Topic:Happy in Hope, Patient in Pain, Constant in Prayer
Speaker: Joseph and Pastor John 

Romans: The Greatest Letter Ever Written
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Here in verse 12 is a description of the Christian life: rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, constant in prayer. And, of course, in the wider context of Romans we know that this joy is in Jesus, and this hope is for Jesus, and this patience is from Jesus, and this tribulation is with Jesus, and this constant prayer is through Jesus to God the Father. So it is not hard to weave this passage together with the Christmas events of Jesus’ birth—and the aim of that birth and his life and death and resurrection and reign today at God’s right hand in heaven.

Verse 12: All This for Love!

Before I talk about tribulation and hope and joy and endurance and prayer let me connect all this with the main focus of verses 9-11. Verse 9 focuses on love: “Let love be genuine.” And we saw how abhorring evil and holding fast to what is good is essential to love. Then verse 10 intensifies that call to love with the strong words of family affection—“Love one another with brotherly affection”—and shows how loving to give honor rather than get honor is part of that love. Verse 11 we will come back to on another day. But it draws out the zeal and fervency of our love and how it is a service to the Lord.

So when we get to verse 12 we have the dominant theme of love ringing in our hears. That is the essence of the will of God back in verse 2. That is why we must be transformed in the renewing of our minds—to know in each situation what love looks like (which is not easy since there is always more than one person to be loved, and what one person needs from us will usually keep us from giving what another needs). Oh, how much deep transformation we need to find and follow the way of love!

This chapter is all written to help us do that. So verse 12 has a banner flying over it: All this for love! All this for love! “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer”—all for the sake of loving each other and loving our enemies as we ought. In this way Christ—the ground and goal of it all—becomes more visible and more real and more convincing in the world.

So how do all these things relate to each other: love, joy, hope, endurance (or patience), tribulation, and constancy in prayer?

Tribulation

Let’s start with tribulation. Tribulation is unique in this list. Love, joy, hope, patient endurance are all things we experience or do. But tribulation is something that is done to us, or happens to us. Love, joy, hope, patience are all virtues—they rise in the soul by God’s grace as something morally good. Tribulation is not a virtue. It’s not in the category as a moral act of the soul. So tribulation is different.

We start with this because this is the environment where all the virtues happen. Tribulation is the normal experience of believers in this life. Some tribulation we share with unbelievers (like sickness and calamity and death) and some is unique to believers (like persecution for Christ’s sake). But my main point here is that tribulation is normal and to be expected in this world. It’s the setting for all our love and joy and hope and patience and prayer. Affliction is where we live. If you don’t live there now, you will. Learning that this is normal will be a great help to you when it comes.

Jesus was the best man who ever lived. None of us has any right to experience less affliction than he did. If we experience less, it is mercy. We don’t deserve the peaceful lives we have. They are merciful gifts. For Jesus it was affliction from the beginning. His birth was scandalous (conceived before marriage). It was in an animal feeding trough. It was threatened and hated by the political powers (Herod). He barely escaped death as a child and had to become a refugee in Egypt. And so it went until he was accused of sedition against Caesar and crucified.

That is the way Christianity began. Jesus said, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malignthose of his household” (Matthew 10:25). Paul taught all the young churches he established, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Peter taught the churches, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). It isn’t strange. It’s normal. It comes with the fallen, sinful, futile world. “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23).

The affliction of our lives extends from cancer to calamity to conflict to death. These are all normal and they are part of what we must live with on our way to heaven. That is why Paul says here in verse 12, “Be patient in tribulation.” Let’s be biblically balanced in our celebration of Christmas. It is good news of great joy (Luke 2:10). A Savior has been born, Christ the Lord! But it is also a call to suffer with Christ. The baby Jesus grew up and said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).

So the “great joy” announced by the angels is a very embattled joy. It is a joy to be fought for and a joy always under attack. Always threatened by tribulation. And the call of Romans 12:12 is not to rejoice without tribulation, but to rejoice in spite of, and even because of, tribulation.

