August 30, 2020 - Jeremiah 15:15-21 - (Pastor Paul Zell)

If you love God’s Word and gobble it up eagerly, what should you expect will happen to you? That everyone will applaud your devotion and welcome what you have to say? If you follow Jesus wholeheartedly; if you serve him with willing obedience; if you honor him with your behavior, what rewards should you anticipate? Wealth, privilege, an easy path through your life? Jesus tells you to expect what he experienced himself: rejection, disappointment, sorrow, even pain. “Whoever wants to be my disciple,” Jesus says, “must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Yet for all of the hardships that may press upon you, the Lord promises to grant you the strength that you need and, in the end, deliverance unto eternal life. Now, the cross. Then, the crown.