Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Unexpected Truths: Cross comes before crown

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Some religious groups today teach that if a person follows God, God responds by granting prosperity and peace, as would only be expected. 
 

Today we see how that is nonsense. 
 

Jesus explains that if we are part of the Church of God, we will have to bear crosses. Believers suffer in this world, sometimes just because we are believers.
 

So why bother following Jesus? We carry our crosses in gratitude for Jesus carrying his cross. Jesus' cross was too heavy for us because it was weighted down with our sin. We carry our crosses as disciples because we know that in those moments of struggle, we are forced to turn to Christ and rely on his strength. 
 

This is the unexpected path, the one Jesus himself walked: the cross comes before the crown.