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Now it happened as they 
journeyed on the road that 

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someone said to him, Lord, I 
will follow you wherever you go.

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And Jesus said to him, foxes, 
have holes and birds have the 

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air of the air have nests, but 
the son of man has nowhere to 

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lay his head. 
Then he said to another follow 

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me. 
But he said, Lord, let me first 

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go and bury my father. 
Jesus said to him, let the dead 

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bury their own dead, but you go 
and preach the kingdom of God. 

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And another also said, Lord, I 
will follow you, but let me 

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first go and bid them farewell, 
who are at my house. 

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But Jesus said to him, no one 
having put his hand to the plow 

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and looking back is fit for the 
kingdom of God. 

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So we have three questions that 
we want to ask based on these 

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verses. 
Question number one. 

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Are you going to choose the 
comfort? 

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Or are you going to choose the 
cross? 

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In our life, we're sitting here.
Are you going to choose Comfort 

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or we going to choose a cross is
a congregation here going to 

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choose Comfort or are we going 
to choose the cross? 

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The first man here and verse 57,
and I want to make note that 

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these are not Parables. 
This was something that actually

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happened while Jesus was 
traveling to Jerusalem. 

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So these are not Parables. 
These are actual events that 

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happened in Matthew's account of
this first, man. 

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In verse 57, Matthew describes 
the sky as being a scribe. 

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Scribes in those days were known
to attach themselves to an older

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gentleman that maybe a teacher 
that travels and the Scribe 

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would learn under these teachers
and grow up and hope to create 

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some sort of stature with 
themselves and make themselves 

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known, kind of like what we see 
today, when younger men go to 

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work and study under a gospel 
preacher these days I'm kind of 

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the same thing. 
So this man came and says to 

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Jesus Lord, I will follow you 
wherever you go. 

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We'll look at Jesus's response 
to this guy. 

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He was expecting to make himself
known by following Jesus. 

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No, Jesus says Foxes have holes 
and birds of the air have nests,

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but the son of man has nowhere 
to lay his head. 

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This in this response that Jesus
had, Jesus made it very clear 

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that Christianity is not a path 
to more Comforts to higher 

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status, or to have a life of 
Greater ease. 

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The road and following Jesus is 
not paved with self-advancement.

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It actually starts with 
self-denial. 

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If we go back to verse 51 of 
Luke chapter 9, it says there. 

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Now it came to pass when the 
time had come for him to be 

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received up that he steadfastly 
set his face to go to Jerusalem,

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that's talking about Jesus. 
So Jesus was heading to 

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Jerusalem to the Cross to die on
the cross. 

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Earlier in the chapter and verse
23, read that it is to take up 

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our cross and verse 23. 
It says then he said to them. 

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All if anyone desires to come 
after me let him deny himself 

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and take up his cross daily and 
follow me. 

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So today we have somewhat of a 
respect for the image of the 

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Cross and we have to understand,
you know, that sometimes we wear

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it around our neck or it's put 
up in our home or we see it on 

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buildings, but we have to 
understand the view that the 

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first century Christians. 
Saw the cross is being the 

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cross. 
Was a symbol of death. 

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It was used as a means of 
execution. 

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So we have to thank, you know, 
if we had, I'd be the kind of 

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the, the same example, as just 
putting an electric chair 

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around, our neck, or putting it 
up on our manual, or are seeing 

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someone on a building that that 
represents death. 

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So, we have to think that when 
Jesus said this to take up your 

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cross, the meaning he had and 
said to these people meant 

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something extremely significant 
to those people in those days. 

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So we have to die to our self. 
That is the initial invitation 

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of following Jesus. 
Everything, we talk about here 

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in these next. 
Few verses is not really, you 

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know what's not specifically for
mature Christians, if we want to

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call ourselves that this is 
basic initial stuff. 

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And what we choose to do when we
follow Jesus, We choose the 

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cross over the Comforts of this 
world. 

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Let's look at some passages that
call us away from the comfort of

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this world and dying to 
ourselves. 

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In. 
Luke 10 verse 3, it says their 

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turn over there, go your way, 
behold I send you out as Lambs 

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Among Wolves, you know, a lamb 
doesn't go into middle of wolves

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expecting to live. 
The lamb goes into the middle of

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wolves expecting to die and 
that's what Jesus was doing. 

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doing just as Jesus was sending 
out the 70 men here telling them

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you are going to be have a 
potential of dying for my cause 

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Further in the chapter of 10 and
Luke and verses 25 through 27, 

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it says there and behold a 
certain lawyer stood up and 

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tested him saying teacher, what 
shall I do to inherit eternal 

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life. 
He said to him what is written 

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in the law? 
What is your reading of it? 

