https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TakeUpYourCross.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Luke 14:25-32<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Many people see religion as something done out of convenience.<\/p>\n
A. They attend when there isn’t something important going on<\/p>\n B. They select a church to attend because it is close, or because of the events going\non, or if there are kids for my kid to play with.\n
II. Being a true Christian isn’t always easy<\/p>\n A. Jesus told his disciples about the hardships they would face as they teach the\ngospel\n
1. Don’t fear when people try to kill you – Matthew 10:28-31<\/p>\n
2. Instead, be bold to confess Christ – Matthew 10:32-33<\/p>\n
3. Your own family may turn against you – Matthew 10:34-36<\/p>\n
4. Even so, you have to take up your cross – Matthew 10:37-39<\/p>\n
B. Jesus foretold his death<\/p>\n
1. Peter refused to believe it – Matthew 16:21-23<\/p>\n 2. If you are going to follow Christ, you have to take up your cross – Matthew\n16:24-26\n
C. After a confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus talked to the crowd following him<\/p>\n
1. You have to put Christ before family – Luke 14:25-26<\/p>\n
2. You have to carry your own cross – Luke 14:27<\/p>\n
3. Discipleship comes with a cost. Are you able to pay it fully? – Luke 14:28-30<\/p>\n 4. But not becoming a disciple also comes with a cost that has to be paid –\nLuke 14:31-32\n
D. The level of commitment for all disciples, not just the apostles, is large<\/p>\n
1. Too many people approach religion with the question: What’s in it for me?<\/p>\n
2. They won’t follow a way of life unless it promises them benefits.<\/p>\n 3. There are benefits to being a Christian and in some ways life is easier, but\nthere is no promise of an easy life\n
III. Life as a Christian can be difficult<\/p>\n
A. There will be persecution – Matthew 5:10-12<\/p>\n
B. There will be tribulation – John 16:33<\/p>\n
C. The cross was the most gruesome form of death in the time of Jesus<\/p>\n 1. Those about to be crucified were made to carry the crossbeam of their\ncross to the place where they wold be crucified.\n D. To carry your cross is to go where you don’t want to go and do what you don’t\nwant to do\n 1. Paul wanted the Philippians to be shining examples and Paul was willing\nto give of himself to that end – Philippians 2:14-18\n 2. He knew he would be release from jail soon, but he would be willing to\ndie if necessary – Philippians 1:19-20\n
3. Paul had love for the Thessalonians – I Thessalonians 2:8<\/p>\n 4. Paul even loved the Corinthians with all their problems – II Corinthians\n12:15\n
IV. Jesus’ example<\/p>\n A. Jesus did not look forward to the cross, even though he knew the need and the\ngood that would result from it – John 12:27\n
B. Yet, despite the dread, Jesus went voluntarily<\/p>\n
C. We are to follow his example – I Peter 2:21-24<\/p>\n
D. That is the level of commitment Jesus is asking from each of his followers<\/p>\n
V. Christianity is not about me. It is about serving God and my fellow man.<\/p>\n
A. We should be willing to give all for the brethren – I John 3:16<\/p>\n B. We are not searching out problems, but we understand that problems will find us,\njust because of who we are and what we stand for.\n
C. Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Christ?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 14:25-32 I. Many people see religion as something done out of convenience. A. They attend when there isn’t something important going on B. They select a church to attend because it is close, or because of the events going on, or if there are kids for my kid to play with.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[1177,182,188],"class_list":["post-53607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-commitment","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27468,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-handle-being-invited-to-a-bible-class-that-you-know-isnt-going-to-teach-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":53607,"position":0},"title":"How do you handle being invited to a Bible class that you know isn’t going to teach the truth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do I handle getting offers to attend studies and other programs from my friends who attend denominational churches? The conflict is them saying \"no\" when I invite them and me saying \"no\" when they invite me. I know it's not worship. Would I be able to attend those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20724,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-you-telling-me-i-wont-make-it-to-heaven-because-i-have-to-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":53607,"position":1},"title":"Are you telling me I won’t make it to heaven because I have to work?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been struggling with this question, and I'm constantly being made to feel guilty for not making Wednesday evening services. I used to go to every service that I could until I got my current job where I work at least ten-hour days and I am on call\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92373,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-church-have-the-right-to-remove-from-its-roll-a-member-who-no-longer-lives-in-the-area\/","url_meta":{"origin":53607,"position":2},"title":"Does a church have the right to remove from its roll a member who no longer lives in the area?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Sir, I have been reading your articles and learning a lot from your Bible teachings. Thank you for all you do and for your heart to spread the Truth. Here's my question: There's a sister in our Church who was reached out while working as a house helper\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40596,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/reasons-why-i-attend-every-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":53607,"position":3},"title":"Reasons Why I Attend Every Service","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Rob Speer God and I","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43754,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-am-glad-to-find-a-church-that-is-not-into-entertaining-people-to-get-them-in-the-door\/","url_meta":{"origin":53607,"position":4},"title":"I am glad to find a church that is not into entertaining people to get them in the door!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Just found your site. Well done. I am glad to find a church that is not into entertaining people to get them in the door! To bad you are not close enough to attend. How about some audio and video of your teachings and sermons? Answer: Look under Audio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10905,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-attend-my-girlfriends-church-if-i-think-it-teaches-false-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":53607,"position":5},"title":"Should I attend my girlfriend’s church if I think it teaches false doctrine?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm going to see my girlfriend and I'm kind of in a bad predicament because she wants me to go to worship service with her on Sunday, but she is Pentecostal and they teach false doctrine.\u00a0 Is it ok for me to go so I can show her what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}