Well, good morning, everyone.
The year, as we've already heard a bit this morning,
you probably remember yourself, 2020 was the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19.
!
We had a limit of five and funerals a limit of 10 people.
Only five days after that, the first general public lockdown happened here in New South Wales.
It was so rapid, unprecedented times.
All of our habits and behaviours were shifted dramatically.
We had to think every time before we moved outside.
In fact, from that general public lockdown on the 31st of March 2020,
we experienced the constant process of restrictions being eased,
only to be tightened again until the 25th of June 2021,
when the Delta variant of COVID caused Sydney to go into strict lockdowns once again.
And this hard lockdown stayed in force until the 11th of October 2021,
when the New South Wales government allowed us to take off our pyjamas and venture out once again.
And we started to regather for Sunday services like this in November 2021.
That was basically the end of the first year of follow 25.
We regathered like this, but with ongoing restrictions until the end of 2021.
I think it's hard to reflect on follow 25 without factoring in COVID as an issue.
Because even from the process of regathering, it was 18 months after that, well into 2022,
before an element of a new normality started to settle in amongst us.
COVID-19 cast a very big shadow over,
not just the early days of follow 25, but the planning leading up to it.
It was a pandemic that had a profound impact on society.
As we know now, things like anxiety and mental health issues went through the roof.
During lockdowns, issues of alcohol abuse and domestic violence climbed dramatically.
And so the issue, people argue nowadays that the COVID-19 pandemic
sped up the issues of anxiety and mental health in our society by 10 years,
sped it up so fast.
Of course, what it also did was it had a profound impact on churches.
Early thinking of the COVID-19 pandemic was that it estimated that the pandemic sped up
the great de-churching of the West by at least 10 years as well,
where church attendance rapidly declined.
And the longer we stayed online, the less people were tuning in.
So what COVID-19 did was expose for the church in the West,
something that some of the greats had been saying for many years,
and that there was a shallowness to discipleship,
to following Jesus in Western Christianity.
For too long, the focus of churches had been, in fact,
growing church attendance on programs and buildings,
but in fact not on intentionally forming disciples of the Lord Jesus
who would multiply themselves as forming other disciples of the Lord Jesus.
And so COVID-19 was the wake-up call that we needed,
if we were willing to be woken up,
to push follow Jesus in all of life back into the focus for the church like ours.
And it was the context that produced follow 25,
and the key objective to see the majority of us grow in faith in the Lord Jesus.
And so this morning, what we're doing is we're going to go back
to see what it is to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,
where we started, in fact, in follow 25 and Mark 8.
So get Mark 8 open for us there.
And I've got, this is where we're headed today in these points.
It's also in the St. Paul's app if you want to follow along in there.
The word disciple, not uniquely Christian word,
it was in fact common in Greek and both the Greek and Roman empires.
It's a word that literally means a student, learner.
In Jewish context, the context of Jesus,
is that there was a saying that says that a disciple
should become dusty with the dust of their rabbi.
That is, we should follow their rabbi so closely
that they would be covered in the dust that the rabbi stirred up
by their feet as they walked.
That is, the idea was that you would follow them in all of life
and reflect them in all of life,
that as they were dirty, so you became dirty with their dust.
And it's in this context that Jesus calls disciples
to leave everything to come follow him.
And Mark tells us why.
Why would they do that?
You see, the crucial question here
is the question of who is Jesus.
Jesus says that.
Well, you know, who do people say I am?
What's the general consensus?
Jesus says that.
And the views are many throughout history.
You see, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ,
is undoubtedly the most popular, recognizable,
the most quoted, the most admired,
the most controversial figure in all of history
and human society.
No other person has been more scrutinized and studied.
Entire philosophies and religions have been founded on his teaching.
No more books, sorry, more books have been written about him
than any other person in human history.
Every day his name is spoken by more people
from affectionate admiration to absent-minded curses
right through to denouncements.
No teaching has ever been more exploited and used than that of Jesus.
Politicians grab one of his quotable quotes
in order to prop up their political platform.
It might be to honor him as one of God's prophets
or simply as an enlightened man.
It might be to reject him as a fraud,
to hail him as the king of kings and the saviour of the world.
No person is more misunderstood,
marginalized, commercialized than the person of Jesus.
