Sunday's Message: I Have Decided To Follow Jesus
This is the second part of the "I Have Decided" series. Pastor Chris asked, "what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?" Do you have an idea in your head? Yeah, it's probably different from mine. It's probably different from your neighbor or that family you passed by in your car. This makes you wonder what it really means. We all have these different perceptions of right and wrong. How do we figure out the right definition? We go to Mark.
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." (Mark 8:27-38)
Are you trying to decipher all of that? Let me help. I took quite a few notes during this part!
Caesarea Philippi is a place in northeastern Isreal, a place of pagan worship.
The people believed in reincarnation, which explains why they believed Jesus to be John, Elijah, or a prophet.
Why did Peter rebuke, Jesus? He did not fully understand what Christ was sent to do, what was to happen, and why.
"You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." How much of your life is about God vs. How much is your life is about you.
"...he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Life is not about what's in it for you. Your eternal decisions should matter more than your earthly ones. Do not dismiss them; live for God.
We're all at different places in the following, and there's nothing wrong with that. We all have to figure out how to make the most of it for God's sake.
"I have decided to follow Jesus, but what does it mean? I'm still lost." Pastor Chris decided to introduce us to some points Pastor Rick has talked about before. The different stages of the following. Where do you fall?
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."(Luke 9:23)
Crowd: Come and see. The first words Jesus said to his disciples. Come to a place of worship and observe the followers.
Congregation: Come and join us. Start attending a place of worship. Be a part of our family. Find the church that makes you feel at home and closer to God.
Committed: Come and grow. Salvation is the beginning of the line, not the end. Decide to follow Jesus.
Core: Come and serve. "You won't know until you go." - Pastor Chris. Work with your church. Church of the Highlands has the dream team to work in a specific area with the church. I worked with Highlands Kids and absolutely loved it! I never got tired of watching the kids praise God during our worship songs or hearing them eagerly answer a question about the Bible. It moved me in ways I cannot explain, and I'm so grateful that I was a part of that.
Commissioned: Come and die. "I'm going to serve my home. I'm going to give my life to this." "My life is about Jesus. I'm going to give all my life to him." I know this is a heavier topic than what you guys are used to, but Pastor Chris got serious with us. I will explain why I had to share this message with you at the end of the post.
We should want to go from no commitment to total commitment. From a consumer to a contributor. From Savior to Lord. So what's the first step?
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:41)
1. To follow the example set by Christ.
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Someone may say, "I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ."
But if he doesn't do what Christ tells him to, he is a liar. (1 John 2:4 TLB)
2. To demonstrate my changed life.
In baptism we show that we have been saved from death and doom by the resurrection of Christ; not because our bodies are washed clean by the water but because in being baptized we are turning to God and asking him to cleanse our hearts from sin. (1 Peter 3:21 TLB)
3. To declare my commitment publicly.
"whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33)
Why am I sharing a heavier message than usual with you guys? Because someone who reads this blog needs to see it. Well, that and I made a very spontaneous decision with my friend, Kelly. Pastor Chris said 15,674 people had decided to follow Christ in 2013 only. "We believe in dedicating babies. We believe that your baptism should be post-decision." He believes the decision to follow Christ should not be made for you. He then stated that Church of the Highlands was doing baptisms that day, right after service.
Yeah, you guessed it. I decided to get baptized yesterday. I had just curled my hair the night before. I had put on a full face of makeup that morning, but you know what? I turned to my friend Kelly and said, "I'm going to do it." To my surprise, she smiled and said, "okay, me too." This was not planned. We had never really discussed it in-depth, but I was excited and nervous at that moment. This was a big decision.
It was also the best decision. I had said to myself that I wanted to get baptized in January of 2014. I had said that I wanted it to be at Church of the Highlands. A place of worship I called home after just a few services. T
The church had provided us with everything. A change of clothes so we didn't get our ironed and well-planned church outfits wet. That meant free, comfy clothes to lounge around the house in after I washed them! (Don't act like you weren't thinking it.) They provided us with unmentionables, hairdryers, hair products, towels, a bag to put our wet clothes in, and professional photos of our baptism. Do you think I'm joking? They have us write down our information so they could mail us the photos later, for free!
The craziest part? I haven't been underwater, like in a pool, in a long time. Short, kind of traumatizing story, I almost drowned when I was younger. It wasn't like the whole lifeguards and whatnot, but I remember the feeling very well. This explains why I don't swim when we go to my friend's place. Well, that, and because I never learned how. It's one of those things that I think everyone should know how to do. So the point? I got in that hot tub-like thing, and I wasn't as scared as I thought I'd be. I was a little nervous, of course, because I'd never done this, but it was a good nervous. "Okay, Cydney, you're going to do this. This is your next step. God has a lot in store for you. Trust." That's basically what I told myself.
I was calm as they lifted me down under the water and backed up. In that water, I felt peace and serenity. It was like a frozen moment, even though the water was warm, where I heard nothing and felt everything. It was really one of the most incredible experiences in my life. I mean, I even called my mom to tell her about it!
God bless all of you,
Cydney