1) The Suffering King: Into DarknessMatthew 27:45-46 ‘Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”’a) Darkness = Judgement-Physical Darkness = Disorientedb) Spiritual Darkness : Turning Away From God (Light & Life)-Affects Our... Purpose, Identity, Security, Eternityc) What Do Our Lives Orbit/Revolve Around?-His Death Was The Only Way To Change Our Trajectory (Judgement)2) The Suffering King: Tasting DeathMatthew 27:50-51 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”a) Jesus Died & God Was Satisfied?-We Know... Veil Torn = Open Accessb) Centurion... “The Light Came On” -”Truly this was the Son of God”c) Christianity is Unique: God Himself Suffered-Proof God Loves Us, God Experienced Pain, God Overcame Death

Passover... AD 66 in Jerusalem 255,600 lambs were slaughtered At a cost of 10 dinars per lamb… 2.5 million people were reportedly there Not including those who could not buy a lamb! That’s a lot of sacrifice.1. The Purpose of a Lamb’s Death? At best confounding and at worst offensive The context of Scripture The story of the Lamb Begins in the Garden Sin & Separation Offense & Debt Plan for Redemption...2. Theme of Substitution...Abraham and IsaacThe importance of the first-born Abraham’s recognition of God’s sovereignty. God will provide a lamb Moses and Exodus The captivity in Egypt Plague of death to the first born Deliverance through a lamb3. The Permanent Solution... Jesus departs from the script! He took bread... “This is my body.” He took a cup... “This is my blood of the covenant.” Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb! “Take and eat”...

1) Here Comes the King: The EntranceMatthew 21:8-9 ‘Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”’- Jesus Enters the Capital in Humility- Public Display that Jesus is the Messiah/King- Old Testament Prophecy Fulfilled - Rule and Reign in People’s Hearts/Lives & not Political- All of this Points to His Upcoming Death2) Here Comes the King: The TempleMatthew 21:12&13 "And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple... He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’”a) What’s All the Fuss About?- The Temple = A Place to Meet with God For All Peopleb) The History of the Temple- After Eden... Partial Access c) Jesus Will Make a New Way- All Can Draw Near to God’s Presence3) Here Comes the King: WorshipMatthew 21:16 And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”a) Fruitfulness- Appearance or Fruit?b) Busyness or Worship- Today?c) Worship and Praise- Joy Filled from Redeemed People

