Heroes: Could've Been Heroes

Heroes Part Four: Could've Been Heroes

Speaker: Pastor Lee Cummings
Date: July 6, 2019

Heroes explores the lives, work, and ministries of men and women in the New Testament whose lives made enormous impact on the world. This series will help broaden your perspective of the early Church, enlighten the eyes of your heart, and fascinate your imagination as we discover hidden truths behind some of the most important people in scripture.

In this sermon, Pastor Lee Cummings highlights individuals who could have been heroes in the Bible but failed to answer the call.

Focus Scripture

Luke 9:57-62 (ESV)

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Sermon Highlights

• In the highlighted scripture, Jesus is answering three different people with three different answers in response to the three different excuses for why they could not radically and totally follow Him.

• They could have followed Jesus, but in response to the invitation to follow Him, when they saw the price tag they made excuses.

• If you're going to follow Him, you're going to have to bypass the comforts of belonging in this world and see yourself as a sojourner and an exile that is on a journey, and your home is in Heaven.

• Following Jesus is going to inconvenience you everyday. If it doesn't inconvenience you, maybe you're not following closely enough.

• The cost associated with being a disciple of Jesus is oftentimes not a financial cost, but actually something you have to say no to so that you can say yes to Jesus, But that's a cost worth paying.

• We’ve made being a follower of Jesus all about what you intellectually believe, instead of what you obediently practice.

• One of the costs of following Jesus, is that there are going to be people who don’t like your decision.

• For every single one of the heroes of faith, there's one common denominator among them. They were willing to sacrificially obey, and they were willing to make the hard call.

• Sacrifice is when you willingly give up what you want, in order to give Him what He wants. That's sacrifice, and its not something that can be taken, sacrifice is something that is offered.