After we have declared who Jesus is, what does that do to our lives?  What is next?  Continuing our series The Gospel of Luke, Part II: A Journey Through Galilee, AJ Neely walks us through what Jesus tells us life after a true encounter with him looks like. 

AJ’s Main Points:

1) You must step off the throne of your life, so that Christ can take up that seat.

2) You must take the journey of the cross daily.

3) You must trade this world for true life.

Key Takeaways:

• The most important question we will ever answer is, “who do I believe Jesus is.”

• Salvation is alway by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

• Once you encounter Jesus, you life cannot look the same after.

• The things Jesus points to in our passage are timeless struggles of the heart of man.

• If we know who Jesus is, we are not the rulers of our life.

• Jesus has done the work of reconciliation with the Father for us, and consequently he has given the Christian a calling for their life.

• If you try to fill up with the outside world, eventually you’ll still have to look inward and realize your need.

• Trading our lives for the life Jesus gives us is “trading up” in the most extreme way imaginable.

• We are masters of compartmentalizing life, but God asks for full submission.

• We live in a culture that glorifies “self,” but Christ asks us to lay ourselves down.

• In our passage today, Jesus uses the words “must” and daily.
  • “Must” shows the strength of the call.
  • “Daily” tells us how consistently the call is asked of us.

Discussion Questions/Application:

Personal Application:

• What am I allowing to rule instead of Christ?

• Do I know what it means to carry the cross that Jesus has for me?

• What in this world am I too afraid to surrender in order to gain fullness of life with Christ?

Discuss with Community Group:

• What do these relationships look like compared to secular ones?  How has Jesus transformed the way this group interacts?

• What does it look like to bear each other’s cross and encourage one another through these sacrifices?

• How do we point each other to surrendering to Christ?

Passages Referenced

Luke 9:23-27, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 15:19, Philippians 3:7-11.

Worship Set List

You Are, Jesus You Alone, What He’s Done, Come Thou Fount (Above All Else), Jesus is Better