Jesus invites us to carry a cross for his sake. But that sounds painful. And in times of acute stress, our natural impulse is to run. Even Jesus himself longed to escape the cross.
Speaking the Truth in Love
Speaking the Truth in Love
Sermons on Disciples of Jesus
Jesus invites his followers to carry the cross. But its pain may produce an angry response.
Jesus invites us to take up our cross daily and follow him (Luke 9:23-24). But what does he mean?
John the Baptist was in prison. Feeling depressed, he sent messengers to Jesus expressing his doubts: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3). The Lord’s reply includes a unique blessing.
Jesus told his followers some difficult things. They didn’t want to hear it – and walked away. The Lord looked at the apostles and said, “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:67). And Peter said, “To whom shall we go?” (v. 68)?
Some Greeks came to Philip and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). I think the people of our community are looking for the same thing. They have little interest in our attendance or budget numbers, the size of our building or even the quality of our programs. They just want to see…
The Bible says that whoever claims to abide in Jesus “ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). So how did he “walk” or live his life?
Overuse has diminished the meaning of the beautiful name Christian. People talk about Christian nations, Christian universities, Christian radio stations, and so on. But the word “disciple” has retained its freshness – and its challenge.
The Philippian church seems to have been plagued by selfishness and pride. Paul addressed the issue by reminding the congregation of Christ’s humble mindset (Phil. 2:5-11).
“Ashamed” is an adjective describing the embarrassment we feel when we do something wrong or have a connection with an embarrassing person. Writing from prison, Paul urges Timothy not to be ashamed (2 Tim. 1:8-18). Ashamed of what – or of whom?