How to Lose Your Life to Save it

[0:00] Yes, now you can, brilliant. Are you guys going to sit up here for the whole while? That's all right.

[0:10] It's fine if you do. We might be well. Brilliant. I'm so excited. If you've been with us in the morning since St. Silas, we've been going through Mark's Gospel and it's been absolutely brilliant.

[0:21] This morning is going to look slightly different. This isn't the usual thing we do. Start of the school holidays, so lots of families away. But for those families that are here, we're all together in one big room this morning and anything could happen.

[0:35] So it's all very exciting. But before we continue, I'm going to pray for us and then we're going to look at the next very exciting bit of Mark's Gospel. So kids, sometimes you might know this prayer.

[0:47] You know what we're going to do? P-R-A-Y. Dear Father in heaven, please help us to listen now carefully because what you have to say to us is very important.

[1:02] Help us to see this morning that following you means saying no to ourselves and yes to you. Help us to see that to save our life forever, we need to lose it now for a moment.

[1:14] In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, I woke up this morning and I was absolutely buzzing. I was super excited. And can you guess why?

[1:25] Because last week we ended on an absolute cliffhanger. One of Jesus' best friends, Peter, had just recognized who Jesus was. He said to him, You are the king.

[1:39] You are God's king who will live and reign and rule together. And that was absolutely brilliant. I was so buzzing. I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

[1:50] What was this king going to be like? What was he going to do? He was mighty. He'd have super duper powers. How was he going to use those powers? I was very excited to find out.

[2:04] And so this week we're going to find out a bit about what kind of king he is. And there's a bit of a surprise. And so I thought the way that we might get into these passages, we might play a game.

[2:17] Games are fun. They keep us hooked in. And so the game is called Kingly or Not Kingly. Kingly or Not Kingly.

[2:28] So all over the hall, I've hidden little sheets under your seats or maybe in the seat in front of you. There's even a crown somewhere. And I want the kids in the room to go find those little sheets and maybe rush, bring them to the front.

[2:42] And I want you to look at the sheet and see what do you think. Is it kingly or is it not kingly? Is it a kingly thing, the kind of thing that a king might do, or not kingly?

[2:56] So who's got one? Who's got one? They're under the seats. Can we see them? Right. Has anyone found them? Someone's got a crown.

[3:06] I can see a crown. It's coming to the front. Very slowly. Matty's got the fire things. What have we got there? Brilliant. Brilliant.

[3:16] What's this? There we go. Fire safety. This is a holiday. I think a king might go on a holiday. What's this? It's a gravestone.

[3:29] Is that kingly or not kingly? That's not kingly. I don't think that's very not kingly. So we're going to put that on the not kingly bit there. Right.

[3:40] There we go. If I was a king, I would go on lots of beach holidays. So that's a beach holiday one there. Yes, that's brilliant. What have we got there? What is that? Is that a bossy little girl?

[3:52] Is that a kingly thing or not kingly thing? A queenly thing or not queenly thing? I think that's a kingly thing because that's the kind of thing kings do. They give orders.

[4:02] They say, go do this. Go do that. Isn't that right? If you're a king for the day, that's the kind of thing you may do. Obviously in a nice way because we go to St. Silas and we're nice. Right.

[4:13] What have we got there? Oh, no. It's someone saying no, rejecting. I don't want to hang out with you. I don't want to be your friend. Rejecting them. Is that the kind of thing that might happen to a king, do you think?

[4:25] I don't think that's a very kingly thing. What do you think? Probably not. No, right. Let's put that there. And what have we got there? What have we got there?

[4:37] Is that a great big crown? A crown. Do you think kings wear crowns? Yes. There's some lots of big yeses at the front here. So we're going to put the kingly thing over there.

[4:48] Hopefully they'll be all right. There we go. Great. Brilliant. That was very exciting. I wonder if we've got everything. I think there may be one or two out there, but that's okay. Right. Head back to your seats.

[5:00] We'll crack on with the service. Well done, boys and girls. You've done so well. Right. Great. So I wonder what Jesus is going to tell us about what sort of king he is going to be.

[5:15] And to help us see that, we're going to read a bit of God's Word now. I'm going to advise Russ Downsup, who's going to read the first part of our reading now. And you should find the reading on a little sheet that you've got handed in.

[5:28] One side has got Mark and the other side has got Mark. He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

[5:53] He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Oh, get behind me, Satan.

[6:04] He said, you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. Awesome. Cheers, Russ there.

[6:15] What? What a surprise. What happened there? I wasn't expecting that at all. Did you hear that? Did you hear what Jesus said about the kind of king that he was going to be?

