Life Transformation – The Reality of Daily Discipleship
What an amazing Easter weekend we just celebrated. If you were part of our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services, you know how good it was to be together as the Freedom church family worshipping and praising Jesus for the victory over sin and death that he accomplished for us through his crucifixion and resurrection.
This week I am beginning a five-part series that will be a good follow through to our Easter series, ‘There’s a Reason’. We talked a lot about how we have been changed by placing our faith in Jesus. We have been given a new identity and name, what we need to be an overcomer, a heart that is receptive to God and hope for today and the future.
I want to dig deeper into these concepts and explore how we learn to live up to what we have been given by putting our faith in Jesus. It’s one thing to be told how things are different while it’s another thing to live differently. Jesus did promise a lot of incredible benefits for our lives when we live his way. And there’s the catch. We must learn to live each day Jesus’ way, not our way.
You’ve probably heard the term ‘life transformation’ used by me on many occasions. You will find it in our mission statement as well as in Freedom’s vision for the future. It refers to the experience of being changed by Christ on the inside that results in positive change on the outside, the way we act and engage the people around us.
Life transformation is another way of saying discipleship. Only those who are true followers of Jesus can expect to enjoy the full and abundant life that he promises. Only those who have considered the cost of surrendering everything they are and have to Jesus for his use will stay the course and reap the benefits. You probably know people who gave up their pursuit of Jesus and walked away from the faith. Why? Because they hadn’t counted the cost.
So that’s the starting point this Sunday. Read Luke 14:25-33 over the next few days and think through what Jesus is saying about what’s required to follow him. If you have time, look up other scripture references about being a disciple of Jesus and see what they have to say about both the cost and benefits of surrendering everything to him.
My prayer is that all of us reinforce our faith in Christ through this series and grow in our passion for Freedom’s mission ‘to equip people to live a Christ-centred life through daily transformation’.
See you Sunday….
Pastor Del