Below are excerpts taken from sermon Jesus is Narrow (Text but not recording available).  In essence, the following 10 statements Imageencapsulate all that I hoped to say in twitter-sized chunks.

  1. The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best description of a Christian. Sadly, because none of us live this description perfectly, few of us take it seriously.
  2. Jesus is not calling people to consider or admire Him; He is calling people to follow Him. There is no standing still, you will either walk the way of Jesus or walk away from Jesus. 

  3. There is a third way to live that is neither self-indulgent or self-righteous.  The third way comes through belief in the gospel; it is the way of self-denial.  This is what Jesus calls the narrow way—it is the way of Jesus.  And, if Jesus life is any example, the way of Jesus is different, hard, but ultimately life-giving. 

  4. Faith in Christ is not simply a decision; it is a lifetime of decisions motivated by Jesus, empowered through Jesus, and modeled after Jesus.
  5. More than anything, the narrow road is hard because it requires relationship(s). The narrow path is a marriage with Jesus and marriage is hard. The narrow path is participation in a family and family is hard.  The narrow path is a mission to love our neighbors and neighbors can be hard. 
  6. There is only one path that Jesus has walked. There is only one path that Jesus promises to walk with us.  There is only one path that Jesus promises to reward after we have walked it. 
  7. There are only two paths to walk in life, we are born onto one; we must be reborn onto the other. 
  8. We do not enter the road through achieving and reforming.  We do not enter through practicing or abstaining from certain things.  We do not enter through thinking positively, seeking spiritual experiences, or hiding from the world like a monk.  We enter the road through repenting and believing.  

  9. Every author, blogger, and spiritual guru has their man-centered plans to achieve happiness.  I don’t have seven, five, or even three steps; I have just one—DIE…NOTHING can be RESURRECTED unless it has fully died.