“Following Jesus is for Losers”

How is that for the title of a provocative marketing campaign?! While one may understandably doubt its effectiveness, that’s the nature of what Jesus shares with his disciples in this Sunday’s gospel lesson - “…those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8:35)

There are places and seasons, of course, where individual disciples have been asked to pay such a price on a literal level. Thankfully, most of us today, I suspect, may not be faced that kind of choice. Yet it begs us to ask ourselves about the choices we are called to make. “Who do you say that I am?”, Jesus asks, then and now. Our answer is shaped not just by our words, but by our lifestyle and willingness to “die” to our own comfort and self-preservation.

Let’s explore this theme together on Sunday! We kick off a new “God’s Work / Our Hands” sermon series in a new fall worship schedule - 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. this week. The hope is that each of us will be willing to ask ourselves how our witness is being challenged to move between “head” and “heart” and “hands” in coming days and weeks, such that all of us embrace an opportunity to “get our hands dirty” for Jesus and perhaps even “lose” a bit of ourselves in the process! Hope to see you in person or at least on-line this Sunday! I look forward to sharing some additional reflections from my sabbatical during our first Adult Forum of the year at 9:30 a.m. in Room 1.

Pastor Tim