Luke 9:23 ESV

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
²³And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

This is significant, because the word transitions here from an intimate time with His disciples to an all inclusive statement.

I want to let the scriptures paint the picture here for you. The disciples have just come through this miraculous experience where they witnessed and participated in the feeding of about 5,000 men. Does that mean there were 5,000 people there?

No…there were considerably more than 5,000 people there. It could be upwards of 20,000 people…who were all fed with 5 loaves and 2 fish.

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We have just started a study in our community group. It is called Experiencing God. Has anyone here done Experiencing God? It is a great study. In Experiencing God Blackaby lists 7 realities.

Seven Realities of Experiencing God

God’s Work
Relationship
Invitation
God Speaks
Crisis of Belief
Adjust
Obey and Experience

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Luke 9:23 ESV
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
²³And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Let me read an excerpt for you from the book.

They say in their book:

“Leaders lead as they are led by Christ, they teach as they are taught of Christ, they build in the manner they have been instructed by Christ, and they labor for the glory not of themselves…”

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So Jesus tells us to take up our Cross…yes.

He also tells us something else…He says we should deny ourselves. What does this mean?

The expositors Bible commentary says:

“We should on one hand “confess” Christ, in other words, acknowledge Him and identify ourselves with Him, but on the other hand “deny”
ourselves. ”

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Luke 9:23 ESV
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
²³And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Philippians 1:18-28 ESV
¹⁸What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, ²⁰as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. ²⁴But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ²⁵Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

²⁷Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,²⁸and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

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Worship songs for this weekend
“Your Love Awakens Me” — Phil Wickham
“Death Was Arrested” — Northpoint Worship
“O Come to the Altar” — Elevation Worship
“The Blessing” — Kari Jobe & Cody Carnes
“Way Maker” — Leeland

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Thank you for worshiping with us today at Koza!If you have any questions, ministry needs, or desire for prayer please come to the front of the worship center after the service and speak with one of our leaders who are ready to meet you. Have a great week! Please contact our staff at info@kozabaptistchurch.org for further assistance.