Deny Ability

David Sorn 5/22/24 Renovation Church Series: “The Concerns of God” Title: “Deny Ability” ETHIOPIA HIGHLIGHTS (Ethiopia Slide) Morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor of Renovation Church It is so great to be back with you this morning. Although, we had an amazing time in Ethiopia! Our Team shared about Jesus in neighborhoods, in marketplaces, and at a large outreach. And the Lord moved in such a mighty way! Our team of 25 personally shared the Gospel with 9,000 people and led over 600 people to Christ. All of which are getting connected with local churches for follow up And we were part of a broader mission there with literally 1,000 local churches in the city, and together, we led over 24,000 to Christ! It was amazing! I would love for you to go with us to Africa next time! Thank you so much for your prayer and a special thank you to those of you who financially supported your friends and house group friends to go on this trip. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS (Series slide) One other quick thing before we get into our message for this morning: Typically every summer here, we study a book in the Old Testament for our Summer Series, and this year will be no different. This summer we’re going to be studying… THE BOOK OF ESTHER! I’m very excited about this, as Esther is one of the most engaging stories of all time. I know you’re going to love it. Okay, let’s get to our message. Mark 8:34 Page 689 We are in our final week of our 7 week Concerns of God series on Mark chapter 8. And today we’re going to look at some challenging but important words of Jesus. (Mark 8:34) – NIV 34 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. All right, let’s start breaking this down. (SERIES slide) Jesus starts in verse 34 by calling out to the crowd and saying, “Whoever wants to be my disciple…” And you can imagine the crowd going, “Me!! ME! I want to be a disciple of this miracle worker!” And then he says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple…must deny themselves (all of their selfish desires)…and take up their cross, and follow me” And you can just imagine people putting their hands down Now keep in mind, when they hear the word “cross,” they don’t hear it like we do. They’re not thinking of a gold necklace or some nice decoration above your baby’s crib. Because remember, Jesus hasn’t died on the cross yet… So when they hear the word “cross,” they’re only thinking of two pieces of wood that people are painfully executed on. They’re thinking…death. And so what is Jesus saying here? Jesus is saying at the core of what it means to be one of His disciples, to be one of His followers… Is a willingness to Deny (to put to death) your own selfish desires. It’s to deny your desire to pursue sin instead of God. It’s to deny your desire to be in charge of your own life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once famously expounded on this teaching of Jesus by saying: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer It reminds me of the great missionary JW Tucker who was a missionary to the Congo in the mid 1900’s. His friends urged him not to go…as it was dangerous and there were few Christians where he was going. They said, “If you go in, you might not come out” To which Tucker responded, “God didn’t tell me I had to come out. He only told me I had to go in!” That’s full surrender. But this is not an easy passage for us. During these first 24 years of the 21st century, most American Christians have been swimming in the waters of consumeristic Christianity. Our version of Jesus is more of a Jesus who’s just there if we need him, than the one who says, “Take up your cross and deny everything that isn’t surrendered to me” (Title Screen) And yet we read here that the true disciple of Jesus is the one who has an ability to deny themselves. I heard a pastor once call this “Deny Ability” as you can see on the screen. And because having Deny Ability (the ability to deny yourself and follow Jesus) is so important to being a disciple of His, I want to give you 6 ways to increase your Deny Ability this morning. HOW TO INCREASE YOUR DENY ABILITY #1: Deny yourself daily, not just once. Denying yourself isn’t so much like taking a $1,000 bill and throwing it on the table, and saying, “All right Lord, I surrender my life” It’s much more like having a supply of 100,000 pennies…and every day, multiple times a day, surrendering one of them up to the Lord. And saying, “Yep, you can have this too” “I just want to gossip about this person so bad right now, but Lord, I deny that urge. I live for you (PUT PENNY OUT ON PULPIT) Or if you’re single, you might say, “I want to date this person so much, but they don’t follow you Lord. Increase my ‘deny ability’ (PUT PENNY OUT ON PULPIT) Or, “God I know I could make money off this business deal, but it’s just not all that ethical. I’ll deny my desires so I can honor you” (PUT PENNY OUT ON PULPIT) This is why when Jesus repeats this same teaching in Luke 9, he tells the disciples to take up their cross DAILY LOSE YOUR LIFE, GAIN THE WORLD And here’s the thing: God knows us well enough to see that we are rarely inspired by just the absence of something…by just the hard work of something… …so Jesus speaks of the reward that comes from our deny ability. Look again at verse 35 now. (Mark 8:35) – NIV 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. This is the second way we can increase your DENY ABILITY: HOW TO INCREASE YOUR DENY ABILITY #1: Deny