If anyone ever told you the life of a believer is carefree or easy, they were lying. As Pastor Bill will point out in today’s message Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow Him. Taking up a cross is not fun or trendy. He’s not referring to the pretty little pieces of jewelry that adorn the necks and ears of people in modern society. He’s referring to a heavy, crude instrument of death - to the conscious choice to put others above yourself and to surrender your own desires, comforts and even life for them.