The Heart of Discipleship

Speaker: Andrew Kitcatt
Series: No Nonsense! - The Gospel of Mark
Scripture: Mark 8:27-38


Being a Christian is not just for Sundays.
When we say "I'm in", it comes with a commitment to conform not to the world, but to Christ.

Carrying your cross is a hard calling.
Jesus' disciples, and Christians like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, died carrying their crosses.

It's very tempting to compare ourselves with others.
- "I should be at their level."
- "My faith isn't as strong as theirs".
- "I couldn't go through what happened to them?"
- "they are so willing to not sin, whereas I can't seem to resist temptation."

Carrying your cross should never add to the work of his cross.
On the cross, Christ did everything necessary for salvation. The cross has covered everything: for when our feelings towards Christ are numb; for when the strength of our faith is weak; for when we lay aside our crosses to scratch an itch. The cross has settled all that.

Only Jesus has the right to ask us to carry our crosses.
Peter confesses Jesus is the Christ. He is the king of the universe, and he will come again to reign. He is "the image of the invisible God." ^{(Colossians 1:15)} 

There is nothing greater than God.
The meaning of life is "to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." ^{(Westminster Shorter Catechism)} We should want to conform our lives to his way, because everything else, by definition, is inferior.

Referenced Reading

• Matthew Barrett, None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2019).


• Samuel G. Parkison, To Gaze Upon God: The Beatific Vision in Doctrine, Tradition, and Practice (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2024).

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