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So he answered and said, You 
shall love the Lord, your God 

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with all your heart, with all 
your soul, with all your 

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strength, and with all your mind
and your neighbor as yourself 

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and directly after this, this 
leads into The parable of the 

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Good Samaritan. 
A story about loving, the least,

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likely of people to love loving 
the people who sometimes it's 

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hard to love. 
Also, in Luke 11:42. 

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It says there, but woe to you 
Pharisees for. 

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You tithe mint and Andrew and 
all manner of herbs and passed 

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by Justice and the love of God, 
these you ought to have done 

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without leaving the others 
undone. 

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He's basically telling the 
religious leaders here that they

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are following the religious 
practices that at that time, but

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they still sit back and settle 
for Injustice around them and do

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not recognize love of God. 
That is needed to show the 

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people around them. 
They were not showing the love 

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of God. 
Their heart was not in what they

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were doing religiously. 
Basically, they were just going 

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through the motions. 
Also, in Luke 12 verses 15 

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through 21. 
It says there and he said to 

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them take heed and beware of 
covetousness for one's life. 

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Does not consist in the 
abundance of things. 

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He possesses, then he spoke a 
parable to them saying the 

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ground of a certain rich, man, 
yielded plentifully. 

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And he thought within himself 
saying, what shall I do since I 

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have no room to store my crops, 
so he said, I will do this. 

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I will pull down my Barns and I 
will build greater and there. 

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I will store all my crops and my
goods. 

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And I will say to my Soul soul, 
you have many Goods laid up for 

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many years. 
Take your ease eat drink and be 

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merry. but God said to him, Fool
this night, your soul will be 

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required of you, then who's Will
those things, which you have 

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provided so, is he who lays up 
treasure for himself and is not 

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rich toward God? 
So how do we become rich towards

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God? 
Further down in the chapter 2, 

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verses 32 says, do not fear 
Little Flock for it, is your 

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father's, good pleasure, to give
you the kingdom, sell what you 

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have, and give alms provide 
yourselves money bags, which do 

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not grow old and treasures into 
heaven. 

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That does not fail where no 
Thief approaches nor moth 

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destroys for where your treasure
is there. 

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Your heart will be also. 
So this is extremely clear to us

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what it means to follow Jesus, 
to become a Christian to die to 

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ourselves, be willing to sell 
up. 

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Resist, possessions to give 
away. 

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One of our means to love our 
neighbor as ourself and to die 

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to self. 
You know there was some research

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done recently about some 
Villages some remote villages in

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the Himalayan Mountains and what
they found there in these remote

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Villages extreme poverty. 
They mentioned that. 

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Half of the children died before
their 8th birthday. 

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I have three kids and I can't 
imagine. 

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They have those kind of odds 
stacked against us. 

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They were dying of preventable, 
diseases cuts that led to 

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infections that ended up taking 
over the entire body. 

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You know, they would drink a 
little bit of unclean water. 

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You know, they get some sort of 
disease from drinking unclean 

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water and it can create an 
entire outbreak. 

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One Village had an outbreak that
over the course of two days, 

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killed, 60 people. 
It was reported, that one mother

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had 14 children. but only two 
made it to adulthood Severe 

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poverty. 
And on top of that. 

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They mentioned that men from the
valley floor. 

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Would come up to these Villages 
and offer, young girls, a good 

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paying job in the city. 
Trafficking of children. 

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Terrible. 
Absolutely. 

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Terrible stuff. 
That was going on. 

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Can we imagine if that was our 
own daughters? 

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How we would handle that 
situation? 

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If we were going through this, 
do you think that we would not 

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have a change on our 
perspectives in life? 

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So how can we read that? 
We need to love our neighbor as 

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ourselves when we hear about 
these things going on. 

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If we are caring for the poor, 
as we care about ourselves, 

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would not the world be changed. 
If we are not careful, we can 

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create a very comfortable life 
in our state of Christianity 

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Today here, turning a blind eye 
to what is really happening in 

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some parts of the world. 
You know, I get it, it's easy to

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put our head in the sand about 
these things. 

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Sometimes, you know, we want to 
not really recognize that these 

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things happen in the world. 
We don't want to hear about it. 

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It's easy to turn the channel so
you can easy to turn the radio 

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station when we don't want to 
hear about these things. 

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You know, we can sit in our hair
conditioner and you know, 

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air-conditioned building today 
on our patented pews and when 

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we're done here, we'll get into 
our comfortable cars. 

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Drive to our comfortable homes, 
sit in our comfortable, easy 

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chairs or couches. 
Put our feet up, fill our 

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bellies with food that is in a 
refrigerator. 

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Cook on gas stoves fire up the 
barbecue sit down. 

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There are tables of plates and 
silverware and eat our food 

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which is mostly processed. 
Anyway, You know, tomorrow 

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morning we can wake up and 
pretend like we don't hear a 

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message like I'm trying to give 
today, you know, we can forget 

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about it, it's easy to do. 
I've done it. 

