Doing Life Jesus' Way

Mark 8:27-9:1 April 11, 2021 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis We don't do life our way—we do life Jesus' way, which requires suffering and cross-bearing, but promises resurrection life and eternal glory.

Series

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Type

Expository

Tone

pastoralpropheticdidactic

Method

grammatical-historicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

23 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #8

"Concrete application of Mark 8:35 naming specific forms of self-directed life that lead to death: same-sex behavior, pornography, sexual sin, wealth-chasing. Clarifies that saving your life means receiving eternal life by losing these pursuits."

Doctrinal loci· 5 surfaced

Sanctification · 13 Christology · 9 Ethics / Moral Theology · 4 Providence / Sovereignty · 1 Spiritual Warfare · 1

Bible citations· 15

Illustrations· 1

personal story · unit #2 — Personal story from the pastor's oil rig days illustrating prideful self-direction versus rightful submission to Jesus' authority. Establishes the sermon's central metaphor of 'my way vs. Jesus' way.'

Theological claims· 5

We don't do life our way—we do life Jesus' way, and human nature universally resists this. unit #3
Eternal life is secured in Christ's hands when we surrender temporal desires for his sake and the gospel's. unit #9
What we say about Jesus determines what he says about us on judgment day. unit #13
Doing life Jesus' way requires surrendering autonomy over where we live, work, marry, and express sexuality, trusting him to provide what we need in the suffering he assigns. unit #15
Obedience to Jesus' commands is not legalism when salvation is secure in Christ alone; it is the inevitable fruit of faith, marked by tension and suffering. unit #17

Quotations· 3

"There is a way that seems right to a man, its end is death." — Scripture (unit #5)

"There is a way that seems right to a man, its end is death." — Scripture (unit #8)

"The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him... in order that we may also be glorified with him." — Paul (unit #20)

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Full transcript

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0 · Opening prayer invoking the Spirit's illuminating work on hearts and minds through the word

Is that loud to y'all too? Yeah, you're good, man. Keep going. All right, um, let's pray before we, uh, read God's word. Father, Lord, we are grateful that your Spirit is here with us, that you meet with us when we come and meet with each other and, and, and worship you and meet with you.

Father, we pray now that you would sit— you would Fill us with your Spirit in order to open our eyes and change our minds and our hearts by your word. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

1 · Public reading of the primary text (Mark 8:27-9:1) establishing the passage under exposition

Right, we're going to be in the book of Mark, chapter 8. We are wrapping up chapter 8 this morning, continuing our study at the book of Mark.

We're going to start reading in verse 27.

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after 3 days rise again.

And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.' And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

What can a man give in return for his soul?

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father. With the holy angels. And he said to them, truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.

Father, once again we ask you to bless your word as we receive your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

2 · Personal story from the pastor's oil rig days illustrating prideful self-direction versus rightful submission to Jesus' authority

So when I worked on the rigs, I was a driller. That's an industrial— an industry term meaning, hey, I was the boss of the crew. I ran the rig.

I told the guys what we needed to get done at that time. And when I first became a driller, and I was a young guy, I was like 20 years old, and, you know, puffed up with pride because, man, I was that guy. And so the guys that would come to work for me, I'd tell them, hey, There are 3 ways we can do things around here, okay? You can do things the right way, you can do things the wrong way, or you can do things my way, okay? My way is the way we're going to do things here, okay?

We're not going to do them necessarily the right way. We definitely ain't going to do them the wrong way, but we're going to do them my way. Why? Because I'm the one who signs the forms at the end of the day. I'm the one who takes the heat when we didn't have a good day.

And I'm also the one who's going to say, hey, it was all the hands when we did a good day.

Man, that's not a good way to live life, you know. Like, it's a good way to live life if you're Jesus and you say, hey, we're going to do things my way. It's like, okay, yeah, you're Jesus. You're perfect. But when an arrogant, prideful 20-year-old says, let me tell you something.

