Matchless Messiah

Main Point: Jesus insists that we be “all in” with him.
Take away: If you want to save your life, put yourself aside, pick up your cross and press on with Jesus.
Suggested Memory Verse: Mark 8:34 - Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

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Discussion Questions

1. How do you (or how would you) feel when you are part of a team and a member of the team wants to do their own thing, rather than what is best for the team? What do you want to say to them?

2. Can you think of a time when you wanted something to go one way, but God clearly meant for it to go a different way? How easy, or how difficult was it for you to accept God’s way? 

3. Think of some examples of what it means to “deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Jesus.” What do you think Jesus meant by “losing your life” in order to save it? Why is it important that he says we need to be willing to lose our lives “for him and for the gospel”? 

Table Discussion Question – Jesus says that it’s possible to get everything we might want and lose our self (our soul) in the process. What do you think he means by “lose your self”?