1) Convicted of the Word

What is the conviction? (V3-5)
How many of us will go out with nothing but clothes in our bag to preach the gospel?
Do you have the conviction to believe that our God will provide?

Being convicted of the Word is beyond an intellectual discourse of the bible. It falls short of the application of the Word. To be convicted of the Word, one has to learn to apply the teachings of the written Word in our lives and be transformed by the living Word.

2) Count the Cost of Following Christ. Count the Cost of Discipleship. [V22-V23]
(Luke 14:25-35)

Death of Christ: Son of Man must suffer and die.
Death of ourselves: Denying ourselves, giving up our own sinful desires to pursue after God's desire and will.

What is the cost of discipleship on campus?
It may be at the expense of our time for school work, relationship with friends, family, grades, play time...etc.

A Christian student on campus has various commitments, such as VCF programme, church ministry and family relationships, to juggle with. When we juggle with so many varied commitments on our palette, we would usually struggle with following Jesus and spending time with Him in the midst of the hectic schedule as a student. To follow Jesus and count the cost of discipleship, we have to make priorities and choices. Ultimately, we are called to primarily worship and Follow Him. Things that are apart from Christ's agenda in our lives have to be prioritized so that we would not compromise on our time with Christ and short change Him in the process. The cost of discipleship is high. We proclaim to be Christians which means we also recognize that the cost of following Jesus is high. So why pay the price???

---- Because we know that Jesus worth all the while---- heart, soul, mind and strength.


3) Carrying the cross [V24 - 27]

(Luke 14:25-35)

The cross has been a symbol of suffering of Christ. It's similar to putting convicts today on an electric chair. Do we carry our cross today for the sake of what Christ has done on it for us? And carrying it means we live for the sake of Christ. The cross was the price Jesus paid to purchase our lives. Are we living up to what Jesus has used to bought us for eternity? Do we live for an eternal value or just for the temporal?

Is our identity in Jesus Christ? What is our self worth? Is our self-worth determined by our grades in school, the amount of salary that we are earning or even the friends we have? These are some success markers in our world today. Those we have met the mark are usually deemed to be more successful. However, all of these are temporal. They would cease to exist one day. We ought to have an eternal perspective.

Our self-worth should instead be defined in Christ. We are worth nothing to begin with. But, when our identity is forged in Christ, we are worth everything. We are worth so much that Jesus died for us.

If we are convicted, we can strive to obey and become Christ-like. We have to crucify ourselves daily and learn to our carry our crosses. Hence, we have to deny ourselves, our ambitions, our time... The cost is indeed great.

Conclusion

The world we live in focuses on survival of the fittest. Indirectly, it encourages one to be self-centered, ambitious and result-oriented. Being a Christian student, however, has a conflicting perspective. We emphasize the importance of living holy and righteous lives for God. We could become revolutionary because when we live Godly lives, we are empowered and could change the campus and the world in the process.

We are not just university students.

We are FULL TIME Christians, PART TIME students! :)