“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Mark 8 : 34 - 36
Readings this week : Isaiah 50 : 4 – 9a; James 3 : 1 - 12; Mark 8 : 27 - end
Thought for this week
Jesus didn’t hold back from telling His disciples the hard things. Yet He always told them at the time He knew they were ready to hear.
In our Gospel reading Jesus has taken them to a distant place, and asks ‘Who do you say that I am’. Peter replies for them all, ‘You are the Messiah’. Then Jesus tells them He must suffer and die on the Cross. More than that, anyone who would follow Him must also take up their Cross.
Jesus speaks to us of His way of sacrifice. Laying aside our own desires and wants. Living for others and praying for the Kingdom. It is a hard way. A way that leads to challenges. That puts us in conflict with the world. Yet it is the way that brings life. True life, life in God Himself, even eternal life.
A few weeks ago we remembered how, on hearing Jesus’ teaching of Himself as the bread of life, many people stopped following Jesus. On that occasion Peter spoke for the disciples and said, ‘Where else would we go. You have the words of eternal life’. Jesus calls us to choose Life in Him, even though that means giving Him our whole selves. Yet following and trusting Him now means gaining everything in His love, beyond all we can ever imagine.
Rev Paul
Prayer for this week
Call to Worship (inspired by Mark 8:29 and Matthew 16:15)
In the name of the Lord Jesus, the bread breaker, the light gatherer, cross carrier, we gather
May the peace of the Lord Jesus, the peace maker, and the temple disturber, friend of the sinner and companion on the road, be with us all
Let us draw close to the Lord Jesus, the saviour, the healer, the teacher' and worship him
and ask ourselves
who do we say he is?
inspired by Mark 8:29 and posted on Spill the Beans. http://www.spillbeans.org.uk /
People to pray for
For Ben Fiaz and his family