Cross Bearing Life

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​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes Sunday Service June 7 2026
Sermon Title–Cross Bearing Life
Text – Matthew 16:21-28
Rev. Key Min Lee

​Our sinful nature does not naturally lead us to empty ourselves and embrace the heart of Jesus.  Instead, it drives us to take from others and fill our lives with the things of this world.  As a result, those who do not understand the love of Jesus often become overwhelmed by sorrow, pain, suffering, and emptiness.  In some cases, they even fall into depression or choose destructive paths that lead to the loss of life itself.
 
The process of breaking away from these sinful habits and desires is the training of emptying ourselves — in other words, the training of carrying our cross and following Jesus.
 
So why must we deny ourselves daily and live a life of carrying the cross?  In Philippians 2, it says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.”  Though Jesus was fully God, He willingly emptied Himself, humbled Himself, and incarnated in the form of a servant.
 
Jesus chose the position of a Son who perfectly loved the Father and gave all glory to Him.  This is the example Jesus showed us of emptying Himself and denying Himself.
 
One of the most beautiful gifts God has given humanity is the ability to choose.  Therefore, with the love of God in our hearts, we must choose Jesus every single day and walk in obedience to Him.
 
An important truth is this:  Satan tries to drag people toward destruction, but God, because He is love, never forces or drags anyone against their will.  That is why we must choose love by our own free will and choose God daily.  Choosing love and walking in it is the training of dying to ourselves every day.
 
When Paul said, “I die every day,” he was acknowledging the weakness and limitations of human nature.  We may succeed one day and fail the next.  Without the daily discipline of dying to ourselves, the enemy can find an opening and bring destruction into our lives. 
 
Then what kind of training helps us deny ourselves daily and carry our cross?
 
First, we must live each day as if it were our last.
 
Second, we must continually train ourselves so that our words and actions are consistent with one another.
 
By choosing love and dying to ourselves moment by moment, we keep Satan from gaining a foothold in our lives.  That is when true restoration begins.
 
I pray in the name of the Lord that this grace may be upon you and upon me as well.