We're gonna do things my way, okay? It's just not a good recipe for success.

3 · First articulation of the sermon's controlling thesis: Jesus' way contrasts with human preference, and human resistance to his way is universal—religious leaders, crowds, disciples, and us

Jesus shows us a different way, a better way. In our text today, Jesus is telling Peter along with the disciples and the crowds and us, hey, you need to do things my way. You need to do things my way. And it's gonna look different than what you're used to. It's gonna be different than what you think it should be.

See, the religious leaders, they didn't like it. The crowds didn't like it. And today we're gonna see the disciples don't like it. And if we're honest, a lot of times we don't like it either.

'Cause we get it in our minds like, no, this is the way it should be. This is the way I want it to be. And Jesus says, "No, this is the way it has to be." See, we don't do life our way. We do life Jesus's way.

And we approach Jesus with this attitude of like, "Yeah, Jesus, I'll do things your way until I find a better way." And then we go, "Ah, your way, my way." which way we're going to go.

Even Peter did this.

And we're not much different.

4 · Expositional work on Mark 8:32-33 unpacking Peter's rebuke of Jesus and Jesus' counter-rebuke

So we're going to look at this text in two different ways, okay? We're going to look at this doing things our way and doing things Jesus' way. And both of those ways are going to show us the truth that we don't do life our way. We do life Jesus' way.

And doing things Jesus' way has a great reward. Doing things our way has great peril.

So doing life our way, verse 32, and he said this plainly. He said it plainly to the disciples, "Hey, I'm going to die. I'm going to be put to death. I'm going to be ridiculed." And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Basically, like the verbiage here means like almost like he kind of took Jesus aside like a big brother and he's like, come on, man, you know that's not really gonna happen.

Like you need to stop talking like this. The guys don't like it, we don't like it. Before you know it, the crowds are gonna go away and like, come on, you're the Messiah, man. You're the Messiah, you shouldn't be talking like this. And when he's saying these things, we can like see the disciples kind of in the background going like, mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, especially Simon the Zealot, right? 'Cause he's like, man, you're gonna restore the kingdom to Israel. You can't die. What's wrong with you?

And what does it get him? What does it get him? Jesus then rebukes him. Get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God but on the things of man. Now look, this is a different type of rebuke.

Okay? Because of the— like it's the same word, but the verb tense makes it different. Okay? The verb tense used here is one like— let's pretend you're watching a parade. Okay?

The verb tense that Peter uses is you're looking at that one float and you're like, man, that's wrong. The thing Jesus, the verb tense Jesus uses, you're seeing the whole parade, you're seeing the path that it's on, you're seeing the start, you're seeing the end, and you know the trajectory that that parade is going. You see the whole thing. Jesus uses that kind of verb. It's the summary verb of like everything you said is absolutely wrong and it's satanic.

It's not just wrong, it's satanic. Why is it satanic? It's the same temptation that Jesus was tempted with in the wilderness. When Satan offered him, look at the world.

All this can be yours if you bow down and worship me.

What was tempting about that? Satan was offering him a crown without a cross.

You can have all this, you can rule all of this, and you don't have to go there where you don't want to go.

Do it my way. And Jesus said, no way, man. I'm not doing that. I came here for a specific purpose. And his own boy One of the chosen 12 tempts him with the same words.

"No, that's never going to happen." And it had to be tempting because it's offering the same thing. "Jesus, you can have a crown without the cross." Satanic thinking.

5 · Turns the lens on the congregation: we make the same mistake as Peter, expecting crowns without crosses

See, Peter got it wrong.

What about us? Where do we get it wrong?

Where do we think that we get a crown without a cross?

You know, Jesus says, hey, a student's no better than their master. He says, hey, if they did these things to me, they're going to do these things to you. A slave or a servant, however you want to translate that, is no better than their master.

If Jesus suffered, if Jesus had a cross to get his crown, there's a cross before we get ours too. And he's going to give us one. That's what scripture says. One day we will receive an imperishable crown.