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We're doing it all the time. 
It's are comfortable. 

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Way of living that we have let 
ourselves be used to So we 

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cannot let conform Comfort 
Define Our Lives. 

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I don't want Comfort to Define 
my life. 

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Do not let that be the story of 
Our Lives. 

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Let's be encouraged when we 
choose to follow Christ. 

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It is a call that we must be 
willing to give up the Comforts 

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of this life to die to ourselves
and to live for others. 

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So, are you going to choose the 
Comfort or you going to choose 

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the cross? 
Our second question. 

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We want to. look at Are you 
going to settle for maintenance?

193
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Or are you going to sacrifice 
for the spread of the Gospel? 

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the second man here and Luke 
chapter 9, In verses 59 and 60. 

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00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:11,900
It says, then he said Then he 
said to the other two, another 

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00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:14,000
follow me. 
But he said, Lord, let me first 

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00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,500
go and bury my father. 
Jesus said to him, let the dead 

198
00:13:17,500 --> 00:13:21,400
bury their own dead, but you go 
and preach the kingdom of God. 

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It is unknown. 
Whether this man's father was 

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already passed or was going to 
pass shortly, the scholars kind 

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00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:35,600
of go back and forth on that, 
but this guy wanted to go back 

202
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and either spend a couple days 
with you know, final days with 

203
00:13:38,300 --> 00:13:41,400
his father or give him a A 
proper burial, taking care of 

204
00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:43,000
the things that need to be taken
care of. 

205
00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,900
When there is a death of a 
family member, you know, this is

206
00:13:45,900 --> 00:13:48,300
something that all we all would 
do this is all something that we

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expect to do. 
It's somewhat of an obligation 

208
00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:53,600
to immediate family members to 
take care of the Affairs of 

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00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:57,800
somebody who has passed. 
Unfortunately, I still have both

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00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:03,000
of my parents. 
Thankfully and but I know 

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00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,600
there's some here who don't some
may have lost one or both plant 

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00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,700
parents. 
And I can say that. 

213
00:14:10,700 --> 00:14:18,000
I Philly fully don't understand 
the loss of a parent, but a lot 

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00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,100
of you do but think about those 
feelings we you had when you 

215
00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:26,200
lost your parent, think about 
All the emotions that you went 

216
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,800
through, and the urgency that 
you had to take care of the 

217
00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:35,100
Affairs of him of, whoever it 
was, you know, you got to get, 

218
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:36,600
you got to get the funeral 
arrangements. 

219
00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,800
You got to get, you know, the 
life insurance worked out. 

220
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:41,800
You got to get, take care of 
this. 

221
00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:43,900
You got to take care of that, 
whatever it may be. 

222
00:14:43,900 --> 00:14:46,100
There's a list of things that 
are need to be taken care of. 

223
00:14:47,700 --> 00:14:53,000
Now, could you imagine Jesus 
turning to you and saying let 

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the dead bury their own dead? 
But you go and preach the 

225
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kingdom of God. 
How would we react to that? 

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You know, you're here and you're
on the fence about following 

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00:15:05,300 --> 00:15:08,400
Jesus. 
I want to kind of explain, you 

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know, what God has done for us. 
Even if we are a Christian, we 

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need to listen. 
Sometimes we need to be reminded

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what is God has done for us. 
So the good news of the kingdom 

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of God is this? 
We have a God who it rains, all 

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and created, all who loves us? 
The reason we are here right now

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is because he has breathed life 
into us as humans. 

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You know, God could call in into
it all because he is the one who

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makes that decision But we have 
all sinned against God and we've

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created a separation between us 
and God, we've all sinned in 

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different ways. 
If we die in this state that we 

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are in right now, but as state 
of Separation, then we will 

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spend eternity. 
Separated from God, we can hear 

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so many different ways of a 
multitude of religions, nowadays

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00:15:57,900 --> 00:16:01,000
of how to get back to God. 
You know, say a prayer so many 

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times, do these religious You 
know, examples of do these steps

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and you can get back into good 
graces with God, or just believe

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it in your heart. 
You know, the good news is that 

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we do not have to do anything to
earn our way back to God, we 

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00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,900
cannot earn our Salvation. 
There's not enough we can do in 

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this world to earn our way back 
to being in. 

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Good graces of God. 
We have a God who is merciful 

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and graceful, but God sent his 
son to us. 

250
00:16:33,300 --> 00:16:37,700
To this earth. 
And he lived a perfect life and 

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he had no sin. 
And Jesus chose to die. 

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Not for his sins because he had 
no sins. 

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So, if he chose to die for sins,
whose sins that he died for, for

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our sins. 
He chose to die for our sins, he

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chose to pay the price for us. 
But not only that three days. 

