Youth Called to Carry the Cross

I would like everybody who is under the age of 33 to come sit on these two front benches. If you are 33 or younger, I need you up here.

All right; it looks like we’ve got about ten of you up here. Now, here’s what I want all of us to remember, but I especially want your generation to start thinking about.

You heard what Paul wrote: to those who don’t know Jesus and aren’t being saved, the cross of Christ and the preaching of that message seem like foolishness. But to those of us who believe, it’s not foolish at all, is it?

Jesus calls us to be people who deny ourselves, give up our own way, and follow him.

We talked earlier about John Hus, and how he was willing to die for the cause of Christ, willing to lay down his life. Did you know that all of the apostles, except for one, died because they preached Christ? They were killed in cruel ways.

And before any of them died like that, someone else died a cruel death for preaching Christ—a man named Stephen. You can read about him in the book of Acts. They stoned him. That was a cruel death. In those days they would bury a person up to the shoulders, and then people would throw rocks at the person’s head until they died.

Stephen and the apostles loved Jesus that much. And why? Because Jesus has loved us that much. If you truly love Jesus, then you know that Jesus loved us to the point of death. He gave everything so that we could live.

We need to remember that, and we need to become followers of Christ to the point that we let nothing make us ashamed, nothing make us quiet, nothing keep us from telling the truth of the Scriptures. We need to love Jesus even to the point of threat, even to the point of death, because even now, in our own day, there are people in other countries who don’t have the freedoms we do, who are dying because they dare to speak the name of Jesus.

And our culture is shifting. We live in a time when more and more people hate the name of Jesus and don’t want Christians in the mix. They are gaining power, gaining influence, gaining political ability.

So, the church—especially the younger church—you need to love Jesus with all your heart and be willing to do for Jesus what Jesus has done for you.

Can anyone tell me, besides Lexi because she’s already heard this, how we ended the sermon last week? I’ll give you a hint: we talked about the Declaration of Independence and wove Jesus into that conversation.

Does anybody remember? What was the challenge the preacher gave you? What was he asking if you were willing to do?

You may remember that the Declaration of Independence closes with the founders pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Many of them died at the hands of the British. Many had their families captured, jailed, and their homes and possessions burned. In the end, none of them kept their fortune. They gave it up so that we could have the freedoms we enjoy here.

Now look at what has happened in the Church of Christ. From Christ’s death onward, people have pledged allegiance to follow the Savior. For generations, there have been believers who were willing, even at the cost of their lives, to lift up the name of Jesus.

Church, we are living in a day when we need to be committed to lifting up the name of Jesus, and his word, and his truth, no matter the cost. And to encourage us to do that, we remember what Jesus has done for us.

Amen?

Younger generations, you have more years to live through what is coming than I do. My prayer is that in your heart you grow closer and closer to Jesus, and that you will never be afraid to speak his name and his truth, no matter the cost.

Amen?

All right. Thank you all for coming up.