But a lot of times we remove suffering from the equation, don't we? Because, man, suffering is hard. It's not fun. That's why it's called suffering. And we're like, man, this can't be right.

Jesus suffered so that we don't have to suffer. Well, that's right, like halfway. He suffered the wrath of God so that we don't have to, but he says, He says, "Hey, you will have trouble in this life. You will have suffering in this life." And we oftentimes think that suffering is removed from the Christian life.

But let Scripture direct us back. "There is a way that seems right to a man, its end is death." And for us, it seems right that we shouldn't suffer. And if we're not suffering for Jesus' sake and for the gospel's sake, chances are that the end of that will end up in death.

6 · Exposition of Mark 8:34 recovering the scandalous first-century meaning of cross-bearing—not decorative religious symbolism but the literal expectation of public shame, torture, and death for following Jesus

So what does it mean to do things Jesus' way and not our way? So we've just looked at, hey, this is doing life our way. It ends up us saying, no, Jesus, that's not right. This is right. What about doing life Jesus' way?

The next few verses bring up so many problems for Christians because of our misunderstandings. Verse 34, and calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. See, there's a cross involved in our lives as well. The cross, you know, we wear them on our chains. We tattoo them on our bodies.

We put them in our houses on the walls to claim, hey, I'm a Christian. I'm following Jesus. But that's so foreign to the mindset of the first century when this was written, okay? It's the equivalent of us today wearing an electric chair around our neck. Jesus saying, hey, take up your cross, is saying, hey, you will experience suffering and torture and death.

Death if you're going to follow me.

Torturing, suffer, and death.

Unheard of to say that. This was a criminal's death in shame and suffering, exposed many times, exposed naked. For the ridicule of the townspeople.

Take up your cross. Disciples had to be like, whoa, whoa. They go from nodding with Peter saying, yeah, yeah, he's right, to like, whoa, hold up. A cross.

7 · Exposition of Mark 8:35 with immediate personal testimony illustrating what it means to lose your old life—the pastor's deliverance from drugs and debauchery serving as a concrete example

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel's will save it.

Where's the Lord called you to lose your life? Your old life.

For me, it was a life of drugs and debauchery, and Jesus says, hey, hey, do your life your way, Vince, and you're going to lose it. It's going to bring nothing but death and pain and sorrow to you and everyone around you, even to your community.

8 · Concrete application of Mark 8:35 naming specific forms of self-directed life that lead to death: same-sex behavior, pornography, sexual sin, wealth-chasing

"There's a way that seems right to a man, its end is death." Death is not just a physical death, though, it's a spiritual death. See, just as Adam and Eve were told, "Hey, don't eat from the tree." You will surely die. They did. They died spiritually.

And that was followed by physical death. Maybe your life is one of same-sex attraction.

You got to lose your life in order to save it. If you act on those things, It leads to death.

Maybe your life is one of secretly watching porn. It will lead you to death. Maybe your life is one of sexual fulfillment that is not in the confines of marriage. It will lead you to death. Maybe your life is about making as much money as possible so that you can, you know, get away from the perceived sufferings.

Through being able to pave your way with a life of ease that money brings with it, it will lead you to death.

It will lead you to death.

And the flip side of that coin, though, like Jesus doesn't just come and condemn. He says, hey, if you give these things up, you will save. Your life. And that's not saying money's bad, okay? It's saying, like, if you're chasing after money for fulfillment to end your suffering and ease your suffering, you need to reevaluate those things, okay?

It's not saying that sex is bad. It's saying if you are trying to find your fulfillment in that, you're not gonna do it. He's saying, lose those things, save your life.

What does he mean by save your life? Eternal life. Eternal life.

9 · Theological claim grounded in the doctrine of eternal longing: humans naturally yearn for eternity, and Jesus offers security in eternal life by requiring the sacrifice of temporal fulfillment

God has placed eternity in the hearts of man. We long for it. We think about it. When someone dies, what do we naturally say? Oh, he's in a better place.

