This Sunday, we took a look at what is true greatness according to the Kingdom of God. Jesus's world, and our world today defines greatness in terms of success, wealth, power, and influence, but Jesus brings the upside-down Kingdom where true greatness is to humble one's self and take on the role of a servant to others. Often as humans, we are quick to claim the benefits of following Jesus, such as forgiveness or the promise of eternal life, but we are reluctant to embrace the costs of discipleship. Jesus calls us to die to ourselves to pick up our cross and follow Him. 

We also talked about how the purpose of the church is to make disciples who make disciples, and how often we let our personal preferences overshadow that greater purpose. To die to ourselves and to live as a servant of others means that we no longer let our personal preferences dictate our thinking at church. Rather than coming to church and thinking about what parts of church we like or dislike, we should ask ourselves how each aspect of the church helps us to accomplish our mission to make disciples. And our mindset should be how we can step in and play our role in this greater purpose as servants, humbling ourselves to acts as slaves to all for His name and His glory.

"We will never find joy in church membership when we are constantly seeking things our way. But paradoxically, we will find the greatest joy when we choose to be last. That's what Jesus meant when He said the last will be first. True joy means giving up our rights and preferences and serving everyone else." - Author Thom Rainer

Mark 10:32-45 (NLT): They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. 33 “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. 34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again." 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” 36 “What is your request?” he asked. 37 They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” 39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. 40 But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” 41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Luke 14:25-28a (NLT): A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost.