Pastor Jon Verwey
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Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? — Mark 8:34-37 NIV
“When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
To bind a Roman citizen is a crime;
to flog him is an abomination;
to slay him is like killing a relative;
to crucify him is—what?
There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed.
Whoever wants to save their life will lose it,
but whoever loses their life for Me and the gospel will save it. v. 35
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? vv. 36-37
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. — 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it.
Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
…you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. — 1 Corinthians 11:28 NLT
Have I surrendered my life to Him—given Him my “everything”?
Do I believe all that we are remembering and proclaiming in communion?