The Cost of Discipleship
Mark shared with us today about the cost of true discipleship, drawing from Luke 14. He walked us through Jesus' challenge to the Pharisees — who had reduced faith to rule-following — and his call to open the table to the poor, the outcast, and the forgotten. Mark reflected on how Jesus reorients our priorities, asking us to place nothing above him — not family, comfort, security, or self-preservation — and to pick up our cross and follow. Using the parables of the tower builder and the king going to war, he reminded us that following Jesus requires us to sit down, count the cost, and commit fully. He closed with a personal and pastoral challenge: that being the kind of church that reaches people, widens the table, and pursues the lost will cost us comfort, convenience, and control — but that in light of what Christ has done for us, he is worth every bit of it.
