A Cross-Eyed View of Life / Pastor Randy Goldenberg / FCF Church

Take up your cross, we're gonna get into that. Remember, they were expecting the messiah to take over the world and be exalted on the throne. Jesus knew the the real power is released by god in human flesh and Jesus sacrificing himself. That reaches into the core of a human heart. External power, we're gonna talk about that next week, it it's inferior to that internal pull. Take up your cross daily and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you'll lose it but if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Best life possible, life more abundant, whatever term you wanna use. [00:47:59] (35 seconds)  #TakeUpYourCross

Did Jesus say if any of you wants to go to heaven? Did did he say if any of you wants to make sure, man, that at life's end that elevator goes up instead of down? Did did he say if any of you wants to make sure your sins are forgiven? No. Uh-uh. If any of you wants to be my follower, in other words, if you're attracted to me, second Peter chapter one verse three, it says that we are attracted to God by seeing his glory in Jesus. [00:47:10] (28 seconds)  #FollowNotForHeaven

It's not what it says. Worthy is the lamb who was Slain. Slain. Wait a minute. You mean what makes him worthy of worship, submission, adoration, universal is because he is the almighty, he is the all knowing, he is the all powerful, he can do whatever he wants but he doesn't. He only does what is sacrificially loving and for the highest good of angelic civilizations, ancient angelic civilizations and humans, [01:15:01] (32 seconds)  #WorthyBySacrifice

If I want the best life possible, I cannot, it is an impossibility, I cannot have the best life possible unless my life is tightly united to him, to his word, to his will, his will as revealed in his word. So so it's an impossibility. Just like the the Olympian, aspirant, the person that wants to be an Olympian champion, a gold medalist, they've gotta completely trust in that trainer and submit. That's why Jesus makes these demands. It's not a demand, it's just Jesus saying, man, I love you and I I know what you want. I know you want the best life possible. I'm giving you the pathway. This is the only way it works. [01:01:27] (38 seconds)  #UnitedToChrist

The God given life God given life option. The first option the Lord wants to give to us, to you, to me today is the very best life possible. I'm gonna say the very best life possible is because as long as evil is existent, Jesus himself said in John sixteen thirty three, we're gonna have troubles in this world but we can still have the best life possible and a loving God fully intends for us to have that. Jesus said in John 10, he said, John 10 verse 10, he said he wants us to have life and life to the fullest, life to the max, life abundant, best life possible. [00:39:52] (35 seconds)  #BestLifePossible

you can have the most dissatisfying life possible. Chase those five p's, man. You'll have you'll have a multitude of people beside you. Get all the pleasure you can, get all the possessions you can, get all the prestige, all the popularity, all the power. There you'll have a bunch of people beside you chasing those idols and you'll all end up in the same place dissatisfied. [01:21:03] (21 seconds)  #ChasingEmptyIdols

We've been there, done that, got the hat, got the t shirt, got the scars, got the wounds, got the regret, got the heartbreak, got the broken lives and broken relationships, maybe some of us broken health. We know these things, but a loving God is here saying, man, it can be different. It it can start today. The quality of your life can ascend to levels that you can't quite comprehend until you start to experience them. You can't experience them unless you put Christ first supreme. Follow him fully, freely, forever. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow him. [01:21:52] (41 seconds)  #PutChristFirst

I probably think many of us sitting here this morning because we're we're like maybe nudging toward that path, that narrow way that Jesus said leads to life but we're still thinking there's a little bit of a wide path that we can hang on to and make it work. I'm gonna I'm gonna cheat and make it work. I'll be different. I'll be the exception to the rule. What if there is no exception? And that's what Jesus is saying. So let's look at the cross from this angle. [00:56:28] (28 seconds)  #NoShortcutToLife