belong to
• In that moment, you will discover you’re not just a consumer
• In that moment, it will change your life
• It will be hard
• It will be emotional
• It will test you
• But it will change you forever
• At that moment when you say no to you and yes to Jesus you will truly be a follower of Christ
My defining moments
• To marry again
• To teach the word again
• To move to Kansas
• To be a father to kids that I didn’t have too
Close
There are a lot of advantages to following Jesus, but it is in those defining moments in your relationship with Jesus that draw you closer to him, that solidifies your faith in him. When we step out in faith and trust him that we might lose something, we will gain everything in the process. That’s what turns fan’s in to followers!
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