He's viewed as a stern taskmaster
or as a moral jellyfish,
just willing to hand out forgiveness
and turn the blind eye to anyone
who might pray a simple shallow prayer of confession
only to go on the next moment living life
devoid of his presence.
In other words, the point is that if you get the person
of Jesus wrong,
you get Christianity entirely wrong.
Entirely wrong.
Who he is and what he did
are the crucial questions
because it defines what does it mean to follow him.
And Mark is one of those biographies of Jesus
that he wants to make sure that we're not vague
about the answers to those questions.
Who he is, what he's done
and what does it mean to follow him.
In verse 29, Peter answers the big question
of the identity of Jesus.
He says Jesus is the Messiah.
He's the Christ.
He's using a word that literally means
you are the anointed one.
The anointed one.
You're the Messiah.
You are the Christ,
which means you are the greatest king.
You are the king to end all kings.
You're the ruler to end all rulers.
And you're the king.
Using the word Messiah means that you will come
to defeat evil.
And Jesus accepts the title.
He does not rebuke Peter at all.
And that has massive implications
for all of humanity.
Because Peter is using a title
that has implications for every single human being.
It's a title which means that Jesus
is not calling people here to be curious onlookers.
He's not even calling people to be converts.
He's calling them to be disciples.
Followers.
Fully committed followers
to the Christ.
The king to end all kings.
The ruler of all rulers.
And the word Christian,
the word disciple,
the word follower of Jesus,
whatever you want to use,
are interchangeable words
which really describe
a relationship with Jesus
that is a lifelong,
all of life journey
where you follow,
where you are getting dusty
with the dust
of the Christ.
The ruler of all.
That's a Christian.
But then he,
Jesus throws a little bit more light
on what it means to be,
what it means for him to be the Christ
and implications for us who follow it.
So verse 31,
he 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 then he must be killed
and after three days rise again.
He spoke plainly about this
and Peter took him aside
and began to rebuke him.
He says,
the son of man
must suffer.
So,
he accepts the title
of the anointed one
and now he refers to himself
as the son of man.
As I said last week,
the son of man
is a divine figure
mentioned hundreds of years earlier
in the book of Daniel chapter 7.
And this son of man
comes with authority,
all the authority of God
to put everything right
in a world,
in God's world
that has gone horribly wrong
because of sin.
And Jesus refers to himself
as that one.
But,
the idea
of the son of man's suffering
makes absolutely
no sense
whatsoever
to these Jewish lads
following Jesus
in this moment.
You see,
the Messiah,
the son of man
was meant to defeat
evil and injustice
and make everything wrong,
everything right
that's wrong in the world.
How on earth
could the Messiah,
the son of man
do that
by suffering?
But Jesus
is emphatic.
He is
planning
to die.
It's a planned
and a voluntary
act.
You see,
it's one thing
for Jesus to say,
listen guys,
I'm here,
I'm going to fight evil.
And,
you know,
but in the end
I will die,
I will be defeated.
It's another thing
entirely
for them to say,
in actual fact,
death is the reason
I came
to live.
And none of this
makes sense
to Peter at all.
At all.
You see,
from an early age
when he could crawl,
he was told
that the Messiah
would come
and defeat
evil and
injustice
and he would
ascend the throne
in Jerusalem
and reestablish
the nation
of Israel,
God's people.
people.
And Jesus
says,
I am the Messiah.
Peter said it
with his own mouth,
I am the Messiah.
I am the
Son of Man
but I've come
to die
not to
live
and reign.
I've come
to lose
power
not gain it.
I've come
to serve
not to
be served.
And so
Peter in this
moment
condemns
Jesus
in the
strongest
possible
terms.
The
strongest
possible
terms.
And Jesus
rebukes him.
You see,
Jesus is emphatic.
I must
suffer.
And the
word must
there
controls
the
entire
sentence.
I must
suffer.
I must
be rejected.
I must
be killed.
And I
must be
resurrected.
And all
of those
musts
have to
happen
for humanity
to be
saved
and for
the world
to be
renewed.
For justice
to be
served,
Jesus
must
suffer.
He
must
suffer.
You see,
when
someone
wrongs
us
in any
category
of life,
what happens
in that
moment is
a debt
is
established.
