Risen Christ, you are our all in all.
And this morning as we hear you call us to follow you,
I pray that you would give us ears to hear that.
Hearts to respond.
Yes and amen.
I will follow you.
God, would you do a work in us this morning
in which those who've come into this room
who have never responded to your call, Lord Jesus,
today they'll respond.
And I pray for those of us who've been walking with you for some time
that this call would renew our desire to give it all for you.
Would you unite us together as a church
who all together we are intentionally living for you.
You're worthy.
Now we ask that you would, by your spirit,
God, give us eyes to see,
impress these words of Jesus onto our hearts afresh.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Children, you are now dismissed.
And as you're going...
If you'd open up your Bibles to Luke chapter 9,
we're going to be looking at a passage from verses 18 through 26.
I'm going to read that in a second.
But this morning we're starting a series called 21st Century Disciple.
Last week I preached a message on Jesus saying,
go make disciples of the nations.
And we can't assume that we all know what a disciple is.
And so we're going to start teasing out this morning what it means to be a disciple of Jesus
in the 21st century living here in the city of Kenosha.
So Luke chapter 9, verses 18 through 26.
Now it happened that he was praying alone.
The disciples were with him.
And he asked them,
who do the crowds say that I am?
And they answered,
John the Baptist,
but others say Elijah,
and others that one of the prophets of old is risen.
Then he said to them,
but who do you say that I am?
And Peter answered,
the Christ of God.
And he strictly charged
and commanded them to tell this to no one,
saying,
the Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
And he said to all,
if anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
For what does it profit a man
if he gains the whole world
and loses or forfeits himself?
For whoever is ashamed of me
and of my words of him
will the Son of Man be ashamed
when he comes in his glory
and the glory of the Father
and of the glory or the holy angels.
Verse 27,
but I tell you truly,
there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the kingdom of God.
You know what?
It's amazing how two words
can completely reorient your life.
So for example,
those two words spring forward,
they're going to completely reorient our lives
for a couple days.
Or those two words,
congratulations graduate,
that can reorient your life.
How about this?
You're hired.
That will reorient your life.
Or you're fired.
That will definitely reorient your life.
You're standing at the altar
and you say the two words,
I do.
Just two words,
reorient your life.
But if you're standing in a courtroom
and your former spouse is saying,
it's over,
that will reorient your life.
It's cancer.
Reorientation.
A doctor comes up
and of your spouse says,
he's gone.
Just two words
can reorient your life.
This morning,
we're looking at two words of Jesus.
Two words that must reorient your life.
And they're the two words,
follow me.
And this morning,
I want us to understand
who the me of follow me is
and what exactly he means by follow.
It's a command.
So this morning,
in order to help us understand
what it means to be a follower of Jesus
in the 21st century,
let's be clear on what Jesus means
when he commands,
follow me.
So let's start off with the me.
Who is this guy?
In verses 18 through 22,
we see a couple questions
that Jesus asks.
He's kind of like taking a poll.
We see it in verse 18.
Who do the crowds say that I am?
And basically what Jesus is doing
is he's taking a first century gallop poll
of the Jewish crowds
and his disciples are the pollsters.
And so when they ask the crowds,
who do they say?
He asked them,
who did the crowds say that I am?
His disciple pollsters come back
and they say,
well,
some are saying John the Baptist,
you know,
he was killed by Herod earlier.
He's come back.
Others are saying,
Elijah,
he's come back.
Others are saying that you're
one of the ancient prophets of old
who's come back.
And so they're all kind of
working out of this fear.
You're kind of some kind of prophet
is what the crowds are saying.
And to some degree,
they were right.
Jesus is a prophet.
The greatest of all prophets.
He didn't come just proclaiming God's word.
He is God's incarnate word.
He's the ultimate prophet.
How about if we just sped that up
21 centuries to today?
Jesus asks to go to Kenosha
and poll Kenosians
on who do Kenosians say that he is.
Be interesting.
So we hop on 60th.
We go down to 60th and age.
There's an Albanian mosque right there.
We walk in and ask the imam,
hey,
who do you say that Jesus is?
And you know what he would say?
We believe that he's a great prophet.
And then we say,
well,
we believe he's God.
He would say,
no, he's not.
We would say,
he was raised from the dead.
He would say,
no, he wasn't.
They believe he was a great prophet.
Or let's say that we show up
at one of the liberal churches around town.
Who do you say that Jesus is?
