Take Up Your Cross: Following Jesus in the Everyday Deaths of Self

May 4, 2025

This sermon explores Jesus’s call in Matthew 16:24–26 to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him—not as a one-time heroic act, but as a daily decision to die to selfishness, control, and pride. It reframes the cross not as symbolic jewelry or church decor, but as a sobering reminder of sacrificial love and a call to a radically different life. Through relatable anecdotes and honest reflections, the message emphasizes that discipleship means surrendering our comfort, defensiveness, and need for attention, and instead embracing a life rooted in relationship with Jesus—who has already walked the path before us. True life, Jesus promises, is found not in preserving ourselves, but in laying ourselves down.