For
instance,
if you
grab my
phone and
you break
my phone
or you
steal my
phone,
a debt
has been
established.
Imagine you
break it,
you tread on
it,
although
apparently
it's not
meant to
break.
So we'll
see.
Hopefully
not.
There are
really only
two options
in that
moment.
Either you
pay to
repair or
to replace
my phone
or I
say to
you,
don't worry
about it,
I forgive
you.
They're the
only two
options.
in the
first case,
you pay
the debt.
You
either get
my phone
repaired or
you replace
it,
you've got
to open
up your
wallet or
your key
card and
you've got
to pay
for it.
In other
words,
and in the
second case,
I pay for
the debt.
That is,
the value
of that
phone doesn't
just disappear
into the
ether
somewhere.
The value
of the
phone is
still there
and someone
has to pay
for it.
And if I
choose to
forgive you
that debt,
then I
have to
pay the
debt.
I either
pay the
repairs on
the phone
or I pay
for a new
phone or
I go back
to paper
and pen
and landline
or pigeons
or whatever.
In other
words,
I absorb
the debt
in some
way and
I have
to pay
for it
if I
forgive you.
And that
happens on
every level
in society.
If someone
robs us
of an
opportunity
of happiness
or reputation
or in
some,
a debt
is accrued
at that
point.
A relational
debt is
accrued.
And there's
only two
choices.
You can
make the
other person
pay by
destroying
their
opportunities
and ruining
their
reputation.
That is,
you can
hope that
they suffer
or you
can ensure
that they
do.
And in
that moment,
as I said
last week,
evil wins.
it's
fighting fire
with fire.
And when
you fight
fire with
fire,
one debt
creates
another debt
which creates
another debt
which creates
another debt
and it
goes on
and evil
wins.
And the
only
alternative
in that
moment
instead of
fighting fire
with fire
is to
forgive.
But
forgiveness
is so
hard.
It's in
fact the
harder way.
It's
absolute
agony
because
forgiveness
means I
choose to
absorb the
debt
that you
have against
me.
It means
not trying
to get my
reputation
back by
tearing down
your reputation
even subtly
sharing prayer
points.
Lord we want
to pray for
this person
who's wrong
to me.
Did I mention
them by name
by the way
so that you
all know?
True
forgiveness
always
requires
suffering.
Debt
never just
vanishes.
And that's
why Jesus
says here
I
must
suffer.
The
only way
that the
son of
man can
defeat
evil
and
maintain
justice.
The
only way
that God
can forgive
us is
if he
was to
absorb the
debt
himself
and pay
for it
himself.
The
alternative
is he
obliterates
humanity.
It's
either
humanity
pays the
debt for
its sin
of rejecting
God their
creator
by
suffering
under
the
justice
of
God.
You
reject
the
author
of
life
and
so you
die
eternal
life.
Or
God
chooses to
forgive
sin
in which
means he
pays for
it.
Jesus
must suffer.
He
must go
to the
cross
and he
must
die.
And so
we have
this
remarkable
moment
here.
Jesus
is the
Christ.
He
is the
king to
end all
kings.
He is
the ruler
and deserves
our allegiance.
He deserves
us to
follow him.
He has the
authority to
command it.
But he's
the king
that we
could never
possibly
imagine.
He's the
king who
must die
because he
chooses to
forgive.
You see,
as the
Christ with
all authority,
Jesus can
demand us
to follow
him, but
it's the
Christ who
chooses to
suffer for
us out of
love in
order to
forgive us,
that compels
us to
follow him.
But he
doesn't just
stop there
because as
he walks
this journey
and our
role as
followers of
him is to
get dust,
dust,
let's just
keep reading
verse 34,
for then
he called
the crowd
to him
along with
his disciples
and said,
whoever wants
to be my
disciple must
deny themselves
and take up
their cross
and follow
me.
Whoever
wants to
save their
life will
lose it,
but whoever
loses their
life for me
and for the
gospel will
save it.
What good
is it for
someone to
gain the
whole world
and yet
forfeit
their soul?
Or what
can anyone
give in
exchange for
their soul?
Now what
does it
mean to
lose our
life for
the gospel
in order
to save
it?
The word
translated
life there
in verse
35 is a
word that
literally stems
from the
original word
ego.