She's in a better place. Because we know there's something that comes after this. And Jesus is saying, hey, you want that good life? You want that life that's free of suffering? Well, give up what you want now to get what you need later and what you really long for.

See, those desires, those lusts, those cravings, He's saying, "Give those up for me and the gospel, and you will save your life, and it will be kept in the Savior's hands where nothing can pluck it out of his hands." It is secure.

Secure.

10 · Reiterates the sermon's controlling thesis as a bridge to the next section of exposition

See, we don't do life our way. We do life Jesus's way, and his way is a better way.

11 · Exposition of Mark 8:36-37 expanding the meaning of 'profit' beyond money to include any pursuit that forfeits the soul

Verse 36, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul. For what can a man give in return for his soul? You know, a lot of times we look at this and we think of money because the word profit is in there, right?

It misdirects us a little bit. But Jesus is talking about anything that pulls us away from him, those things that offer us a crown without a cross, those things that say you can have life without suffering. Those are the things that he's saying, hey, what does it matter if you gain all of those things and in the end you lose your soul? Does it do you any good? You're still dead and your soul is gone now, and there's nothing that you can do to get it back.

A life of drugs.

Forfeiture of soul. A life indulging in sexual fulfillment not in line with the Bible's teaching, forfeiture of soul. A life lived seeking riches and fame and fortune, forfeiture of soul. What can you give in return for your soul? Nothing.

But Jesus is the only one that can redeem a soul back from hell, that can bring salvation to a soul that has been lost. Jesus is the one who can do that. And he says that he can give you life.

And in order to give you life, it cost him his. That's the cost of the redemption. What can you give? Nothing. What can Jesus give?

He says, I'll give my life. I'll give my life.

12 · Exposition of Mark 8:38 with hypothetical courtroom scenario illustrating Christ's advocacy for those unashamed of him and his condemnation of those who are ashamed

For whoever is ashamed of me And my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. These words give us hope and assurance of being accepted. See, if we live a life that is unashamed of Jesus, telling people plainly that he has chosen how we live and we live that way for Him and by Him and through Him, He won't be ashamed of us.

See, if we answer for Him, He will answer back for us.

On that day when our accuser comes to us before God and he says, "You can't let Vince in here. Let me tell you what he's done," and he starts naming all these things.

And our faithful advocate stands up and he says, "Let me tell you what I've done for him. I've wiped all that away and I've given him a new life. And he wasn't ashamed of me in the life that I gave him after I took all those things away from him." Many times I'm still ashamed. It's not perfect for any of us.

13 · Propositional summary of the exposition: our confession of Jesus determines his confession of us

What we say about Jesus leads to what he says about us.

14 · Direct pastoral question pressing the congregation to consider what Jesus will say to them on judgment day, tied to whether they embrace suffering for his name now

What will he say to you?

What will he say to you one day? Will he say on that day, well done, "Good and faithful servant"?

Or will he say the other words?

"Depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you." And it comes down to us being ashamed or not and us embracing the suffering that comes from Jesus' name. See, we will experience suffering on behalf of his name, be it in our jobs, in our families, in just in the regular circles that we move in and live in. It will come. Do you embrace it?

Because he's put it there for us.

15 · Major synthesizing claim: doing life Jesus' way means surrendering control over location, vocation, relationships, and sexuality, trusting that he will provide what we need—including strength to endure the suffering he assigns

This is where it all comes together right here. We don't do life our way, we do life Jesus' way. What does that mean? It means, it may mean you don't get to live where you want to live. It may mean you don't get to work, you don't get to live how you want to live.

It may mean you don't work where you want to work. It may mean you don't date or marry who you want to marry or who you think you want to marry. Let me put it that way.

May mean you don't get to sleep with who you want to sleep with.

But our faithful Lord and Master, he will give us what we need. He will give us what we need. He'll have us live where we need to live for him to work his purposes in our life and to accomplish certain things in and through us.

