Sermon Notes from 9.19.10

Here are the sermon notes from today's sermon.  I preached on Jesus' clarifying the nature of life with Him, ingesting both the content of His message as well as His call to commitment from Mark 8.31-38.  To view the notes in PDF and get the sermon audio, visit sermons.heritagepark.org.

Can You See Him?

Mark 8.31-9.1

Content (v.31-32)

• Suffering & Rejection – experiencing the physical and relational fracture in Creation.
• Death – dying voluntarily as a payment for sin.
• Resurrection – rising victoriously as powerful King.

Commitment (v.34)

• Because the content is true, we commit to Him.
• We go deeper into the content of the Gospel as we follow Jesus – we do not move on from it.
• He calls for commitment from everyone, not just a few.
• Discipleship isn’t a second step in the Christian life – it is the Christian life.

Motivation (v.35-38)

• Investment – why give yourself to something that’s guaranteed to fail?
• Purpose – what does the world offer that really and truly satisfies?
• Exclusivity – is there nothing else I can do?
• Judgment – will I stand when all is done?

Calling (v.34)

• Deny Yourself – this is not denying something to yourself but choosing the surpassing value of Christ.
• Take Up Your Cross – this is not a modest adjustment for an admirer but a consistent pattern for the disciple.
• Follow Me – this is not a convoy of experience seekers but a prescribed path with Him as our example.