It means
your identity,
it means
your personality,
it means
your sense
of selfhood.
Ah.
It means
the things
that make
you
distinctively
you,
what you
have built
your life
on.
In other
words,
what Jesus
is saying
here in
a roundabout
kind of
way is
he's saying
don't build
your identity
on gaining
the whole
world for
yourself.
He says
in verse
36,
what good
is it
for someone
to gain
the whole
world
and yet
forfeit
their soul
or forfeit
their very
self.
Now
every
culture,
no matter
what culture
we come
from,
says that
if you
gain certain
things in
life,
if you
acquire
them or
you achieve
them,
then you
will have
a strong
sense of
identity of
who you
are and
you'll know
at that
moment that
you are
valuable,
that you
are worthy
and then
you'll have
rest.
Traditional
cultures would
say that
you have
no sense
of self
unless you
gain the
respectability
and legacy
of family
and children.
Individualistic
cultures say
things like
you're nobody
unless you
have a
fulfilling
career that
brings you
reputation,
money,
status,
that kind
of stuff.
Either way,
it doesn't
matter what
culture you
come from,
all cultures
of this
world basically
say the
same thing.
Who you
are as a
person,
your identity,
your sense
of who you
are is
based on
your performance.
In one way
or another,
it's based on
your performance.
It's based on
what you've
achieved.
If you
perform well
enough in
conforming to
your culture,
then you
will find the
love and the
approval and
the acceptance
that you so
desperately need.
And what
Jesus says here
is if you
gain the
entire world,
you do it
better than
anyone else,
it won't be
enough because
you will lose.
the more
you try to
gain,
the more
you will lose
your sense
of self.
It's not
without a
certain sense
of irony
that one of
the things
that COVID-19
brought out
for us,
particularly in
lockdowns in
the Western
world,
a growing
sense of
mental health,
an actual
pandemic of
mental health.
Why?
One of the
core foundational
values of
Western
civilisation is
personal
freedom.
And a whole
generation have
been grown up
through schools.
You can be
whoever you
want, you
can do
whatever you
want.
That is until
the government
says I can't
leave home.
My core
value of my
identity has
been rocked.
by not
being able to
even leave
my home.
You can
gain the
whole world,
it won't be
enough.
If we build
our identity
on a
relationship
or a
career
or whatever
it might be,
what happens
when something
goes wrong
with that
thing?
Our sense
of self
is rocked.
I don't
just lose
a job,
I lose
part of
myself.
And so
what Jesus
says here is
I'm not
come to
convince you
to shift
from one
performance-based
identity to
another
performance-based
identity.
He wants
us to
lose our
old self,
the old
identity,
and base
our sense
of approval
and worth,
our value,
on the
identity
that only
He can
give us.
Notice it
there in
verse 35.
For whoever
wants to save
their life will
lose it,
and here's the
alternative.
But whoever
loses their
life for me
and for the
gospel will
save it.
In other
words,
whoever
surrenders
their life
to me,
whoever
hands over
themselves to
me,
and the
gospel will
save it.
When our
life is lost
in the
gospel,
we save it.
And the
gospel,
if you're new
here,
or even if
you're not,
let me remind
you again,
it is the
foundation of
what we believe
here at
St. Paul's.
It is the
heart of
Christianity and
the Christian
discipleship.
You don't
ever move
beyond the
gospel.
The gospel is
not something
we do,
it is something
God has done
for us in
Jesus.
It is God's
grace to us
from beginning
to end.
We believe
and receive
and we live
as followers
of Jesus
in the light
of the
gospel.
And the
gospel is
the good
news that
Jesus Christ,
the Son of
God,
died for
our sins
and he
rose again
eternally
triumphant
over all
of his
enemies,
evil,
sin,
death,
in such
a way
that there
is now
no condemnation,
not even
a skerrick
of condemnation
for anyone
who puts
their trust
in Jesus
but only
the hope
of everlasting
joy
in him.
1 Thessalonians
5 is
pure gospel
for God
did not
appoint us
to suffer
but to
receive
salvation
through
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ.
He
died
for us
so that
whether we
are awake
or asleep
we may
live together
with him.
