God Outside The Box!

29/08/11 17:00 Filed in: Pastor Joel
Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

  • What do you do when God doesn’t fit into your plans? What if He doesn’t do what you want Him to do? Does it cause you to seek Him more or does it cause you to abandon Him altogether?

  • We all want the easy road! We all want the path that leads to fame, power, and riches. No one wants to take the path less traveled. No one wants the path of the Cross.

  • The path of the Cross is shame, weakness, self-sacrifice, and suffering. When God doesn’t do what we want Him to do, it’s usually because He is showing us the path to the Cross.

  • Jesus took up the Cross of suffering and in one display of self-sacrifice, He illustrated the most beautiful love the world has ever known. His Cross has brought the glory of heaven to earth. If you blink you might miss the significance of the Cross.

  • Great! The Cross of Christ and His suffering must mean an easy life for me then. Doesn’t God want to give me everything I ever wanted and make my life easy?

  • Not so fast! Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow Him. This is not the path of fame, power, and riches, but in the path of suffering and self-sacrifice.

  • The Cross means I must forgive when I want revenge. It means I must serve when I want to be served. It means I must give when I want to take. It means I will find suffering when I follow Christ. This Cross doesn’t always fit into my plans and this Cross is not the glamorous life, but it is the God outside of the box!