And they would say,
well,
the Jesus of the New Testament
was probably more of a fabrication
than an accurate historical depiction.
And if you actually believed he died,
well,
his death was a great example
of loving people.
But if you actually think
that he died for people's sins,
you must believe
in some kind of cosmic child abuse.
He's an example,
but did he pay for sins?
Well,
if it works for you.
Or how about we go to one of the bars,
Zazie B's,
or Captain Mike's
on a Friday or Saturday night,
and we pull up to the bar
and we start polling people
who are patronizing the place,
and we ask them,
who do you say that Jesus is?
Well,
we get all sorts of different responses.
I visited a church once,
and I got the message loud and clear.
Stay out!
Bartender,
do you let anybody in here?
The defiant,
you and your Jesus.
If you want me to be truthful with you,
if you want me to tell you
who I think Jesus is,
let me tell you,
he is just some convenient
religious crutch
for those who are simple and weak.
Bartender,
can you give me another one?
It's been a hard week.
In that bar,
we find people who are spiritual.
Jesus,
you know what?
You want me to tell you?
I'm religious.
Well,
I'm not religious,
but I am spiritual,
and I believe people are free
to express their spirituality
in any way they want.
Just don't force it on me.
The crowds of Jesus' day
definitely had an opinion
of who Jesus was.
He was some kind of prophet.
In the crowds of Kenosha
in the 21st century,
there are all sorts
of opinions out there.
All sorts.
It's more like
first century Athens
than first century Judea.
But Jesus has another question.
He moves from polling
the crowds
to polling the pollsters
in verse 20.
But who do you say
that I am
to his disciples?
And Peter,
as the representative leader
of the disciples,
says,
you are the Christ
of God.
You just don't come up
with that on your own.
To equate Jesus
with the Christ
requires a revelation
from God in heaven.
That's why in Matthew,
when Peter makes
this confession,
Jesus responds by saying,
flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you,
but my Father
who's in heaven.
And when Peter's talking
about you are
the Christ of God,
he's saying,
you are the Messiah,
the anointed one,
the long-awaited king
who would come
and sit on David's throne,
and you would reign forever,
and the ancient of days
would give you authority
and dominion
over all things.
After this confession,
though,
it quickly becomes apparent
that Peter in the 11,
they may get
that Jesus is the Christ,
but they've got
a limited understanding
of who the Christ is.
They've typecasted him.
You know what it means
to typecast?
Let's say that we're
putting a film together,
an action film here
in Kenosha,
and we need
a muscle-bound warrior guy
who can overcome the odds
to win a great victory,
and he's got
a really good smile.
Who would we select?
Dwayne Johnson,
The Rock.
He is typecast
for those kind of roles,
isn't he?
The Jews of Jesus' day
had an expectation
of the Christ.
They were expecting him
to play a particular role,
to deliver the nation
of Israel
from the rule of Rome
and to liberate Jerusalem
in order to reestablish
a geopolitical dominance
of ethnic Israel
throughout the world.
They thought he was going
to be a conquering king
in a militaristic
and political sense.
They had been culturally
informed of who Christ is.
They kind of absorbed that
from everyone around them.
They had a similar expectation.
If you were to pull
the same crowds
in first century Judea
and you say,
what's your greatest need?
They thought their greatest need
was deliverance
from a political oppression
in Rome.
And what Jesus is about
to say is,
no,
that's not your greatest need.
your greatest need
is a spiritual deliverance
from the oppression
of sin.
Well, that was then.
How about now?
How would self-professed
followers of Jesus
in the 21st century,
how would they respond
to Jesus asking them,
well, who do you say
that I am?
If we pulled all the churches
gathered this morning
across America
and we asked the individual
Christians in those churches
to answer the question,
who do you say
that I am?
Really?
I think we'd get
some pretty interesting answers.
And what would it,
it would reveal
how culturally informed
our view of the Christ is.
Here's some of the answers.
Jesus, well,
he's my ticket
out of eternity
in hell.
Which is true.
But is that it?
Jesus, well,
he's helping me
to be the best version
of myself.
Jesus, well,
when I can't figure things out,
I call in Jesus.
When I mess things up,
I call in Jesus
to be my fixer.
When I'm down,
Jesus reminds me
of how special I am.
Well, Jesus is my all of all.
I don't need anyone else.
I've got Jesus
in the internet.
I don't need the church.
Jesus is my dream maker.
He knows my dreams
and he will make
my dreams happen.
