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This is the audio from the September 17, 2023 sermon, “Good News: How Great a COST”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Luke 9:10-36

Today I continued a series from the gospel of Luke as we gaze deeply into God’s Word to find the good news of Jesus shared with us by Luke the physician.  As we continue our Good News From the Doctor series, it can become easy for us to know Jesus as God to such an extent that we lose sight of the great cost that He willingly paid.  The good news associated with the great cost paid by Jesus during His life here on earth is that it reflects the great value that we have to Him.  Our response ought to be one that understands and lives out a great . . .

• Compassion: (Luke 9:10-17)

  • After receiving news about the death of John, the desire of Jesus was to be alone with His disciples and His Father.  As they traveled to a place where this could happen, a great crowd followed them.  As Jesus saw the crowd, He was moved with compassion and began to teach about God’s kingdom and heal those who were sick.  His compassion came at a great cost as He chose to delay His solitude in order to share in the sufferings of the multitude.  The good news for us today is that God’s compassion is not only directed toward us, it is meant to be an example for us to follow.  As those who are called by God to consider the cost, we must turn to Him so that we would live with a great compassion.

• Observation: — (Luke 9:18-21)

  • After the crowds experienced the teaching and healing of Jesus, it was lesson time for the disciples.  As Jesus and His disciples were finally able to withdraw to a private place of prayer, it was time to see what the disciples had observed.  The groundwork was laid by Jesus as He questioned what the disciples had heard about Him from the crowds.  It seemed the crowd had been impressed by the works of Jesus to the extent that they considered He must be a man of God who had died and was now brought back to life.  Jesus then turned the question to a personal level and asked the disciples who they believed that He was.  Peter’s response was to the point when he stated that Jesus was indeed the Christ sent from God.  Jesus confirmed that this was an observation not from human sources but from God’s Spirit.  As those who are called by God to consider the cost, we must turn to Him so that we would have our eyes opened to a great observation.

• Sacrifice: — (Luke 9:22-27)

  • I suspect that when most of us consider the great cost, our first thoughts go to the subject of sacrifice.  The topic of sacrifice should naturally lead us to the death of Jesus on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, but we also need to consider how great a sacrifice Jesus made simply by coming to earth and living as one of us.  In fact, I believe it is this level of life sacrifice that Jesus calls us to when He says we must take up our cross daily and follow Him.  While many would want to have the courage to lay down their life to save someone else in a life or death situation, when it comes to the day to day sacrifices of time, money, pride, preference, and opinion, we’re not so eager to make that type of sacrifice.  As those who are called by God to consider the cost, we must turn to Him so that we would learn how to deny self and live a life of great sacrifice.

• Transformation: — (Luke 9:28-36)

  • The purpose of the great cost paid by Jesus is that we would undergo a great transformation.  As Peter, James, and John went up a mountain with Jesus to pray, a great transformation took place where Jesus was transfigured into His heavenly form and met with Moses and Elijah on that mountain top.  The text tells us that the disciples were sleepy but that the incredible transformation became obvious once they were fully awake.  The response of the disciples was a desire to simply stay there on the mountain and bask in the glory that was present.  The response of God, however, was that they needed to recognize the authority of Jesus and listen to Him.  As those who are called by God to consider the cost, we must turn to Him so that we understand the great transformation that comes through our obedience.

Today, how will you live in response to a great COST?