Focus Passage: Luke 9:23 -25
Introduction: Explain the difference between being a fan and being alumni when it comes to Sooner football. Then church. Where we may wear a cross, we don’t bear the cross. You can come to church, know all the songs, open your Bible and take notes, walk out to your car with a Jesus fish on the bumper and say grace before lunch, but that doesn’t necessarily make you a follower.
I. Deny Self - Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." (Matthew 8:19-20 NASB)
a. Following Jesus isn’t comfortable nor easy – Fans go home in the rain – Followers stick it out
b. vs 25 "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
II. Die to Self - Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead." (Matthew 8:21-22 NASB)
a. You must put serving Jesus above everything else – Fans let other things come first – Followers make following a priority
b. vs 24 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
c. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. – Jim Elliott
III. Follow Jesus - "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NASB)
a. Fans will occasionally root for another team – Followers are die hard, nothing else matters
b. As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. John 6:66-68
Invitation: So are you a follower of Jesus? or merely a fan of Jesus?
