Matthew 16:5-28 | Kingdom Now: The Price of Discipleship

In this message from Matthew 16, Pastor Karl unpacks what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus. This chapter marks a turning point in the Gospel of Matthew — Jesus shifts from miracles and crowds to confession and the cross, pressing his followers on three essential questions: What are you allowing to corrupt your faith? Who do you say Jesus is? And are you willing to pay the real cost of following him?Using the image of leaven, Pastor Karl warns against the subtle doctrines that quietly push Jesus off center — the Pharisees' tendency to add to God's Word and the Sadducees' tendency to subtract from it. Both lead to the same result: a faith that looks like Christianity but has lost its core. He then turns to Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi — "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" — and challenges us to ask whether the full scope of our lives actually agrees with what we claim to believe about Jesus. Finally, he confronts the cost of true discipleship head-on: a crossless Christianity isn't a safer version of the faith — it's a distortion of it. Following Jesus in principle but not in practice isn't discipleship; it's branding.Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"Join us in person 8:00am, 9:30am & 11:00am every Sunday morning.37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636For more visit us at flipside.churchFor more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm