Humble Service & Generous Lifestyle...part 4...Mark 8:34-38

 


My dear cousin passed away last week.  It was a fun trip to head to Oscoda to see this part of the family when I was a kid.  Also, this dear one would spend time with us in the summer when my mom was on summer break from school.  I learned a lot from this dear one.  She even made it into some of my sermons!  She kept me grounded to the expansion of grace both common (to all) and saving (to God's children).  Much more could be said here but I will leave it that her passing was a diversion I needed this week.

We are getting to the end of our focus on humble service and generous lifestyle.  July gives us an extra Sunday this year to wrap it up with a little different type of service.  We are back in Mark with Jesus again addressing His disciples with what is going to happen and answering their insertion that "they" are in control rather than a full surrender to Jesus truly as the Christ!

The main illustration this week I heard first from Alistair Begg.  That pesky little box that needs to be checked saying you agree with the Terms & Conditions.  You are stuck until you check it.  You can't get to what you want on your phone or app or new computer until you make this decision.  Did you read them?  Most likely you didn't.  You blindly trusted what you didn't read written by people you didn't know.  And then...they update and revise the Terms & Conditions and you need to do it all over again.  

What are Jesus' Terms & Conditions for those who would come after Him?  These Terms & Conditions are not in fine print and they never are revised or updated.  They are written by One we can know and who loves us so dearly that He paid the price for our salvation to stand before the holy God.  When you put the two beside each other you see how different God's system is than the world's system.  And yet...we many times disregard what we do know said by the Christ Himself.  It doesn't seem logical, rational or even sensical.

Three conditions:  deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus.

The terms of deny yourself is to quit trying to save yourself.  The terms of take up your cross is to be willing to live daily by the salvation you have received from Jesus.  The terms of follow Me is to be unashamed of Jesus and His words.

The world's system ends with you being your own god.

God's system ends with you embracing Him, suffering for Him, and following Him.  The long haul is that you will be embraced by Him for eternity; you will rejoice before Him triumphantly; and you will sit at a table with Him!

Adam



A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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