Carry Your Very Own Cross (Luke 14:25-35)

The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost, September 3, 2022

The Hard Truth Worship Series

Hard Truth Series: Put Down What You Love; Pick Up What You Loathe

First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20.  The Lord set two paths before Israel: one leading to life, the other to death.

Second Reading: Philemon 1, 7-21. An escaped lave returning to his owner is a perfect example of the cost involved in following Jesus.

Gospel and Sermon Text: Luke 14:25-35. Carry Your Very Own Cross.

Jesus teaches us that truly following him will come at a cost. We can’t fight the numerous enemies that struggle against us, either; there are too many.  All around us are temptations and traps.

Jesus picked up his cross.  He set aside everything that people naturally love, even his own life, in order to win our forgiveness and salvation. He empowers us to respond to his love by willingly carry our own cross to align our values not to what gives us pleasure but to what God’s will is for us.

It is worth it to be a disciple of Jesus, to carry our own cross, because it means being close to him forever

Pastor Nathan Kassulke