[6:27] That he would be a king who would suffer many things. I wasn't expecting that. What kind of king is that? Who would be rejected. What? Who must be killed.

[6:40] Well, the good thing is at least then he'll rise again and he'll be in glory. And that's a good thing. That's a brilliant thing. And that will happen right at the end. And just a disclaimer there where he says, son of man, that's kind of like a title for God's most powerful king who would be king forever.

[7:01] And so he's a powerful king who's going to suffer, be rejected, and be killed. But then rise again. What a shock.

[7:12] What a surprise. I wasn't expecting anything like that. I wonder if you were surprised. Were you shocked by that? You see, if you're anything like me, you might like the idea of a king who's super powerful, who gets stuff done, who you can rally behind.

[7:28] I'm right behind you, Jesus. You're brilliant. You're doing all these powerful things. But then we read that he suffers and he'll be rejected and he'll be killed.

[7:39] And that's a bit more of a shock. But the good thing is it's not just me who's shocked. I wonder if you noticed, but one of Jesus' closest friends, Peter, is shocked too in the lesson.

[7:51] Just look down at verse 32 on your sheet. And look what Peter says. One of Jesus' closest friends. And Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke. That's tell Jesus off.

[8:02] No, Jesus, you can't say that. That's wrong. I wonder if Peter's a lot like this. That he was thinking, well, that's not what I signed up for. I like the idea of a strong and powerful king.

[8:15] But then he realized that the type of king that Jesus is shows the type of follower that we need to be. Maybe that was the thing that was going through his mind.

[8:26] And that was where he was stepping back a bit. He wasn't so keen on that. He liked Jesus who was strong. But he wasn't keen on a Jesus who would suffer, be rejected, and died.

[8:39] All right, so we're going to sing a song now. I'm going to invite the band back up. And then we're going to find out what happens next. Then he got...

[9:06] Is it on? Then he called the crowd to him, along with his disciples, and said, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

[9:19] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul?

[9:31] Or what can anybody give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father's glory and with holy angels.

[9:48] Amazing. Brilliant. Cheers, Malcolm. Right. We're going to try something. I don't think we've ever tried it since Silas before. But we're going to do the biggest Bible study ever, I think.

[10:02] On your way in, you would have been handed a sheet. Mark one on the one side. Mark two on the other side. And on the bottom of each side are two questions. Who's this all about? And what does Jesus say will happen to them?

[10:15] So I'll give you guys a couple of moments just in your family households or groups, wherever you are. Just read through those two passages and chat them through as a family and try and answer those questions.

[10:26] It's a really easy Bible study and we've looked at the first parts already. So I'll give you three minutes. Off you go. Thank you.

[11:12] Thank you. Thank you.

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[14:57] Give you another moment there. Just another, another moment. Thank you. If I cannot answer. okay okay let's let's draw that together hopefully that worked first time ever at St. Silas hopefully that worked okay I've got someone to help me out with the mic because I'm risking feedback if I go out there Malcolm's going to help us out very quickly so part one mark 8 31 to 33 who's that about who would like to give an answer over the mic someone with a brave hand who's that all about maybe shout out if you're less brave Matty's got one Jesus amazing what does it say will happen to Jesus who wants to answer that one oh we've got to answer down there yes we got a little hand what will happen this is this is always risky when a kid answers but it'll be brilliant it'll be good he's going to suffer yeah he's going to suffer but then he'll rise again great let's turn over brilliant top marks well done St. Silas you're doing well let's do part b of our bible study who's it all about who's brave got a hand up some hands down there maybe no great yeah it's all about us what's going to happen well if our king suffered and died and then rose again so that's what we can expect in this life first we will die we must say no to ourselves and then we'll rise again when Jesus returns isn't that amazing news what happens to Jesus we'll follow Jesus likewise well done give yourselves a pat on the back you've done brilliantly at the world's biggest bible study at St. Silas that's absolutely brilliant great so the question that Jesus is really asking that there is that question what would you rather so sometimes you go on camps you've gone on a camp or something and you or you've gone to a bible study and you play that awkward game what would you rather and so I thought we might play a big game of what would you rather now just to try and understand the passage so I've got some options here what would you rather would you rather have a puppy or a kitten who would rather have a puppy put up your hand lots of puppies yes who would rather have a kitten yes a few hands brilliant very simple right okay it's getting slightly awkwarder what would you rather be able to do to fly as high as a bird or run faster than anything who would rather fly as high as a bird who would rather run as fast as anything we've got some runners there brilliant brilliant right okay we're getting we're getting slightly trickier here what would you rather do would you rather smell like a fish all the time or would you rather all that you can smell is fish all the time some vocal opinions there who would rather smell like a fish all the time who would rather have the only thing they can smell is fish divided room yes right okay here's a trickier one what would you rather do would you rather have face over hair all over your face all the time or hair all over the inside of your mouth all the time who would rather have hair all over their face right who would rather have hair all over the inside of your mouth they wanted to welcome