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After his death, Jesus rose from
the dead and had victory over 

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sin because of that sacrifice. 
We here can have them 

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00:17:07,300 --> 00:17:10,500
forgiveness of our sins by 
believing repenting confessing 

259
00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:14,300
and being baptized into Christ. 
And being reconciled to God. 

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After that, we have an awesome 
privilege to be able to be 

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forgiven of our sins. 
Each time we mess up or slip, 

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you know, we have an opportunity
to go to God in prayer and 

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convince confess our sins to 
God. 

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God, and he will forgive us 
every single time. 

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And once we get through this 
life, whether by death or by the

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return of Jesus, we will be with
God in eternity in heaven. 

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That is the greatest news in the
world. 

268
00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:44,600
That is the good news of the 
Gospel. 

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The decisions we choose today 
can have an impact on where we 

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00:17:49,300 --> 00:17:53,200
will be in eternity from now. 
That is a privilege. 

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00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,700
The king. 
Has come to us to save us from 

272
00:17:58,700 --> 00:18:01,900
our sins in that is Jesus. 
So when we have to make that 

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00:18:01,900 --> 00:18:05,500
news known to the entire 
Community, to this town and to 

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00:18:05,500 --> 00:18:11,800
the world, Jesus told us to go 
and we need to do exactly that. 

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00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:19,500
It has been said that the man 
who did that research in the 

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00:18:19,500 --> 00:18:22,700
Himalayan Mountain Villages that
when they asked if some of those

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00:18:22,700 --> 00:18:27,200
villagers, if they knew who 
Jesus was Their response was, 

278
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:32,600
who is that? 
They had no idea. 

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00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:39,500
I have no idea who Jesus is. 
This picture here. 

280
00:18:42,100 --> 00:18:44,900
And I'm going to do try to do 
justice in describing this 

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00:18:44,900 --> 00:18:49,100
picture for some here. 
This is a picture of the 

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Himalayan mountains. 
The beauty that is there. 

283
00:18:55,100 --> 00:18:59,100
It's just breathtaking at the 
bottom of this valley floor. 

284
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It's green. 
You can see a couple of hikers 

285
00:19:01,900 --> 00:19:06,700
down here on the bottom. 
Midway up starts to Brown a 

286
00:19:06,700 --> 00:19:10,600
little bit where there's no 
growth of vegetation and then 

287
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,400
above that, you have the 
snow-capped mountains with just 

288
00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:18,600
such a vertical face on these 
mountains and the blue sky 

289
00:19:18,700 --> 00:19:21,300
above. 
Now, these guys here in this 

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00:19:21,300 --> 00:19:27,100
Valley are said to be at 12,000 
feet elevation Could you imagine

291
00:19:27,100 --> 00:19:31,300
being there and looking up 
another 15 plus thousand feet to

292
00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:35,700
the peaks of these mountains? 
That is an awesome. 

293
00:19:36,700 --> 00:19:40,600
Awesome thought. 
The beauty of The Majestic, 

294
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:44,000
Majesty of the Majestics of 
these mountains are just so 

295
00:19:44,500 --> 00:19:48,900
beautiful. 
In Romans 11 verse 20. 

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It says for since the creation 
of the world his invisible 

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00:19:53,100 --> 00:19:56,500
attributes are clearly seen 
being understood by the things 

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00:19:56,500 --> 00:20:01,000
that are made even his eternal 
power and godhead so that they 

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00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,700
are without excuse. 
Also in Isaiah 6 and verse 3 it 

300
00:20:05,700 --> 00:20:09,300
says and one cried out to 
another and said holy holy holy 

301
00:20:09,500 --> 00:20:13,200
is the Lord of hosts. 
The whole earth is full of his 

302
00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,400
glory. 
We can read in these verses and 

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00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,600
we can look at these mountains 
and we can see that there's 

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00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,600
places on this Earth. 
That the, that the glory of God 

305
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:27,000
is shown in his creation. 
People can look at these 

306
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,600
mountains and say there has to 
be a Creator. 

307
00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,500
There has to be somebody who has
created these things. 

308
00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:37,600
That, you know, there is a God. 
That's what Romans tells us. 

309
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,400
Romans tells us there's no 
excuse for someone to recognize 

310
00:20:41,700 --> 00:20:47,200
that there is a God now think 
about this. 

311
00:20:47,500 --> 00:20:51,900
So if there's people in the 
Himalayan Mountains that or 

312
00:20:51,900 --> 00:20:55,100
anywhere in the world, who have 
not heard the name of Jesus, but

313
00:20:55,100 --> 00:20:57,900
yet the Bible tells us that they
can recognize that there's a 

314
00:20:57,900 --> 00:21:02,300
God. 
Why do they not recognize that? 

315
00:21:02,300 --> 00:21:05,500
Why'd you that I recognize this?
You know, these mountains have 

316
00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:10,200
been been proclaiming God's 
glory for thousands of years. 