You see
once we
see the
Son of
God
loving us
like that
we begin
to get
a strength
and assurance
and identity
that actually
sets us
free
and Peter
in this
moment
is
furious
he's
furious
because
his
agenda
for
Jesus
was an
agenda
that led
from strength
to strength
and while
he acknowledged
that Jesus
was the
king
he was
hoping
that he
would at
least be
the prime
minister
and bask
in the
glory of
Jesus'
victory
as he
took the
throne
in Jerusalem
and so
Peter's
agenda
did not
involve
suffering
as it
is the
agenda
for so
many
Christians
in the
western
world
it does
not
involve
suffering
if Jesus
is the
king
to end
all
kings
what we
are told
here is
we do
not
negotiate
with him
it's
essential
that we
see Jesus
the king
on the
cross
if we
simply
see him
as a
king
on a
throne
we'll
obey him
because we
have to
obey him
and there's
a definition
of religion
but he
is the
ultimate
king
who went
to the
cross
for us
and therefore
we can
submit
to him
out of
love
and trust
and so
following
Jesus
means dying
to self
determination
it means
dying to
control
my life
it means
dying to
using
Jesus
for my
own
agenda
and
simply
saying
with
our
whole
being
whatever
you
call me
to do
I will
do
and
whatever
you send
I will
accept
it's
a life
of
submission
and what
is the
goal
of that
you see
if you get
Jesus
wrong
we get
follow him
wrong
and we
also get
what his
plan for
us
is wrong
verse 38
is the
goal
of
Jesus
entire
mission
if
anyone
is
ashamed
of
me
and
my
words
in
this
adulterous
sinful
generation
the
son
of
man
will
be
ashamed
of
them
when
he
comes
in
his
father's
glory
with
the
holy
angels
in
other
words
what
he's
saying
here
is
Jesus
mission
is
not
just
simply
to
save
sinners
but
it's
in
fact
to
save
sinners
for
God's
glory
until
the
very
end
when
God
is
glorified
Jesus
came
into
this
world
to
reveal
the
glorious
God
to
a
world
that
is
intoxicated
with
its
own
glory
and
its
own
passions
to
gain
the
entire
world
growth
as a
disciple
of
Jesus
is
a
simultaneous
process
of
getting
a
bigger
and
bigger
vision
and
grasping
more
and more
faith
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
as
king
over
my
life
and
a
growth
downwards
as I
divest
myself
of
all
sense
of
who
I
am
and
my
worthiness
I
grow
downwards
as I
see
my
frailty
and my
sin!
And so
I
grow
upwards
in
and
downwards
in
humility
and
they
happen
together
concurrently
and
Jesus
Christ
calls
him
to
follow
him
so
that
we
might
become
like
him
for
God's
glory
1
John
3
now
we
are
children
of
God
and
what
we
will
be
has
not
yet
been
made
known
but
we
know
that
when
Christ
appears
we
shall
be
like
him
for
we
see
him
as
he
is
all
who
have
that
hope
in
the
future
my
words
in
him
purify
themselves
just
as
he
is
in
other
words
the
goal
of
being
saved
by
Jesus
the
goal
of
following
Jesus
is
personal
transformation
into
the
likeness
of
Jesus
to
become
as
he
is
like
Jesus
in
his
patient
endurance
like
Jesus
in
his
priority
like
Jesus
in
his
mission
to
the
world
to
be
a
Christian
is
to
walk
the
path
of
transformation
into
the
image
of
Jesus
Christianity
is
not
just
about
sin
management
I
pray to
praise
forgive
my
sins
and
now
Jesus
job
is
to
support
me
and
my
agenda
for
life
that's
what
Peter
got
wrong
and
we
cannot
grow
in
personal
transformation
unless
we are
consistently
looking at
and to
the
one
we are
to
become
like
that's
been
the
essence
of
follow
25
in
fact
the
key
objective
there
was
75%
growing
much
in
faith
why
that
key
objective
because
unless
we are
specifically
growing
in
faith
all
the
other
things
that
we
would
do
associated
with
being
a
disciple
of
Jesus
generosity
doesn't
happen
evangelism
doesn't
happen
although
growing
greater
confidence
the
rest
doesn't
happen
and
we've
heard
again
about
the
last
five
years
and
remind
again
today
that
research
has
indicated
that
there's
only
really
one
I mean
there's
multiple
things
that
contribute
to
growth
in
faith
but
there's
one
key
one
and
that
is
reading
God's
word
more
than
four
times
a
week
in
other
words
constantly
gazing
on
the
glory
of
Christ
and
God
and
his
gospel
four
more
times
a
week
and
so
when
I
put
down
there
65%
us
growing
in
faith
that
was
a
target
according
to
people
who were
helping us
at this
point
was a
very
ambitious
target
especially
so
because
in
2021
the
figure
for us
here
at
St.