Romans 5:1-6

The three are woven together for us not only here but in Romans 5:1-6 (hope, joy, tribulation—and endurance). Let’s read these crucial verses that Paul is calling to mind again here in Romans 12:12:

Since we have been justified by faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faithinto this grace in which we stand, and werejoicein hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings (=afflictions), knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:1-6)

Here it is plain that Christian joy and hope and patient endurance are not in freedom from tribulation but in spite of and even because of tribulation. Verse 3: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. . . .” Paul doesn’t just tolerate tribulation, he makes it serve the Christian. He turns it from master to slave. What Satan means for our destruction, God means for our good. In the very act of trying to destroy our joy, Satan is made to drive the root of it deeper into God.

Our Joy Is Rooted in Our Hope

Let’s get a good look at this root of joy. We see it when we distinguish joy and hope and see how they are related. Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope.” It looks like hope is the soil or the rock in which joy is rooted—the ground where joy grows. Notice the similar phrase here in Romans 5:2, “Through him [Christ] we have also obtained access by faithinto this grace in which we stand, and werejoicein hope of the glory of God.” Our joy is rooted in our hope. That is so crucial to see! What does it mean?

It means that for the Christian things may go really bad right now and yet not rob him of his joy. The joy is the joy of hope. Christians set their hearts on how good it will be in the age to come and in the presence of Christ after death. This is why Christians can rejoice in tribulation and not just in health and peace and security. Tribulation drives the roots of joy down into hope. The future joy streams back into the presence and lightens every load.

The Ground and Goal of Christian Hope

What is the ground and goal of Christian hope that makes joy in tribulation possible? Do you know what I mean by “ground and goal”? If we were part of the Union cause in the Civil War we might say, “Ulysses Grant is our hope for victory.” In that sentence Ulysses Grant is the ground of our hope, and victory is the goal of our hope. That’s what I mean. So what is the ground and goal of Christian hope?

The Ground of Christian Hope: The Righteousness of Christ in Justification

Romans 5:1-2 give the clear answer: “Since we have been justified by faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is the ground of our hope. God declares us righteous (justification) on the basis of Christ’s blood and righteousness. Verse 6: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” That’s the ground of our hope.

How are you going to face God someday? What will you plead? Your conscience whispers now what it will scream in that day: I am not good enough! There is only one basis of acceptance with God. There is only one way to be accepted with God, only one way to the hope of eternal life—namely, justification by faith alone on the basis of Christ alone. That is the point of Romans 5:1 and 6. That is the basis of our hope.

The Goal of Christian Hope: The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ

The goal or the object of our hope is at the end of verse 2: “Werejoicein hope of the glory of God.” The ultimate hope of the human heart is not forgiveness or justification or heaven or freedom from disease. The ultimate hope of every heart is the glory of God. You were made to see and savor the glory of God. Christmas happened, Good Friday happened, Easter happened so that sinners might not be incinerated by the beauty of God but might see it and savor it with ever-increasing joy. Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope.” Romans 5:2 completes the thought, “Rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

This is the ultimate experience that will wipe away every tear. This will rectify every wrong. This will make you say that it was all worth it, no matter what you suffered. Listen to the way Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “This slight momentary affliction [=all this life’s afflictions] is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” This was the hope that sustained Paul’s joy in affliction. He preached to himself (and we must): this affliction is not meaningless, it is not absurd, it is not cruel, it is not pointless. No, it is working for me an experience of the glory of God that will outweigh every moment and every degree of suffering in this life.

That is our hope. Its ground is the blood and righteousness of Christ by which we are justified through faith. Its goal or object is the glory of God that one day we will experience in the face of Jesus Christ.

Rejoice in Hope

Then Paul says in Romans 12:12 and 5:2, “Rejoice in hope.” Christian joy flows from this hope. Or you could say, Christian joy is directed toward this hope. You might think: This is too limiting. Shouldn’t we rejoice in some good things now? Is all our joy a rejoicing in hope? I think there are two ways to answer that question. A shepherd way and a wise man way. The Shepherds had little or nothing. The wise men had gold, frankincense, and myrrh. There is a way to rejoice in hope when you have nothing. There is a way to rejoice in hope when you have much.