yourself daily, not just once. #2: Realize that the pathway to life is through denial The way to life is death. The more you can increase your deny ability, the more you can surrender to the leadership of Jesus, the more life you will have. But the inverse is also unfortunately true: HOW TO INCREASE YOUR DENY ABILITY #1: Deny yourself daily, not just once. #2: Realize that the pathway to life is through denial #3: Realize that the pathway to death is through following your heart Jesus says whoever wants to save their life (that is…whoever is chasing after happiness, doing whatever they want) will lose it. And this sounds intense (or even morbid to our ears), but I submit to you, it’s more straightforward and logical than you might think. Because what would happen in life if you lived like a Disney movie, and you really just did follow your heart? And you followed every desire, and you had ZERO deny ability… And you never denied any feeling you felt? Can you imagine living like that for even 6 months? So anytime anyone asks you for help…you say no…because…well, you don’t feel like it Anytime you feel like eating something, you eat it, and on and on. Anytime you don’t feel like going to work, you don’t go When we think about it this way…we KNOW…that the indulgence of the self…doesn’t lead to life. Having zero “Deny Ability” leads to misery and death. Here’s an interesting thought: Most of the people Americans really admire, have a really high Deny Ability…just from a secular standpoint. They are masters of self denial. Let me give you some examples: I’ve been a life long Timberwolves fan for 35 years (Unlike all of you bandwagon fans!) 😊 And what do they say about Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards? (Anthony Edwards photo) First in the gym, last out. When they were in Denver last week, and the other guys just wanted to sleep…to follow their flesh. He texted a bunch of teammates and said meet me at the local college here so we can practice shooting in an extra session. Or think of the ultra wealthy. I read a biography of Elon Musk a few years ago. (Elon Musk Photo) Elon works 18 hour days. Self denial. Even musicians and actors we admire…do the same thing. Actors will often punish their bodies for certain roles. Christian Bale is famous for this. (ChristianBaleRescueDawn) In Rescue Dawn (which is an amazing movie), he got down to 135 pounds to play a Vietnam Prisoner of War. (ChristianBaleBatman) For Batman, he was up over 200. Or take musicians, often they’ll go on grueling cross country tours. (TaylorSwiftRain) Have you seen the video of Taylor Swift playing her concert in the driving rain? Now, I’m not saying that every one of these people is someone you should strive to be like. But what I am saying is that it’s more intuitive than we think that denial leads to good things. HOW TO INCREASE YOUR DENY ABILITY #1: Deny yourself daily, not just once. #2: Realize that the pathway to life is through denial #3: Realize that the pathway to death is through following your heart And this is even more true from spiritual standpoint… because the stakes are higher AND our reward is greater! The pathway to finding true and deep spiritual life is to always put Jesus first. Because putting him second cannot lead to life. And listen, if we don’t get the principle of Deny Ability, the consequences are serious… Let me give you an example from parenting: Back when I was a youth pastor, parents would come to me in distress and say, “Why doesn’t my 18 year old want to follow God anymore? They grew up in the church…and now it’s like they don’t even think Jesus is remotely important?!” And I would often say, that one of the main reasons is because for 18 years…every time there was a schedule conflict between Jesus and soccer, or Youth Group or work, missions trip or marching band, Jesus or the cabin Jesus always lost. The “other thing” was never denied for Jesus. So why then (at 18) would we expect them to put Jesus first in their lives? Your actions (and that’s what they pay attention to, not your words)… Your actions have totally demonstrated to them that Jesus is not worth denying anything else for. But in reality, Jesus is of supreme worth. Paul explains it this way in Philippians: (Philippians 3:7 8) – NIV 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ Jesus is so good, and so worthy, and so is the abundant life that He gives us, that everything else is worth surrendering to Him. And that’s the fourth way to increase your deny ability. HOW TO INCREASE YOUR DENY ABILITY #1: Deny yourself daily, not just once. #2: Realize that the pathway to life is through denial #3: Realize that the pathway to death is through following your heart #4: Increase your view of who Jesus is If in your mind, Jesus is really only a glorified administrative assistant who helps you out, then your deny ability will be low. A God who is just an administrative assistant isn’t someone who is really worth sacrificing for. But if Jesus is the King of Kings who created the Universe. If He is God who has offered you forgiveness and Eternal Life… Then there is nothing out there that you won’t deny so that you can have Him. POSSESSIONS And we need to adjust not just our view of Jesus, but our view of what He offers us compared to the world. Take a look at verses 36 & 37 now. (Mark 8:36 37) – NIV 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If you want to: HOW TO INCREASE YOUR DENY ABILITY #1: Deny yourself daily, not just once. #2: Realize that the pathway