In our culture,
Americans believe
that our greatest deliverance,
what we need most,
is any deliverance
from anything oppressing
our sense of self-sovereignty,
our sense of what is owed me.
It's American individualism.
And so,
what can happen is
we can have
an Americanized Christianity
that takes Jesus
and makes him
into what I really want
and that is
life all about me.
Americanized Christianity
has a way of making
Christianity
about the followers
of Jesus
instead of the one
who's calling us
to follow him,
Jesus.
Who do you say
that I am?
This morning,
as we're talking about
this me of follow me,
we've got to be clear
on who he is.
We've got to be clear
on it
because what he's about
to call us to
is really hard.
We've got to be clear
on who he is.
So,
is your functional Jesus
the real Jesus
of the Bible
or is he a version
of Jesus
for your convenience?
Have you typecasted him
through a cultural lens?
Jesus.
So,
this morning,
just as Jesus
asked his disciples
about 2,000 years ago,
who do you say
I am?
He's asking you
this morning,
who do you
say that he is?
Really?
In order to follow him
in the way
he commands us to,
we must know
who he is.
So,
we've seen him
ask a question
of the crowds,
we've seen him
ask a question
of the disciples,
now let's us
ask Jesus
a question.
Jesus,
who do you say
that you are?
And he tells us
in verses 21 and 22,
and he strictly
charged and commanded
them to tell this
to no one,
that he's the Christ.
And 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 on the third day
be raised.
Now,
this might surprise
you a little bit
because here we are,
Peter just confesses
him as the Christ
that he is the king
of all
and it's kind of like,
why would Jesus
want to keep that
under wraps?
I mean,
doesn't he want
the nations
knowing that he's
the king of kings
and lord of lords,
that he is the Messiah,
the Christ?
Shouldn't they be doing that?
Why is he telling
them to be quiet?
Well,
they should be doing that
provided that they know
who the Christ
really is
and what the Christ
has come
and must do.
If they're going to go
proclaim Jesus
as the liberator
of national Israel,
they got it wrong.
And so what Jesus does
in verse 21
is he says,
hey guys,
before you start going
to tell other people
about me,
get all the information
about me first.
Make sure you truly know
who I am as the Christ
and what I must do
as the Christ
and then go proclaiming.
Jesus is essentially saying,
I am the Christ
but not the Christ
that you want me to be.
I have not come
to liberate the nation,
I have come
to liberate sinners.
And that leads us
to verse 22.
The Son of Man
must suffer many things
and be rejected
by elders
and chief priests
and scribes
and be killed
and on the third day
be raised.
You see that word must?
The Son of Man must,
must suffer,
must be killed,
must be raised.
Jesus is clarifying
who he is
as the Christ.
This is the one
that calls us
to follow him.
The Christ who suffered,
was crucified,
and raised.
He recasts
for his disciples
and us
what the Christ
came to do.
He didn't come initially
as a victorious warrior
to liberate
the nation
of ethnic Israel.
He came as a suffering servant
to liberate sinners
through his sacrificial death
on the cross.
Now,
this sounds good,
but really,
why does it matter?
Who cares?
Here's what's at stake.
The goal
of what Jesus
died for.
The purpose
of his sacrifice.
That's what's at stake.
If you believe
that Jesus
has come
and died
just to make
your life
a little bit better,
you are missing
the depth
and the beauty
and the glory
of what he did
on the cross
on your behalf.
If you're making
Jesus' death
on the cross
something that
is just
to complete you
in some way,
you've bought into
kind of a skim coat
Christianity.
You know what a skim coat is?
You just kind of
fill a little hole
by skimming
some filling over it.
It's just superficial.
It's cheap.
As Dietrich Ponhofer
would say,
it's a cheap grace.
What we see
Jesus talking about
is a work
that he's going to do
on the cross
that is not
a cheap grace
with a skim coat
salvation.
What he does
on the cross
is a deep
work of grace
that brings
about
a costly
salvation.
Jesus paid
it all.
He gave his life
for sinners
and not just
to forgive them
but to call them
to live for him.
He didn't die
to make you
a better version
of yourself.
He died on the cross
to deliver you
from yourself.
Jesus didn't die
for you to be
an add-on
to your life.
He died
to be your life.
Jesus didn't die
for you
in order to somehow
add the missing piece
to your life.
He died
for you
in order that
he would be
the organizational
center
of your life.
I've shared
this illustration
before
and so if you've
heard it
bear with me
but I think
it gets the job
done.