317
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:17,100
Well, the privilege comes to us 
from the mountains. 

318
00:21:17,100 --> 00:21:20,900
Do not teach about Jesus 
mountains, teach about God, the 

319
00:21:20,900 --> 00:21:23,100
Creator. 
So it comes on us. 

320
00:21:23,100 --> 00:21:27,300
It's our responsibility as 
Christians to spread the gospel 

321
00:21:27,300 --> 00:21:29,700
about Jesus to teach those about
Jesus. 

322
00:21:30,300 --> 00:21:32,700
That's not the mountains job, 
it's not the Landscapes job. 

323
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:34,400
That's privilege. 
Is ours. 

324
00:21:36,100 --> 00:21:38,800
What an awesome awesome 
responsibility and a great 

325
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,100
privilege. 
We get to do something that the 

326
00:21:43,100 --> 00:21:46,500
mountains cannot do and we get 
to Proclaim Jesus. 

327
00:21:47,300 --> 00:21:52,900
So it is estimated that there 
are 2 billion people. 

328
00:21:53,900 --> 00:21:57,800
Two billion that have little to 
no knowledge of God or Jesus in 

329
00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:02,400
this world right now to billion,
that is a huge number. 

330
00:22:03,900 --> 00:22:07,100
That's about if my mind serves 
me correct. 

331
00:22:07,100 --> 00:22:10,500
That's about a quarter. 
I think there's almost seven 

332
00:22:10,700 --> 00:22:13,100
little over seven billion people
on this Earth right now. 

333
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:19,300
So how come 2,000 liters with 
all the technology we have? 

334
00:22:19,300 --> 00:22:22,500
The speed in which information 
is shared, how come we, they're 

335
00:22:22,500 --> 00:22:24,700
still two billion. 
People that have not heard about

336
00:22:24,700 --> 00:22:27,000
God or Jesus. 
I think there's two reasons. 

337
00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:30,400
Of course, in these places, 
there's resistance to the 

338
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,900
gospel. 
There are leaders of villages 

339
00:22:34,900 --> 00:22:38,600
that absolutely reject, anybody 
wanting to bring in the gospel 

340
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:40,500
of Christianity. 
There's governments that are 

341
00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:43,900
against these places that don't 
let you bring in Christianity 

342
00:22:43,900 --> 00:22:48,200
because They have their own 
Gods, that they serve that they 

343
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,500
don't want anything else in 
there. 

344
00:22:50,900 --> 00:22:56,000
But I think the other reason is 
as we have settled for our own 

345
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,700
maintenance. 
You know, we have created a 

346
00:22:59,700 --> 00:23:03,500
picture of Christianity. 
We were we are content with the 

347
00:23:03,500 --> 00:23:08,100
state that we are in coming to 
three-time worship three times a

348
00:23:08,100 --> 00:23:09,600
week. 
Singing, his Praises commuting 

349
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,300
and all those things that we do 
without giving second thought to

350
00:23:13,308 --> 00:23:16,200
those who may be in need of 
hearing the gospel. 

351
00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:19,400
This congregation here is 
supported for and worked for 

352
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:23,200
many, many years. 
In many ways financially and we 

353
00:23:23,208 --> 00:23:27,200
also send Frank to the 
Philippines every single year, 

354
00:23:27,900 --> 00:23:32,200
and that's great. 
But why do we think it's only 

355
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,900
one man's job? 
Why do we sit here sometimes? 

356
00:23:36,900 --> 00:23:39,800
And think that one guy can 
spread the gospel throughout the

357
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,100
world that, you know, do we get 
comfortable? 

358
00:23:42,100 --> 00:23:48,600
Just just giving are giving of 
our means, just once a week. 

359
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:54,200
We think that we think that 
justifies us You know, there's 

360
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,900
so much untapped potential in 
this congregation here that not 

361
00:23:58,900 --> 00:24:00,900
only to send people to the 
Philippines, but more 

362
00:24:00,900 --> 00:24:03,200
importantly to get the gospel 
out in this community in this 

363
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,900
town but not that's not going to
happen if we settle for our own 

364
00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:08,700
maintenance. 
So we have to get out of our 

365
00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:12,200
comfort zone. 
So this is this Mike, you know, 

366
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,700
I was putting this together as a
very convicting sermon, very 

367
00:24:15,700 --> 00:24:18,800
convicting makes you 
self-reflect pretty hard on 

368
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,600
yourself and we might think it's
too much for us to do or too 

369
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,600
uncomfortable for you and I to 
do, but this is basic 

370
00:24:26,900 --> 00:24:31,400
discipleship, that Jesus called 
us to basic stuff. 

371
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:40,400
I Converse 14:33. 
Says so likewise, whoever you 

372
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:45,100
does not forsake all that he has
cannot be my disciple. 

373
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,500
So if we're not willing to give 
up everything we have, Jesus 

374
00:24:49,500 --> 00:24:53,200
says, we can't be his disciple. 
That's scary stuff to think 

375
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:57,200
about. 
In 1958. 

376
00:24:58,900 --> 00:25:03,000
My grandfather along with my 
grandmother and four children 

377
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,000
left the Comforts of the United 
States, to travel overseas to 

378
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,500
Africa, to help with the start 
of the work there in 

379
00:25:11,500 --> 00:25:16,300
establishing congregations and 
spreading of the Gospel there 

380
00:25:16,300 --> 00:25:18,000
along with a few other 
preachers. 

381
00:25:19,300 --> 00:25:23,100
My grandfather, decided to give 
up all the Comforts of this life

382
00:25:23,100 --> 00:25:29,600
here in America to go live. 
In a hut basically with a dirt 

383
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:35,800
floor with four kids and I 
couldn't imagine the 

384
00:25:37,300 --> 00:25:40,700
conversation maybe that went on 
with him and my grandmother on 

385
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,900
deciding to go back to Africa to
do this. 

386
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:51,600
And in 1959, He was in a very 
terrible accident. 

387
00:25:52,100 --> 00:25:55,600
He was. 
On a Saturday night. 

388
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,400
He was preparing for the next 
day. 

389
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,400
For the Lord's day to work to go
to worship. 

390
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,800
He was filling up, fueling up to
the vehicle for the next day and

391
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,800
honestly, husbands and Men. 
I think that is a great example 

392
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:13,000
for us, that we can how we need 
to prepare our families for 

393
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,500
worship on Sundays, you know, we
need to prepare the day or the 

394
00:26:16,500 --> 00:26:19,800
night before and able to make it
to where ever, we need to be to 

395
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,000
be able to worship. 
You know, whether we would be 

396
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,700
traveling or whatever we need to
make preparation to be in a 

397
00:26:25,708 --> 00:26:29,200
certain place so we can worship 
with fellow Christians, make 

398
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:33,300
those preparations filling up 
the car the night before you 

399
00:26:33,300 --> 00:26:35,900
know, whatever we do Sunday 
morning, making sure that we 

400
00:26:35,900 --> 00:26:39,100
have plenty of time to be at 
services on time when they 

401
00:26:39,100 --> 00:26:43,600
start. 
But when he was preparing or 

402
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,800
filling up the fuel, he would 
take a lantern. 

403
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,900
This is an actual picture of of 
an outhouse, an outbuilding that

404
00:26:51,900 --> 00:26:55,300
they had on their property. 
And this this 55-gallon drum 

405
00:26:55,300 --> 00:26:58,100
here about three or four feet, 
high was full of the fuel. 

406
00:26:58,900 --> 00:27:04,400
And there's a valve on this drum
And as he was going out in the 

407
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,900
evening, he took that Lantern 
and he hung it on that shed out 

408
00:27:07,900 --> 00:27:10,600
there, which was looks like, 
maybe I don't know 15 to 20 feet

409
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:15,500
away and as he was fueling up 
the vehicle, you know, being out

410
00:27:15,500 --> 00:27:18,300
in the open air. 
He didn't realize that the fumes

411
00:27:18,500 --> 00:27:20,800
could go all the way to that 
Lantern and they did and they 

412
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,600
caught fire. 
And those fumes came all the way

413
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,000
over to the car and to that 
barrel. 

414
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,600
And that valve ended up sticking
open on that Barrel. 

415
00:27:29,700 --> 00:27:33,700
And he got burned. 
He caught fire is what he says. 

416
00:27:33,900 --> 00:27:37,300
He tells you he caught fire. 
I can't remember how much 

417
00:27:37,300 --> 00:27:42,100
percentage of his body was 
burned, but he was in the 

418
00:27:42,100 --> 00:27:44,000
hospital for nine and a half 
weeks. 

419
00:27:45,100 --> 00:27:47,300
And the nurse told him the 
night, they brought him in that,

420
00:27:47,300 --> 00:27:49,500
they didn't think he was going 
to live and because they think 

421
00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:50,900
didn't think he was going to 
live. 

422
00:27:51,100 --> 00:27:54,000
They didn't give him any 
treatment for that entire night.

423
00:27:55,100 --> 00:27:57,900
Burned, as he was, they gave him
zero treatment. 

424
00:27:59,500 --> 00:28:02,200
This is the this is the picture 
of him holding the shirt that he

425
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:07,100
was wearing during that time. 
I mean, they're it's barely 

426
00:28:07,100 --> 00:28:12,000
hanging on there together. 
The nurse told him after. 

427
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,000
It was all said and done that. 
He was America. 

