Today at Highland Baptist Church, Pastor Danny Gardner's sermon was from Luke 14:25-35. Saving faith is a walking faith. Those truly saved will follow Jesus and abandon all past allegiances. The word hate in this passage is a comparative force. For example, you should always choose your family over your friends. Our love for Jesus must be so great that our love for others looks like hate. There are many who claim to follow Christ, but yield to worldly desires and influences. The price for following Jesus can be costly. Though in recent times following Jesus has been easy, there are times coming when preaching the Bible will be considered hate speech. We must have an advocate to negotiate peace. Our advocate is Jesus, who shed his blood to offer peace with God. We must always put Jesus first. Our views are to be aligned with his views.
~ Clarence Kraft