A Kingdom of Little ChildrenMatthew 19:13-15Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” So, in other words, the kingdom of heaven is ours when we come to Jesus as little children. So, the first question we should ask is “so what does it mean to come to Jesus as little children?”With Awe and WonderFor great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods. 1 Chronicles 16:25Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! Psalm 33:8...let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. Hebrews 12:28God wants us to come to Him like children who are in awe of their father. The more a son finds out about his Daddy and about the world, the less awe he has of Daddy.But that’s not the case with God. The more we get to know Him, the more we are in absolute awe and wonder of our Father. Two reasons for that: God is perfect, and God is infinite.His is PerfectHis perfection and His beauty mean the more we discover about the character of God the more impressed we will be of him. Our awe will increase because we will not find any blemish on His character. The Bible tells us that God’s way is perfect, His work is perfect, His law is perfect, Paul tells Timothy of Jesus’ perfect patience. God’s love is an absolute perfect love, His justice is an absolute perfect justice.1 John 1:5 - “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all”He is InfiniteHe is also infinite, which means the we could study His wisdom or experience His love for years and never even coming close to fully knowing it. “Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable are His ways!” Romans 11:33 “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3God is infinite in all that He is. You could read, and study, and pray, and walk with God for years and never fully know Him. He is infinite in all that he is, and infinite is not subtracted from. Along with that, the more you know God and see just how awesome He is, the more you will see your great need for Him. Which is the second point of how we come to God like little children: With Dependance2. With Dependance Because, really, when we stand in awe of God, what we’re saying is “I recognize how much greater you are than me. You are God and I am not”. And then from that comes “If I’m not God, I need His help”. Newborns are Completely DependentIf there’s one thing you could say about a newborn baby is that they are completely helpless. A newborn can do nothing for herself except cry out that she needs something and can do nothing about it. Just like a little child’s complete dependance on their parents for life, so we need to come to God. We live in a world where dependence for the most part is not a virtue, it’s a weakness to be overcome. Our sin tells us that we need to be independent, self-made, self-sufficient men and women who rely on no one, answer to no one. But the Bible tells us, we are all completely dependent on God. Coming to Him as a little child is just recognizing that dependence.We are completely dependent on God for our salvation.“By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God” Eph 2:8We are completely dependent on God, each day of our Christian life.“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5We are even completely dependent on God for our business, our travel, and our very life.“Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain"; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” James 4:13-16Babies Outgrow Dependency... But Not Us. With God we should never look to outgrow the newborn stage. We are always to be completely dependent on Him. John Piper says, “It is folly to be anything but a baby in God’s arms”. We are to come to God as a totally dependent little child.And the last way that we come to God as little children is this: we stand in awe of God and realize that He is God and we are most definitely not, if we are not God we are in desperate need of His help, and then when we come to God we see that He is fully capable and very willing to provide for us in our dependance on Him, to help us in our helplessness, and it gives us great joy.With JoyWhen a Childs Needs Are Met They Are HappyIf a family is running as it should, the kids will be happy kids. Under their parents protection, their discipline, their provision, little children will be very joyful. They run and play and enjoy life under their parents love. They have needs. Physical needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs, and when the parents fill those needs with food, water, warm blankets, love, acceptance, discipline, etc. It makes for a very happy child. We Come in Helplessness, We are Met With...And so in our helplessness, with our needs, if we turn to God and throw ourselves in complete dependence on Him, we are met with:Phil 4:19 - “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”• We realize that we cannot save ourselves and are completely dependent on Him for our salvation and He gives us Jesus. Hebrews 7:25 “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him (Jesus)”• We realize that we are dependent on Him each day of our Christian life and He gives us His Word and the Holy Spirit to guide us and empower us, and the Church to encourage us.And so, just like a little child, we should be filled with great joy in the presence of that kind of a father. We should not want to wait to spend time with Him. We should be eager to worship Him, serve Him, give to Him, talk to Him because in His presence there is fullness of joy. When we come to him in dependence, we find someone who is completely dependable, completely trustworthy, completely perfect and beautiful in all things, One who has the the power and generosity and the love to provide for us what we need most (which is Himself) and it fills us with joy. “And though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:84. It’s What We Were Made ForJesus tells us that we need to come to Him as little children. And he tells us that because He knows that’s the way He created us to be. He’s not telling us something that is foreign to us. He made you to be in awe of things. He made you to be dependent. He made you to be a joyful people.

1) Community Life: AccountabilityMatthew 18:15-16 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by...”a) Step One: Personal (One to One)-Privacy, Humility, Sin, Standard, Restorationb) Step Two: Small Group-A Process, Protection, Credibility, Listeningc) Step Three: The “Church”-Community, Consequences, Authority, Prayer, Jesus’ Presence2) Community Life: ForgivenessMatthew 18:21-22 “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”a) God & Humanity-Great Debt, Great Justice, Great Mercyb) Receive or Resentment?-Go On Forgivingc) Consequences-Restoration or Ruin?

1) Kingdom Life: Principles... ChildlikeMatthew 18:2-3 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”a) Humility - childlike trust & obedience.b) Welcoming - guests, fringe, children = Jesus.c) Commitment - stumbling block or stepping stone?2) Kingdom Life: Pastoral CareMatthew 18:12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?”a) Jesus the Good Shepherd (see John 10) - ultimate oversight and our example.b) Elders - Shepherds of God’s flock (1 Peter 5:1-5).c) LifeGroups - Context for growth and safety.3) Kingdom Life: Personal ChoicesMatthew 18:13-14 “And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”a) Secure? Jesus/preaching/teaching/relationships/care/serving.b) Straying? - isolation/busy/lazy/offended/distracted.c) God Rejoices over you! - now is the time to connect.

