Big Idea: Fruit-bearing requires cross-bearing
1. Life only springs from death (12:24)
2. The way to truly live is first to truly die (12:25)
3. To follow Jesus in life is to follow him in death (12:26)
How do I bear my cross for my one?
- Share not only Jesus, but yourself (1 Thess. 2:8)
- Seek not only your own good, but their good (1 Cor. 10:24, 33)
- Accept discomfort for their comfort (2 Cor. 1:5-7)
- Risk heartache until they receive Christ (Gal. 4:19; Rom. 9:1-3; 10:1)
- Stoop as a humble beggar so they may be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20)
- Endure suffering to experience the joy of their salvation (Heb. 12:2; Phil. 2:17)