Who is this Man?

This post is my Christmas Eve Message.

 

 

            For the last two weeks, our church has been in a sermon series called “Who is this Man?” Which is based on one of the books I read this past year.

            Chances are pretty good that if you were to ask 100 different people about who Jesus was/is, you would get 115 different answers.

            Some people would say that Jesus was a good man, who did some good things, such as healing and feeding people.

            Other people would tell you that Jesus was a great moral teacher who said some good things about how we should treat other people, or how we are to act.

            Still other people would claim that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross and rose again the third day to pay for the sins of the world.

            These are the most popular opinions about this Man named Jesus.

ILLUSTRATION- My family and I have recently been introduced to the works of C.S. Lewis by way of the big screen.

            We have watched all three Chronicles of Narnia Movies, which I would recommend to anyone; they are great movies.

            The same man who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia series also wrote a book called Mere Christianity.

         In this book, C.S. Lewis wrote the following:

            “I am trying here to prevent anyone (from) saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (Google)

C.S. Lewis believed that Jesus was the Son of God; I sit before you tonight believing that Jesus is the Son of God, and the entire Bible points to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God.

We read these words in Hebrews Chapter 1: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Heb.1:1-3, NIV84)

These verses tell us that in Old Testament times, God spoke to His people through prophets and forefathers, and through dreams and visions, but now in the New Testament Era—where we live today-- God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is one with God.

If you get nothing out of church tonight, get this: The Son is Superior!

Paul reminded us in Colossians 2 that: “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form…” (2:9, NIV)

John reminded us that: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1-3, NIV84)

In verse 14, John wrote: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (NIV84)

At just the right time, God stuffed Himself into a virgin’s womb and was born into our world to address the number one issue that has plagued mankind since Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden.

God took it upon Himself to deal with our sin problem by sending His One and Only Son, Jesus, into this world, to die on the cross to give us the opportunity to be set free from sin.

Once again I tell you church that: The Son is Superior!

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (NIV84)

Because Jesus came to this earth; we have the opportunity to be set free from our sin. This, loved ones, is the true message of Christmas.

God loves you so much that He sent Jesus- who was with God in the beginning- to die the death that you and I should have died and because of His death and resurrection, we can be set free from sin.

Now that Jesus has provided a way out of our sin, He is seated at God’s right hand inviting us to find faith in Him alone.

Which leads us back to our question of Who is this Man?

Who do you say Jesus is?

Ø Do you believe that He was a good teacher leaving us with some great words of wisdom to live by?

Ø Do you believe that Jesus was a great man who did some great things for people who were down on their luck?

Ø Or do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed one, the Son of God?

I can’t answer this question for you, your mamma can’t answer this question for you, each of us must answer the Who is this Man Question for ourselves.

Matthew 16 tells us of the time Jesus asked His followers who people said He was.

Some people thought that Jesus was John the Baptist—which was weird, b/c John had his head cut off… other people thought Jesus was a one of the Great Prophets of days gone by.

Then Jesus got real personal, real fast. He asked His followers: “But what about you?….Who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16:15, NIV84)

Peter declared that Jesus was the Holy Son of God, the One who had come into the world to take away the sins of the world.

ILLUSTRATION- The story is told about a wealthy man and his son who loved to collect rare works of art.

They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Viet Nam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier.

The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said: “Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when he was killed. He often talked about you, and your love for art.”

The young man held out his package.

"I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this."

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man.

He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting.

The father offered to pay for the painting but the solider declined.

The father hung the portrait of his son over his mantle.

Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later and there was to be an auction of his paintings.

Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel.

"We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?"

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted "We want to see the famous paintings, skip this one."

But the auctioneer persisted. "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100? $200?"

Another voice shouted angrily. "We didn't come to see this painting…We came to see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!"

But the auctioneer continued. "Who'll take the son?"

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the long-time gardener of the man and his son.

"I'll give $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

"10 dollars is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?”

“Give it to him for $10. We want to see the other paintings”

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son. They wanted the more wealthy paintings for their collection.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, going twice, SOLD for $10!"

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. A man sitting in the second row shouted: "Now let's get on with the collection!"

But the auctioneer said: "I'm sorry, the auction is over."

"What about the paintings?” The crowd said.

"I’m sorry.” The auctioneer said, “When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time.”

“Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.

The man who took the son gets everything!"

My friends; God gave His Son over 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message this evening is, "My Son, My Son, who'll take My Son?"

You see, whoever takes the Son gets everything. Whoever takes Jesus Christ will inherit eternal life.

Jesus is not one of many ways to God; Jesus is the only way to God.

Don't forget that The Son is superior!

“God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything.” (Eph. 1:20-22, MSG)

Will you open up your heart and make room for the One who has come to set you free from your sin, and pain, loss, rejection, and hurt?

Will you open up your heart and let the Lord Jesus Christ be the God of your life? I can honestly tell you that this will be the best gift you could ever receive.

Would you receive Jesus tonight? Doing so is as simple—and as difficult as A-B-C:

Admit that you are a sinner;

Believe that Jesus is the Saviour;

And Confess your need for the Saviour.

Who is this Man? His Name is Jesus and He “will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21, NIV84)

 

 

Great Buts in the Bible

Here is the final sermon in our series, Great Buts in the Bible. I'd love to hear from you, leave me a comment after your done reading.

 

 

           We are in the final week of our sermon series called Great Buts in the Bible. Excuses people make for not obeying God.

            So far, we have looked at the excuses Moses gave God as to why he couldn’t go to the King of Egypt and demand that he let God’s chosen people be set free.

            Moses gave God 5 excuses:

Ø Who was he to go and talk to Pharaoh?

Ø The people of Israel wouldn’t listen to him.

Ø The people of Israel might say that God didn’t really speak to Moses, so they wouldn’t go with him.

Ø Moses wasn’t much of a public speaker

Ø Then Moses finally confessed that he didn’t want to go, and he asked God to send someone else.

            For each excuse that Moses gave God, God have Moses an appropriate answer: “Moses, you can’t; but I can!”

            God was calling Moses to go, and God would equip Moses as he went.

This is the very same promise that God makes to us when we are asked to obey Him.

            The words that God spoke to Joshua apply just as much to us, as they did to Joshua: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5, NIV84)

            I can’t, but God can.

            Week two of our series had us looking at King Saul’s disobedience.

         In 1 Samuel 15, Saul was instructed to: “…completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.” (1 Samuel 15:3, NLT2)

            For reasons we may never understand, except that God can’t stand sin, He told Saul to completely destroy the Amalekite nation and all they had.

            Instead of doing what he had been asked to do, Saul: “captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else.

⁹ Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them.

They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality.” (1 Sam.15:8-9, NLT2)

Saul didn’t do what God had asked Him to do, because partial obedience is disobedience.

God said one thing, Saul did another thing, and because of his disobedience, Saul was rejected as king.

This is the destructive power of sin. It not only infects us, but it affects those around us, and we are destroyed by sin.

But thankfully there is a way out of the destructive cycle of sin and that’s by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the Cross.

God is looking for people who will obey Him with an undivided heart…

Which brings us to last’s week’s lesson which focused on 2 people who said they would follow Jesus, but actually wanted not to follow Jesus.

One dude wanted to bury his not-yet-dead-dad before following Jesus, and the other dude wanted to say so long to his family before following Jesus.

            In the end, neither man followed Jesus, because they didn’t want to give up their life, which would have actually meant they’d find life.

            Jesus told us that: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 10:39, NIV84)

            There is a cost to following Jesus that neither man wanted to pay.

            This morning I want to very quickly, examine a time in Jesus’ life when He used this word “But”, the difference between Jesus and the other men that I just described for you was that Jesus used the word “but” in the right way. 

            Luke 9:51 tells us that: Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (NLT2). Everything that took place after this verse has Jesus on His way to the cross, where He would suffer and die for the sins of the world.

            But before the cross, came the Garden. So, if you want to turn to the text of the day, it can be found in Luke 22:39-46. I’m reading from the NIV:

            “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.

