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Message Notes
“I was going through the trials and tribulations of life. I was pretty much running on fumes. I was empty, no peace, no joy. Losing hope with the progression of everything.” —Deion Sanders
“I finally just got on my knees and gave it all to the Lord. Sports is sports, it’s a game. My faith is everything.” —Deion Sanders
“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” —I John 5:19
“But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” —Mark 4:19
Lesson #1 - The World is Set on Hijacking Your Affections.
“And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’’ And he said to him, ‘Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.’ And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” —Mark 10:17-22
“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” —Mark 10:17
“Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” —Mark 10:18
- Having everything in this life doesn’t guarantee your standing for eternal life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” —John 3:16
“Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.” —Mark 10:19
“And he said to him, ‘Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.’” —Mark 10:20
- Our sinful hearts have a habit of appraising us as better than we are.
“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.” —Isaiah 64:6
“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” —Mark 10:21
“You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” —Mark 10:21
“Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” —Mark 10:22
Lesson #2 - Chasing the World Will Lead to Some Harsh Realities.
“And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’ And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’” —Mark 10:23-27
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” —Mark 10:25
- An unhealthy dependence on worldly riches can obscure your focus on eternal spiritual riches.
- Riches have a dangerous tendency to numb us to our need for God’s grace.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” —Psalms 24:1
“‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’” —Mark 10:26-27
“Peter began to say to him, ‘See, we have left everything and followed you.’” —Mark 10:28-31
Lesson #3 - Live Your Life for Heavenly Rewards.
“Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.’” —Mark 10:29-30
Being a fully devoted follower of Jesus will always cost you something.
The very things you leave behind are what you will receive as rewards.
The more committed you are to Christ, the more resistance there will be to the presence of Christ in your life.
Anything you give in this temporal life cannot be compared to what you will gain in eternal life.
“But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” —Mark 10:31