He'll have us work where we need to work in order to do those same things. He'll have us marry who we're supposed to marry or not.

If the path of suffering he's laid out before us is one of singleness and one of longing to be married, he may say, "Hey, this is where I've called you to suffer for my sake." But he'll give you what you need.

And he'll give you also what you need in that suffering to stand up and to bear up under it and to keep walking for him, because that's what he does.

And there we will save our lives and find it and keep it, and we will not forfeit our souls.

16 · Transition reframing obedience from legalistic drudgery to joyful human flourishing, while acknowledging the competing pull of worldly desires and the need for Jesus' strength to resist

You see, we don't do life our way. We do life Jesus' way. And if we do it his way, we live. It's not a drudging, like, "No, I'm gonna do what Jesus—" No, it's like you wake up every morning and you actually get to live life the way Jesus planned for you to, the way you were made to, in relationship with him, following him, his decrees, his rules. Are really set out for optimum human flourishing.

And when we do things his way, we experience that. And it's hard because the rest of the world is going to say, hey, this is where happiness comes from. This is where fulfillment comes from. These are the things that the world desires, and you should desire them too. Don't you want these?

And we go, man, that looks cool. That looks cool. That looks cool.

"Maybe I'll dip my toe in the cold waters of baptism." I'm kidding. They're cold today. That's why I say that. Don't dip your toes in. Stay strong.

Jesus will give you the strength to stand firm.

17 · Doctrinal defense distinguishing legalism from obedience: legalism seeks to earn salvation through rule-keeping, while obedience flows from secure salvation and necessarily produces tension and suffering

And you might be thinking, "Man, Vince, that sounds so legalistic.

You're telling me I'm supposed to follow the laws and commands of Jesus." That's a legalistic way of life, Vince. No, legalism is following a set of rules thinking you can earn your salvation. Okay, that's what legalism is. When we know our salvation is secure in Christ and his work alone and our faith in him, then following his laws and commandments is called obedience, not legalism. And he's set out a certain way that we should live life, and that certain way should be marked with, like, There's a tension between us and the world, and that tension is revealed in suffering.

18 · Concrete behavioral application: unashamed Christian living means publicly attributing vocation to God's direction and openly refusing sin when pressured by friends, grounded in Jesus' unashamed sacrifice for us

So how do we do this? We do this by living unashamedly Christian lives. When we're at work and people ask why we work there, we don't say, well, you know, it's the only job I could find.

This was the only place hiring. We say, you know, the Lord directed me to work here. I don't know why, but the Lord put me here. and I believe he has a purpose for me here.

When we're with our friends who know some of the unique temptations and struggles that we have and they just say, hey, just give in already. Just act on those things. You don't have to keep denying yourself here.

We say no. Jesus has ordered the way that I live, and he calls me to this standard in this area, and I can't do that.

And when we're tempted to not say that, Jesus— we got to remember that Jesus promises to not be ashamed of us if we aren't ashamed of him. And he wasn't ashamed of us. He hung on a cross enduring the full weight of God's wrath against sin, naked, exposed, being jeered at, ridiculed for what? For our sake, for the sake of his people, for the sake of his people, to bring them before the Father unashamed of them, having been cleansed by his blood.

Having done that, we see, hey, we don't even deserve to do life our way.

We do life Jesus' way.

19 · Returns to the opening oil rig illustration, now applying it: the pastor's unwillingness to examine his prideful leadership mirrors our unwillingness to examine whether we're living Jesus' way

So the question today is, are you living life your way or Jesus' way? You see, on the rigs, doing things my way was a disaster, okay? Like I alluded to that a little bit. Let me tell you, the first year of me drilling, I went through literally 100 guys that worked for me.

And at the end of a year, I was like, I had a bunch of guys that were no good. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is horrible. I'm about to get fired because these guys don't work right. And I started thinking back. A lot of those guys were really good roughnecks.

A lot of those guys were as good a roughneck as me. They were just different.