40 On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

41 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." (NIV84)

Jesus and His disciples left the Upper Room—where they shared in the Last Supper—the same meal that we will be observing in a few moments—and as was His custom; Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, and entered the Garden of Gethsemane, to receive strength for what was about to take place.

There are three observations that I’d like to draw out from this passage today.

# 1. During His darkest hour, Jesus turned to God in prayer.

Look again at verse 41: “He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed…” (NIV84)

Jesus was in the final hours of His earthly life and was well aware of what would soon be coming, and instead of turning to Facebook or twitter; He turned first to God in prayer.

He could have turned to His disciples—they were just a stone’s throw from Him.

He could have invited them to join Him in prayer for what was about to happen to Him, and He would ultimately ask them to pray, but first Jesus got alone with God and prayed.

This wasn’t the first time Jesus got alone and prayed. He often withdrew to spend time with the Father.

My mind immediately jumps to Matthew 14. Jesus had just fed 20,000 people and as He dismissed the crowds: “he (Jesus) went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.” (Matt. 14:23b, NIV84)

Jesus made it a practice to spend time alone with His Heavenly Father.

In fact, as He taught His disciples how to pray, He instructed them to: “go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matthew 6:6, NIV84)

Jesus not only taught us how to pray, He showed us how to pray.

In His darkest moment—with His impending trial, punishment, crucifixion, and death—just hours away, Jesus got alone and prayed.

Who's the first person you turn to when you find yourself in a difficult situation? Do you turn to God first or your friends?

There is nothing wrong with turning to your friends and asking them to pray for you, but we should turn to God first, and then ask other people to pray.

During His darkest hour, Jesus turned to God in prayer.

What did He pray for?

#2.Jesus prayed for strength.

Verse 42 reads: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (NIV84)

Jesus was asking if there might be another way to accomplish what God wanted done, but He also acknowledged that God’s ways are the best ways, so He was obedient to God: “yet not my will, but yours be done." (NIV84)

Instead of offering God an excuse as to why He couldn’t do what needed to be done, Jesus asked for strength to do what needed to be done.

Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done in His life.

Luke 22:41&42 reads like this in the New Century Version: “Jesus went about a stone’s throw away from them. He kneeled down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.”

Jesus prayed to His Father for strength to do what needed to be done. He didn’t make an excuse, He just did it.

Look at what happened next. Verse 43 reads: “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.” (NIV84)

Jesus asked for strength to endure what needed to be done, and He received strength to endure what needed to be done.

ILLUSTRATION- I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve prayed for strength to stand tall when I’m being tempted.

            Many times I get down on my knees and cry out to Jesus and ask for His help.

When I need extra support, I text my accountability partner and ask him to pray for me as well.

            When I pray for strength, and when I ask others to pray for me, I am able to stand tall in the face of temptation.

            But when I don’t pray for strength; when I think I am able to endure the temptation on my own, I end up falling flat on my face.

            I’ve seen this pattern play out in my life time and time again. I pray then I’m strong, I don’t pray then I fall.

            Because Jesus prayed, He was able to do what God had asked Him to do.

            #3.As Jesus prayed for strength, so should we.

            As you will read, after this moment, Jesus was sold out for 30 pieces of sliver, was disowned, mocked, falsely accused, rejected, and crucified.

He was able to endure all of these things because He prayed to God for, and received, strength from on High.

            Now, we might never be crucified, sold out for money, or even be rejected, but something will happen that will leave us scratching our heads.

         Something will happen to us that we just can’t make sense of.

            It’s in those times that we need to get on our knees and cry out to our Father in Heaven and ask for His will to be done in our lives, and ask Him for strength to endure what we have to endure.

ILLUSTRATION- I have no idea why I’m the fortunate one who will need a liver transplant.

            I have no idea why the last year has been an interesting one in the life of the Graham family.

            There have been days when I haven’t been able to get out of bed. There have been nights, that stomach pain has prevented me from getting a good night’s rest.

