Thursday night...

[Craig Blazakis]

Hello Alloy!

Tomorrow evening we will be meeting at the Williams’ once again for dinner, fellowship and some time in God’s Word.  We will be studying a very challenging passage on counting the cost of becoming disciples of Jesus.  Though Jesus calls all of us to become His disciples, he seems to prefer those who seriously consider what discipleship entails and then agree to be fully committed.  The passages that we will be looking at are Luke 9:57-62, and Luke 14:25-35.

A few questions to consider:

1. What might “giving up everything” to follow Him look like for us?
2. What reservations do you have about fully committing to becoming a disciple of Jesus?
3. How has God helped to move you along toward a deeper level of commitment?
4. What does an unwillingness to make this commitment imply about your view of God?

See you tomorrow!

Craig

The passages:

Lk 9:57-62

57

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58

Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

59

He said to another man, “Follow me.” 

But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

61

Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”

62

Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Lk 14:25-35

25

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 

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.

28

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 

29

For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 

30

saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

31

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 

32

If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 

33

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

34

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 

35

It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. 

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”