The shepherd way is this: if tribulation is normal, then Paul needs to stress that joy will flow from hope not present good times. The present is hard. And again I say, if you don’t think this is true, you will someday. And if life is hard, we can either give up on joy or we can get it from hope. Paul would not give up on joy. He commanded it over and over. “Rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Rejoice in hope echoes Paul’s conviction that life is hard. Tribulations are normal. But a glory is coming that will make it all worth it.

The other way to explain this phrase—“Rejoice in hope”—the wise man way, is to say that even in those seasons when pleasures abound, they all point to the Creator and goal of pleasure, Christ himself. Christ will be experienced most fully in the future. We enjoy his fellowship now in measure. But then face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). All future joy will be found in Christ. And all present joy points to that future of fullness in Christ. If it doesn’t, it is an idol. So I say with the apostle Paul, whether in pain or in pleasure “Rejoice in hope”—the hope of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Now finally link the last three elements: patient endurance, love, and prayer to each other and to rejoicing in hope. Romans 12:12 says, “Be patient [have endurance] in tribulation.” Hebrews 12:2 shows how this relates to hope and joy and love. “[Look] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy [there’s the joy!] that was set before him [there’s the hope] endured the cross [there’s the love]. The greatest act of love that ever was—the death of Jesus for sinners like us—was endured by future-sustained joy, that is, by rejoicing in hope. “For the joy set before him he endured the cross.”

Summary

So I would sum up all of the elements of Romans 12:12 like this: Tribulation—trouble, calamity, conflict, cancer, death—these are all the normal conditions of life in this fallen world. But Christ has come at Christmas. He has broken into our tribulation and taken it on himself. He carried our sin, and bore our curse, and absorbed God’s wrath, and became our righteousness, and conquered death and hell and Satan, and opened the door of paradise for all who trust him. He made his glory the center of that paradise so that we would have the highest pleasures possible (John 17:24). In this hope we rejoice with joy unutterable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8), now, in spite of and even because of our tribulation which drives our joy down into the roots of hope. And in this joy we endure with Jesus in all the sacrifices of love.

The Present and the Future

So don’t make the mistake of thinking that future-oriented, future-sustained joy limits present usefulness. It doesn’t limit it. It liberates it. If your future is glorious and sure (which it is in Christ!), you don’t live for money or power or fame. You don’t have to grasp and snatch and chase pleasures that are slipping through your aging fingers. You are free to live for others now. You are free to be another kind of person than the kind that lives for this world. If your hope is glorious and sure, you will seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other basic things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Your love will be genuine. It will be radical, risk-taking, sacrificial because of the joy set before you.

Prayer

And what of prayer? Romans 12:12 ends, “Be constant in prayer.” Well, next Sunday is the beginning of our annual prayer week. So I leave the answer till then. Suffice it to say: by prayer we will see and savor the greatness and preciousness of our hope (Ephesians 1:18). So as you gather for Christmas, pray for yourselves and for your loved ones and for the world, that God would reveal to you and to them “what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” That will feed your joy. Joy will sustain your endurance. Endurance will carry your love. And the glory of Christ will shine this Christmas.

Who Is The Holy Spirit? What Role Does He Play In Our Lives?

Speaker: Minister Ada Mgborukwe 
Bible Scriptures:
Matthew 3:16 - 17 -  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 28:19 - 20 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Isaiah 63:10 - But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.

John 14:26 - 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Romans 8:14 - For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 - You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 7:51 - "You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

Notes:our purpose to coming to church so that we would be productive. So that we could add values to other people who needs to know God. When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that means your accepting God to be in your life. The Holy Spirit has characteristics of personality, he has a mind. The Spirit inside of us has a mind, and God searches for it. Even if you don't know what your praying for, or what your praying about, God always know what you want and he'll be there for you.  God knows what gifts perfect for you. Every decisions you make you have to get the answer from God, and  do it on his time not on your own time. If God speaks to you, you obey. God dwell in us all the time.

Gods Characteristics
1. Holy Spirit Has A Will
2. God Has A Mind
3. God Has Emotions
4. God Is Our Teacher
5. He Convict The World With Guilt
6. The Holy Spirit Reveals The Truth

We Are A Chosen Generation!

