This Week in Chapel

Chapel Overview

Chapel attendance is a mandatory requirement for all seminary students, even online-only students.  While chapel is held every weekday on campus, online students are only required to attend a minimum 10 chapel services per semester.  Fortunately, DTS provides apps which make keeping up with the services easy.

This Week in Chapel

Overcoming the Fault Lines to Following Jesus
Dr. Mark Bailey on August 30, 2016

Overcoming the Fault Lines to Following Jesus

Dr. Bailey explores the text of Luke 9 and identifies the challenges (fault lines) that distract us from following Jesus.  It's a message about counting the costs of following Jesus and evaluating ourselves to identify what areas of our life are distracting us from our called service to the Lord.

(NASB) Luke 9:23-24 | 23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

(NASB) Luke 9:57-62 | 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Consider the Following

• What are the gaps in your own life that interfere with your spiritual growth?
• What are the fault lines that separate you from being a closer follower of Jesus?
• What are the areas of my life that separate me from closer fellowship with God?
• What are the areas that distract and separate me from my devotion to God?

Heart of the Message

Dr. Bailey lays out the following model for the responses of the men in Luke 9:57-62

1. Mr. Too Hasty (verse 57) - The first man was eager to volunteer to follow Christ yet failed to consider or understand that there are no guarantees of comfort to being a disciple of Christ.  Mr. Too Hasty is the person who is willing to serve the Lord on their own terms according to their own expectations.  The desired response is to fully identify with Christ and be willing to forego comforts and set aside expectations.
2. Mr. Too Hesitant (verse 59) - The second man was requesting to fulfil his family obligations to bury his father which was extremely important in Jewish culture.  Jesus was calling him to reorder his priorities.  Mr. Too Hesitant is the person who becomes distracted by the cares and responsibilities of the world.  The desired response is absolute obedience to the will of God.  Placing God and our responsibility to proclaim the kingdom of God as our highest priority.
3. Mr. Too Homesick (verse 62) - The third man was a volunteer with reservations.  He valued his relationships and family at home over following the Lord.  Jesus says that nobody who looks back to these things is fit for the kingdom of God.  The desired response is to put God first in our lives and understand that if we do this, everything else will balance out.  We need to keep the order of all things in our lives right.

In Summary

In choosing to follow Christ, we need to understand that this may cost us everything.  We will face rejection and perhaps even persecution, especially in the world today.  We need to realize that there are no good reasons to say no to following Christ, no hesitations.  The priorities of God must be our priorities, must be our highest priorities.  This is the cost of following Christ.