In the 16th century
there was
a mathematician
named Copernicus
Polish guy
he loved math
he loved economics
he loved studying
the stars
and at that time
the common belief
was what's called
a geocentric
understanding
of the solar system
and the idea
there is that
the earth
was believed
to be at the
center
of the solar
system
in the sun
and all the
planets
orbited
the earth
but what
Copernicus
discovered
basically through
math
is that we
don't live
in a geocentric
solar system
we live in
a heliocentric
solar system
the sun
is at the
middle
of our
solar system
and the
earth
orbits
the sun
it was a
complete
reorientation
of how people
thought about
our solar system
maybe you know
where I'm going
with this
when Jesus Christ
died on the cross
and was raised
from the dead
and when he
calls someone
to come follow
him
that grace
that deep
and costly
grace
that he poured
out for sinners
do you know
what that does
it moves you
from a me
centered view
of your life
into a Christ
centered view
of your life
when Jesus
died and was
raised he did
that to deliver
you from a
little life
live for you
to a huge
life live for
Christ
he died in the
place of sinners
sinners
who are completely
absorbed with
themselves
in order to
move them off
themselves
and onto him
and becoming
completely absorbed
and compelled
by him
do you know
what's amazing
about all this
stuff
we did not
invite Jesus
to do this
he initiated
this
God initiated
this
he in his
grace sent
his son
and paid
a huge
cost
with huge
ramifications
in order for
us to get
off ourselves
and get
onto him
so when we
come to
this part
of
Luke 9
and we're
asking the
question who
is this guy
he's more
than a prophet
and he's
the Christ
who was
crucified
and raised
and what
Jesus would
say I
am your
salvation
and what
Jesus would
say
and I
am a
deep
and costly
salvation
that radically
reorients
your life
from living
for yourself
to living
for me
that is
who is
calling us
to follow
him
he's worthy
of it all
he is the
king of kings
and lord of
lords
all things
have been
put under
his feet
and he
calls us
to follow
him
now that
we've
looked at
the me
now let's
look at
the follow
verse 23
and he
said to
all if
anyone would
come after
me let
him deny
himself and
take up his
cross daily
and follow
me
in this
call to
follow
we see
an invitation
and then we
see some
commands
and then he
gets into
some crossroads
and if we
have time
we'll get
there but
let's
look at
this
invitation
in verse
23
he says
if anyone
would come
after me
if anyone
would come
after me
remember that
me is the
crucified and
risen Christ
if anyone
would come
after me
it's an
invitation
and notice
it's a broad
invitation
if anyone
I'm not sure
about you
but I'm used
to getting
invitations
that are
limited in
nature
or I hear
about someone
going somewhere
that I didn't
get invited
to
we live
in a world
that puts
limits on
inviting people
to things
and what
Jesus does
here is he
invites anyone
to come
after him
so it
doesn't matter
how well
educated or
poorly educated
you are
Jesus says
come after
me
it doesn't
matter how
old you are
Jesus says
come after
me
it doesn't
matter if
you are
a man
or a woman
come after
me
it doesn't
matter your
race
Jesus says
come after
me
it doesn't
matter your
income
it doesn't
matter your
address
it doesn't
matter your
criminal record
Jesus says
if anyone
would come
after me
there's none
of those kinds
of limits
this is an
invitation
what's an
invitation to
an invitation
to what
if anyone
would come
after me
those words
come after
me
is an
invitation
to anyone
to become a
lifelong
disciple of
the crucified
and risen
Christ
to be a
disciple of
Jesus is to
truly know who
Jesus is
crucified Christ
and risen
and to
intentionally live
for Jesus
to become a
disciple of
Jesus is enter
into a
relationship with
a living
Christ
in which you
will learn
from him
you're going
to enter into
the Jesus
school and
you're going
to learn from
him in order
to obey
him and when
you start to
obey him you
start end up
becoming like
him and when
you start becoming
like him you
end up wanting
things that he
wants
so to
become a
disciple of
Jesus is to
have your life
completely reoriented
off yourself and
onto Jesus I'm no
longer living for
myself I'm living
for Jesus now
so what we see
happening here in
verse 23 is that
the Jewish Messiah
is throwing the
door wide open
for anyone to
come after him
and become his
disciple but
there's an
interesting word
here you can't
pass if anyone
would come after
me you see that
word would it's a
really important
word a better
translation of it
would be if anyone
is willing to come
after me if anyone
is willing to come
after me and at the
heart of this
willingness is a
heart of humility a
recognition of who
Jesus is and a
feeling of the
appropriateness to
follow him in
humility a
willing response
starts saying things
like this I
understand who
Jesus is and I
understand that to
follow Jesus is to
intentionally live for
Jesus let's not
surprise people with
saying oh come to
Jesus he's going to
make you really happy
and then they learn
out three months
later that they
actually have to deny
themselves to follow
