Last week we introduced our Deeper initiative by inviting people to go deeper by seeking to be connected to Christ. We realized that no spiritual work can be accomplished without the power of Christ that comes through abiding in Him.
This week we are going to go a step further and show that connection to Christ and going deeper with Christ comes at a cost. It will require commitment if we are truly going to go deeper.
Use this week to examine your own heart as a follower of Christ. Are you truly committed to following Jesus, no matter the cost? What if Jesus asks you to give up more than you bargained for? Are you going to answer the call to go deeper with Jesus? Are you going to walk away having missed the greatest opportunity we have in this life - the opportunity to follow Jesus into a deeper relationship?
Opening Questions:
Has there been a time when you felt like Christ was asking too much of you?
Why does Jesus ask us to give up things that are important to us to follow Him in this Life?
Mark 10:17-31
“And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asking him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18 And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ 20 And he said to him, ‘Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.’ 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’ 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27 Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’ 28 Peter began to say to him, ‘See, we have left everything and followed you.’ 29 Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
If we could sum up the take aways for this week they would look like this:
- Going deeper with Jesus will require ______________ we have.
- When we sacrifice everything we have for Jesus, we ______ __________ ______ _______, because Jesus is better than anything this world has to offer.
Discussion
Teacher Notes:
Mark 10:17-31
“And as he was
setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asking him,
‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18 And Jesus said to
him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the
commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear
false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ 20 And he said to
him, ‘Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.’ 21 And Jesus, looking at
him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you
have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,
follow me.’ 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had
great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How
difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
person to enter the kingdom of God.’ 26 And they were exceedingly astonished,
and said to him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27 Jesus looked at them and said,
‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with
God.’ 28 Peter began to say to him, ‘See, we have left everything and followed
you.’ 29 Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or
brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and
for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses
and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions,
and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last,
and the last first.”
What do we learn
about this man that comes to Jesus asking what he should do to inherit eternal
life?
Is salvation found
in our wanting to follow Jesus?
·
Saying you want to follow Jesus is not salvation. People say no to a
commitment to following Jesus. Especially when there is a cost involved – when
they must give something up that they value more. There are no “armchair”
Christians. You can’t follow Jesus from the sidelines. You can’t inherit
salvation!
Why does Jesus ask
us to give up things that are important to us to follow Him in this Life?
·
He wants to see what is most important in your life. He wants to see if
you are a Fair Weather Fan or are you All In – committed.
Is Jesus telling us
that we must sell everything we have and give to the poor to follow Him and
inherit eternal life?
The takeaway this
week is simple: If we are going to follow Christ, then it is going to require
the surrender of every area of our lives. Deitrich Bonhoeffer, the German
theologian who stood up against Hitler, once said,
“When Christ calls
a man, he bids him come and die.”
This quote comes to
life in this passage. Christ shows that the path to heaven only becomes clear
when we die to ourselves and surrender everything to Him. The rich young ruler
leaves sad because he thinks Jesus is asking for too much.
However, what the
man misses is that Christ isn’t asking him to give up his life and gain nothing
in return. Instead, Christ is calling this man to give up his life and gain everything!
If we could sum up
the take aways for this week they would look like this:
1. Going deeper
with Jesus will require everything we have.
2. When we
sacrifice everything we have for Jesus, we lose nothing at all, because Jesus
is better than anything this world has to offer.
Once these
takeaways become clear, the question for us becomes obvious: Am I willing to
sacrifice everything that I am to go deeper with Jesus Christ? For our church,
the answer to that question must be yes!
What is God calling
you to surrender so that you can live on mission for Him?
Conclusion
To go deeper with Jesus, it will require a commitment to Him that is greater than our commitment to anything and everything else.