[18:59] this is basically a roots bible study this is what we do but this is the question that Jesus asks his disciples I wonder if you spotted it he says what would you rather would you rather live or would you rather die now so look what he says in verse 34 then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said whoever wants to be my disciple whoever wants to follow me must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me sometimes we talk about taking up our cross and we think it's something like doing our homework oh that's my cross to bear or tidying up after the kids and oh that's my cross to bear and it's really not that bad a thing it's actually quite a nice thing it's helping us out but we forget that when Jesus talks about taking up my that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross he's talking about that we must die to ourselves we must say no to the things that we would want to do and he's asking us what would we rather do now would we rather follow Jesus now and die or would you rather not follow Jesus now and die and by dying there he means saying no to yourself and all the things all the things that your friends might run after you after around you because we're thinking about Jesus and thinking about that day when he'll come back so would you rather follow Jesus now even if it means that your friends will reject you they won't want to hang out with you would you rather not follow Jesus and be the most popular kid at school would you rather follow Jesus now even if it means that you don't always get to do what you want or would you rather not follow Jesus now and do whatever you want that's what he's asking us there that's not the end of the story just look at what he says in verse 35 if you've got your sheet maybe our grown-ups can help our kids there verse 35 whoever wants to save their life will lose it but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it and what does he mean when he says if you lose your life for the gospel he'll save it well he's talking about that thing that we just sung about in that song that one day Jesus is coming back and he'll bring about a forever kingdom and so what Jesus is saying is that our lives really have two parts we've got the first part of our life is this earthly part that's quite short and then we've got a longer part that's a forever life that goes on and on and on and on and on forever and whether we get into that forever life and enjoy that life depends on whether we die to ourselves now in this short life and live for Jesus now whether we listen to Jesus now and follow him here so I've got an illustration you've maybe heard of this before seen this before here's a rope right

[22:07] I'm going to do that there and this is your life now this is when you were born you just came out of the womb kicking, crying maybe that's when your first tooth came out and that was lovely and maybe that's when you started school and that was brilliant and maybe that's when you broke your leg or if you mean broke your arm and then broke your leg and then broke your arm broke your leg broke your arm carry on or maybe that's when you got went to university or something maybe that's when you met your best friend maybe that's when your granny or grandpa passed away or maybe that's when you get old and maybe at the end if you live a long time maybe you've had a good life 90 years then that's the end the end comes but that's the end that's all that it is and the forever life goes on and on and on and on and on and on and Jesus says if you don't listen to him in this part if you save this part if you live for everything in this part then you risk losing all of this which goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and so so Jesus is asking what would you rather do would you rather lose your life now for this really short bit and follow Jesus die to yourself but save it forever for that long rope bit so look at what he says in verse 36 what good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit and lose their soul lose their forever life

[23:40] Jesus says that in this part of your life you can gain everything you can get the fastest car you can get the biggest house you can eat all the ice creams you want and go all the beach holidays but you can't take it with you and if you don't listen to Jesus then you'll lose all of that and if we're ashamed of Jesus if we say no to Jesus in this life then he'll be ashamed of us when he comes back and we'll lose all that forever forever life which goes on and on which will be absolutely brilliant which will be big in its length and big in its excitement and awesomeness and the good news of the gospel is that although like Jesus we might suffer now for a little while we might go through rejection our friends might say no to us we might have to say no to the things we want we will rise again and it will be absolutely glorious like Jesus and when he comes back with his armies of angels he'll say well done you've kept going but if we say no to Jesus now then we risk losing all that amazing forever life great

[24:51] I'm going to close in a word of prayer now and then I'm going to invite Sarah Tobin up and she's going to pray for us hopefully that's been a good time a fun time hopefully we've had fun in families if anything struck you there do come chat to me afterwards so father we thank you that Jesus is coming back and that he's bringing his kingdom and that it's going to be awesome and glorious please help us to grab hold of that please help us to listen to Jesus now please help us to not be ashamed of Jesus now please help us to lose our lives now that we might gain it forever in that forever life that is to come living with King Jesus forever and ever in Jesus name Amen brilliant I'm going to invite Sarah Tobin up she's going to bring us and I'm going to remove our rope because that's a trip hazard health and safety always