Paul's
was
17%
and
so
did we
hit
65%
no
research
our own
research
this
year
we
hit
48%
is
that
a
failure
10
years ago
I would
have said
yes
right now
I'd say
no
in
fact
along
with
that
48%
and
I
might
add
that
in
our
own
church
culture
here
in
Sydney
the
average
is
around
the
24%
but
along
with
that
48%
we
are
also
seeing
in
the
last
12
months
94%
of us
are
saying
that
they're
growing
in
faith
what's
the
bedrock
78%
of us
are
saying
that
they're
doing
a
personal
devotional
life
more
than
a few
times
a
week
there
it
is
right
there
gazing
on
the
glory
of
the
gospel
and
so
for me
personally
I
started
follow
25
with a
commitment
to
read
the
Old
Testament
five
times
and
the
New
Testament
and
Psalms
ten
times
over
the
course
of
the
five
years
I
had
never
had
to
do
that
before
and
I
wasn't
sure
how
I
was
going
to
do
it
but
the
disruption
of
my
routines
during
COVID
19
restrictions
provided
the
opportunity
that I
needed
for
new
habits
to
be
formed
the
lockdowns
were a
blessing
on one
level
for me
as it
was for
most
introverts
by the
way
and
those
habits
that were
formed
in those
days
still
continue
to this
day
and
so
I'm
hoping
just in
the next
couple
of
weeks
to be
able
to say
based
on
I'm
up
to
date
and
I
see
no
reason
why
I
would
not
finish
that
commitment
I am
so
thankful
for the
challenging
times
in the
early
stage
of
Follow
25
and
the
fruit
that
it
bore
I
can
tell
you
over
the
last
five
years
and
the
commitment
to
read
God's
word
in
that
way
my
grasp
of
the
landscape
of
God's
word
and
God's
character
has
grown
exponentially
where
I can
read
what might
be regarded
as obscure
passages
in the
Old
Testament
and go
there's
the
gospel
right
there
there's
God's
character
on display
right
there
and
as
I've
seen
more
and
more
of
God
over
the
last
five
years
I've
also
seen
more
and
more
of
myself
I
started
to
see
in
the
last
five
years
and
particularly
around
the
early
days
of
COVID-19
which
started
a bunch
of
the
for
me
desires
and
passions
that
were
deep
down
inside
of
me
that
were
more
akin
to
Peter
Jesus
I
want
to
make
your
name
great
providing
you make
my name
great
with
you
as
well
glorify
yourself
if it
means
glorifying
me
with
you
with
that
unprecedented
season
in
church
life
with
COVID-19
all
the
markers
of
success
of
a
church
pastor
went
in
rapid
decline
rapid
decline
so
many
pastors
left
churches
during
the
pandemic
and
soon
afterwards
in
the
regathering
phase
because
it
was
just
too
hard
to
rebuild
churches
and
so
with
COVID-19
came
to the
surface
with
me
not
just
sin
but
the
anxiety
that
surfaced
with
those
sins
I
had
never
ever
considered
myself
to be
an
anxious
person
before
as
I
saw
God
more
and
more
in
his
word
through
that
season
he
has
helped
me
see
my
sin
and
he's
also
helped
me
to
become
more
confident
in
him
and
gradually
bit
by
bit
less
anxious
and
controlling
in the
midst
of a
chaos
and
more
dependent
upon
him
to
become
the
language
of
some
non-anxious
presence
to
work
more
on
that
and
so
I'm
thankful
for
what
God
has
done
in
me
over
the
past
five
years
and
what
follow
25
has
meant
for
us
despite
us
not
achieving
all
that
I
thought
it
might
achieve
but
I
am
looking
forward
with
hope
to
what
God
might
do
together