CALL TO CONFESSION

Matthew 8:19-22

And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Heavenly Father, we are eager to declare our willingness to go where you command and follow wherever you lead. Yet we confess that we are very weak and fickle. We are easily distracted and quick to follow our own sinful hearts instead. As we plan our futures, we think more of our safety, comfort, and financial profit than we do of laying down our lives for the sake of your kingdom. We are eager to please our families and friends, and slow to consider your calling and your glory our highest goal.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you did not consider your own interests, but chose to leave the comfort and richness of heaven for us. When you came to earth, you did not build a secure and comfortable home for yourself, you lived a humble life, your first bed being a dirty feeding trough and your last bed, a stone slab in a cold tomb. You made yourself vulnerable to the foul hatred of those who you had come to save. Your obedient, joyful self sacrifice now enables us to stand before our Father, forgiven of our self-centeredness and clothed in your obedience.

Teach us what it means to take up our cross daily and follow you. Help us to put the death our overwhelming desire to control our own lives in the present and future. Show us the emptiness of owning material things, the shallowness of the praise of others, and the offensiveness of our enormous pride. Fill us with such a burning passion for your glory that we will suffer any loss, ridicule, inconvenience, or cost, in order to hear your name praised in all the earth. Change our selfish hearts. Enlarge them with a love and gratitude towards you so immense and powerful that following you will be our greatest joy and delight. Amen.

“Take a few moments to personally confess your sins to the Lord.”

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

“Hear these words of comfort and assurance.” 

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

ACTS 1:6-11

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

APPLICATION AND REFLECTION

In light of today's message....

• What did I learn about the gospel?
• How can I apply what I learned about the gospel to my life?
• With whom can I share the gospel this week?