And I was unwilling to examine the way that I was running my life.

Are you willing to examine the way you're running your life? Examine it next to the way Jesus says to live life. And if they don't line up, are you willing to change? Are you willing to repent of your sin and come to faith? He has a better way to live.

And when we do that, if we do life Jesus' way, the way our faithful Lord and Savior calls us to, people will notice and they will be like Ray's mom and say, "Something is different about you. Something is different."

20 · Exposition of Mark 9:1 identifying the resurrection as the kingdom's coming in power, followed by cross-reference to Romans 8:16-17 promising glorification with Christ for those who suffer with him

The difference only comes to us because of verse 9:1. It says, "And he said to them, 'Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see You will see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.

You see, 11 of those disciples and some in the crowds, they saw the kingdom of God come in power after the resurrection. See, when Jesus walked out of that tomb, that is the kingdom of God coming in power. That is the kingdom of God showing up saying, watch out, people. It's here.

The resurrection required a death. And that death was to pay for the sins of his people. He died and rose again to make it possible for sinners like us to live a life like his. And that's what he calls us to. See, we don't do life our way.

We do it Jesus' way. And when we do, he makes a promise in Romans 8. Romans 8:16, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him." That's half of the promise. The other half is, "In order that we may also be glorified with him." That glorified is that eternal life. He says, man, you do it my way, you're going to suffer.

It's worth it. You will be glorified with me as well.

21 · Final charge to the congregation to take up the cross and follow Jesus, with immediate transition to baptism as a visible enactment of obedient following

So church, let's go and take up our cross of suffering, denying ourselves and following our Lord and Master. And we're going to see Samantha, who's coming following Jesus in baptism, taking a step of obedience here in just a a minute.

22 · Closing prayer asking for strength to embrace suffering, resist the lie of a crown without a cross, and fix hope on future glorification

Let's pray.

Lord, help us, Lord. Help us to embrace the suffering that you've called us to, Lord. Help us to not believe the lies that we can obtain a crown without a cross. Lord, help us when it gets hard and we're tempted to bear up under that temptation. And to find that way out that you promise.

And Lord, help us to look forward to that day knowing that if we share in your sufferings, we will also share in your glory. What a great hope that is.

Father, fill our minds and our hearts with that hope so that we can endure the suffering. In Jesus' name, amen.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Mar 21, 2021

The Overlooked Gift of Sight

It is only through Christ—the light of the world who reveals himself in Scripture—that we receive the gift of spiritual sight we desperately need but do not know we lack.

Mark 8:22-26

Mar 28, 2021

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Jesus is not a great man among others but the Christ—the preeminent King in a category altogether different—who demands and deserves the totality of our lives, not mere tribute or admiration.

Mark 8:27-30

Apr 4, 2021

Easter Sunday - Jesus Lives

Jesus defeated death itself by suffering and rising again, offering to exchange our contract of sin and death for his righteousness and eternal life.

Mark 8:31

April 11 · This sermon

Doing Life Jesus' Way

We don't do life our way—we do life Jesus' way, which requires suffering and cross-bearing, but promises resurrection life and eternal glory.

Mark 8:27-9:1

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

In Mark 8:27-30, Jesus asks his disciples 'Who do you say that I am?' Peter answers correctly that Jesus is the Messiah. But then just a few…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week, we walk through the cost and reward of doing life Jesus' way—surrendering our autonomy, embracing suffering, and trusting Christ with the verdict on judgment day.

