1. How to Save your Life Luke 9:18-27 p. 955 - 956

2. What it is NOT (I) Bearing a difficult situation with patience  Only people under a death sentences would carry a cross ==> it is a symbol of death!

3. What it is NOT (II) “Sacrificing” ourselves for the sake of others Jesus invites us to follow him He was dependent on the Father only… … and so could be free from all other demands

4. What it is NOT (III) Killing all your own desires Christianity is not a message of death but of life! The goal is life… Resurrection life (v.21, 24)

5. What it is NOT (IV) A guarantee of success by another way It may lead to “success…” or to “failure”

6. What it is It is not a negotiable part! Not caring too much for the demand of the self Not accepting to be our own rulers Cf. Acts 7:35 “This Moses, whom they rejected [=denied], saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’” Not seeking to receive but seeking to give

7. What it is It is about living a life in which we do not put ourselves first The disciples (v.13): Listened and obeyed Gave what they had

8. Being Empowered Luke gives us a hint at what we need: vv. 1-6: The disciples in mission vv. 7-9: Jesus’ identity vv. 10-17: Feeding the multitude vv. 18-20: Jesus’ identity vv. 21-27: What discipleship looks like ==> Jesus is the one who “feeds” us

9. Being Empowered “Sin is unwillingness to trust that what God wants is our deepest happiness. Until I am absolutely convinced of this I will do everything I can to keep my hands on the controls of of my life, because I think I know better than God what I need for my fulfilment.” (David Benner)

10. The Reason God requires it This is the way God created us Acts 20:35 “I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” We just have a hard time believing it and accepting it

11. The Prayer of St. Francis “O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.”

12. Taking up one’s Cross Why does it feel so much like death? We all have a desire to be the center Some parts of us has to die The irony of Christianity… Because Christ died, these evil part in me can die as well The offer of Christ’s life is for now already

13. The Reason God requires it This is simply the way God is Jesus is not primarily what a perfect human would be… He is what God is like He wants his children to be God-like, not just nice people

14. The Prayer of St. Francis “O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.”