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SERMON 2nd Sunday in Lent “Denial just Ain’t some

River in Egypt” Mark 8:31-38

1.
  INTRODUCTION:

A little boy who was just learning about addition and

subtraction in school looked up during Worship one
Sunday, saw the cross sitting on the altar and hollered,
"Look, Daddy! There's a plus sign in our Church."

2.
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That’s what I want to talk to you about today, the pluses

+’s in our church. What are some of the pluses in our
church? Examples??

 our Bible studies,

 the wonderful fellowship,

 the great location,

 we have a beautiful church building,

 fantastic cooks and dinners

 we have Sunday school classes

 we are involved in giving to missions

 youth/children programs

we could go on and on here, however the truth is there is

really only one plus in the church. Do you know what it is?
(point to the cross!!)

God’s Great PLUS sign!! The cross really is the true plus
sign in our Church. It's also a plus sign in our lives daily. It
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tells us of the advantages of being a Christian and accepting

the forgiveness God offers through the cross. Through the
cross God did what only God can do. God transformed a
horrible instrument of torture and death into a symbol of
life and hope. God transformed tragedy into triumph;
humiliation into glory; despair into hope. God took what
was ugly and cruel and violent and transformed it into a
thing of beauty and a symbol of peace.

I love the cross. I love it for what it stands for. I love it for
the memories it holds. I love it for the promise it holds.
Every time I look at a cross I'm reminded of how much
God loves me.

2. I have a friend who

collects crosses. He has crosses from all over the
world. His walls are covered with crosses of every
shape, size, color and style. I don't collect crosses, but
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I do have a few that are favorites and a special place

for them on a wall in the living room. Do you have a
favorite cross? Most of us do.

I have a little cross I carry in my pocket all the time. It was

a gift. (SHOW or talk about THE DIFFERENT CROSSES
YOU WEAR.) Do any of you have crosses that are
special???

These crosses are special because of who made them or

who gave them to me. They are special because of the love
involved and the sacrifice of time and effort that went into
making or buying them. However, there is another cross
that is special for the same reason. And it's the one that all
of these crosses represent, and that is the original cross of

Calvary, the cross of Christ. 4.

No greater sacrifice has ever been made. No greater sign of

love has ever been given. The Son of God willingly and
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knowingly gave his life and faced the cruelty of the cross
so that we might know how much God loves us. Through
his sacrifice we find forgiveness. Through his brokenness
we find wholeness. Through his death we find eternal life.
And while that is difficult to understand for some today to
understand how Jesus would die on the cross, we see that it
is not unheard of… What we find in today’s text is Peter
didn't understand that yet. For Peter and the other disciples
the cross, and Jesus talking about going to the cross was
one of the most horrible things they had ever heard. It was
the worst possible way to die of all. It was a disgrace saved
for the most hardened of all criminals. It wasn't just a
punishment; it was a message to the community of how
horrible and disgusting an individual was in the eyes of
Rome and in the eyes of the community. The Jews believed
that anyone who was crucified got a one way ticket to Hell.

No wonder Peter objected so much to what Jesus had to say

about going to the cross. Peter had no idea of the amount
glory and the full impact that the cross would have upon
him and the world. The cross changed everything. It
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changed everyone. Jesus knew that. That's why He told

Peter and the others: "If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow

me." 5.

I. DENY YOURSELF:

A. Have you ever really thought about that passage,

especially in today's world? When was the last time you
talked about denying yourself even one of the pleasures of
life? Probably never, right?

We don't live in a time when self denial is talked about

very much. I'm not sure there ever was a time that self-
denial was ever taught as a great virtue for everyday life,
especially not now. Even though Greed is listed as one of
the seven deadly sins, it has become one of the major gods
in America. We are obsessed with money, spending, having
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more and everything about it. We gamble more than ever

before. State after state has started Lotteries to help raise

money. 6.

Every now and then we hear of how nobody claimed their

winnings from a Powerball ticket worth some huge amount.
Can you believe that? Probably lost their ticket!!! I guess
gambling does have consequences!!! Here in Indiana they
used to say sell the lottery as a way to raise money for the
schools. And then when it passed they said, "Oh, what we
really meant was that education might be ONE of the
places we could put the money." Yea right!

Week after week people buy ticket after ticket or they sit by
their phone, dialing repeatedly or sending mail trying win
prizes, money, or sweepstakes. And not a one is denying
themselves anything.
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De Nile ain’t some large

river in Egypt, no denial is what we do everyday!!!!!!

Deny ourselves? Absolutely not. Oh, we will deny reality.

