HEALTHY FAMILIES FOR ETERNITY

HEALTHY FAMILIES FOR ETERNITY REACH THE WORLD
8
The Text
Then He said to them all,
“If anyone desires to come after
Me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross daily, and
follow Me. For whoever desires
to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for My
sake will save it.
Luke 9:23-24
Introduction
We enjoy food! People frequently ask us
what we do about eating when our frequent
ministry travel takes us to different parts of the
world. Our answer is often the same, we like all
kinds of foods.
Over the years we have developed an
appreciation for foods from all over the
world, and welcome the opportunity to
taste diverse cuisines on each of our travel
itineraries. Indian, Latin American, Italian,
Caribbean, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Korean,
Japanese, East African, West African,
Southern African, Russian, Middle Eastern,
American and Eastern European dishes. We
enjoy them all.
Willie Oliver, PhD, CFLE and Elaine Oliver, MA, CFLE are
Directors of the Department of Family Ministries at the General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists World Headquarters in
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
Christian Marriage
and the Cross
ELAINE AND WILLIE OLIVER
The biggest challenge with food, however, is
when we get home from a trip. What should we
eat and where? Shall we go to an Indian, Cuban
or Thai restaurant or should we eat at home?
Deciding whose palate to satisfy has everything to
do with the quality of our marriage at that time.
Our sermon today is titled Christian
Marriage and the Cross. Let us pray.
The life of self denial
Luke 9:23-24, records the following poignant
words of Jesus: “Then He said to them all, ‘If
anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow
Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will
save it.’”
The context of Luke 9 finds Jesus with His
disciples dispensing power over demons and
diseases, sending them to preach the good news
of the gospel, listening to their exciting mission
experiences, then performing a miraculous
feeding of five thousand on the outskirts of the
city of Bethsaida.
After an interlude for prayer, Jesus resumes
the conversation with His disciples, asking for a
report on what people were saying about Him,
apparently triggered by Herod the Tetrarch’s
inquiry earlier in the chapter. Some people
proposed that Jesus was John the Baptist who