Give Online: https://pushpay.com/pay/gatecitychristian Website: https://www.gatecitychristian.com/ Decision Card: https://gatecity.churchcenter.com/people/forms/371658 COST A Faith Worth Living – Part 3 4/12/25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:25–33 ESV Come ἔρχομαι (erchomai) - state of having arrived (metaphorical spiritual arrival) Hate μισέω (miseó) - to esteem less, love less (indicative of a strong emotional response) Carry βαστάζω (bastazó) - often used to describe the act of bearing one another's burdens, as well as the endurance of trials and responsibilities Cross σταυρός (stauros) The term can also metaphorically represent the suffering, sacrifice, and discipleship required of believers, as seen in passages where Jesus calls His followers to "take up their cross." Cost Will God desire’s complete surrender Comfort/Desires Personal Choice/Autonomy God commands us to pause and “count the cost” - Think through the commitment your making - Own your decision - Be willing to obey in perpetuity Jesus Modeled This Behavior - Emptied himself of what it was to be God - Surrendered His Will for His Father’s - Remained obedient to the point of death on a cross We must daily consider the cost, be willing to pay the price, and press forward until we too can say, “it is finished”!