            I’ve had tubes in places that tubes have no business being in, and I’ve been poked and prodded more than anyone should.

            If I’m being completely honest with you, there have been days when I prayed to God to take all of this away from me. I didn’t want to go through this time.

            I didn’t want to put my family though this terrible season of life.

            I didn’t want my little girls seeing me as sick as I was, and having them wondering if their father was going to be ok.

            I actually prayed “Lord; I don’t want to do this!”

But another prayer has come out of my mouth, way more often than that prayer, and it’s the prayer of Jesus: “yet not my will, but yours be done."

(These words are etched in a photo on the wall in my office)

            I believe that if one person comes to faith in Jesus Christ because of this whole ordeal, it will have been worth it all.

            So, I want to bring this home today. Are you turning to God in prayer, asking Him for strength to do whatever He might be asking you to do?

            Or, are you giving God an excuse as to why you can’t—or don’t—want to do what you are being asked to do.

            1 John 2:6 reads: “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (NIV84)

            Those who claim to be Christ followers are to walk in obedience, just as Jesus did.

            Sure, there will be days when we don’t get it right, and we will miss an opportunity, and there is grace for those days.

            Grace is not a licence to sin, grace picks us up after we sin, and grace enables us to do what it is God might be asking us to do…

            So here’s what I want you to do today:

            I want you to follow the example of Jesus and turn to God in prayer.

            Some of us are turning to Facebook or to our friends before we turn to God in prayer. We should be turning to God first.

         Let's follow the example of Jesus and turn to God in prayer first.

         The second thing I want you to do is ask God to strengthen you.   Be bold and ask for God' s strenght.

         #3. Ask God to help you do what He might be asking to you do.

Ø If that means giving your life over to Him, He’ll help you do that!

Ø If that means stopping that destructive life choice, He’ll help you do that!

Ø If that means getting married if you’re living common law, forgiving the one who hurt you, or bringing restoration to a broken relationship, God will help you do all of those things if you ask for His help.

            So this week, let’s follow the example of Jesus and use our big but for the glory of God.

 

Great Buts in the bible, part 3

this post is the 3 message in our series Great Buts in the Bible. Enjoy

 

 

            Well, here we are in part three of our sermon series called Great Buts in the Bible. Excuses people make for not following God.

            We kicked off this series two weeks ago by looking at the excuses Moses gave God for not wanting to do what God had asked Him to do.

As you read through Exodus chapters 3 and 4 you will see Moses saying to God again and again, “But I can’t!”

            And as you read through Exodus 3&4 you’ll see how God was saying to Moses: “But I can!”

            God promised to be with Moses as he went and lead the people out from under the ruthless oppression of the King of Egypt.

            I can’t, but God can!

            Last Sunday, Pastor Mike reminded us, by looking at the story of Israel’s first king, Saul in 1 Samuel 15, that partial obedience is disobedience.

            Partial obedience is disobedience in three ways: It’s rebellious, it’s stubborn and it’s rejecting God’s commands.

            Today is a two for one deal. There are two excuses in one passage, and you’ll have two preachers unpacking this one passage.

But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that the sermon will be twice as long.

            In Luke 9:23, Jesus stated that following Him would, could and should cost something.

       “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (NIV84)

            If we are going to follow Jesus, there needs to be a daily dying to self and a daily dependence on the Master.

A short time after Jesus made this statement, a shift occurs… From this point on in the life of Jesus, He will be of singular focus; He will be heading to the cross.

            Luke 9:51 tells us that: “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (NLT2) from that moment on, Jesus was now beginning His journey to the cross.

            Up unto this time, Jesus had been teaching His disciples and preparing them to carry on the ministry that He would entrust to them after His death and resurrection. This had now been completed.

            Jesus now focused on Jerusalem to face the opposition He would endure that would cumulate in His death and resurrection.

            As Jesus was on His way, He came across three men, who said they would follow Jesus, or who had been given an invitation to follow Jesus.

For the sake of our “discussion” today, we’re going to look at the second and third interactions and see how their excuses prevented them from following Jesus.

