Jesus claims divine authority over the Sabbath and demonstrates that Sabbath keeping is about seeking restorative good for yourself and others.
Jesus initiates new beginnings. He has divine authority to forgive, to heal and to reconcile people with God.
Jesus’ call to follow him is challenging: he is asking for allegiance, apprenticeship, and participation in his community.
Success is not measured by outcomes but by faithfully serving the other.
In this series we have discussed how following Jesus will mean that we will face opposition because we belong to him. This week we examine the right (and wrong) reasons why we may face opposition as well as the role that worship has in our experience of God in the middle of our suffering.
As followers of Christ, we ought not be surprised when we face opposition because we belong to Jesus. Instead we can be confident of God meeting us in our experience of opposition.
In the body, every believer needs the spiritual ministry of other believers so that they can more fully experience God’s presence.
Disciples can be assured of the Lord’s pleasure by investing all he has given them to engage in the good work he has prepared for them.
Following Jesus means that we are going to face opposition. When we find ourselves facing push back because we are faithful to Christ, this is when Jesus says that we are blessed and that the Kingdom is ours.
Jesus doesn’t try to sell us on the perks of following him. He lays out the fine print and challenges us to count the cost of saying “yes” to him. In this message think about what it means to count the cost and follow him into the life of the Kingdom.