Conquering Your Greatest Enemy; Luke 9:23-27

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 2/5/2023. After revealing the stunning news that the "Christ of God" must die at the hands of mortal men, Jesus tells His disciples that if they follow Him, they too will face hardships and suffer. He dispels the ideas, so prevalent in modern evangelicalism, that "grace is cheap" or that discipleship is without commitment, or that Christianity is a gospel of "health and wealth". In doing so, He draws a sharp distinction between a life lived for the Kingdom of God and its King, and a life lived for the god or goddess of "self". We will explore what it means to "come after" Him, and the dire eschatological consequences for those who choose not to because they are ashamed of Him and His Gospel. As a result, we will realize that a call to follow Jesus is a call to radical discipleship and ultimately to conquer our greatest enemy-- our "self".