SERMON NOTES
Following Jesus means committing to his road, not ours. The path he walked—suffering, rejection, death, resurrection—is the same path he invites his followers onto. Like buckling into a roller coaster, there's no getting off partway through; Luke 9:62 warns that those who keep looking back aren't fit for the kingdom.

Self-denial is the way to true life. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and let him lead. As The Message puts it, "self-help is no help at all—self-sacrifice is the way to finding your true self." Losing our life for his sake is how we actually find it.

The church is a "creating minority." We don't transform the world through shock, awe, or overwhelming force, but like leaven in dough or a seed in the ground—living downward instead of upward, choosing service over comfort, forgiveness over vengeance, patience over manipulation. The movement that began with Jesus and grew to 2 billion works precisely because people let him lead.

The bar for radical discipleship is surprisingly within reach. In today's culture, simple faithfulness—generosity, fidelity, regular worship, clean speech—stands out as wildly countercultural. The real question is whether we want to save our own lives or join Jesus in saving the world by walking the narrow road that leads to life.