The Chicken or The Pig 2

Lesson: The Chicken or The Pig 2
By: Matt Atkins
Attendees: 10

One morning, on the farm, as the chicken laid a fresh egg, she had an idea. She would make her master breakfast! She didn't just want to make him eggs, so she approached the pig for some ham. The pig thought about the kind gesture the chicken was trying to make and replied, "Breakfast for our Master will mean labor for you, but will be a total sacrifice for me."

Some left confidently last week admitting they were the chicken in this story. Jesus does not just call us to be involved. He requires total commitment...DEATH.

Luke 9:23-26 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. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Luke 14:25-27 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Carry his cross? What did the cross mean to Jesus? What did the cross mean to the people hearing him? Do you think he was serious when he asked them to take up their "means of torturous death" and follow him? Jesus wants us to give everything like he gave everything. We must put aside our ideas of Christianity and what modern America or grandma or whomever has told us it is and dive into the radical truth that Jesus wanted us to die to who we are and live for him every second of every day!

James 1:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

You see here that we are called to look into God's Word intently and not just that, but to obey it. This is part of Jesus' requirement of discipleship deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him! We would love to share with you ways you can better do this. Please let us help you by sitting down together and studying the Bible.

James 4:17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.