Where do you actually begin taking responsibility for your own life, when good resolutions run out so quickly? The sermon leads to the question Jesus put to his disciples after an exhausting day and the feeding of the crowd: but who do you say that I am (Luke 9). The story of two preachers who started out together and ended up in entirely different places shows that saying Jesus is Lord is not enough, a life has to confirm it. Listen if you are looking for the point that is genuinely worth starting from.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Jesus first asks the disciples who people say He is, and then: "But who do you say that I am?" How do these two questions differ, and why is the second one harder (Luke 9:18-20)?
- What did the call to take up one's cross daily mean to the first listeners, given that a person carrying a cross knew their life no longer belonged to them (Luke 9:23)?
- Peter called Jesus the Christ of God, but only after the resurrection did he confirm it with his life. What in your life shows that Jesus is your personal Lord and not just a subject you know about?
- Templeton admired Jesus and longed for Him, while Billy Graham made Him his Lord. What do you think causes someone to stop at admiration instead of following Jesus?
- How do you understand the paradox that whoever loses their life for Jesus will save it, in light of the story of Richard and Sabina, who loved even their torturers?
- In what specific situation this week, in your marriage, family, or work, can you die to yourself for Jesus' sake and first place yourself in God's hands?
