If Every Christian In This Church Was Like You…

Such games as:

• Pin the donkey tail

• Hide and Seek

• Treasure hunt

• Simon says

• Spin the Bottle

And many more…

Illus: A certain fellow in this church by the name of ________________use to love to play spin the bottle.

You know how it is played. Boys and girls sit in a circle and they take a coke bottle and spin the bottle.

If it pointed to a girl when it stopped, the girl could either kiss him or give him a dime.

By the time____________was 14, he was able to buy a bicycle and for himself and his two sisters.

But let me tell you about a game children and adults love to play. IT IS CALLED FOLLOW THE LEADER!!!

You know how children play this game:

Illus: One player, the Leader, begins moving around doing all kinds of ridiculous things that the rest of the players must immitate.

Everything the leader does the followers must duplicate—

• Including wildly flailing their hands in the air.

• Or furiously scratching their heads

• Slapping their faces

• Sticking their tongues out

• Making weird faces

Whatever the leaders did the followers did the same.

In fact, this game it is played more than all the other games put together by children and adults.

For example, we have those today who follow the leader:

• If someone gets a new car they get a new car.

• If someone gets a new house they have to get a new house.

• Whatever they watch on tv, they watch!

• Whatever the way the world thinks, they think!

• Whatever the world wear, they wear!

• If some one gets a ridiculous hair cut they follow the example.

• If a kid wears his pants where it looks like they are about to fall off they do the same.

• If a kid get tattoos they get tattoos.

But the Lord wants us to follow Him and get others to follow us as we follow Him.

Let me ask you a QUESTION…IF ALL THE CHURCH MEMBERS OF THIS CHURCH WAS LIKE YOU WHAT KIND OF CHURCH WOULD THIS CHURCH BE!!!

• I look across this congregation and I gladly say if everyone was like THEM this would be a great church.

When I look at some in this church I wish I could clone some of them!!!

• However, if everybody was like some we can be thankful they were not a twin.

Illus: Mickey Mantle, the former New York Yankees center fielder and a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame. However, he had a very serious problem with alcohol. Because of that he said at a news conference he had squandered a gifted life and warned admirers he was no role model. He said “God gave me the ability to play baseball. God gave me everything,” he said. “For the kids out there, don’t be like me.”

Today one of the big problems our young people have is the ROLE MODELS they have chosen to follow.

The apostle Paul was one of the greatest men who ever lived on the face of the earth. Perhaps next to the Lord Jesus being the greatest!!!

He did not squander the gifts God gave him.

We all like examples of people to follow.

Illus: Makes me think of the dad who took his seven-year-old son’s baseball bat to smash the slick coat of ice on his driveway.

He got cold and went inside for a cup of coffee before attempting to clear the ice off the car.

Several minutes later, his son, who had been outside with him, came in.

• “Dad,” he said, “I got the ice off the car.”

• “How did you do that?” his father asked.

• “Same way you did,” the boy shrugged, “with the baseball bat.”

Paul gives us a good example of following Christ.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Now notice when Paul said BE YE FOLLOWERS OF ME he quickly added, EVEN AS I ALSO AM OF CHRIST.

• Dads can you say to your children be like me as I follow Christ.

• Mom can you say to your children be like me as I follow Christ.

• As a chrstian can you say to your neighbors and co-workers follow me as I follow Christ.

Let’s follow Paul as he follows Christ.

First, we need to consider his…

I. HIS LOVE

Illus: Pastor Rick Crandall a Baptist preacher has a daughter named Katie that is twenty eight years old.

When she was eight years old she wrote a letter to her dad and on the outside it said, "Keep forever."

And on the inside it said, "I love Dad. I love Dad. I love Dad. I love Dad." Twenty-four times! -- "I love Dad!" Then "P.S. she wrote -- It's true."