Sermons on Take Up Cross:

Take Up Your Cross Series

Contributed by Lanny Smith on Mar 14, 2022

What does it look like to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus?

[IMAGE] Philippine Passion Play - practice of literally crucifying people (voluntarily). The practice began in 1962 after a popular play about Jesus’ death. One man, Ruben Enaje, (as of 2019) had been hung on a cross 33 times. Many men and women have voluntarily submitted to temporary crucifixion ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:31-38

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Take Up Your Cross

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Mar 22, 2021

This expository message from Mark 8:31-38 is about Jesus' call to discipleship - to take up our cross and follow him.

Title: Take up Your Cross Text: Mark 8:31-38 Subject; How does Jesus define discipleship? Complement; Jesus says it means that you too take up your cross. Big idea: “True disciples don’t just wear a cross around their necks - they put it on their shoulders.” Introduction – we are moving toward ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:31-38, Galatians 2:20, Acts 20:22-24

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Take Up Your Cross

Contributed by I. Grant Spong on Feb 24, 2021

As people run headlong into a world going nowhere, escaping reality in their hedonistic lifestyles, are we ashamed of Jesus and His words? Are we ashamed of suffering as Christians? Let’s look at Jesus’ countercultural instructions in Mark 8:31-38.

Prelude As people run headlong into a world going nowhere, escaping reality in their hedonistic lifestyles, are we ashamed of Jesus and His words? Are we ashamed of suffering as Christians? Purpose Let’s see the value of taking up our cross and denying ourselves. Plan Let’s look at Jesus’ ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:31-38

Denomination: Baptist

Take Up Your Cross

Contributed by Alan Perkins on Apr 7, 2019

Following Christ means following him to the cross.

There are basically two kinds of sermons on the Christian life. The first type of sermon views the Christian life as a kind of puzzle to be solved, with the message going something like this: Life is full of hardships, and frustrations, and obstacles. But if you do this one thing; if you ...read more

Scripture: John 12:23-33, Matthew 10:38-39, Luke 17:32-33, Mark 8:34-37

Denomination: Baptist

Take Up Your Cross Series

Contributed by Mark Aarssen on Jun 7, 2016

What are we projecting to other people about our service to the Lord if we are complaining about it instead of having fun while we are doing it? We get hung up when people in the world try to trip us up and slow down our walk to a crawl.

Take Up your cross Matthew 16:24-27 Years ago I remember hearing a radio broadcast of Dr. James Dobson from Focus on the Family. He was retelling a story about his son Ryan who was about three years old at the time. Little Ryan had gotten up early one morning before his Dad and Mom. He managed ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:24-27

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Cross We Take Up Series

Contributed by Mike Lewis on Dec 27, 2022

These men had taken up their cross to follow Jesus. And that is the title of our sermon this morning. The Cross We Take Up.

WELCOME & INTRODUCTION THROUGH THE GATES OF SPLENDOR It was the summer of 1950 when Jim Elliot learned of the Auca Indians and many of the Quichua tribes living throughout the jungles of Ecuador. He was asked to consider a calling to preach the Gospel to these people. After learning their ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23-25, Romans 12:1

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Taking Up Our Cross

Contributed by Kelvin Mckisic on Oct 14, 2024

The sixth church that Jesus addressed received no words of rebuke or chastisement. It was faithful to the Gospel, open to opportunities, and will be delivered from its enemies at the coming hour of trial upon the world. Take up your cross and do the same.

Good morning, dear friends. It's a joy to welcome you to this moment of shared faith, a time of communion in the Word of God. We gather here, not merely as individuals, but as a community united by the love of Christ, a love that transcends our differences and binds us together as one family ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:7-13, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 6:2, John 16:33, James 1:2-4  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Take Up Your Cross

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Oct 11, 2025

Jim Eliot, once famously wrote in his diary on 28th October 1949: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose” . And Jesus says something similar in this morning's Gospel reading

Lk 14:25-33 Take up your cross and follow me Jim Eliot, an American missionary who was killed on 8th January 1956 taking the Gospel to the Waodani people in Ecuador - once famously wrote in his diary on 28th October 1949: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep To gain that which he ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:25-33

Denomination: Anglican

Take Up Your Cross

Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 12, 2025

Jesus wasn’t offering comfort or bling, but blood — a cross that kills self and births love, the heartbeat of true discipleship.

Prologue — The Little Athens of Palestine They had followed Him north — away from the dust and clamor of Galilee, away from the familiar crowds pressing for healing — into a region strange and foreign. The road climbed toward the foothills of Mount Hermon, where the air cooled and new sounds ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:27-34, Matthew 16:24-26, Luke 9:23-26, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 3:7-10  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Take Up Your Cross Youth Sermon

Contributed by Youth Sermons on Sep 5, 2023

Jesus calls us to take up our cross, which means embracing the pain, loneliness, and partnership that comes with following Him. The journey may be difficult, but the reward is worth it.

Today, we're gonna talk about something taking up our crosses, and I've got a cool object lesson to help us understand it better. But first, let's dive into the message. You know, life can be pretty hard sometimes, right? Jesus actually told us that we'd face some tough times. Check out what He ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:24, John 16:33

Topics: Discipleship, Spiritual Sacrifice, Divine Love, Redemption

Take Up Your Cross PRO Sermon

Contributed by Sermon Research Assistant on Feb 21, 2024

Explores the depth of commitment to Christ, emphasizing self-denial, divine direction, and determined discipleship as paths to true life.

Beloved congregation, I stand before you today, warmed by the familiar faces of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I am filled with a profound sense of joy and anticipation. We are gathered here, united in faith, bound by love, and driven by a shared desire to draw closer to our Heavenly ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:24-26

Topics: Following Jesus

Take Up Your Cross Premium Sermon

Contributed by PRO Premium on Oct 9, 2023

This sermon explores the concept of metaphorically taking up our cross as Jesus did, understanding that it signifies enduring difficulties in life, and seeking strength from God to persevere.

Good morning church, it’s great to see you all again as we continue in our series ALL-IN. Last week we kicked things off talking about the first of Jesus’ 3 commandments in our main passage from Matthew 16:24. To “deny yourselves” is the first command. And today, we’re going to take it one step ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:24, John 16:33

Topics: Cross Bearing, Perseverance, Self-Denial

Sermon Series: All In

Who Is Leading?

Contributed by W. Leon Morrow on Mar 7, 2009

This sermon is designed to guide the members of the congregation to deny oneself, to take up ones cross, and to follow Jesus.

There are tremendous lessons in our Holy Scripture. There are lessons not only in the words, or the content, but that there are lessons for us even in the construction of the writing—there are lessons in the style as well as in the words themselves. For example, in Mark the disciples had been ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:31-38

Denomination: United Methodist

Putting Jesus First

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Aug 16, 2013

Prioritising commitments, bearing the Cross, and counting the cost of discipleship.

PUTTING JESUS FIRST. Luke 14:25-33. I. Prioritising commitments. Jesus, it has to be admitted, is a great orator. Seeing the crowds following Him, He turned (Luke 14:25), and spoke words that were designed to shock, and even offend His hearers. In a masterstroke of hyperbole, He took their ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:25-33

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Trouble At A Place Of Revelation

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Jul 19, 2014

The enemy of our souls tries to snatch away the words of our confessions of faith while they are still in our mouths, robbing us of our newly received blessing.

TROUBLE AT A PLACE OF REVELATION. Matthew 16:21-28. The place was Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13): a place of revelation, and a place of decision. Which of two realms will we choose? Which of two religions? Who is it that we are following? Jesus asked the disciples, ‘Whom say ye that I am?’ ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:21-28

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational