The Gathering

Series addresses hard sayings of Jesus. Relationship with God is sometimes going to be about challenge. "You have to lose your life in order to gain it." This saying was quoted 6 times in the gospels. Luke uses the quote in relation to belongings. Need to be careful not to lose track of God because we are fixated on our "stuff". Need to be willing to share our possessions. John uses farming to explain the quote. Seeds must die to bare fruit. It takes giving away something of ourselves to produce growth. Need to be willing to share ourselves. We let go of some things to make space for things to which God calls us. Matthew reminds us that we may need to let go of good things as well. Identity needs to be in God, not family or role in life. We are called to love God above everything else. Mark uses the quote in reference to Jesus. Jesus must suffer and die, but will also be raised. We often want to lose the hard parts of life, forgetting they are necessary to have the good things. Jesus died to teach us how to rise, not how to die; how to live abundantly. Exactly what we need to give up will be different for each of us.

Being open and honest with your circle of family, friends, coworkers, etc about what God is doing in your life. Use your everyday life situations to tell what God has done for you. The church is not only our worship place but us going out into our lives and talking about what God is doing for us.

Jesus love for the those outside the norms of society.