Q: If you could spend a week with somebody, what are all the ways you could know if they were a follower of Jesus?
Our answers would mostly involve their deeds and religious practices. But, none of those things makes you a Christian.
To follow Jesus, there is something on the inside that happens.
Review:
A. Your life is like a castle - many rooms
B. Some people invite God into the castle, but keep him in a separate room
C. God wants to come into all the rooms of the castle – not just to be a part, but to be a part of all of the parts.
D. Once God comes in, he brings light…
E. He looks around…
F. And then he speaks truth through the Bible
G. After he speaks the truth - we have to listen & obey (the difference between listening and hearing)
Ex: God speaks into relationships, maybe with a brother or sister: As much as it depends on you, live at peace with other people (Rom. 12:18). If I obeyed that...not as many fights would start, I’d probably just walk away when my siblings tried to start things.
So what's the inside change that has to happen?
Luke 9:22-24 - none of Jesus' disciples believed he was going to be put to death. And they believed following him would not be difficult. Jesus corrects that - if anyone is to come after him, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow.
"Take up your cross": When a criminal had been condemned, the "beginning of the end" so to speak was the walk to the execution, and criminals carried their own crosses. So when you took up your cross, it meant you were on the road to death - this was a certainty.
For us to "take up our cross" means we say goodbye to our old life. It does not mean we are putting our lives in danger, necessarily.
Even though our lives are full of sin, it takes faith to leave an old way of life behind...you don't know what that new life will hold.
Ex: people not willing to move out of unsafe neighborhoods, bad housing, etc.
Story: Festo Kivengere, the African Billy Graham. You can read the story of this man who came to Christ in Uganda and the repentance he saw all around him in his village here.
You can read about Festo Kivengere and other Christian heroes in the "Hero Tales" series.