Prayer

Father, Make Us Willing to Lose Our Lives

Father, we come before you in awe of your Son, who willingly took up his cross and walked the path of suffering for our sake. We marvel at h…

Family table

Losing Your Life to Save It

This prompt anchors in Jesus' counterintuitive claim that losing your life saves it. The goal is to help kids see that giving up what we wan…

Couples

Losing Life to Save It

What does Jesus' call to 'deny yourself and take up your cross' stir in your heart? Where do you feel the tension between surrendering to hi…

Memorize

Mark 8:34-35

This verse is the sermon's load-bearing claim: discipleship is not optional self-improvement but mandatory cross-bearing that requires losing your self-directed life to gain eternal life in Christ. It names both the cost (denial, suffering) and the promise (salvation), which is the entire argument of the sermon.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

In Mark 8:27-30, Jesus asks his disciples 'Who do you say that I am?' Peter answers correctly that Jesus is the Messiah. But then just a few verses later, Peter rebukes Jesus for saying he must suffer. What does this contrast between Peter's confession and Peter's rebuke tell us about the difference between knowing who Jesus is and truly following him?

Mark 8:29-32

→ Where in your own life do you confess Jesus as Messiah but resist the cost of following him?
Jesus tells Peter 'Get behind me, Satan' when Peter resists the cross. What does it mean that opposing Jesus' suffering—refusing the necessity of the cross in our own lives—is aligned with Satan's agenda rather than God's?

Mark 8:33
In Mark 8:34, Jesus says 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.' What specific things has Jesus called you to deny or surrender in order to follow him? Name at least one concrete area—your sexuality, your career ambitions, your finances, your living situation, your comfort.

Mark 8:34

→ What makes that surrender feel like losing your life rather than saving it?
Jesus says in Mark 8:35-37 that whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Jesus' sake will save it. What is the difference between losing your life to your own desires and losing your life for Christ's sake? Why does one lead to death and the other to resurrection?

Mark 8:35-37
According to Mark 8:38 and Romans 8:16-17, what Jesus says about us on judgment day is directly connected to what we say about him in this life—and co-heirs with Christ means we must suffer with him to be glorified with him. How does this promise reshape the way you think about suffering for Christ's sake right now?

Mark 8:38; Romans 8:16-17

→ Does this passage make suffering feel like a curse or like evidence of belonging to Jesus? Why?
Jesus says in Mark 9:1 that some standing there will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power. In light of everything Jesus just taught about denying ourselves and taking up our cross, what do you think it means to 'see the kingdom come with power'? And how does that vision sustain us when the Christian life feels like nothing but loss?

Mark 9:1

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Pray together this week

Father, Make Us Willing to Lose Our Lives

Father, we come before you in awe of your Son, who willingly took up his cross and walked the path of suffering for our sake. We marvel at his steadfastness, his refusal to turn back, his willingness to lose everything so that we might gain eternal life. And yet we confess that we resist what he calls us to. We want the crown without the cross. We want resurrection without suffering. We want to follow Jesus on our own terms, surrendering only what feels comfortable, keeping back the parts of our lives we deem too precious to relinquish—our ambitions, our relationships, our desires, our very autonomy (Mark 8:34).

We confess that we often live as though your Son's suffering was meant to exempt us from ours, when Scripture promises that those who follow him must deny themselves and bear their own crosses. We cling to temporal things as though they will save us, forgetting that the gain of the whole world cannot ransom a single soul (Mark 8:36-37). Forgive us for the subtle ways we demand that Jesus conform to our vision of life rather than conforming ourselves to his.

But here is the good news: in Christ, our lives are already secure. His resurrection is our resurrection. His vindication is our vindication. And so we ask you, Father, to grant us the grace to surrender what we cannot keep in order to gain what we cannot lose. Loosen our grip on the life we are trying to build for ourselves. Give us courage to speak openly about Jesus in a world that scorns him, and to suffer visibly for his name without shame (Mark 8:38). Make us willing to lose our lives—our self-directed agendas, our illegitimate desires, our pursuit of the world's applause—so that we might truly save them.

And as we walk this path of costly discipleship, remind us daily that you are faithful. You will not ask us to surrender what you will not provide. You will not call us to suffer what you will not sustain us through. You will glorify those who glorify your Son (Romans 8:16-17). We commit ourselves afresh to doing life Jesus' way, not our way, trusting him with the outcome. To him be all honor and glory forever. Amen.

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Memory verse this week

Mark 8:34-35

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.'

