Question
If it became illegal to be a Christian tomorrow, is there enough evidence to convict you?
Recap
On Sunday we asked the question: what 5 things in your life are most important to you (excluding God)? We then reflected on whether any of those things come before God in our lives?
One of the youth on Monday evening said to me that they realised if they put as much time and effort into their relationship with God as they did into those 5 things it would be transformed (for good!). Challenging, huh!?
Julia shared an anecdote about the crazy UK half Ironman challenge (a 1.2m swim, 56m bike ride & 13.1m run). If she invited you to go and watch it with her, then she believed a good few of you would perhaps say yes. But if she asked you to do it with her (admitting this was highly unlikely!), then she imagined that number would be very small, perhaps even nil.
“People can call themselves Christians because they believe the Christian life is about admiring Christ’s example, not realising it is a call to follow it. If they really understood this, the numbers would drop drastically. The New Testament could not be clearer: we are not just to believe in His crucifixion; we are to be crucified with Christ.” – Francis Chan
Read
“Then he [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” – Luke 9:23-26 (NIV)
Reflect
So, what does it mean to be a disciple? It means denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily. Are we therefore to expect suffering? Yes. Jesus says so here. How do you feel about that?
Ask God: What is your cross that you need to take up daily?
Go Deeper
Watch
Reflect/Discuss
What do you believe about suffering? Does that line up with what the Bible says about suffering?
If it doesn’t, what are you going to do about it?
If it does, what does that mean for how you share the good news with others?
