What Will It Take to Be Fully Committed?

Committed and Convinced!

The sermon title this morning is “What Will It Take to Be Fully Committed?” but I want to boil that down and ask a even closer questions are you committed and convinced? You see we live in a world where people are questioning the validity of Christianity. People are not sure that this God we call on even exists. Especially in the way that Christianity points to God.

You see God is not just God to us but He is God to all whether you believe that He exists are not. When we look at the landscape of our world people question the reality of God because the effects of sin. So again, I ask the question are you committed and convinced that God exits and not only that He exists but that He loves you and desires to be God of your life. Not a God that is just there but a God that is concerned about what concerns you. You see God sees everything. He sees disease, He sees destruction, He sees violence, He sees everything and it all concerns Him because this was never His plan for His children but it is the selfishness and need to be in control that has led to where we are today.

So this morning I want to begin with first doing what I like to do and of course that is definitions. Let’s look at the word committed.

Committed Defined: The words correspond to the Hebrew words hesed and hasid, which translations render by means of expressions such as steadfast love or loving-kindness or goodness or faithful. Hesed is the Old Testament equivalent to the special word for love in the New Testament, the word agapē. The Old Testament uses the word commitment when it refers to an extraordinary act whereby someone pledges himself or herself to someone else in some act of generosity, allegiance, or grace when there is no prior relationship between them and therefore no reason why they should do so. Thus in , Rahab appropriately speaks of her protection of the Israelite spies as an act of commitment. It can also refer to a similar extraordinary act that takes place when there is a relationship between people but one party has let the other party down and therefore has no right to expect any faithfulness from the other party. If the party that has been let down continues being faithful, they are showing this kind of commitment. In their response to Rahab, the Israelite spies declare that they will relate to her in this way.

Goldingay, J. (2012). 1 and 2 Chronicles for Everyone (pp. 201–202). Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Goldingay, J. (2012). 1 and 2 Chronicles for Everyone (pp. 201–202). Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Now listen to our text this morning:

Sermon Text: — 25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Point 1: Being fully committed requires total surrender

— 25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

Point 2: Being fully committed requires carrying your cross of life!

— 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Point 3: In order to be fully committed you have to count and understand the costs!

— 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

Point 4: When you are fully committed the odds are not always going to be in your favor!

— 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Point 5: If you are not fully committed you are not useful for God’s purpose in you!

— 34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

++Life Application: Being fully committed means being fully convinced!

-- 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-- 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So again, this morning I ask are “What Will It Take to be Fully Committed? and are you Committed and Convinced?