|
Luke:9:18-27 Losing to WinAt Supa Club the kids were horrified when they realised that Adam and Eve effectively rejected God, choosing to live separately from him according to their own wisdom and desires. One girl said that it was “mean” of them to do that to God. They were able to see the connection with humanity’s abuse of the environment and the meanness by which we treat each other with the decision made in the garden. When mum dishes out ice-cream that explains why I want the bowl with the most in it. So the choice Adam and Eve made in the garden is repeated everyday in our own lives. After we prayed we played a game. Guess what? Most kids cheated so that they could win the game.  In an ideal world, if they had been able to hold on to my lesson from Gen 1-3, they would have sacrificed their chance to help someone else win and they would have enjoyed doing that. However, that goes so much against our nature. We have been deceived into thinking that autonomy, being self-sufficient and focused on ‘me’ is where true happiness lies. Christ came to set us free from our desire to win, to come first, to save our lives from unhappiness or discomfort. Jesus teaches that a person who loses his life will save it. Some people make the mistake of thinking that Jesus is the genie in the lamp who will make their wishes come true. In reality, Christ has come to change what you wish for. Christ wants to change me so that I will desire to love Him and to love others. The more I love God and love people the more I will enjoy life. There are no limits to how much I can give, serve, help, bless and pray for someone. In Christ I am learning to put in practice the attitude of losing to win. the Rev
Luke 9:18-27 Who is Jesus?ExercisesDiscuss in what ways Jesus was perceived by the crowd and the disciples v18-20. How would you like to know Christ? Discuss what is surprising and even shocking about Christ’s calling v21-22.
How might this shape your life? Discuss what’s involved in following Christ v24-27. How can we help you follow Christ by denying yourself, picking up your cross daily and following proactively?
Prayer: Lord Jesus I praise you for revealing to me that you are the Saviour of the world. For leaving your glory in heaven to deny yourself, suffer and die on the cross so that you might rescue me from the evil within my own heart. Grant to me a growing clarity of yourself within the context of my relationships and circumstances in my life. Enable me to deny myself, pick up my cross and follow you. Amen |