Why this verse: This verse is the sermon's load-bearing claim: discipleship is not optional self-improvement but mandatory cross-bearing that requires losing your self-directed life to gain eternal life in Christ. It names both the cost (denial, suffering) and the promise (salvation), which is the entire argument of the sermon.

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

This week, we walk through the cost and reward of doing life Jesus' way—surrendering our autonomy, embracing suffering, and trusting Christ with the verdict on judgment day.

Monday Matthew 4:1-11

In the wilderness, Jesus faced the same temptations we face: comfort without suffering, power without the cross, self-directed fulfillment. He refused every shortcut. His refusal teaches us that doing life our way—pursuing security, significance, and satisfaction on our own terms—is satanic resistance to God's design, not freedom. When we're tempted to take our lives back from Jesus, we're standing where he stood, and we must answer as he did: *Not my will, but yours.*

Tuesday Proverbs 14:12

"There is a way that appears right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." The pursuits we think will fulfill us—the relationships, the pleasures, the ambitions we grasp on our own terms—seem wise from inside our own desires. But wisdom sees what the human heart cannot: that life grabbed is life lost, and life surrendered to Jesus is life saved. What you refuse to surrender will ultimately surrender you.

Wednesday Romans 8:16-17

Paul writes: "We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." The suffering is not the price we pay for glory—it is the mark that we belong to Christ and that glory is already ours. When we lose our lives for Jesus' sake, we're not gambling on an uncertain future; we're receiving the inheritance already promised to those who suffer with him. The cross leads to the crown because the crown is already ours.

Thursday Matthew 25:21

The faithful servant who denied himself and stewarded what was entrusted to him hears: "Well done, good and faithful servant." Faithfulness is not measured by how much you accumulated or achieved on your own, but by whether you trusted the master's provision and said *no* to illegitimate desires. The anxiety we feel when we release control is the anxiety of unbelief. Trust means surrendering the details—the job, the relationship, the comfort—because you know the Master is good.

Friday Matthew 7:23

Jesus will say to those who claim to know him but lived for themselves: "I never knew you." On the other side, to those who took up their cross and lost their lives for his sake, he will say: "You are mine." The verdict on judgment day is not based on what we confessed with our lips while hiding from suffering, but on whether we publicly, visibly, costly aligned our lives with his. Are you ashamed of Jesus now, or are you willing to bear the reproach of bearing his name?

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Sunday-evening family table

Losing Your Life to Save It

For the parent

This prompt anchors in Jesus' counterintuitive claim that losing your life saves it. The goal is to help kids see that giving up what we want isn't loss—it's the way to real life. Listen for where they're already experiencing small versions of this (giving up screen time, a friendship that was pulling them down, a plan that changed).

Jesus said, 'Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.' That sounds backwards, right? Can you think of a time when you had to give something up—or let go of what you wanted to do—and it turned out to be better? What did you gain by letting go?

works for ages 8+

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Losing Life to Save It

What does Jesus' call to 'deny yourself and take up your cross' stir in your heart? Where do you feel the tension between surrendering to his way and holding onto your own?
In our marriage, where do we still try to do life our way instead of Jesus' way? What would it look like for us to surrender that area together and trust him?
What is one thing you're afraid to lose if you fully followed Jesus? Pray for each other this week—that you'd both have courage to let go, and faith that he will provide what you truly need.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

About us · What we believe

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# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [The Overlooked Gift of Sight (Mark 8:22-26, 2021-03-21)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2021/03/the-overlooked-gift-of-sight)
- [Who Do You Say Jesus Is? (Mark 8:27-30, 2021-03-28)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2021/03/who-do-you-say-jesus-is)
- [Easter Sunday - Jesus Lives (Mark 8:31, 2021-04-04)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2021/04/easter-sunday-jesus-lives)
- [Doing Life Jesus' Way (Mark 8:27-9:1, 2021-04-11)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2021/04/doing-life-jesus-way)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

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