Why We'll Always Celebrate Christmas!
When It's All Been Said and Done
Sunday, December 28, 2003
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You for the opportunity to love and serve You! You are the King of creation and the only one worthy of my worship and praise. As I gather with brothers and sisters in Your Son, Jesus, to worship You together for the final time in 2003, I pray that You will call to my remembrance all the ways that You have provided for me in the past year, and all the ways You have guided my life. I pray that You will give me the power of Your Holy Spirit to leave 2003, behind as I move to 2004, and that You will so fill me with Your Holy Spirit in the coming year, that I may live it fully for You, with a heart that is passionate for You and the advance of Your heavenly kingdom. All this I pray in the strong name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord. Amen.
Bible Verses
Mark 8:34-48
34Then he (Jesus) called his disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. “If any of you wants to be my follower,” he told them, “you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. 35If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life. 36And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? 37Is anything worth more than your soul? 38If a person is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in the glory of my Father with the holy angels.”
Questions for Reflection
What one action most stands out from 2003, as a time when You stood up for Jesus, and truly lived for Him?
In what ways have you become a more fully devoted follower of Jesus in 2003?
Questions for Exploration
What three commands does Jesus give to those who want to be His follower? (8:34)
What does Jesus say will happen to those who try to keep their lives, and to those who willingly give up their lives for His sake and the sake of the Good News? (8:35)
What does Jesus tell us is our most valuable possession? (8:36-37)
What does Jesus say will happen to those who are ashamed of Him in our present age? (8:38)
Questions for Understanding
What are some ways that we can put aside our “selfish ambition”, shoulder our crosses and follow Jesus in everyday living?
What does it look like in everyday life to “gain the whole world” but lose our souls?
Questions for Application
What one specific action will you do today as a result of reading this Scripture?
If You Want to Be My Follower...
Jesus doesn’t take it for granted that everyone will be His follower. In fact, when He gathered a crowd of folks around Him, who had been seeking after Him, He still prefaced His comments with the phrase, “If you want to be my follower…” Jesus knows that to be His follower bears with it great benefits, but also great costs. Often when folks share the Good News of Jesus with others, they share only the GOOD news—the free gift of salvation; God’s unconditional love, which remains with us no matter what; God’s material blessing of our lives; and on and on. Jesus never did that. When He offered the Good News to folks, He also made them aware of the cost or consequences of following Him. In today’s Scripture He tells us that if we want to be follow Him it will mean giving up our selfish ambitions, shouldering our “crosses” every day and following Him. These activities are costly indeed! Every human being is born with the natural desire to serve himself or herself. We ARE selfish beings by nature. That is the result of the sins of our first ancestors, Adam and Eve. Jesus offers us something different and more—we can be like Him, filled with love and selfless service to and with others. The challenge is that we must set aside our basic nature, we must be “born again.” Jesus offers that to each of us, and at the same time He tells us that it will be difficult. He also makes it clear that the choice is a matter of eternal life and death—the “profit” is either the world’s good or our eternal souls. As we choose Jesus is for us and with us!
To view other studies from the Why We Celebrate Christmas series, click here.