The Cost Of Discipleship

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THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

Scripture Reading:

“From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”

But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 16:21-28

Opening Prayer: << Prayer >>

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Opening story: COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

I recently read the true story about a preacher who was standing at

the door shaking hands as the congregation departed. He grabbed

one man by the hand and pulled him aside.

The preacher said to him, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!"

The man replied, "I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Preacher."

The preacher questioned, "How come I don’t see you except for

Christmas and Easter?"

He whispered back, "I’m in the secret service."

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the call to discipleship, the call to follow Christ,

there is no secret service, We are all called to give our all for Christ, and Jesus

has no secret service Christians, following Christ is not a part-time thing.

You are either all in or you are not in at all. (x2)

Permit me to title today's sermon. The cost of discipleship: Giving your all to follow Christ

Introduction of text:

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Our Bible text for today comes from Mathew chapter 16 verses 25-26,

In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus had recently praised Peter, and called

him the Rock. Jesus asked the disciples, who do men say that I am,

Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus told Peter that flesh and blood had not revealed this to Him

but it had been revealed by the Father in heaven.

Next Jesus told Peter, on this rock,

I will build my church and the gates of Hades will

not prevail against it.

Now Peter who was just called the rock, would soon be

a stumbling block.

As the chapter continues, Jesus begins to tell the disciples

about how He would die a horrible death,

but Peter, the rock, rebukes Jesus

and tells him, “This shall never happen to you”,

Peter was OK with Jesus getting glory,

but didn't want to embrace

the suffering and shame, the cost of discipleship, that would

come before the glory of the cross.

This is our background context in which

Jesus tells his disciples “If anyone wants to come after Me,

let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.”

He continues and says,

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it,

but whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.

What will it profit someone if they gains the whole world,

yet forfeits their soul?

Or what can one give in exchange for his soul?”.

Brothers and Sister in Christ as we focus on the call to discipleship,

I want to highlight 3 basic drives that we have, all of which are in

direct opposition to the call to discipleship,

taking up our cross and following Christ.

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What are these 3 Basic Drives that

are in direct opposition to the call to discipleship

As humans, we all have a desire and drive for

self-preservation, self-determination, and self identity (x2)

We all have a desire and drive for self-preservation.

As human beings we all have the a natural instinct to survive,

we have the drive to breath air, to eat food, to stay alive,

and to keep away from danger .

For example, In November 2021, in Madagascar,

the police minister was involved in a helicopter crash.

This helicopter crashed into the Indian ocean where he was stranded at sea.

With an overwhelming drive to stay alive, this police minister