428
00:28:15,100 --> 00:28:18,200
That's what the nurse told him. 
In other words, God had a hand 

429
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:24,900
in him, not dying that night. 
You know, he gave all he gave 

430
00:28:24,900 --> 00:28:29,500
everything he could and he 
almost lost his life for moving 

431
00:28:29,500 --> 00:28:33,000
overseas to Africa, to spread 
the gospel. 

432
00:28:34,700 --> 00:28:39,000
So do not fool ourselves into 
thinking that the mission of 

433
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,000
spreading the gospel, does not 
come without a cost. 

434
00:28:43,300 --> 00:28:46,200
Not only that but living a life 
of following Christ has not come

435
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:50,300
without a cost as well. 
So are we going to settle for 

436
00:28:50,300 --> 00:28:52,900
maintenance? 
Or are we going to sacrifice for

437
00:28:52,900 --> 00:28:58,400
the spread of the Gospel? 
Our third question. 

438
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:04,600
Will your life be marked by an 
indecisive mind or undivided 

439
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:08,600
heart? 
Back in Luke chapter 9. 

440
00:29:11,300 --> 00:29:14,400
The last man that Jesus runs up 
on and verse 61. 

441
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,500
And another also said, Lord, I 
will follow you, but let me 

442
00:29:18,500 --> 00:29:21,600
first go and bid them farewell, 
who are at my house. 

443
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,700
But Jesus said to him, no one 
having put his hand to the plow 

444
00:29:25,900 --> 00:29:29,100
and looking back is fit for the 
kingdom of God. 

445
00:29:29,100 --> 00:29:30,900
This last guy wanted to follow 
Jesus. 

446
00:29:30,900 --> 00:29:33,900
But first, he wanted to go back 
home and say goodbye to his 

447
00:29:33,900 --> 00:29:37,700
family. 
You know, Jesus was telling him 

448
00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:40,200
and he's telling us as well, 
that if we're going to follow 

449
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:45,700
him, we are to fix our eyes upon
him and not look back. 

450
00:29:47,100 --> 00:29:50,100
You know, these are tough, tough
things that Jesus is telling us 

451
00:29:50,100 --> 00:29:53,000
to do. 
I mean, he is, he is really 

452
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,500
getting to the core of our 
heart. 

453
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,900
Are we going to follow him? 
Are we going to give everything?

454
00:29:58,900 --> 00:30:03,600
We have be willing to give 
everything away, turn our back 

455
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,400
on on all that we've ever known 
to follow him. 

456
00:30:07,100 --> 00:30:13,000
So an intersect indecisive mind.
You know, I think of this as all

457
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,100
of us have a tendency to think 
this way, you know, we can hear 

458
00:30:15,100 --> 00:30:19,800
this message and we can think to
ourselves, man, I really need to

459
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:21,400
do something. 
You know, I need to do something

460
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,100
for Jesus. 
I need some for the congregation

461
00:30:23,100 --> 00:30:26,300
you some for the church, you 
know, and then then a few days 

462
00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:31,900
go by and I still need to really
need to do something week, goes 

463
00:30:31,900 --> 00:30:34,600
by a month, goes by and we're 
still thinking, man, what in the

464
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:35,800
world? 
Can I do to help the 

465
00:30:35,808 --> 00:30:37,800
congregation or to help the 
church? 

466
00:30:39,500 --> 00:30:43,400
Then a year goes by. 
By the time, the years of all 

467
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:49,600
gone by we have done nothing. 
This is not the type of life 

468
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:53,500
that Jesus called us to live. 
He wants us to live with an 

469
00:30:53,500 --> 00:30:56,900
undivided heart. 
Look at the language in Luke 

470
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:04,300
chapter, 14 and verse 25. 
It says there now, great 

471
00:31:04,300 --> 00:31:07,200
multitudes went with him and he 
turned and said to them. 

472
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,600
If anyone comes to me and does 
not hate his father and mother 

473
00:31:11,900 --> 00:31:17,400
wife and children brothers and 
sisters, yes, his own life also,

474
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:23,600
he cannot be my disciple. 
What in the world is at all 

475
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:24,500
about? 
What? 

476
00:31:24,900 --> 00:31:29,500
Why would he tell us to? 
If we don't hate our family that

477
00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:32,800
we can't be a disciple. 
Now we know we can read other 

478
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,100
places in scripture. 
We were taught to love our 

479
00:31:35,100 --> 00:31:38,900
wives, love our children honor, 
our father and mother, you know,

480
00:31:38,900 --> 00:31:40,800
that's not what Jesus was 
talking about here. 

481
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:48,400
Jesus was saying, That when we 
choose to fix our eyes and give 

482
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,200
our entire heart to Jesus and 
love him. 

483
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:56,200
All other close relationships 
look like hate in comparison to 

484
00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,000
what our relationship should be 
to him. 

