COMMUNION SERVICE: Power to take up YOUR Cross
We continue in our series Powerful People.
For our Communion Service this evening I want to encourage you to ask God for the power to take up your cross.
It is at the Cross where Salvation and Forgiveness of Sin are guaranteed to all who accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
The unfolding of God’s plan of Salvation for sinners that resulted in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
It is at the Cross of Christ where we discover the way to our Eternal home.
There is more to the Cross than the crucifixion of Jesus - there is also the crucifixion of self in our lives as Christians.
In Mark 8:34 Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”
Let me put this verse into context for you. It was at Caesarea in Philippi that Jesus spoke these words.
He had begun to prepare His disciples for His crucifixion which He knew would take place soon.
But the disciples really didn’t understand, they could not reconcile the cross with a king.
Jesus told them that they, too, must willingly go to the cross. Listen to Mark 8:34–38:
Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own selfish way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when He returns in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Powerful words, perhaps painful words, but these words of Jesus demand our full commitment to Him.
All of our sins can be traced to love for self.
Sins of the flesh, sins of the spirit, sins of omission and sins of commission.
We sin because, by our very nature, we care more about our wants, our needs, our desires, than being obedient to God’s will and commands for our life.
The world and the devil attempt to drag us down a path of self-gratification, it is all about feeding our desires, our ego, our love of self.
We live in a world that boldly proclaims and promotes sinful and adulterous behaviour.
You have rights, you should have what you want - when you want it.
Jesus commands us to take up our cross and walk a different path.
To really follow Jesus in all our words, all our deeds and all our actions, we need to put aside our selfish desires and give our lives to Him.
If you choose to follow your own selfish path, it might feel like you could gain the whole world, but Jesus is clear that if you do not follow Him then you can lose your soul in the process.
Nothing is more important than your eternal soul.
Nothing is more important than where your soul will spend eternity.
Heaven or Hell, there is no other option.
When we die it is too late to choose we need to make the decision now.
The Good News is that Jesus has paid the price for our sin, for all who believe in Him there is the free offer of salvation for eternity.
We can be saved, we can be set free, we can be redeemed and we can be assured of a place in Heaven because of what Christ has done.
But when we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour we can no longer live however we want.
We can no longer behave however we want.
In our own strength we will struggle and that is why we need to ask God to empower us to take up our cross.
Full commitment, full surrender, to God’s will and purpose for us, every day of our lives, not just for a couple of hours on a Sunday if we go to Church.
Have you taken up your cross?
Is God at the Centre of your life?
When God is truly placed at the centre of our lives, not at the edges, the centre, that’s when our focus is on serving Christ and not our own selfish desires.
Listen to Galatians 2:20-21 the Apostle Paul said, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”
Scripture and church history show us that when the Apostle Paul accepted Jesus as His Lord and Saviour, Paul committed his whole life to Christ.
Paul understood that those who are disciples of Jesus are meant to live as people who have died to self and sin.
You and I are meant to be people who willing live our lives for God.
Consider the words of Paul in Romans 6:6-14, We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over Him. When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
It is only when we crucify self that we live in genuine repentance.
The Greek word that Jesus used for repentance (metanoia) means “a change of mind.”
When we change our mind about something, we also change our attitude toward it.
When we change our attitude then we are likely to change our actions.
When we accept Christ as Lord and Saviour, when we repent, when we “change our minds” about sinful behaviour, that is when we make the promise to God to stop loving only self and start loving God.
That is when we promise to consider the needs of others and not just our wants and desires.
That is when we promise to serve Him and place His will and purposes above our own.
It’s a change of mind and a change of attitude that should be evident in our actions and the way we live each day of our lives.
But, it is not just outward behaviour modification that takes place - there needs to be a deep inward transformation of our heart.
Jesus taught that this is a necessity for a Christian. It is an absolute requirement.
Jesus also explicitly stated there is a cost involved in following Him.
Listen to these words of Jesus from Luke 14:25-33, 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 counsellors 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.
Willingly giving up everything to follow Jesus... being a Christian is not the easy option.