to life is through denial #3: Realize that the pathway to death is through following your heart #4: Increase your view of who Jesus is #5: Get an eternal perspective on pleasure & possessions This reminds me of a news story I took note of back in 2015. In September of that year, a British Airways plane caught fire while on the runway at the airport in Las Vegas. There was a major failure of the left engine. And as the plane began to burst into smoke and flames, the flight attendants pleaded with people to evacuate the plane as soon as possible, and guess what people did? They stopped to get their carry on luggage in the overhead bins. That’s what Jesus is saying when he says in verse 36, “what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” It’s like getting your suitcase of clothes and souvenirs, but then dying in the fire with it. Even if you become the richest person on the planet and get all of life’s pleasures and power…. …what’s the point of having that for a few years if you’re going to spend all of eternity in the pain of hell? We end up chasing after life from the things that don’t ultimately matter when we don’t have an eternal perspective of pleasure and possessions. You can seek after 40 years of pleasure and power if you want, but I’m seeking after 40 million years of untold joy in heaven. And listen, I think so often people don’t want to deny themselves and follow Jesus because they feel like the cost of following Him is too high. But what about the cost of not following Him? Isn’t that cost much higher? If you choose to follow your heart, and pursue sin, and deny Jesus… …you may have some temporary excitement here. But Jesus says what will that profit you (even if you gain the whole world)…if it just leads to your soul spending eternity in hell. Trust me, even in the first 5 minutes of hell, you’ll know that none of that was worth it. IF YOU’RE ASHAMED OF HIM This is a challenging and hard passage. And it gets even harder in verse 38. (Mark 8:38) – NIV 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” If you want to: HOW TO INCREASE YOUR DENY ABILITY #1: Deny yourself daily, not just once. #2: Realize that the pathway to life is through denial #3: Realize that the pathway to death is through following your heart #4: Increase your view of who Jesus is #5: Get an eternal perspective regarding pleasure & possessions #6: Get an eternal perspective regarding approval Jesus is saying that when He comes back some day to wrap up human history as we know it, if you are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of you. That is a strong statement, but it is what the Word of God says. What He is saying is that upon His return, those who never wanted to truly deny themselves and surrender to Him… Because they loved their possessions and pleasures so much… Because they chose to side with the “adulterous and sinful generation” as Jesus calls it here. …or because they loved human approval at work, or in their neighborhood, or in their family…to the point that, honestly, they were kind of ashamed of Jesus. He says that He will be ashamed of them when He returns. And so when the final trumpet sounds, and Jesus comes back, and his faithful followers are lifted in the air to meet Him. If you’re not lifted up to be saved… …and you’re left standing there along with those worldly people you were always trying to impress… …and knowing that all that is left for them, and for you…is an eternity of suffering. Your sense of shame will be unbearable. And I’m not talking to those of you that are just having a hard time in your Christian walk right now, or you’ve just gone backwards for a bit. I’m talking to those of you that may claim the name of Christian, but truly, you’ve never actually surrendered your life to Jesus. And your own life is evidence of that. Because you’re ashamed of God. You don’t even want your friends to know you’re here right now. And so you don’t truly know Him. And thus, He will say to you, “I never really knew you” And if that’s you, I pray this passage drives you to actually surrender your life to God who wants to forgive you while there is still time. And to those of you that are already Christians, I pray that this passage helps give your heart an eternal perspective on whose approval we should live for. Because this kind of eternal perspective will increase your DENY ABILITY. Let your mind go to that future day…when Jesus will return. ….when everyone looks up to the heavens and sees Him coming down…. In that moment… Every instance where you wanted to sin, but denied yourself…will be worth it. Every act of self denial…worth it. Every moment of sacrifice…worth it! And when He calls out your name… And he says, “___ come to me!” You won’t be ashamed of His approval… …you won’t still desiring the approval of your worldly friends & neighbors In that moment, you’ll never be more glad to have his approval. So live for it today! This morning, we want to share some testimonies of those who’ve made a decision to live for Jesus. So we’re going to do some baptisms. BAPTISM (SWITCH TO BAPTISM SUNDAY SLIDE) And so I want to call out Baptismal Team on stage. As we are going to celebrate a baptism at this service Baptisms are a visual reminder that God’s Son, Jesus Christ has paid for our sins. And by our faith in Him, we were forgiven, washed clean. And not only that, that God has raised us up from the dead and given us new life. And so when we get baptized, we’re publicly proclaiming that Jesus has washed away our