It might be that for many of us, in order to take up our cross, we need to put down our phone. In order to take up our cross, we need to put down the cocktail glass. And yes, in order to take up our cross, we need to let go of our children, family or our friends. But if we do this in the way that God envisions, we will gain them back again, and more. They will not then be products of our making, but vessels of God’s divine providence, whom we have nourished and loved and discipled, to be sure, but for whom we have also modeled an ultimate allegiance to Jesus Christ, and the requisite humility and repentance when we fall short, which is inevitable (at least, for me). Sermon from 9/8/19 at 8:45am.