True discipleship is demanding, it requires our promise to commit our lives to God’s purposes and plans.
Work, Family, Friends, Hobbies, everything else is supposed to take 2nd place to God in our lives.
We are to place Him first in comparison to everyone and everything that could hinder us from being the people He has saved us to be.
Christ gave everything for your salvation.
Jesus was subjected to six illegal trials, spat upon, whipped, slapped, and mocked with a crown of thorns pressed into His head.
He even had to carry the wooden cross that He would be crucified on to the place of crucifixion.
The cross was laid on the ground, and Jesus feet and hands were nailed to it.
Then the cross was lifted up and dropped into a hole.
Christ hung there between two thieves from early morning until midday. Then finally, he died.
He paid the penalty for our sin. Past, present and future. Jesus took the punishment that you and I deserve.
He was perfect, the spotless lamb of God, and He died for you and me and all who believe in Him.
Praise God Christ was willing to take the punishment of the Cross for us.
At the Cross of Christ we see God’s love for us.
Are you willing to take up your cross for Him?
To really take up our cross and follow Jesus we need to promise to love Jesus more than anyone or anything and actually keep our promise to Him.
Years ago a man called Isaac Watts wrote a wonderful hymn called “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them through his blood.
See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
This evening as we come to our time of communion let me encourage you to examine yourself and ask God for the power to take up your cross.
Give God your soul, your life, your all for His honour and His Glory.
Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the Feast of the Passover together. Jesus picks up a cup of wine and in Luke 22:20 it says In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Jesus says this cup of wine is like his blood being poured out. His blood is part of a new covenant.
The Old or Mosaic Covenant was a covenant that God made with Israel on Mount Sinai.
In the Old Covenant, there was more than just ten commandments, there were more like 610.
The old covenant was a system of laws, codes, rituals and observances.
People were accountable to these laws.
Every time the people failed to live by the standards of the Old Covenant they had to offer a sacrifice to God.
The reality was that it was impossible to completely follow the rules of the Old Covenant.
Everyone was guilty under the Old law of something
That’s why the Old Testament is filled with sacrifices and talks so much about sacrifices.
The purpose of the old covenant was to show people that they were guilty before God and in need of a Saviour!
This is actually what divides the Bible into two parts: The Old Testament, the old covenant and the New Testament - the new covenant.
The New Testament only speaks about one sacrifice. John The Baptist said when He saw Jesus “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”
Jesus became the only sacrifice that could pay the price for our sin! He became the sacrifice.
That’s why when He was on the cross He said,
Tetelesti- IT IS FINISHED!
No other sacrifices were required, no more animals, no more blood, no dark cloud of guilt hanging over us because of our sin, no more shame, no constant reminder that we are imperfect.
Tetelesti - IT IS FINISHED!
You are made perfect through the finished work of Jesus at the cross!
You don’t have to be perfect, just put your faith in the one who was perfect for you!
Everything in the Old Testament points to the cross:
The Cross was for you and for me.
The Cross is where our forgiveness was purchased in the blood of Jesus.
Jesus was beaten, bruised, tortured. Physically at the cross, Jesus was crushed.
That is what He told His disciples on that night around a table.
He said “ this cup of wine is like my blood in the New Covenant!”
“My blood will seal God’s new Covenant for humanity”
The New Covenant between God and you.
Forgiveness for your sins because of the blood Jesus shed for you.
The Promise of eternal life because He has conquered death.
The assurance of and a place in Heaven because of what Jesus has done.
Tetelesti - IT IS FINISHED.
As we come to the Table together remember that God has already fulfilled His part of the covenant; Jesus went to the cross and endured the shame and suffering.
Now we must do our part.
What is our part of the covenant?
To believe and receive by faith what Jesus did for you! Then in His strength and power live for Him and tell others about Him.
The audio for this and other sermons are available here: http://www.deancourtier.co.uk/sermons.html or as a direct download from https://sermons.estuaryelim.church/20200301_apm_dean_courtier(takeupyourcross).mp3
