CALL TO WORSHIP
CHORUSES
OPENING PRAYER
WELCOME and THANKS for joining us.
OPENING COMMENTS
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- In our call to worship Psalm, the psalmist reminds us to remember the wonders that God has performed on our behalf.
- In the book of Exodus, God speaks to Moses, letting him know that he has heard the cries of his people and will act on their behalf.
- In Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew records Jesus telling Peter that the concerns of God are far above Peter’s own concerns, and
- in Romans 12:9-21, Paul admonishes the Roman church to be concerned for one another after the pattern of Christ’s concern for us.
FIRST READING
Psalm 105:1-6
1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!
3 Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
4 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!
5 Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, 6 O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
OPENING SONGS
MEDLEY: Jesus, We Enthone You // Shout To The Lord … Don Moen et al …
SERMONETTE
PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT +
The English poet, William Ernest Henley, was an avowed atheist. You might recognize his name from his famous poem entitled, “Invictus.” Invictus is Latin for “Unconquered.”
Several generations of high school and college students have had this poem quoted to them at their graduation ceremonies around the world. The last line of this poem boasts this:
It matters not how strait the gait,
how charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.1
Many have risen to their feet with applause upon hearing this inspiring declaration. I wonder how these words fall on your ears. Do they make you want to go out and conquer the world?
While we mortal beings do possess great power and can achieve a great many things, are we truly the masters of our own fate, the captains of our own souls?
In his gospel, Matthew records Jesus’ stinging rebuke to one of his closest disciples. After hearing from Jesus that he was going to suffer and die, Peter challenged Jesus to be the master of his own fate, the captain of his soul.
Jesus stopped that train of thought and informed Peter in no uncertain terms that he didn’t have the things of God in mind. Following those words, Jesus clarifies where true life is found – by following him.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it do for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
Matthew 16:24-26
Jesus makes it clear to his disciples, and to us, that as His followers, we must die to our self-will. Entering into life with Christ, opens us to experience His love and the greater reality of his kingdom. Captived by Christ, we realize that our longings and desires are met through participating with him in drawing humanity into the Father’s loving embrace. We trade our self-generated ideas of glory in for giving him the glory, trusting He is working for our good.
We must die to the very idea of being the masters of our own destinies. Someone else is in charge, and that someone is Jesus. He is the One who entered into our suffering, conquered our souls with the Father’s love, and who through the leading of the Holy Spirit brings us into a destiny that is far greater than one who we could ask for or imagine.
In response to Henley’s “Invictus”, Dorothy Day penned her poem, entitled “Conquered”. The opening line states:
Out of the light that dazzles me,
bright as the sun from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be,
for Christ-the conqueror of my soul.2
Captivated by Christ, may you trade your self-will for the glorious destiny He has in store for all of humanity.
I’m Cara Garrity, Speaking of Life.
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, [a]“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are [b]an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
SERMON
Before You Make a Disciple . . .
INTRODUCTION
A. What does it mean to be a disciple?
B. More specifically, what does it mean to be a disciple of Christ?
C. Some say “to follow Christ” … Others may say “to learn from Christ” … and they’d be right.
D. But there’s more to being a disciple of Christ.
E. Our text today gives us some insight into what Jesus had in mind for His disciples.
F. Our text for today …
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, [a]“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are[b]an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
- Looking at something Christ told His disciples before we get to today’s passage … that went before … First, remember the message from last week … Matthew 16:18 … Christ was going to build His Church
- Looking ahead to something Christ will tell His disciples after today’s passage … Second, Matthew 28:19 … His Church had a particular mission … to make disciples
- Third, the message from today’s passage is about being a disciple.
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, [a]“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me,Satan! (Cf. Lk.4:13) You are[b]an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
- a quotation
- Something William Barclay, the Scottish theologian, said … in his commentary on Matthew 16:24 … from his commentary on the Book of MATTHEW …
Here we have one of the dominant and ever-recurring themes of Jesus’ teaching. These are things which Jesus said to men again and again (Matt. 10:37-39; Mk.8:34-37; Lk.9:23-27; Lk.14:25-27; Lk.17:33; Jn.12:25). Again and again he confronted them with the challenge of the Christian life. There are three things which a man must be prepared to do, if he is to live the Christian life.
(i) He must deny himself. Ordinarily we use the word self-denial in a restricted sense. We use it to mean giving up something. For instance, a week of self-denial may be a week when we do without certain pleasures or luxuries in order to contribute to some good cause. But that is only a very small part of what Jesus meant by self-denial. To deny oneself means in every moment of life to say no to self and yes to God. To deny oneself means once, finally and for all to dethrone self and to enthrone God. To deny oneself means to obliterate self as the dominant principle of life, and to make God the ruling principle, more, the ruling passion, of life. The life of constant self-denial is the life of constant assent to God.
(ii) He must take up his cross. That is to say, he must take up the burden of sacrifice. The Christian life is the life of sacrificial service. The Christian may have to abandon personal ambition to serve Christ; it may be that he will discover that the place where he can render the greatest service to Jesus Christ is somewhere where the reward will be small and the prestige non-existent. He will certainly have to sacrifice time and leisure and pleasure in order to serve God through the service of his fellow-men.
To put it quite simply, the comfort of the fireside, the pleasure of a visit to a place of entertainment, may well have to be sacrificed for the duties of the eldership, the calls of the youth club, the visit to the home of some sad or lonely soul. He may well have to sacrifice certain things he could well afford to possess in order to give more away. The Christian life is the sacrificial life.
Luke, with a flash of sheer insight, adds one word to this command of Jesus: “Let him take up his cross daily.” The really important thing is not the great moments of sacrifice, but a life lived in the constant hourly awareness of the demands of God and the need of others. The Christian life is a life which is always concerned with others more than it is concerned with itself.
(iii) He must follow Jesus Christ. That is to say, he must render to Jesus Christ a perfect obedience. When we were young we used to play a game called “Follow my Leader.” Everything the leader did, however difficult, and, in the case of the game, however ridiculous, we had to copy. The Christian life is a constant following of our leader, a constant obedience in thought and word and action to Jesus Christ. The Christian walks in the footsteps of Christ, wherever he may lead.
CONCLUSION
- Deny yourself — Put God’s will ahead of your will
- Take up your cross — Live sacrificially
- Follow Christ — Make Jesus the Captain of your soul
SONG OF RESPONSE / CLOSING SONG
CLOSING PRAYER
SHARING TIME
- TESTIMONIALS (of God’s blessing or intervention)
- PRAYER REQUEST(S)
- INTERCESSORY PRAYER
BENEDICTION
SECOND READING