Saved People Serve People

Exposing the kingdom of Comfort

Matthew 16:24 (NLT)

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow Me.”

Give up – means to deny, repudiate, disown

• Salvation is free – following the Savior is not. It will cost you everything!

Luke 14:25-33 (NLT)

A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be My disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

“Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become My disciple without giving up everything you own.

Hate – means “Love Less”

• Our western society is captivated with comfort
• Self-sacrifice and surrender are always distinguishing characteristics of those who choose to live outside the comfort zone.  The ultimate example of One who left comfort in order to sacrifice for others is Jesus Himself.

Matthew 20:20-28 (NLT)

Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” He asked.

She replied, “In Your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to You, one on Your right and the other on Your left.”

But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”

“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from My bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on My right or My left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones He has chosen.”

When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

• Serving others takes sacrifice.
• Serving others takes a Kingdom of God mindset not a Kingdom of Comfort mindset.