sins. Baptism doesn’t save you. But it is such an important symbol of his love. Every person you see baptized at Renovation Church is baptized by a sponsor (people who’s had a spiritual impact on them) But before we do the baptism, we get to hear their testimonies So I want to invite up: 9:00 – Tara & Chris 10:15 – Natasha 11:30 Breeane & Macabe WORD COUNT GOAL: 3500 GOSPEL (Title slide) Last week, when I was in Ethiopia, we saw a very high presence of the Ethiopian Orthodox faith there. And it’s a very works based religion. So few of its adherents understand anything about the gospel, the cross, grace, or forgiveness. They feel that they need to work their way to heaven by doing good deeds and being religious. It’s honestly not all that different from how many people experience Catholicism here in America. But in Ethiopia, basically every Orthodox believer wears a special necklace with the orthodox cross on it. And when you become a part of that religion, you wear it at all times, signifying that your religion has saved you. And let me tell you what happened the very first time, we led someone from the Orthodox religion to Christ… …and they finally understood the Gospel. …they finally understood that it wasn’t religion or church attendance, or good works that saved them. But it was their faith in Jesus dying on the cross that saves them. We led a young adult man to Christ, and my translator, pulls a knife out of his pocket. And I’m thinking, “What in the world?!” And he speaks to the brand new Christian and says, “Jesus died for you, and if you’re going to truly follow Him, you can’t live anymore thinking that you earned your way to heaven” “If He died for you, you have to pick up your cross and die to your old ways of life, your old religion. “Are you ready to do that?” And when the man said yes, my translator takes his knife and cuts off the man’s orthodox necklace. And I watched this play out time and time again last week. The chains of religion…were literally broken from around their neck, and they were set free in Christ. But it came with a cost. These new believers would go home and almost certainly experience opposition from their friends and family. But they knew, from an eternal perspective, they made the right decision. And you too have this decision in front of you. And for you too, Jesus is here right now…His presence is in this room. And He wants to not only wash away your sins, but give you life. A life you never even thought possible…but people have been testifying to it all morning long…because it’s true. But you can only have that life when you deny yourself. The pathway to life is death. It’s you saying, “I’ll step off the throne. I’ll deny my desires” And I’ll let Him lead. Because what He desires for my life is even greater. And receiving Jesus in is as simple as believing that He died for you on the cross. That He took the punishment that you deserved, by dying on the cross for your sins. And then it’s turning over your life to Him. Again, not with one big moment. But with 100,000 moments…but for some of you, today needs to the be the first penny. The first time, you believe in faith, God, you can save me and come into my life. Jesus says it this way: (John 5:24) – NIV “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. And so if you need to believe in Jesus who loves you, and forgives you, and can give you eternal life (that is life abundantly here on earth, and life in heaven)… If you need that this morning, I want to urge you to respond to Him and receive that gift this morning. Let’s just have everyone, just for a minute, close your eyes and bow your head. If you need to make this decision for the first time today…to tell Jesus that you need His forgiveness for your sins…to make Him the leader of your life…to believe He died in your place In just a minute, I’m going to ask you to raise your hand No one’s going to be looking at you, that’s why we had everyone close their eyes. But this is a way for you to accept that gift from God…and walk into a new life. And I urge you to receive Him now…as we never know what life will bring. And one day…it will be too late. Your life will be over. Or Jesus will come back. And the Bible says, at that point, it’s too late. Now is the day for you to decide to be forgiven and to receive Him in. And so if you need to tell God for the first time today that you do believe, and you want to follow Him and be forgiven. Then I invite you to raise your hand wherever you are. The Bible tells us that in this moment we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths. Repeat after me Dear God I confess to you, that I have sinned against you. But God I believe, that you sent your Son Jesus, to take my place And God I thank you, for forgiving my sins. And now I commit, to following you, with my life. (NEXT STEPS) As everyone still has their eyes closed, for those of you that raised your hands, you just made the most important decision of your life, and I believe that requires some more information… So here’s what we’re going to do to get you that… in just a second, I’m going to close the service in prayer, and then right after the service, I want the TWO/THREE of you to meet me up here in front. And I, and our follow up team, for just a couple of minutes, are going to get you some extremely important resources & next steps to get you started If you’re part of this church, and your friend or family member raised their hand, PLEASE come out there with them. Let me just close by thanking God.