We'll deny we've gotten older. We'll deny that we have
wrinkles. We'll deny that we've lost hair. We'll deny we've
gained weight and swear that we wear those same size
jeans as in high school. We'll deny the truth. We'll deny we
know what the preacher's talking about. But we won't deny
ourselves.

When was the last time you told yourself "No?" When was
the last time you said to yourself or someone else, "No, I
just can't do that, that's not what God wants me to do."
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As the country western song said, "Denial ain't some river

in Egypt." Self denial is one of the significant spiritual
practices that can be helpful in our relationship with God
during this season of Lent. You don't say "No" to yourself
just to say "No". You say "No" to your self in order to be
able to say "Yes" to Jesus and "Yes" to God.

That's the kind of response we should be giving to God all

the time. And that's what self denial helps us do. When we
say "No!" to ourselves then we are better able to say "Yes!"
to God. And that's what Jesus wants for us, to be able to say

"Yes!" to God. 8.

II. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS:

A. Indeed the self denial part of this passage isn't the

hardest part. The hardest part is saying yes to God and
taking up our cross. Peter and the other disciples didn't
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want any part of the cross. They weren't ready for it. They
had other plans. Remember, there was a time when they
were arguing over who would get to sit next to Jesus when
he came into his kingdom. There were twelve of them and
only two seats. That's what was on their mind.

And to be truthful, as we sit here this morning, the cross

isn't what's on our mind either. That's not why we came to
church. It is not the reason we came to Jesus, is it? No.
Most of us came to Jesus because he made us feel good
about ourselves and our relationship with God. If you are
like me you may have suffered from low self esteem and
rejection. I admit I have lived a dysfunctional life. And
there have been times when I was filled with guilt over all
the things I had done wrong. Or perhaps it was all of those
things. But then along came Jesus. And through my
surrender to him, through my relationship, He gave me new
life, self respect, acceptance. He made me productive. But
most of all, Jesus changed everything by offering me
forgiveness. The call to say yes to God, to Take Up The
Cross, is simply a call to do something with all of what
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Christ has done for you. It's a call to reach out. It's a call to
tell our story whenever we are asked. Jesus changed
everything by offering me forgiveness. The call to say yes
to God, to Take Up The Cross, is simply a call to do
something with all of what Christ has done for you

III. FOLLOW ME:

A. Jesus said, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and

follow me." While the “denying yourself” part and the
“taking up the cross part” are hard, it is the “following part”
that is exciting and challenging and even fun. It fills us with
joy and gives our life purpose.

There was a young man who came to a pastor's office

and said he wanted to be a Christian but he didn't know
what being a Christian was all about. The pastor told the
young man to read the Book of Acts as preparation, then
come back and they would talk about what he had learned
and how to apply it.
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A week went by and then another week and then another.

The preacher began to think that he'd made a serious
mistake in his suggestion. Finally, almost a year later, the
young man finally came back. When the surprised pastor
asked where he had been, in all seriousness the young man
said, "You told me to read the Book of Acts. Well, every
time I started reading it, it told me to get up and do
something. So, I did. I got up and I went and did it. I've
been too busy to come back and talk about it. I've been
living it. And in living it, I met Jesus. And in meeting Jesus
my life changed. Thank you, now I know what it means to
be a Christian."

I don't believe that what Jesus said here is so much about

being willing to die on the cross like He did, although that
is definitely implied. But rather, I believe Jesus was giving
us an image of complete and total obedience, like this
young man followed. He was saying Yes! Yes to God and
in his obedience found his Life eternal.

The young man in the story saw and felt the authority of the
Scripture and the authority of Jesus and he obeyed. That's
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what Jesus wanted out of Peter and the others. He wanted

them to look beyond themselves and obey. And that's what
Jesus wants out of us.

CONCLUSION:

Tommy, age 7, attends St. Mary Catholic School. On Ash

Wednesday the entire school attended Mass. The students
had been learning about Lent and the sacrifices that Jesus
made. After school Tommy asked his mother, "I have to
give up something that is very important to me right?"

She told him it was entirely up to him. He then asked,

"This is for 40 days right?"

"Are you having trouble making up your mind?" his mother

asked. Tommy was silent for a while so his mother told him
that he could give up soda pop, desserts or even cartoons.
He replied, "Now Mom, I like those things but I should give
up something I LOVE… So I've been thinking that since I
LOVE school so much I think that for the next 40 days I
could just stay home!"
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A lot of us are like Tommy. We have a hard time making

up our mind about things we like and what to give up. We
know we should practice the spiritual discipline of denying
our self during Lent. But we don't really want it to be too

hard. Jesus calls us and says that we

should be willing to give up everything for his sake. And
while that's hard, remember that He gave up his life on the
cross for you.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.