WES HUMBLE

To The Cross It is not unusual in this church to hear the words Christ Follower.

To be a follower of Christ is the goal.
To give people the opportunity to follow Christ is the purpose of this church.

The mission statement for the church says simply: Leading people into a growing relationship with Christ.

While many people come to Christ as a process there must be a very definite moment in your life where you begin your journey with Him.

Some of you have been coming here for some time.
You like the music.
You enjoy the atmosphere.
You understand the sermons.

Not a bad way to spend an hour and fifteen minutes on a Sunday morning.

While you feel really good about coming to church there seems to be something missing in your life.

Being a Christ follower is all about relationship.
Being a Christ follower means you growing and maturing in your walk with Christ.
Being a Christ follower means you find the Bible to be a guide for daily living. ( of course to do this you have to read the Bible.)

Being a Christ follower means you will find a way to help others. You will find a ministry to engage in that will touch other people.

Being a Christ follower means you will find that prayer becomes one of your life’s greatest assets and blessing.

What I want to do today is very simply show you how and what becoming a Christ follower is all about.

To do this I need to use the words of Christ Himself.

Math. 16:24

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’” NKJV

1. The Desire: We come to Christ because we have an overwhelming sense of needing something beyond our own strength.

No one comes to Christ without a desire to follow Him. I have never yet seen someone become a Christ follower who did not have a desire or a hunger to see something change in their life.

I would like for you to watch and listen to the words of some people I have asked to help me preach this message today.

There is a biblical story that illustrates this found in Luke 5. Jesus is standing by a lake with a huge crowd of people. He spots some fishermen washing their nets. He gets into one of the boats and instructs them after doing a little teaching from the boat, to go into deep water and let down their nets. One of them whose name was Simon says, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down my nets.”

The Bible says that when they let down their nets they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. The boats became so full that the boats began to sink.

At first Simon Peter and the others are so amazed that the Bible says, “ he fell at Jesus knees and said, ‘Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man;

Jesus simply said softly to these rough men, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”

And then there is an amazing verse. It sums up the desire that people who become Christ followers have.

“So they pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything and followed Him.” Luke 5:11

Do you have a desire to follow Christ today?
Do you wish you had the courage to pull the boats of your life up on the shore and follow Him?
Does your desire for Christ in your life almost feel like a hunger in your heart?

The same Jesus who said, “if anyone desires to come after me. . .” also said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled.”

2. The Devotion: To be a Christ follower will take an unswerving devotion that will not cave when things get hard.

To be a Christ follower will take more than just a desire. To be a Christ follower will mean that we will deny ourselves and take up our cross.

Through the years this kind of devotion has meant many different things to people who follow Christ.

For some it has meant the loss of a family blessing. For others is has caused a reshaping of priorities in their life.

Let’s listen and watch a couple of more testimonies.

Christ followers are devoted.

Devotion means: religious fervor, ardent love or affection.

Jesus said we are to deny ourselves and pick up our cross. The only way to do this and survive the curves that life throws us is to be so in love with Jesus that we allow nothing to turn our heads from Him.

During the Olympic marathon race in 1968, the world saw a clear picture of true commitment. John Akhwari was running for Tanzania, and although he didn’t win the race, he won the hearts of all who saw him run. Akhwari was injured by a fall early in the race. Most runners would have conceded defeat and dropped out of the race to receive proper medical attention, but on this cool night in Mexico City, John Akhwari picked himself up and quickly bandaged his bleeding leg. The injury took its toll, but this determined Tanzanian wasn’t going to quit. He kept running even though he was miles behind the main pack. Finally, more than an hour after all of the other runners had finished, John Akhwari limped into the stadium that was now almost completely empty of spectators. Slowly, he jogged the final lap and crossed the finish line in virtual solitude. Bud Greenspan, a respected commentator, watched the spectacle from a distance. He was so intrigued by the heroic finish that he walked over to this physically depleted young man and asked why he continued the race after sustaining such an injury. John Akhwari replied, “My country did not send me nine thousand miles to start the race. They sent me to finish the race.” Commitment means giving your best until the job is done, even when the conditions are harsh. Bits & Pieces, Aug. 14, 1997, p. 8; Houston Chronicle, July 17, 1996, p. 2B

Are you devoted to Him today?
Are you ready to follow Christ even when it involves a cross?

Last week we very vividly illustrated the ups and downs of life. Things happen to all of us.

Today I am asking you, are you ready to pick up that cross?
Are you ready to follow Christ with an unswerving devotion that may take you down roads you would just as soon not travel?

Jesus was teaching one day and said, “. . . everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is life a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash.”

Being a Christ follower is about building a foundation of faith that will not shake or fall when the storms of life blow against it.

It is means: God, I will follow you. . .

I will follow you when
      my life is turned upside down.
      Others forsake you and go back
      The things I hold dear seem to be slipping from my grasp.
      My job is not what I want it to be.
      My children are giving me grief
      My husband or wife is not following you.
      Sickness inhabits my body or attacks someone I love.
      Death comes to one I love.

3. The Direction: It’s really simple. Follow Christ. Allow your life to be directed and guided by Him. In other words take your hands off the wheel of your life.

When we choose to be a Christ follower we agree to go God’s direction. That will have a profound impact on our life.

You and I have the ability to make a choice today. It is a choice to pick up our cross and follow Christ or to go through this life without Christ and the support and direction that He gives.

The direction that He chooses to take us may not always be the way we would choose but we can rest assured that He will be with us through the changes of our lives.

God has been calling some of you.
Some of you know that God has been working in your life.
You’re scared about the future.
You’re facing things you never could have imagined.

I want to ask you today a couple of questions.

Do you have an intense desire to be a Christ follower?
Are you willing to devote yourself and the rest of your life to Him?
Are you willing to trust Him with the direction that your life is going to take?

For some of you this will be the first time you have ever really answered this question. Some of us may have answered these questions a long time ago but maybe we’ve questioned our commitment to always following.

This past week I watched a C-Span interview with former NBA star Charles Barkley. He said that in the middle of his career he one day looked in the mirror and had a moment of reality. With the big house and all the fast cars and toys he still looked in the mirror and said, “There’s got to be more to it than this.” So often we think that if we can just change our circumstances to have what we don’ have now our life will be straightened out. Reality is, you will never be fulfilled as a human being until you pick up your cross and follow Christ. He is reality and He wants you to follow Him.

Serving and following Christ is not easy but the relationship is worth the effort.

Job had it figured out and responded in the middle of his turmoil and cross bearing, “Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him.”

Following Christ is more than just trying to be moral or religious. Being a Christ follower takes energy and commitment.

It’s Desire
It’s Devotion
It’s Direction

In II Cor. 4:3-4 Paul wrote, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

2003/01/26

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