Introduction

Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Luke

14:28-33 ESV  For

which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the

cost, whether he has enough to complete it?  (29)  Otherwise, when he

has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock

him,  (30)  saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to

finish.’  (31)  Or what king, going out to encounter another king in

war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten

thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

 (32)  And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a

delegation and asks for terms of peace.  (33)  So therefore, any one

of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

You may be seated

Last week we had a hard hitting sermon about

hating yourself and loving Jesus SO MUCH that in comparison it looks as though

you hate your family.Now scripture is clear that you should absolutely

love your family, in fact scripture talks about that a lot.But you should love JESUS so much that He is

your only consideration.Knowing that true love comes only from God in

the first place. So if your family is to be loved it has to be a love that

comes from Christ.Nonetheless, last weeks sermon was a punch in

the spiritual gut for some of us. That was the warm up for this message this

morning:

Show

Title Slide

If the thought of hating yourself and dying

to yourself seems rough… then listen closely to this message.If the thought of putting your God before

your family seems ridiculous, then listen closely to this message.This message is all about this: Do you really

want to be a Christian? Are you really wanting to sign up for what God has for

you?Jesus gives us two examples of counting the

cost, and they cover two major areas of living the Christian Life, He talks

about building and warfare, so let’s see what Christ has for us this morning…

let’s pray.

Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray

Count the Cost of Building Your Life on Christ

Count the cost of Building your Life on Christ,

that’s point one this morning…

Luke

14:28-30 ESV 

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count

the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?  (29)  Otherwise,

when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin

to mock him,  (30)  saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able

to finish.’

Count the cost of building your life on Christ.If you are going to be a Christian, if you are

going to follow Jesus Christ as Lord, then you are building your life on Him.Life, in this sense, can be looked at as a

tower that you build. From the moment you are born the foundation is being

poured.The way your parents raise you.The external influences on you as a child.Who you grow up with and hang out with.What you learn and how you behave as a child…This builds your foundation, this is what the

rest of your life is going to be built on.Then as you grow into a teenager and a young

adult your foundation influences how you build your life, doesn’t it.If you were taught to lie and steal, you build a

life of lying and stealing.If you were neglected, you build a life of

trying to do things on your own.If you were spoiled, you build a life of selfishness.All of these things that happened to you as a

kid, whether good or bad, they influence how you build your life.Everyone has a life story, how they became

who they are today.And some people spend lots of money, time, and

effort trying to reform that foundation that was destroyed for them as a kid…

they go to theory, read self help books, try to retrain their mind and their

ways…But for Christians we get a second chance at

our life story, we get a second chance at that foundation…Because the Christian Life Starts with being

BORN AGAIN!What does that mean? That means our foundation

is re-laid! We have new life, a fresh start a clean slate.And if you a