Our scripture passage for this evening is found in Mark chapter 8

verses 31 through 38.

And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected

by the elders and the chiefests and the scribes and be killed.

And after three days rise again.

And he said this plainly.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples,

he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan.

For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them,

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever

loses his life for my sake and the Gospels will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and

forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him will the son of man also be ashamed

when he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels.

This is an unusual sermon because it's got two halves that don't seem at first to be connected.

In the first half, I want to open this passage of scripture in such a way that you will admire Jesus and

treasure Jesus and love Jesus and trust Jesus and hear the call that is mentioned there to take up your cross and follow Jesus. And in the second half of the sermon I want to try to

explain to you why I've asked the elders for an eight-month leave of absence.

So now that you're apprised at how strange the two halves of this sermon are, let me pray that

God would help you to listen to the first half for yourself as well as for me. Let's pray.

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