Speaker: Minister Anthony Chinan
Bible Scriptures: Proverbs 30:11 - 14 - There is a kind of man who curses his father And does not bless his mother. There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes,Yet is not washed from his filthiness. There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes! And his eyelids are raised in arrogance. There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men.

Mark 9:19 - He answered him, and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? bring him unto me.

Notes: When there is no unity there is no power. God wants to move in your life, and spread with love, righteousness, wisdom, & knowledge. When we call for prayers, the whole church will pray. You will see the blessings of God, and you will see the love of God.We once were disobedience, we once work onto this world, doing what the world is doing, until God enter into our life, and help us. You can't walk unto the power of the Lord until you discover who you are. God is going to change this rebellion generation, and hes going to change our flesh, and change our heart clean and pure. God is about to move, every mind, and every soul in your body, to shape every living thing that is good in his eyes. We are a chosen generation, and he's going to use us mightily, make us a Prophet & Prophetess, pastors, Evangelist, Teachers, etc. God is rising up a new generation you we could do his work.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

Speaker: Pastor Frank Osayi
Bible Scriptures:
John 10:27 - 28 - My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Matthew 7:13 - "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

John 10:9 - I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

Revelation 7:9 - After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

Notes: follow the voice of the Lord. We have a narrow road, and a right road. Follow the voice of the Lord, and follow where the right road or good road is, and you should enter where the narrow gate is which is in the narrow road. Jesus told us, he is a door, for us to enter, and we will be save. The Holy Spirit is a real person who came to reside within Jesus Christ's true followers after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven (Acts 2). Nobody can go to our Father The Lord God Almighty, but through Jesus.

The Holy Spirit

Speaker: Pastor Anthony Chinan
Bible Scriptures:
John 1:10 - He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

John 6:63 - The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life

John 7:37 - 39 - Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Notes: Say today "you will experience the life of abundance." The abundance of life came through the power of The Holy Ghost. Takes God word upon you and your life I’ll never be the same. You need to worship God, and search the word of God, so you shall have the power, and strength from God. When you believe right, you do right. God have come so that you may have life, and you will have abundance. If anyone thirst come to the Lord Jesus Christ, out of your heart flows rivers and waters. If you condemn your brothers, and sisters, then you don't have the flows of rivers an waters in our heart.

God is our father. Are you part of what he is doing?

Speaker: Pastor Frank Osayi

Bible Scripture:

Proverbs 4:20 - My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words.

Matthew 6:33 - But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Philippians 2:3 - 4 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Galatians 5:16 - 17 - So I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

Notes: Pay attention to what God says, he's the one who chose you to do his work. Always listen to your heavenly father; whatever he told you what to do, you do exactly what he told you. Let God be your first priority in life, & seek God's kingdom & his righteousness. Pride is looking at self-high, and having too much self-esteem. Let the Holy Spirit guide you, and lead you. Do not do anything in self ambition. When the Holy Spirit led you, he will lead you to joy, peace, & righteousness. Some people are looking for their own good, not for other people. You need to look at something that will benefit others like you wife or husband, family, coworkers, neighbors, and high authority. That is what was supposed to do, God is our father, and you need to be part of what he is doing.

The Heart 2

Speaker: Pastor Frank Osayi

Bible Scripture:

2nd Corinthians 4:6 - For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

 Matthew 5:13 - 15 - You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Philippians 2:5 - 6 - In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

 Ephesians 2:8 - 9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.

 Notes: we are the light of the world. At night, what do you see: Darkness, and in the morning what do you see: Light. A Heart is like a bucket, or a container, that you put things inside. We are here in the physical world, but we cannot see the spiritual world. When someone is playing music and they just left it enters your mind, that if it’s a bad music then it’s the devil trying to enter your mind, when you’re a Christian you rebuke the music out of your mind, pray, and ask God for forgiveness.

When you are born again God enters/come to your life then every darkness will disappear. Good works is a product of salvation. Chris did not come just to take you to Heaven, be sweet and kind to people in your home, at work, at school, at your apartment complex, everywhere you need to be kind and generous. Our desire to please God increase. We must think and act like Christ. God want us to use the gift that he gave unto us good and use it for his glory. We were created not for evil work but for good works. When you switch on a light and there is still darkness then there’s something wrong, but if you switch on the light and it is on, then there is nothing wrong with you.

