Week 21 — Abiding Will Cost You | Greg Broussard
Week 21 — Abiding Will Cost You | Greg Broussard | Matthew 16:24-27
Full Sunday Morning Bible Class including; lesson of the day, discussions, questions and answers. Speaker: Deac. Greg Broussard
Tension: Comfort vs. cross-bearing
Formation Outcome: Surrendered discipleship
Grounding Questions:
• What makes following Jesus feel costly in everyday life?
• Why do we sometimes want the benefits of Christ without the burden of discipleship?
Expository Teaching:
Matthew 16 marks a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. Peter has confessed Jesus as the Christ, but shortly after that confession, Jesus begins teaching that He must suffer, be killed, and be raised. Peter resists this idea because suffering does not fit his expectation of Messiahship.
Jesus then turns from His own cross to the disciple’s cross:
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
This is not casual religious language. In the Roman world, the cross represented shame, suffering, and death. Jesus is making it clear that discipleship is not built on convenience but surrender.
The order matters:
Deny yourself.
Take up your cross.
Follow Me.
Abiding in Christ does not mean adding Jesus to a self-directed life. It means surrendering the self-directed life to remain connected to Him.
The tension is clear: we often want Jesus to save our lives without letting Him rule our lives. But Jesus says the one who tries to save his life will lose it, while the one who loses life for His sake will find it.
Abiding requires the death of competing loyalties.
Group Discussion Questions:
• Why is self-denial difficult in a culture that encourages self-expression and self-fulfillment?
• What is the difference between inconvenience and true cross-bearing?
• What area of life might Christ be asking you to surrender more fully?
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MacDonald Ave Church of Christ, Richmond, CA Sunday Morning Bible Class, May 31, 2026 (Rev.1)