To Be Like Jesus
Lakewood Church of God | Pastor Jonathan | 9-20-2017
Introduction: There's a song we sang in church when I was a little boy called, "To Be Like Jesus". The Chorus goes like this:
To be like Jesus
To be like Jesus
All I ask... is to be like Him
All through life's journey
From earth to glory
All I ask... is to be like Him.
Today we will be talking about five things that we can do that will help us be more like Jesus!
I. Forgiving
A. When the Roman soldiers were nailing Jesus to the cross he cried out, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
B. At the stoning of the Apostle Stephen he asked the Father to “lay not this sin to their charge”. (Acts 7:60)
C. We should follow the examples of Jesus and the Apostles and forgive others who work against us.
II. Giving
A. Jesus taught His followers that there is no “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
B. It might not mean you have to die for someone else but it does mean that:
1. We die to ourselves and serve Christ and one another.
2. We lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
III. Praying
A. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:44-45).
B. As Christians we are called to a higher standard. We are Being Like Jesus when we pray for our enemies…
IV. Fellowship of His Sufferings
A. 1 Peter 4:12-14
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
B. Fellowship - Koinonia (Partnership)
Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
1. We are in partnership with His sufferings being the recipient of everything that Calvary paid for!
V. Called as His Witnesses
A. Go ye into all the world… (Matt 28:19-20)
1. We can’t forget about our neighbors next door (they are part of the world.
2. Jesus was called to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 10:6) but still shared the gospel with Gentiles and even a Roman centurion.
B. Called to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
1. Jerusalem - Your Home Town
2. ALL Judea - Your State, Province etc. (All of it. Every nook and cranny, every culture…)
3. Samaria - Your Country and the Nations that border your Country
4. Uttermost - Global Evangelism
5. Jesus died for the WHOLE world!
C. The message to the lost is Repentance, Faith and things pertaining to the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15).
Closing:
Call for a time of personal dedication at the altar.
