Death First!

Let’s suppose that on January 1 you are flying over BC when the plane explodes. Your body falls to the ground and you are dead on impact. Before long a farmer

discovers your corpse. There is no pulse, no heartbeat, and no breath. Your body is cold. You’re obviously dead. So the farmer digs a grave, but by the time he places your body in the earth, it is way too dark to cover it. Deciding he will finish in the morning, he returns home. Then Jesus comes to you and says, “You are dead. Your life on earth is over. But I will breathe into you the breath of new life if you promise to do anything I ask and go anywhere I send you.” Your immediate reaction may be, “No way! That’s unreasonable. It’s slavery.” But then you realize that you are not in a good bargaining position, so you quickly come to your senses. You agree. Instantly, your lungs, heart, and other vital organs begin to function again. You come back to life. You are born again! From that point on, no matter what Jesus asks you to do or where He asks you to go, you are more than willing. No task is too difficult, no hours too long, no place too dangerous. Nothing is unreasonable. Why? Because you have no claim to your life. You are living on borrowed time, Christ’s time. You died on January 1 in a BC hay field.

How does this story make you feel?

Would you make this deal with Jesus, if it actually happened to you like in the story?

What do you think about this quote, referring to the above story?

Because we all have this idea of what a follower of Jesus should be. We all have presuppositions about Christians about church, about Jesus. So what does it look like? We are starting a series about discipleship and over the next four weeks will discuss what a disciple is and how a disciple is called to live. So if you are new to church and just checking things out hear me when I say this series will give you a window into what a follower of Jesus looks like, what is in their heart, and we hope you will be challenged to explore Jesus for yourself. If you are a follower of Jesus we hope that you will be challenged to take the next step in as a disiple. And it looks different for everyone.

Illustration: Page 18-19 The Making of a Disciple

Mark 8:

Mark 8:27–30 ESV

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Mark 8:31–37 ESV

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 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. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

This encounter was on the other side of Jesus’ death and Resurrection. Now we are on this side.

Why would Jesus do what he did? Why would he ask us to take up our cross?

Hebrews 12:1–3 ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

was the challenge we gave to the grads last night. To embrace a life that hopes in Jesus is to embrace the life that god intended. : “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

discovers your corpse. There is no pulse, no heartbeat, and no breath. Your body is cold. You’re obviously dead. So the farmer digs a grave, but by the time he places your body in the earth, it is way too dark to cover it. Deciding he will finish in the morning, he returns home. Then Jesus comes to you and says, “You are dead. Your life on earth is over. But I will breathe into you the breath of new life if you promise to do anything I ask and go anywhere I send you.” Your immediate reaction may be, “No way! That’s unreasonable. It’s slavery.” But then you realize that you are not in a good bargaining position, so you quickly come to your senses. You agree. Instantly, your lungs, heart, and other vital organs begin to function again. You come back to life. You are born again! From that point on, no matter what Jesus asks you to do or where He asks you to go, you are more than willing. No task is too difficult, no hours too long, no place too dangerous. Nothing is unreasonable. Why? Because you have no claim to your life. You are living on borrowed time, Christ’s time. You died on January 1 in a BC hay field.

What if thinking is where Satan would like us to live because then we are too caught up in what is temporary to think about what is eternal. How can we build this hope in Jesus? Building a life that hopes in Jesus means that we will. Fall at Jesus feet. Is there anything getting in the way of you submitting to the leadership of Jesus. Jairus and the woman both fell at his feet. There was nothing else left for them but Jesus. There was no hope in anything else. They were at the end of their rope. For each of us this will be different. Some people only need to slide a few inches on a rope to realize they are in trouble. Some people wait till the get to the end of the rope enjoying the ride down then they tie a knot at the end and hang on till their strength fails them. All of us are faced with whether we will fall at Jesus feet.

How does this story make you feel?

Explore God’s hope. Explore the promises that God has given us in his Word. Reach out and touch his robe. Healing is found there. We just need to embrace all of what he has for us.

Would you make this deal with Jesus, if it actually happened to you like in the story?

Be willing to change. When we have a view of God as a big clock maker that has started the universe and is just watching it requires very little change from us. Big deal. But in this passage, we see Jesus, willing to touch us. He didn’t have to walk in and take the girl by the hand, but he did it. He wants to be personal, to touch your life in a personal way.

What do you think about this quote, referring to the above story?

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

Because we all have this idea of what a follower of Jesus should be. We all have presuppositions about Christians about church, about Jesus. So what does it look like? We are starting a series about discipleship and over the next four weeks will discuss what a disciple is and how a disciple is called to live. So if you are new to church and just checking things out hear me when I say this series will give you a window into what a follower of Jesus looks like and we hope you will be challenged to explore Jesus for yourself. If you are a follower of Jesus we hope that you will be challenged to take the next step in that discipleship however it looks. And it looks different for everyone.

Are you willing to let Jesus change your life? There is hope in placing your life in his hands. There is freedom there.

Grow in your hope in Jesus: Get involved in with people who have that same hope. “Church.” Whatever you focus on is usually the direction you will take. Are you making the time to be with other people who have their hope in Jesus? It is hard to follow Christ on our own, almost impossible. We need people who have the same hope to walk with through life. We have a goal of having 50 adult small groups for individuals to get involved in this coming year.

Illustration: Page 18-19 The Making of a Disciple

Some of you need to get connected with one of these groups. Some of you need to be the pastors of these small groups. We also have the same need for our youth and children’s ministries. We need people who are placing their hope in Jesus to point the way for others to experience that same hope. Especially our children and youth.

: “who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts set apart Christ as lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

Will you be part of a church that has its hope in Christ? Will you be someone who shares that hope with others?

: “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.” Will you share that hope?

In one of the books had this to say about this passage, after touching the women Jesus proceeded down the road in what would have been viewed as an impure state, “and he entered the synagogue leader’s house, taking Jiarus and his wife to their daughter’s bedside. (did he take them by the hand?) Then, he took their daughters hand and gave her life again. By this time, Jesus had gotten the nameless woman’s (sacred) impurity all over everything: Jiarus, his wife, their house, their daughter, Lord knows who and what else. And miraculously, despite that woman’s twelve years of bleeding and impurity, the dead lived again.

Will you come to Jesus? Will you place yourself before Him, not because of any virtue or purity that you may perceive that you have in yourself, but because He died for you, and He is calling you. He alone has the power to give hope. Will you embrace that hope by surrendering your life to Him? Will you move from ‘what if’ thinking, to placing your hope in Jesus?

Will you listen to His call to become a meaningful part of this community? Maybe through joining a small group, maybe through becoming a shepherd of a small group. Maybe becoming involved with many of our life needs ministries like divorce care, Just Me and the Kids. Maybe joining our prayer team. Maybe being willing to work with our children or youth ministries. We have many opportunities for involvement. Will you share the hope that you have?

Will you submit to Jesus the one who began and finished this race we’re in? Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: the cross, the shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility He plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Will you come before the feet of Jesus? Will you meet HIM? Will you hand over the rule of your life to him? When we surrender our lives to Jesus, then we find out where freedom is.