Over the past few weeks, during worship service, we have been talking about what it means to be a disciple.  We first began by talking about the cost of being a disciple of Jesus.  Jesus says in  the Gospel of Luke that "27And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." What does it mean to bear our Cross?  That means we must be ready for any and everything the world will throw at us.  It means that to follow Jesus means that we will face hardships.  We must first count the cost and determine if we are willing to bear our Cross.  Are we willing to lose everything we have to make Jesus our Lord.  To be Jesus disciple comes with many blessings but it also comes with many hardships.  The world hated Jesus so much that it led to His eventual death.  Jesus also says in the Gospels that a servant is not greater than His master.  So if the world hated Jesus they will hate all those who follow after Him.  So are you ready to pickup your cross? Are you ready to give up all to make Jesus your Lord?  

 

     The next week we talked about Jesus promising those who follow Him that they wil experience rest? We have already talked about the difficulty of following Jesus and now Jesus promises REST to all of His disciples.  I can't speak for all of you, but I can speak for myself.  I'm tired, I'm physically and spiritually drained.  I'm tired of all the evil in the world and I'm tired of the sickness I see.  It wears on me, and to be honest I wonder how much longer I can continue.  It is in those moments though that I remember this promise of Jesus "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”. Jesus knew that His disciples would get tired and He knew that you and me would get tired of all the evil in the world and He left us with a promise.  So I want to encourage you today, are you weary?  Are you tired? Does the world depress you? Do you wonder if the Lord knows your struggles? He does and He promises rest. 

     Last week we talked about the kind of service that is expected of us.  We spent some time talking about Jesus washing His disciples feet, the reaction of the Peter and even the fact that Jesus washed Judas's feet when He knew he would eventually betray Him.  We can learn much from this story.  First as a disciples of Christ we are to be lowly and humble.  Jesus lowered Himslef to the level of a servant and washed the feet of His disciples.  We must never think anything is beneath us.  We must see people as Christ saw them, and serve them in any capacity.  Next we must know that we are called to serve not just the people we like or get along with but those we may percieve as our enemies.  Jesus knew Judas would eventually turn Him in and Jesus served and treated Him like He did the other disciples.  So, are you willing to serve those who irritate you? Are you willing to serve those who vote differently than you? Are you willing to wash the feet of your enemy, because Jesus did, and He expects us to as well.  

 

     Jesus call to be a disciple is for all to respond to.  He doesn't discriminate, He wants all to come to repentance.  It doesn't matter what you've done or said, you haven not gone to far to outrun the grace of God.  So I ask you today, will you be His disiciple?  Will you follow and Serve Him?  I promise you won't regret it!