Jesus when we're
invited by Jesus to
say if anyone is
willing to come after
me Jesus doesn't
strong arm anybody
into the kingdom he
he doesn't force
people to follow
him what he's
calling people anyone
to do there here is
to humble themselves
and to come after
him to come under
his gracious holy
holy rain he moves
from invitation if
anyone is willing to
come after me broad
God got to be willing
and humble and now
he's going to raise
the cost what it
requires in light of
his deep and costly
grace that he poured
out on the cross he
says come after me and
for you to come after
him you're going to
have to obey him he
gives us three commands
if anyone would come
after me if anybody is
willing to come after
me he must deny
himself and he must
take up his cross
daily and he must
follow me three costly
commands and the cost
is you we're going to
deny ourselves in order
to follow Jesus if
you're willing to come
after Jesus you must
deny yourself it's a
command it's not
optional Jesus says
if you want to follow
me you got to deny
yourself in order to
live for me
the costly grace that
God poured out through
Christ on the cross is
a grace that totally
reorients us to Jesus
and so we no longer live
for ourselves and we've
got to deny ourselves so
that we can live for
Jesus now so here's what
it means that word to
deny yourself can it
means to say no so a
follower of Jesus one
who follows him they're
going to have to say no
to their right to my
where am I going to live
my life self-direction I'm
going to say no to that so
that I can say yes to
Jesus directing my life if
I'm going to follow
Jesus I've got to say no
to my perceived right of
self-preservation so that
I can say yes to Jesus
even if that means I'm
being exposed to danger
those who follow Jesus
may they must say no to
self-glory thinking that
it's all about me so that
they can say yes to Christ's
glory because it's all
about him you know this
self-denial boils down to
we we renounce our
perceived right to self
determination so that I
can follow my great God
and King Jesus man this
hangs Americanized
Christianity of
individualism it puts it
right out the door
so this is what it means
if you're unwilling to
deny yourself in order to
live for Jesus you can't be
his disciple that's what he
calls us to do you know
what the real question is
is he worth it that's the
real question is this guy who
died 2,000 years ago and was
raised from the dead and
apparently is raining on is
he worth it to deny myself oh
yeah let's keep going the
second command if anyone is
willing to come after me he
must take up his cross daily
he must take up his cross daily
Jesus is just reference his
death he's going to be
crucified and we all know that's
by the cross the cross is a
symbol of death and when we
think of the cross nowadays it is
linked to Jesus death here's what
Jesus is saying we must do you
must identify with Jesus if
you're going to follow him you
must identify with him to the
point that you're going to be
humiliated and put to shame in the
eyes of the world you know how
humiliating it was to be
crucified on a cross
and notice this is a daily taking
up of the cross it's a daily dying
out of being identified with
Christ we must take up our
crosses daily it's one thing to
deny yourself in order to live for
Christ it's another thing to suffer
the consequences for living for
Christ and that's what Jesus is
getting at here to bear your cross
is what Jesus he's making explicit
that there is a unique suffering
Christians will experience because
they are living for Christ that they
are being identified with him so
every morning it would be very
appropriate for you to get up and
you say Jesus you're awesome so
therefore I'm going to deny myself in
order that I can live for you and
whatever comes as a consequence for
that let it come because I'm
identifying with you if you're
unwilling to experience the
humiliation of being identified with
Christ on a daily basis you can't be
his disciple are you willing to be
the butt end of people's jokes because
you're a follower of Jesus are you
willing to be labeled the religious
guy or gal in your family and be
avoided are you willing to lose your
position at work or be overlooked at
work because you are unwilling to look
the other way or somehow be unethical
because you're living for Jesus now
are you willing to be gossiped about and
to be avoided by your neighbors because
they think you're a freak living for
Jesus
and when it comes to our church are we
willing as a church to suffer the
fallout of being a prophetic voice of
Jesus to this city for this city's good
are you willing
the question that we end up having to
ask is is Jesus worth it is he worth
it
the first two commands to follow Jesus
are designed to reorient us off
ourselves you got to die to yourself in
order to live for Jesus and now he
comes and says the two words follow me
follow me if anyone would come after
me he must deny himself take up his
cross daily and command follow me it's a
present tense command which means it has
this sense of ongoing action I am
commanded to continually follow Jesus in
other words not just one time following