As we read passage of the day, please keep Luke 9:23 in the back of your minds! We're going to come back to it again and again. 

If you have your Bible, look at Luke 9:57-62. We’re going to focus on verses 59-62, but for the sake of some context, we’ll read the entire passage:

“As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”

62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:57-62, NLT2)

As Jesus and His disciples were making their way to Jerusalem, by way of Samaria, they came across a man and Jesus called out to this man and said:  "Follow me." (Luke 9:59a, NIV84)

These are the same words that Jesus had spoken as He was beginning His ministry and calling His first Disciples, we can read about this in Matthew 4:

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.

They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said "and I will make you fishers of men."

20 At once they left their nets and followed him.….” (Matthew 4:18-20, NIV84)

The very same invitation was given to this man in Luke chapter 9, but a very different response occurred.

Look again at the man’s response to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him in the second half of Luke 9:59: “The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” (NLT2)

Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

ILLUSTRATION- When my father passed away, I was involved in all aspects of his funeral.

            We as a family met and choose his casket, we choose his visiting hours; we picked out the floral arrangements, and we even decided who would be involved in his service of remembrance.

            So, it was noble of this man to want to bury his father before following Jesus.  

            In fact, it was his duty as a Jewish man to Honor his father and mother—the fifth commandment, one that he took seriously.

If this man was the eldest, he would have been even more responsible to see that his father received a proper burial.

            This is where things get interesting.

            If this man’s father had died, he wouldn’t have been “out on the town” that day.

            He would have been at home making preparations for the funeral, which would most likely have occurred the very same day as the death of his father.

ILLUSTRATION- When my father died, I was busy making preparations, either with the funeral home, or in my office studying and preparing for the sermon, I wasn’t “out on the town.” 

            There is no indication from this passage that this man’s father had died.

            This man said that he would follow Jesus; but he would follow Jesus at a later date.

            Remember, Jesus said that following Him would cost us something; it would cost us our life… and this man was unwilling to surrender his life over to Jesus.

            One Bible commentator had this to say about our text: “If the father’s funeral had been impending it would in all probability have occurred the same day, because the custom in Palestine was to let the burial be held the same day when the death had occurred…

            If the son had engaged in the funeral of his father, a week would have elapsed before he could have followed Jesus, and by that time our Lord would have been far away.” (Pentecost, 1981, 271)

            This man’s excuse was a mere pretext for delay.

            Could you be giving such an excuse? Has God asked you to do something, but you’ve replied with an excuse, such as:

            I’ll follow Jesus; when I’m done living my life;

            I’ll follow Jesus when I get to the end of my rope.

            I’ll follow Jesus when I’ve accomplished everything that I want to accomplish.

            All of these things in and of themselves are noble and good, but when they stand in direct opposition to what God is asking us to do, they are wrong.

            “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, NLT2)

            Jesus is not advocating skirting around our duties, but He is looking for an undivided heart. A heart that is completely devoted to following Him.

            So, how's your heart today, are you torn between following and coming up with an excuse why you can't follow?

            Look at Jesus’ reply to the man’s excuse…. “But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:60, NLT2)

            When we follow Jesus, there is work to do; there is a Message to proclaim.

            Jesus calls us to follow Him, not only so we can “Know Him”, but also to Make Him known.

            There are lives to be transformed with the Good News of Jesus Christ, but sometimes we get caught up in making an excuse….

            If I follow Jesus, He will ruin my fun…

            If I follow Jesus my life will be boring….

            If I follow Jesus, I’ll have to sell everything and move to Antarctica.

            But this is not necessarily the case. Jesus told us in John 10:10 that He has come to give us abundant life.

            That’s abundant life when we get to heaven, but that’s also abundant life here and now.

            Jesus is not a kill joy, He is the giver of joy and life won’t make complete sense until you are following Him. 

            Are you following Him? Or are you giving Jesus an excuse as to why you can’t do what whatever it might be that He is asking you to do?

            As we’re about to see, following Jesus demands that we make a choice...

Pastor Mike: come and share the next conversation Jesus had with us.