Authentic Christianity Week 4

Sharable notes for the November 12, 2023 message. You can post these notes on your social platform! 

Scriptures used: Luke 9:22-26; Titus 2:11-13; Luke 14:25-33; Romans 9:13; Luke 18:22; 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 10:13-15; Matthew 9:36-38
Scriptures referenced: Matthew 15:3-9; Mark 7:6-13; Luke 18:22-30

  • Christ didn’t just call us to dedicate ourselves, he called us to deny ourselves.

  • We renounce self-exaltation and live to exalt God. We renounce self-will and live to do God’s will. We renounce self-seeking and live instead to seek God and His kingdom and righteousness.

  • Jesus' call for you to follow him is more important than your family, friends and loved ones approval to follow him.

  • Believing in Christ crucified is important, but being crucified with Christ is what we’re called to.

  • The call to follow Christ is not about how to avoid a wounded life, but how to avoid a wasted life.

  • Our commitment to the Kingdom must take precedence over culture.

  • “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliott

  • For us to take up our cross to follow Christ means that we accept his mission as our own and we pursue that mission.

  • Following Jesus means reassessing what God has blessed you with in light of the Great Commission.

  • Whatever is sown to God is never wasted.

  • “‘Christians’ get somewhat involved, enough to be respectable but not enough to be uncomfortable. Their religion is great, soft cushion that protects them from the hard unpleasantness of life but doesn’t transform their lives in radical ways… No wonder cynics dismiss religion as escapism.” John Stott

  • “Only one life to live, will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” CT Studd

  • “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.” CT Studd

Reflect or meet with someone to discuss:

  • What is the greatest act of sacrifice you've seen someone you know make for someone else?

  • In what ways do we as Christians today make our faith more about what we can get than what we can give?

  • When you look at what God has given you (time, talent, resources), how can you take what God's blessed you with, or how do you take them, and use them for him?

Click the image to start a new 5 day devotion in YouVersion:

Jesus Himself told us again and again that a life lived for Him will have challenges, and that we will be called to willingly sacrifice. But could it be that these sacrifices are not arbitrary tests, but are actually one of the quickest ways God designed for us to grow in our faith? This week-long plan will explore what Scripture has to say about sacrifice.  

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