Take Up Your Cross Mark 8:31-9:1

“Everyone has a cross to bear.”  Maybe you’ve heard that expression; maybe you’ve used it.  It has its origin in the Bible but it has found its way into our common, everyday language where it isn’t usually used in the way Jesus intended.  From ingrown toenails to annoying neighbors to giving up chocolate for lent, it’s amazing how many of life’s discomforts are, in the minds of people, “their cross to bear.”    Unfortunately, in its migration into our everyday language, we’ve trivialized “a cross to bear.”  We’ve redefined it to suit our needs and, in the process, the very concept of bearing a cross has lost its Spirit-anointed purpose and power.  What does it really mean to bear a cross?  The answer to that question is found when we take a good, long, hard look at what Jesus really says about “the cross I bear.”  Join me and your GCC family this weekend as we unpack another hard saying of Jesus and learn from Mark 8:31-9:1 what it means to bear our cross!