Matthew 16:21 marks a significant turning point in our story. Because although he has eluded to it before, this is the first Jesus speaks openly to his disciples about his upcoming death and resurrection. Matthew 16:22 To Peter it was as if Jesus was throwing in the towel right when he was supposed to be crushing his enemies. And if you’ve ever given up a lot of time or money for something, if you’ve ever invested in something, only to have it not turn out like you thought, you know a bit of what Peter was feeling. So Peter rebukes Jesus.Jesus stops him and says, “Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.” In Matthew 4, Jesus is fasting in the wilderness. Satan comes and tempts Jesus with kingship without suffering and now Peter does the same. “There’s an easier way Jesus. You don’t need to suffer. You don’t need to carry a cross. You don’t need to endure hardship and mocking and torture. Death isn’t necessary!” In response to this, Jesus gathers his disciples together and tells them that not only are those lies not true for himself and the work He is doing, but those statements are not true for his followers either.Matthew 16:24-28And so from this passage we’ll look at three things:1. The Command Jesus Gives2. The Result of that CommandThe Promise of the Result1. The Command: Deny Yourself and Take Up Your CrossJesus gives the command. If anyone wants to be my follower they need to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. What does it mean to deny ourselves and take up our cross? What Jesus is talking about here is not your daily hassles and headaches of life. He is talking about a way of life, he is talking about living a life of death.So what are we denying, what are we dying to? We could list a long list of things: die to self-glory, die to worldly respect, die to the fear of man, etc. But when we look at what Jesus said next, we see that he points out two things and I think that all the other things we could list as things we need to die to would fall under these two umbrellas. Matthew 16:25: Dead to SafetyJesus calls his disciples to die to the need for self-preservation. The desire to put your safety as number one, over and above your desire to follow Him. So if your relationship with Jesus jeopardizes your health, jeopardizes your financial security, or puts you at risk in any way, if it does anything to remove anything you have built up around you to keep you safe, then you’re choosing the safety over Jesus. Ironically we see this with Peter just a little while later. Matthew 26, Jesus foretells that Peter will deny him. Peter again responds intensely “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” But as we know from our own lives it’s easy to say things, it’s something else entirely to actually do them. And so, just a little while later, Jesus is arrested, Peter’s safety is threatened, and he denies every even knowing Jesus. He valued his own skin over his relationship with God. And there have been throughout the history of the church and countless people even today that are faced with death unless they deny Jesus. Some refuse to deny Christ and are killed, some deny Christ and save their skin.Jesus isn’t saying that we should pursue martyrdom. He is not saying that we should seek to die because of our love for Jesus. And denying your safety doesn’t necessarily mean you will physically die because of your love for Jesus. Because most of us will probably not be faced with a decision where our life is threatened and the option is before you to fall away from Christ to avoid death. But it might mean that for some of us. There may be some of you here this morning that will lose your life because of your love for Jesus. It may be that God might burden some of you with a heart to reach the over 6000 people groups in the world that have yet to hear the Gospel. God may call you to do that. And you may die from execution, torture, disease, etc.But Jesus’ point is that if you value His glory and fame in this world above your own life, If you put Jesus as your supreme treasure even above your very life on this earth, then every other smaller denial of your safety will flow from that. Matthew 16:26: Dead to ComfortSo Jesus commands us to die to our own safety, and now Jesus commands us to die to our own comfort. Die to all the things of this world that promise us comfort and ease. Die to the desire for own self-indulgence, self-gratification. Die to our possessions and our positions. Jesus said in Luke 14:33 “Any one who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Renouncing doesn’t always mean that you have to give away everything you have. But renouncing all you have does mean that everything we have is at Jesus’ disposal for purposes that please Him. These possessions that we have, no matter how many and expensive or few and cheap they may be are meant to be held very loosely. We are meant to treat them in such a way that we show the world that they are not our treasure. You talk about your car, you treat your car, you value your car in such a way that when the world looks at you they say that car is not his treasure. Because, guess what, the things of this earth are fleeting, temporary. Jesus said don’t find your treasure in things that moths and rust will destroy and that a thief could break into your house and steal. Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.”Which brings us to the result of Jesus’ command. 2. The Result of the Command: Gives You Eternal Life and Proclaims Jesus’ Infinite WorthLet’s look at two things. Two results from living this sort of life.John 12:25 : An Eternal Life LaterYou see, the call from Jesus to die to your comfort and die to your safety and endure hardship and endure suffering and endure ridicule, to the extent that if the world looks at you they would think that you hate your life.Jesus doesn’t call you to eternal suffering, that’s what he saves you from! The command of Jesus to take up your cross is a call to temporary suffering and eternal pleasure. The only things He calls you to throw down are the very things that keep you from having eternal joy. Look you are not serving a stingy God, he promises to repay a hundredfold.And so a generous God calls you to endure taking up your cross in the same way he endured his cross. For joy. Hebrews 12:2 You endure the cross that Jesus commands you to take up for the joy that he sets before you. John 12:24 - A Fruitful Life NowHe not only calls you to take up your cross for eternal life, for your eternal joy, but he calls you to take up your cross to display His infinite worth and live a fruitful life here on earth.I said earlier that we are to treat the things we have, our car, our house, our money, even our life in such a way that when the world looks at us they see that those things are not our treasure. And Jesus calls us to that so that they are left with no option but to say “what do they then treasure?”. And the answer is Christ. We live so that the world sees that money, possessions, and all these things are not what we value, Christ is.If you follow Jesus because he makes your life easy now then the world looks at you and sees that you love the same thing they love, Jesus just happens to provide it for you. But if you follow Jesus through loss and suffering, denying yourself comfort and safety, it makes Him seem supremely more valuable to you than anything the world has to offer.The Promise of the ResultThe final point, how can we be sure? Even with these great promises of eternal life and a fruitful life isn’t a bit risky to die to myself? 2 Timothy 2:11 - If we die with him, we will live with him. And how can we be sure of that.. for God cannot deny himself!The promises that Jesus lays out, the rewards for a life that dies to itself, hang on the trustworthiness of God. He cannot deny himself. He cannot go back on his word. He has to remain true to what he has promised. You can bank on it. In one sense, God does call you to take risks but in another real way there is no risk at all.ClosingSo, Jesus commands us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. To die to our safety, to die to our comfort and show the world that all that this world offers and even our own life we hold very loosely and we hold Jesus very tightly. But it’s not without reward, it’s not an ultimate sacrifice because he promises a fruitful life here and now and eternal joy in his presence in the life to come. And they are promises that hang on God’s own character, his own trustworthiness, and God cannot deny himself.But look, when Jesus died, he didn’t just die for us to copy but for us to trust in. And before we can imitate his death we must be saved by his death. We must trust in Jesus’ work on the cross for our salvation, trust that He hung on that cross for us, before we can take up our own cross and follow him.

The Invitation for a LifetimeMatthew 11:25-30"At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them tolittle children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”Introduction:• This passage of Scripture reveals the heart of Christianity• We get a picture of Jesus basically telling us that He is God...• The timelessness of the Biblical story is very apparent here1. God the RevealerV. 25“At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them tolittle children;”A. His Identity• The close relationship that the son of God enjoys with the Father.• Jesus comes to his father in faith and humility• Lord of Heaven and Earth... Yet a loving Father• Relying on a simplicity of faith to take Jesus’ words as truthB. His Activity• The close relationship that the son of God enjoys with the Father.• Jesus comes to his father in faith and humility• Lord of Heaven and Earth... Yet a loving Father• Relying on a simplicity of faith to take Jesus’ words as truth2. The InvitationV.28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.[29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you willfind rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”A. The insight of Jesus• Jesus says we have 2 things... Weariness and burdens• These things breed a restlessness within us• The deep, innate sense of living up to expectations• By his statement Jesus is telling us we are already “yoked”• What am I living for? Can I keep up with it?B. The Offer... Three Things1. “Me” - The fulfillment of all of the scriptural story• How can I know Christianity is true? Explore Jesus, the person.2. Offers himself as the yoke and burden• I have nothing to prove… It’s been done by Jesus.3. Discipleship…• We become a lifelong learner with Jesus