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Scripture
Introduction
Today I would like to speak to you all on Counting the Cost
Now every single one of us have followed this advice in some period of our life
In this New Year some people may decide that they want a stronger body and they might join a gym and then after a few weeks of gyming and not seeing any results they will quit the gym.
They didnt properly count the cost
They were expecting quick fix which did not happem
For example whenever there is a very big decision you need to make you tend to count the cost before making that big decision
E.g if you are married - before you would have said I do - you would have counted the cost of saying that because you know there is no turning back once you said those 2 couple words.
You won’t marry someone if you are not willing to spend the rest of your life together with them .
Same thing with having kids.
A lot of young couples these days do not want kids because after counting the cost it is better to do without kids
E.g They find that kids will slow them down in life
Or some find that the price of pampers etc is too much now and they dont think they can afford to have kids
Or some people just like the freedom of not having to take care of kids
The point is they have spent time counting the cost
One of the worst things you can do is not count the cost and you embarass yourself
E.g it have some people today who chose to have kids and they are like the worst parents ever
They dont even take care of their kids
They dont even feed them and other people has to take care of their children and these are the same paretns who keeps making more and more kids and not taking care of them
It sad but it is a reality
If they had properly counted the cost they would have decided that it may be best to just be married but not have kids because they are not willing to take care of them
What big decision have you made in life that resulted in you having to count the cost?
My story about promotion in Town
Counting the cost can save you from embarassment and wasted time
Change or Die is a book written by Alan Deutschman and he ask the question what if you were given that choice to change or die?
Would you change your habits?
What he discovered is that the majority of people rarely ever choose to change.
From patients suffering with heart disease or repeat offenders in the criminal justice system - people choose not to change.
They have counted the cost and find that the cost of change is too much.
friend who didnt want to give up drinking
Today i just want to remind you of something and that is there is a cost to following Jesus and it is a cost most people are not willing to pay
We ask ourselves why are there so many empty pews on a Sunday, why is it that people no longer come to church.
Danny reminded us last week that this issue is a worldwide church issue and not just our church.
We ask ourselves where are those who started with us.
It could be that they have counted the cost and it is a bit too high.
This year IPA celebrates 70 years and when we go back to our founder Peter H Hosein and we see all that this humble man would have accomplished and we make statements such as I want to be the next Rev.
Peter Hakim Hosein but the truth is that is just a statement
This man was just an ordinary man but he achieved so much for God because he was willing to pay a huge price
He counted the cost and had no isssue of giving up all for the sake of Christ
You dont really find men like that today.....
In fact sad to say you dont really even find men at all day...
Men scarce in the church and it is mostly the women doing everything
Another great man who passed through the IPA and was a Pastor in IPA and eventually moved into Open Bible was the late Rev. Kenneth Ragoonath
He was a good friend to our family and growing up I would look up to this man
Whenever you heard him speak you can tell that this man was sold out for God and he was a student of the Word of God
He had no big car or fancy house or any of those things and those things never bothered him
God allowed him to be a missionary in 92 different countries which is remarkable.
I was listening to an interview they had with him on youtube and he made a very strong statement that goes against what most people believe in.
He said that when he became a Christian anything outside of the Work of the Lord does not attract him
He said people will tell him why you don’t play a little cricket or a little football etc.
He said I did those things before I found the Lord and now I am just concerned with the work of the Lord and those things have no interest to him.
Now that is a man you can tell who counted the cost of following Jesus and decided that nothing else was more important to him than God’s Work.
We tell ourselves that we want to be like them but the truth is we are not willing to pay that kind of price.
We see their glory but we don’t know their story.
Now when we look at this scripture we see that Jesus lays out what it really means to follow him and we see firstly that
Jesus Isn’t Impressed by Crowds
Before we go further let us just focus on this first part that says Large Crowds were following him
Now if you compare the preacher Jesus to the average preacher and pastor today Jesus is the opposite of them
Lots of preachers today would be glad to hear people following them
In fact the more followers it would be better for their ministry
Like and subscribe to my youtube channel
Follow me on facebook for updates on my Ministry
The average Preacher now would love to know that they have a huge following
It will help their ego to grow bigger
I have 1 million followers on Twitter
And they would do more and more to make sure that they get more followers online
The average Pastor would love to be able to boast about the size of their congregation
Man we have over 100 members coming every single Sunday
Our car park is packed out we might need to expand the parking
Our church is getting so large we might need to build a next level for it
Crowds upon crowds coming to church is a big thing nowadays
If your church not packed out maybe the Anointing is not there
You need to do better
But here’s the thing
Crowds mean nothing much
Crowds do not mean they are following
Jesus knew something about crowds
He knew that a lot of them was just fans and not really followers
A lot of them had a wrong motive in following him and Jesus wasnt interested in such people
Now it is a bit of a shame when you might compare Jesus approach to the average Pastor today who overly obsessed with crowds
It’s a bit like Facebook
People have thousands of friends on facebook but the truth is how much of them really is your friend
How much of them if you call them when you need help will really be willing to help you
The truth is not much
Jesus knew that a lot of these people who were moving as though they were his friends were not his friends
Sometimes we keep telling ourselves we want the church filled, we want it filled, too much empty pews
While that is a noble goal to want the pews filled - the more important goal is that the pews be filled with the right kinds of people.....
I going to say something a bit harsh but it is truthful and that is - it have some people when they leave your Ministry that actually is a blessing in disguise
When they leave your Ministry and go to someone else Ministry well pressure for that other Pastor
People keep harping about crowds and wanting to fill the church
Numbers are misleading
It is better to have a church with a few committed sheep thaan a church that is packed out not with sheep but with goats
Jesus knew that in his time a lot of people came to hear him cause of the food that they got after hearing him speak
If we decided to do something similar
Advertise that every Sunday - you don’t have to worry about lunch
Every Sunday lunch will be given to you - Man our church gonna be packed out
Bishop advice to Youth Leaders
The problem in a lot of churches is that leaders are so desperate to look good that they paint a picture of Jesus and this Christian life that is so attractive and it is because they just concerned with getting members
WE preach about a Jesus who can save you, who can heal you, who can prosper you but we don’t mention the commitment it would take as a follower of Jesus
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