Luke 13v24 Make every effort to enter through the narrow door

Luke 14v11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

Luke 14v12-14 12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

“To claim God’s approval as a right, on the grounds of one’s position in the church, or one’s reputation in the community, or even one’s good opinion of oneself, is a positive disqualification. There is no entry through the narrow door for the one who is laden with status symbols and a sense of his own importance.” Michael Wilcock

Luke 14v23 Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full

Luke 14v23 Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full Luke 14v24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.

Luke 14v26-27 26 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. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

“Not everyone is called by Jesus to serve and follow him in the same way. In some ways, discipleship will look different for someone who runs a business than it will for a person planting churches in a remote part of the world. A mother at home with children will be called to follow Jesus in ways that are unique to her circumstances. The point is not that all give up the same things to follow Jesus, but rather that all must be willing to give up everything they have if Jesus requires it.” Mike McKinley