Jesus or not just for kind of a spurt of
three months following Jesus if I'm to
follow Jesus I'm to follow him for the
rest of my life
when you become a disciple of Jesus
Christ you enter the Jesus school he is
our teacher and he teaches us to follow
him in every area of our he gradually makes
us more and more like him next week when
we talk about a disciple is someone who is
saturated with God's word will bring this
out a little bit more but the call here is
to follow him not to follow you you've got to
deny yourself did not deny yourself call is to
follow the crucified risen and reigning Jesus in
every area of your life it means living for him
so is this narrow and hard way of discipleship is it
worth it is it worth it to deny myself daily to take up my
cross daily to follow him daily is it worth it
for those of us who know who Jesus is and we understand what exactly he has done in order
to graciously call him to ourselves to himself oh yeah it's worth it he's the treasure hidden field
he's the pearl of great price
he's the one worthy of our lives
in verses 24 and 26 after
the invitation and after these three commands we see three crossroads
and what it basically is it's
Jesus
Jesus lays out two ways to live there there are those who are living for Jesus
and then those who are living for themselves and he says there are three crossroads that we will experience with everyone on the planet
those living for Jesus and those living for themselves they will have very different perspectives on what it means to save your life
whoever would save his life for his sake will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it
in order to follow Jesus
you must say no to a life lived for yourself
in order to live a life
for Christ
and if you're wondering right now
well that sounds awful
it's no loss
it's all gain
Jesus is our gain
Jim Elliot said he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose
the first crossroads is what it means to save your life
those who are living for themselves think that saving your life means living for yourself
and those who are living for Christ know that saving your life means living for Christ
that's where life is
the second crossroads is
has anything to do with the world
and I'm just going to skip that and move down to verse 26
the third crossroads of what it means
of being ashamed
in this age
if you are living for yourself
you are going to be ashamed
of Jesus
and his words
the two are vitally linked
see that in verse 26
for whoever is ashamed of me
and of my words of him
will the son of man be ashamed
when he comes in his glory
and the glory of the father
and of the holy angels
to be ashamed of Jesus
means to
disassociate yourself with him
to deny him
and so if you're living today
and you are disassociating yourself
because you're embarrassed by him
do you know what he says
when I come back
I'm going to be ashamed of you
I'm going to distance myself from you
I'm going to deny you
but for those of us
who are living for Christ now
we don't need to be ashamed
we identify ourselves
with him and his word
we are living according to his word
for his glory
and so the prospect
of his coming back
that doesn't strike
that doesn't strike fear into us
that strikes joy into us
come Lord Jesus
come
we want to hear
well done
good and faithful servant
enter the joy of your master
what this means
is the way that we live
for Christ now
it's going to contrast
with the way that people
who are living for themselves now
and there are eternal
implications to it
let me conclude by saying this
what does it mean to be a Christian
in the 21st century
well you know what
Jesus hasn't changed
we may have different
cultural contexts
from the 1st century
to the 21st century
but Jesus hasn't changed
and his costly call
to follow him
hasn't changed
it's a corrective for us
becoming a Christian
is far more reaching
than simply asking Jesus
to come into your heart
to become a Christian
is to have your life
completely reoriented
by the costly
deep grace of Christ
from living for yourself
to live for Christ
so this
here's what this means for us
we got to call people
to follow Jesus
as he called people
to follow Jesus
we invite them
to come after him
who gave himself up
for them
and the cost
is high
we don't diminish
the cost
we make it known
and let God
do his work
and what we will see
as we step out
in faith
is that God
is going to call
followers to himself
men and women
boys and girls
who are willing
to give it all up
so that they can
live for the one
who paid it all
it's amazing
what two words
can do
two words
follow me
these two words
must
radically
reorient
our lives
off of ourselves
and onto Jesus
that's where
true
life
is
let's pray
Lord Jesus
you are worthy
right now
at the right hand
of God the Father
you are surrounded
by
elders
and myriads
of angels
and the redeemed
and they are
worshiping you
they are singing
the glory
and praise
that are due
your name
Lord Jesus
we ask
that you would
do a work
in us
where it's
our joy
to deny
ourselves
take up
our cross
daily
and follow
you
you're worth
it Lord
Jesus
we pray
this all
in your name
amen