Join the Adventure Week 2

Pastoral Welcome

Call to Worship

God sets before us life and death.

We long to choose life.

God sets before us blessings and curses.

We long to choose blessings.

And so we seek the path of Jesus.

Unsure of the terrain.

And so we try to follow Jesus.

Even though we don’t quite understand him.

And so we gather this morning for worship,

Offering this small piece of our time, our talents, ourselves.

Holy One, by your grace,

Meet us where we are.

Lead us to where you long for us to be.

Pastoral Prayer

Meet us, Lord, in the midst of our own adventure,

Guide us on the path toward our destination,

and renew our strength as we continue to walk

and commune with you.

Open our eyes, so we see the signs of your presence around us;

Open our hearts, so we may receive your peace and love;

and empower us to pass on to others

the grace you have shared with us so freely.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for the many who do not have enough:

enough food to eat, or shelter to keep warm;

enough employment, or money to pay their bills;

enough medicine or medical care.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We also pray for those who have more than enough,

but who still struggle to find meaning and purpose in life;

who indulge in dangerous or self-serving activities

to dull their pain or loneliness.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for the church:

For the wider Christian family who will be celebrating this festival in so many different ways, and for those who dare not celebrate openly.

For Christians in countries where there is persecution.

For Christians in our own country, with whom we will share our celebrations

For our Church family.

Grant that all who come into our church this Christmas time may be enabled to renew their relationship with you. Help us all to be glad of your presence, and to rejoice at the coming of Jesus.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God, Your grace reaches out to all of us.

You call us to live as citizens of heaven,

working together with one heart and mind.

Strengthen us to live in a manner worthy

of the Good News we have received,

offering our lives in service of Your kingdom,

where the last are first, and the first are last,

and there is grace enough for all.

We raise to you now in this moment of silent prayer the joys and concerns of our own heart....

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

When we don’t know how to pray your grace enters our story and prays for us. So we pray now the prayer that your son taught saying....

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen.

Middle Section

Celebration

Totals

Offertory

Sue’s video

Sermon

Goruck Challenge

The lead-up

The moment that I was committing to do it

The training that happened because I knew what was going to be expected of me

And you know what it was still harder than I could imagine

The moment where I sketched out what it would cost

What equipment I needed

How much time I would need to put into training

The change of diet that would be required to make that jump?

I committed and it was more than I even calculated

but I was committed to each and every step of it

Have you ever committed to something that was more than you reckoned for?

Becoming a parent becoming more than you reckoned for

When we are challenged we rise to the occasion

When we are unprepared we are made a fool of

There comes a point in many of the laudable undertakings where you just say, look I made it this far.

Join the adventure

great adventures require commitment and a full awareness of what the adventure is going to cost.

There is a commitment that happens for us as well.

Scripture

Luke 14:25–33 NRSV

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

The issue with the word hate

But Jesus had a ministry of Love, what’s going on with that!

Does not hate - even devotion to family shouldn’t supersede

Hate is a hyperbole in this sense

Hate really just means that if you had to choose between one or the other your affiliation ultimately lies with Christ

Likewise to give up all of your possessions may be a bit of an extension of the original intent of the words

Matthew 10:37 NRSV

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

There is no such thing as part-time discipleship

no partial commitments are accepted

We forget that there is a spectrum of commitment to Jesus even in this time - some were a part of the crowd and weren't really committed. Some were secretly committed without saying anything out loud about it. Commitment comes in love and obedience to Jesus Christ not in a number.

jesus frequently spelt out the cost of following him...why?

rid themself of anything that gets in the way - many this meant poverty for them

The why has to be greater than the what

traveling is a complete inconvenience

You abandon the familiar

You take less stuff with you

you go to uncomfortable places often where you don’t have the conveniences of life

The reason that you do it is the experience

humanity will go through hell and back if they have a good enough why

People don’t Marathons because it’s a pleasurable experience

people run marathons because they have a convincing why

This is what these analogies in the middle are all about

Commit to Counting the Cost

Jesus' demands for costly commitment were often met with refusal - part of our own journey I think is having push back. If we aren't questioning it, perhaps God it is not the voice of God. If there isn't a bit of struggle, maybe we are too comfortable. Have we lost grips of the cost of discipleship.

discipleship is costly so it requires not just intent but obedience.

Before we can commit to the journey we have to commit to counting the cost of the journey

We need commitment to take it from theory to practice

better to not begin than to begin and fail

When you count the cost it helps you double down

Recruiting strategy that works

Stewardship

When we realize the commitment and the sacrifice that our stewardship means it allows us to more fully commit to living generously in that way

Discipleship is not easy, but it is a worth while journey

We don’t commit alone

God is with us every step of the way

This was being said by Jesus as he was preparing to enter Jerusalem

He is heading towards the cross

So he has the ultimate authority to tell us to pick up our crosses

Beyond that God started a redemptive work from the begining of time, do you honestly think God did not count the cost

In fact, God counted the cost and still decided to come to earth as a human being

Jesus saw the Cross coming his way, took stock that it was a necessary and worthwhile adventure and still went through with it.

So God has counted the cost and is commited to the redemption of all of humanity. Jesus saw the cross, counted the cost and said that it was worth it, and the Holy Spirit lives and breathes in us every moment.

The question that is left is what will you do in response?

Let’s pray....

Benediction

Go out from this place knowing that discipleship is not easy. Calculate the distance, know what it will take, and commit to being a follower of Jesus. Go now in God’s blessing and in God’s peace.