You Can Count Me In

Scripture: Luke 14:25 to 35; Hebrews 5:14

Salvation is free to us and costly to Jesus, but discipleship is free to him and costly to us. Jeremy calls us to count the cost and to realize that saying no also costs us. God wants soldout disciples, not a comfortable crowd, so he can reach our city through us.

The big idea of this message is count us in. Jeremy says God is turning Fearless from a cruise ship into a battleship, because a cruise ship is built for comfort while a battleship is built for mission. He warns that protein without action just makes you fat, meaning we can keep taking in teaching but never let it change how we live. Following Jesus costs something, and you will never feel like dying to yourself, so the question cannot be whether you feel like it. He also challenges us to count the cost of saying no, which may cost us even more. And he reminds us we are not alone. We are one body held together by the blood of Jesus, so the person next to you matters to your destiny. The call is simple and serious: tell Jesus he can count you in.

From the message: “Salvation is free to us and costly to him.”

Prayer: Jesus, thank you that salvation is free and that you paid the cost. Today we say you can count us in. Take every part of our lives, every room we have held back. Make us soldout for you and for the people you love in this city. Amen.

How to Put God’s Word Into Practice

Scripture: Hebrews 5:14

God is calling us deeper, and deeper does not mean more information. It means training. We love Jesus more by loving his words more, trusting them, and doing them. Like an athlete in a gym, we need to digest the protein we already have and put it to work.

Jeremy uses the picture of a gym to describe how we grow. Hebrews 5:14 says solid food is for people who by constant use have trained themselves to tell good from evil. He says we do not just need more protein, we need to digest what we already have. Discernment grows the way a cashier learns to spot a fake bill, by knowing the real thing well. And it grows by doing. Jeremy shared that God asked him to call people from his past and apologize for his own part, even though they never apologized back. God told him it was so he could release himself from what was holding him back. Sometimes the most revolutionary thing is to do the last thing God told you to do. Growth shows up on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, not only on Sunday.

From the message: “You can't train in the game. You got to train in the gym.”

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your word. Teach us to love your words more and to trust you first. Help us not only to take in more but to live out what you have already shown us. Train us, Jesus, so we are ready for the day pressure comes. Amen.

What Does It Cost to Follow Jesus?

Scripture: Luke 14:25 to 35

Jesus is not trying to gather a crowd, he wants disciples. When he says to hate family and even your own life, he means loving him first. If you do not love Jesus first, you will not be able to love others second, because that love comes from the Father and flows through us.

In Luke 14, large crowds were following Jesus, and he turned and said hard things. Jeremy points out that Jesus is not trying to push people away, because the very next scene has him eating with sinners and tax collectors. He is being honest with people who came to the gym about what following him costs. The language about hating family sounds shocking, but Jeremy explains the heart of it: love Jesus first or you will not be able to love anyone well. Our own love tends to say I will give if you give. The love of the Father says go love someone who cannot love you back. That kind of love is not manufactured by us. It comes from the Father and goes through us. Jesus asks for first place so that everyone else gets the best of us.

From the message: “You have to love me first”

Prayer: Jesus, we want to be your disciples, not just people in the crowd. Help us love you first so we can love the people around us well. Let your love flow through us to those who cannot pay us back. Amen.

Start a conversation

What is one area of your life where you are tempted to stay comfortable, and what would it look like to hand it to Jesus?

Pray this week

Lord Jesus, thank you for loving us and giving your life for us. Train us in your word, help us love you first, and give us courage to count the cost. We say today that you can count us in. Make us a church that reaches our city with your love. Amen.

Make it personal

Take it into your week.

What is one thing God has told you that you can start putting into practice this week?
Where do you see the difference between simply taking in teaching and actually being trained by it in your own life?
How does loving Jesus first change the way you love the people closest to you?
What would it look like for you to count the cost of following Jesus and still say count me in?
What is one thing God has already told you to do that you have not yet put into practice?
How does what you take in on Sunday show up in your life on a regular Tuesday?
When you face a problem, who or what do you turn to first, and what would it look like to call on God first?
What does it look like in your daily life to put Jesus first so that you can love people better?
Where do you tend to love people in a give and take way, and what would loving freely look like there?
What would it mean for you to be a disciple and not only someone who enjoys the crowd?
What part of your life are you tempted to keep comfortable instead of handing it over to Jesus?
What would it cost you to say no to what God is asking, and what might it cost you to say yes?
How can you bring what Jesus has done in your life into one place this week, like your home, school or work?

The original message