In this message Pastor Scott Worthington teaches from Mark 8:34. Jesus describes what following Him looks like: Total self-denial, complete submission, and exclusive allegiance to Him. That is what we explore in this sermon.
Sermon Notes
The Gospel of Mark
Mark 8:34 // The Call of Discipleship
Mark 8:34
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himselfand take up his cross and follow me.” -Mark 8:34
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Jesus describes what following him looks like: Total self-denial, complete submission, and exclusive allegiance to Him.
Three Requirements of Being a Disciple of Jesus:
1. Denying Yourself
Renounce (v.): to refuse to follow, obey, or recognize any further
“I am the master of my fate I am the captain of my soul.” -William Ernest Henley
Jesus’ call to self-denial is an intentional disowning of myself as ruler of my own life.
2.Taking Up Your Cross
Taking up your cross is not enduring things in life. Taking up your cross is entering into a way of living.
Words to Describe the Way of the Cross:
1. Opposition
2. Shame
3. Suffering
4. Death
Opposition --- Approval
Shame --- Honor
Suffering --- Comfort
Death --- Life
“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” -Luke 9:23
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
3.Following Jesus
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” -John 10:27
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” -Mark 8:34b
“We American Christians have a way of taking the Jesus of the Bible and twisting him into a version of Jesus that we are more comfortable with. A nice middle-class American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and would never call us to give away what we have. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts. A Jesus who brings comfort and prosperity to us as we live out our Christian spin on the American Dream.” -David Platt
Biblical Reality:
Denial of my will and death to my way isn’t something Jesus said was optional; He said it was essential to being His disciple.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” -Galatians 2:20
How Do We Deny Self, Bear Our Cross and Follow Him?
1. Deny what’s natural (Denying yourself)
2. Do what’s unnatural (Taking up your cross)
3. Trust the Lord (Following Jesus)
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” -Philippians 2:5-8
