The sacrifice that leads to great gain
Dr. Roberto Miranda
(Audio: Spanish)
SUMMARY: The sermon focuses on the cost of discipleship and the importance of sacrifice in the Christian life. The speaker emphasizes that the Christian life is not about material blessings, but about surrendering oneself to God and being willing to go where He leads, even if it is uncomfortable or dangerous. The speaker uses examples from the Bible to illustrate this point, such as Peter and his companions leaving their boats to follow Jesus and Levi leaving his profession to become an evangelist. The speaker also discusses the process of dying to oneself and letting go of material things in order to be filled by God and used for His purposes.
The process of discipleship and being used by God requires a willingness to die to oneself and go where God leads. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was the ultimate example of this paradoxical dynamic of glorification through humiliation. The metaphor of the grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying represents the process of decay and detachment from material things that must occur for true spiritual growth. Through suffering and trials, God disciplines and strengthens us, preparing us for the glory of His Kingdom. In heaven, we will understand the coherence and goodness of everything that happens in this world, and there will be no more fear or sadness.
The Christian life is a process of gradual and gradual breaking, as we go through trials, difficulties, and sufferings. God puts us through these processes to weaken us and break us, to mold us into the powerful people He wants us to be. We have to be willing to give up the things we love and go through spiritual exercises to grow in the ways of the Lord. The grain of wheat falls to the ground and goes through a process of deterioration before it can bear fruit. We have to go through our own process of crucifixion, giving up our attachment to the things of this world and understanding that everything is a contingency. If we are not willing to go through the process of breaking, we may not be truly disciples of Jesus Christ. But if we are willing to go through the tests and trials, we can experience the joy of the Lord and become the powerful and joyful people God wants us to be.
The Christian life requires effort and sacrifice. If we only come to church when it's convenient and give to the Lord only when we have excess, we are not true disciples. We must allow ourselves to go through the process of dying to our old selves, so that we can bear much fruit and experience the joy of the Lord. This process may involve trials, tribulations, and struggles, but it is worth it in the end. We must give everything to the Lord, renouncing all attachments to things in this world, in order to experience the true joy of the Christian life.
The process of discipleship and being used by God requires a willingness to die to oneself and go where God leads. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was the ultimate example of this paradoxical dynamic of glorification through humiliation. The metaphor of the grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying represents the process of decay and detachment from material things that must occur for true spiritual growth. Through suffering and trials, God disciplines and strengthens us, preparing us for the glory of His Kingdom. In heaven, we will understand the coherence and goodness of everything that happens in this world, and there will be no more fear or sadness.
The Christian life is a process of gradual and gradual breaking, as we go through trials, difficulties, and sufferings. God puts us through these processes to weaken us and break us, to mold us into the powerful people He wants us to be. We have to be willing to give up the things we love and go through spiritual exercises to grow in the ways of the Lord. The grain of wheat falls to the ground and goes through a process of deterioration before it can bear fruit. We have to go through our own process of crucifixion, giving up our attachment to the things of this world and understanding that everything is a contingency. If we are not willing to go through the process of breaking, we may not be truly disciples of Jesus Christ. But if we are willing to go through the tests and trials, we can experience the joy of the Lord and become the powerful and joyful people God wants us to be.
The Christian life requires effort and sacrifice. If we only come to church when it's convenient and give to the Lord only when we have excess, we are not true disciples. We must allow ourselves to go through the process of dying to our old selves, so that we can bear much fruit and experience the joy of the Lord. This process may involve trials, tribulations, and struggles, but it is worth it in the end. We must give everything to the Lord, renouncing all attachments to things in this world, in order to experience the true joy of the Christian life.
Let's go to the Word of God brothers and we are going to continue with our sermon that we started last Sunday on the cost of following Jesus, the cost of discipleship and I want to continue emphasizing this dimension of sacrifice that leads to great gain and how essential it is that we understand exactly what the call of Christ consists of and what it is that we embrace when we surrender our lives to the Lord when we enter the path of the Gospel.
As a summary and also to reinforce what we have learned, we were talking about how many times in the society we live in, in this 21st century and in this culture, especially in the north of the United States and in Europe, like the Gospel it is undergoing an evolution and not necessarily for the better, where many times the true nature of the Christian life is not being emphasized, which is a life that includes sacrifices, includes the cross; not only for our champion, our prototype, which is Christ Jesus, but also for us. Hence what the Lord said, right? "If anyone wants to be my disciple, take up his cross every day and follow me."
As a summary and also to reinforce what we have learned, we were talking about how many times in the society we live in, in this 21st century and in this culture, especially in the north of the United States and in Europe, like the Gospel it is undergoing an evolution and not necessarily for the better, where many times the true nature of the Christian life is not being emphasized, which is a life that includes sacrifices, includes the cross; not only for our champion, our prototype, which is Christ Jesus, but also for us. Hence what the Lord said, right? "If anyone wants to be my disciple, take up his cross every day and follow me."