485
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:05,800
So, Do we love him with 
everything? 

486
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,000
We got. 
So, the key question really is, 

487
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,600
where's our heart? 
Where's your heart is Jesus 

488
00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:14,100
enough for us? 
Do we treasure Jesus, the 

489
00:32:14,100 --> 00:32:17,600
automatic Matthew 13, verse 44, 
the parable of the hidden 

490
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:22,100
treasure says there. 
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is 

491
00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:27,900
like treasure hidden in a field,
which a man found and hid and 

492
00:32:27,900 --> 00:32:30,500
for Joy, over it. 
He goes and sells all that he 

493
00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:41,100
has and buys that field You 
know, this, this this guy found 

494
00:32:41,100 --> 00:32:45,200
something in this field that he 
thought was more valuable than 

495
00:32:45,500 --> 00:32:49,300
everything that he had. 
This is the parable 22 verse 

496
00:32:49,300 --> 00:32:55,300
Parable, very short. 
You know that is and it says 

497
00:32:55,300 --> 00:33:00,900
that he joyfully sold all that 
he had to buy that field. 

498
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:05,000
You know, that is a picture of 
him loving Jesus. 

499
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,400
With all, he's got billing 
being, you know, for the 

500
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:13,000
furtherance of the kingdom of 
God, that that that is, that is 

501
00:33:13,500 --> 00:33:17,100
a picture of the church and 
Jesus, you know, he is the one 

502
00:33:17,100 --> 00:33:19,700
who can save us, he's the Alpha 
and Omega the beginning, and the

503
00:33:19,700 --> 00:33:23,400
end, our comforter, Our 
Redeemer, Our Savior, the bread 

504
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:27,600
of life, good shepherd, our 
great high priest, the king of 

505
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,400
King Kings, and the Lord of 
lords. 

506
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:31,900
He's all these things. 
Things. 

507
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:36,000
So the real question is, does 
your heart belonged to him? 

508
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:40,100
Does your heart belong to Jesus?
Because when it does these 

509
00:33:40,100 --> 00:33:43,900
questions that we've asked sort 
of seem inviting, don't they? 

510
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:49,600
I think they're inviting when if
we can really say that our heart

511
00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,000
belongs to Jesus, you know, when
we choose the cross over the 

512
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,400
Comforts of this life, the life 
we have in Christ is far better 

513
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:58,000
than all the Comforts of this 
world. 

514
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,300
Yes, when we when we sacrifice, 
when we should we should 

515
00:34:02,300 --> 00:34:04,900
sacrifice for the work of the 
church and spread the gospel. 

516
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,300
We don't want to waste our life.
We don't want to make a few 

517
00:34:08,300 --> 00:34:11,800
short years here, count for 
eternity for nothing. 

518
00:34:12,699 --> 00:34:15,699
You know, we will speak spend 
eternity, lost or saved and 

519
00:34:15,699 --> 00:34:21,500
that's just determined on the 
decisions we make today we don't

520
00:34:21,500 --> 00:34:25,800
want to get to the Judgment Day 
and stand before Jesus and have 

521
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,199
Jesus asked us to ask us, you 
know, all those good intentions 

522
00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:32,400
that you had all those things 
that you wanted to do to spread 

523
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,500
the gospel. 
Have you done them? 

524
00:34:37,100 --> 00:34:40,900
You know, I don't, I don't want 
to stand there and, and respond 

525
00:34:40,900 --> 00:34:42,600
to that. 
Well, I thought about doing 

526
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:45,400
them, well, thinking about doing
them and doing are two different

527
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:50,600
things. 
I think all of us here can say, 

528
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:58,300
That. 
That we trust Jesus to save us 

529
00:34:58,300 --> 00:35:02,100
for eternity and if that is the 
case, then why can't we trust 

530
00:35:02,100 --> 00:35:05,400
him to lead us here in this life
for just a little while? 

531
00:35:07,300 --> 00:35:10,000
You know, when we truly 
understand who Jesus is and what

532
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:15,100
he does for us, it is not 
dangerous to surrender to him on

533
00:35:15,100 --> 00:35:18,000
the opposite. 
It is dangerous to not surrender

534
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:21,600
to him. 
We thank you for listening to 

535
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,100
our podcast. 
Put on by the Church of Christ 

536
00:35:24,500 --> 00:35:28,800
at 22:15 plans. 
Road in Bakersfield, if you 

537
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,000
would like any additional 
information or you would like to

538
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,000
receive a free Bible 
correspondence course by mail. 

539
00:35:35,700 --> 00:35:39,500
Please email us at info at True 
Church of Christ 

540
00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:43,500
Bakersfield.com. 
Our service times are on Sundays

541
00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:50,000
at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 
Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. please 

542
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,200
make plans to join us. 
We would love for you to be our 

543
00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:54,100
honored guest