 What You Need To Change:

1. Your Priority

2. What You Crave After

3. Your Outlook, Your Outward Appearance, & Inward

The Heart

Speaker: Minister Anthony Chinan
Bible Scripture:

Ecclesiastes 7:21 - Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you.

Colossians 3:15 - Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Proverbs 23:7 - for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

Philippians 4:8 - 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.

Notes: It’s easy to get offended, it's easy to know what’s going to happen next, and know a little bit of the future. The Holy guide you, he will lead you. Your heart, mind, and spirit will change, everything will change. People will say all things about you, you need to come to church for God to change you, heal you, and make you clean &good. You need to move the good thing, and know the truth, you will be healed, and by his strife you are healed. Jesus tells you to keep on coming, and receiver good news, keep on coming church, and you will receive a good heart. From today I want you to guard your heart. God is not after your mistakes, God is not going to hold you responsible for your mistakes you did, but you need to ask for forgiveness, confess, and ask for healing. Receive what is good, forget about the pass. We laugh, and we rejoice, because we got Jesus. Receive the word of truth. Don't receive what people talk about you, don't receive the enemy, and don’t receive your past that is bad. Tell the truth always because his truth shall set you free. Don't receive what the enemy is telling you; change your mind into a good thought. Meditate on the last two scriptures for 7 days, 10 minutes each day. God bless you, & have a wonderful day.

The Cost of Following Jesus

Speaker: Phil Morgan
Bible Scripture:
Luke 9:57-62 -
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke records for us in this passage an account of THREE (3) MEN whom Jesus met as He travelled along with His disciples. Two of these men declared that they wished to follow Jesus; to become His disciples. The other was one whom Jesus SUMMONED to follow Him. What immediately strikes me is the way in which Jesus handles these inquirers (and I think that this is Luke’s reason for recording the details of these meetings). MOST men with a cause are busy trying to recruit as MANY as they can. Most preachers are busy trying to get as many members for their church as they possibly can (and most have good intentions). I like seeing new members myself!It’s natural. It’s what we expect to see. But Jesus is radically different in His approach. He seems to spend a great deal of His time trying to DISSUADE men from following after Him - or at least that’s what it looks like.
A minister friend of mine was sharing with me recently some advice he was given by an aging preacher whom he greatly respected. The old man said to him, “Son, always endeavour to keep your church as SMALL as you can!” That’s strange talk isn’t it?! And that was coming from a man who himself had pastored quite a large congregation. But what he meant was, preach the truth of God’s salvation, and the demands of following Jesus, SO CLEARLY that ONLY those who have counted the cost and are ready to give up ALL for Christ will join themselves to you.
Friends, it’s my desire to see as many as possible come to Christ - I pray to see them come in their hundreds and even thousands - BUT I DON‘T JUST WANT TO GET A CROWD . . . that doesn’t interest me at all! I want to see men and women, young people, boys and girls turning to Christ with whole hearts; becoming TRUE sold out disciples of the Master. Hallelujah!
And so, it’s interesting to read of Jesus’ way of dealing with those who expressed a desire to follow Him; He seems to be trying to DISCOURAGE them. BUT NOT REALLY. In actual fact Jesus’ desire is that people WILL follow Him - but He wants them to think it through first . . . to count the cost involved . . . so that once they DO follow Him they’ll never turn back. Even as He spells out what is required in such clear, shocking terms, inside He is longing for them to accept it - He’s rooting for them - but the cost is the cost . . . it’s non-negotiable . . . and they MUST be prepared for it. Would you look with me tonight at these three men who Jesus confronted with His demands, and consider with me “THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS”.
We read of the first man in VERSES 57-58. And from Jesus’ conversation with him we learn that:
1. THE FOLLOWER OF JESUS HAS NO EARTHLY SECURITY
[READ vv57-58]
It’s quite a bold statement this one makes, isn’t it?! “I will follow you WHEREVER you go!” Can you say that without any idea of where this Jesus may be headed . . . what may be involved in the journey?! Perhaps you need some more information