Embracing Self-Denial in Discipleship Journey

"Westover is great to be back again and this is for week three of our Come, Deny, Follow Churchwide series and again if you're just joining us on week three and you've found a group, I hope you find a place of community, hang out with us to the end of this series, and continue to grow in your faith in Christ. So first couple of weeks, we looked at what does it mean to come to Jesus? We looked at that Christ issues an invitation to people to come to follow Him. Now, as we think about a discipleship pathway, we think about if any man wants to come after me, he must first deny himself and take up his cross and then follow." [00:00:20] (45 seconds)


"The talents, the God -given talents, and also the affinities that you have, we can use them to elevate ourself, maybe our posture. But the denied life, the crucified life, means that we use the talents that God has given us for the furthest of the kingdom. So using your talents. Secondly, your treasures. What resources can you use for the kingdom? 2 Corinthians 9 .7 says, Each one must give as he decided in his own heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. Someone twisting your arm. For God loves a cheerful giver. What does that mean? It means that the resources that we've been given, whether it's a lot or a little, should be used for the furtherance of the king. There's a denying yourself." [00:03:20] (49 seconds)


"There's a denying yourself in some way, not under compulsion, not because you're guilted into it or some ritual, but because God loves a cheerful giver. Give an example of this. We were in a capital campaign. If you don't know what a capital campaign, it means we're just trying to get funds to increase the ministry that God had given us at a church. As we were giving. The offering plates were passed, and in that, we found a ring, and that ring was not very expensive, but through a couple of enterprises and relationships, we found that it was all that someone had to give that day and cheerfully gave that. We give of our treasures, but you also give of your time." [00:04:09] (55 seconds)


"The psalmist says this, teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Time is probably one of the most coveted elements and treasures that we have. How do you use your time? God has given us a vast number of days, some shorter than others, but we use those days in our lives. Heart of wisdom. In those three areas, there will be times and opportunities that you will have the opportunity to deny yourself for the kingdom, crucifying your own wants and desires for the kingdom of God. But the second thing that we see is that dying yourself means living by the spirit that we, as this passage says, we keep in step with the spirit." [00:05:04] (52 seconds)


"What does it mean to live by the spirit? Now, for many people, you think about the Trinitarian. Or the Trinity is that we, if you go to church or maybe you've just happened into one of our groups, a lot of our songs we sing are about Jesus. We can talk about the Father in a way that some people can understand and grasp that. But the Holy Spirit, there is so much. What does that mean to live by the Spirit? My kids love singing and they've loved singing for a long time. And so they would always sing in the back of the car when they were little. And I can remember there's this worship song and maybe many of you remember. It says, I want to live life abandoned. That was what the song said." [00:05:55] (48 seconds)


"This is the actions of the Holy Spirit. And so we deny ourself, very practical ways that we deny ourself by our times, our treasures, and our talents, and then we live into the Spirit. So what does that look like? I want you to think about your life for just a minute. How would you write your spiritual life? As you're pondering that, mostly a lot of us, we don't want to give ourselves a really low rating, but definitely you want to see holier than others and give ourselves a high rating. So a lot of times what we do, we give ourselves like a four or five, maybe a six or seven. You know, I could do better in my spiritual life, but maybe, you know, I'm not as bad as this person. Do you know what the reality of the Bible is in the picture it paints?" [00:08:48] (49 seconds)


"Either a zero or 10. You're living by the spirit or you're living by the flesh. And so as we lean into Jesus and think about denying ourself, this is the really hard part. Christ's invitation is a broad invitation. But my friends, the road of discipleship is narrow and few fight. So why do we do church together? Why do we do life together? Because we need one another to help us see the spots in our life to where we need to deny ourselves. So there's some questions together that you guys can come together as a group, talk through to help one another as we seek to live the crucified life." [00:09:40] (45 seconds)