INTRODUCTION
SLIDE #1
• Do you remember the commercials that used to air about Michael Jordan, “Be like Mike.”
• When Jordan was in his prime, lots of people wanted to be like Mike.
• I remember when I was a kid; I wanted to pitch like Tom Seaver who was a pitcher with the NY Mets who later went to the Hall of Fame.
• I used to watch him pitch and I would try to emulate his motions on the mound.
• I wanted to be like my dad, how many of you wanted to be like your father or mother when you were young?
• We want to be like people we look up to or admire in some way.
• I believe when we give our lives to Jesus, we all desire to be like Jesus, we all want to follow Him to the best of our ability, but then over time, when we do not feel like we are doing very well with it, we start to fall into a pattern of behavior that is not always bad in itself, but it is a pattern that does not facilitate the growth we hoped to have when we first gave our lives to Jesus.
• SLIDE #2 The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that we are being transformed into the image of Jesus.
• The word “transformed” in this passage is a word that denotes a gradual spiritual change that happens as we learn more about our Lord. I wonder if sometimes we are so expecting a quick transformation that will mystically happen that when it does not happen, we give up on it happening.
• SLIDE #3 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that we are a new creation in Christ. Old things pass, new things from God come.
• If this is true, which it is, when then do we struggle so much in our quest to be like Jesus?
• The amount of transformation that happens in our lives will have a direct affect on our service and commitment to Jesus.
• Today, I hope to help you to become Just like Jesus. One of the things we need to understand in our quest to be like Him is it does take great effort on our part.
• SLIDE #4 John 12:26 says: 26“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
• Today we are going to look at four things we can do to be Just Like Jesus.
SLIDE #5
SERMON
We can be just like Jesus by:
I. THINKING WHAT HE WANTS US TO THINK.
1. SLIDE #6 It requires a renewed mind. Romans 12:2.
• Romans 12:2 (NASB) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. This would imply that it is time to put some new things in the mind. If you keep dumping the same stuff into your mind as you did before you were saved, what do you think the result will be?
• What can we put into our minds that will help to renew our minds? SLIDE #7 Colossians 3:16 says: Let the word of £Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. If you are not thinking like Jesus, ask yourself how much of the Word of God are you letting dwell within you? SLIDE #8
2. What do you think about on an average day? God has some suggestions!
• Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
SLIDE #9
3. It requires us to filter our thoughts through Him. 2 Corinthians 10:5.
2 Corinthians 10:5 says: We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
• If you use a coffee maker, most likely you have a coffee filter that will keep the grounds from getting into the cup of coffee you are getting ready to drink. I cannot stand to have coffee grounds in my coffee.
• We need to filter our thought process through Jesus, we do that by being in constant communication with Him.
• There are times when we come up with an idea that we think we need to follow through on, but the problem is our idea is not within God’s will. An easy one is where a man says God would want him to leave his wife for his young secretary.
• If that person were to filter that thought through Jesus or take that thought captive to the obedience of Christ, then he would not follow through on a bad idea.
• IF you are yearning to something that God’s Word tells you not to do, then you are not thinking like Jesus, and if you do not think like Jesus, it is hard to be like Jesus. In order to think like Jesus, we need to know Jesus.
• DO you notice how a husband and wife who have been together for many years are able to know what the other is thinking? They know each other.
We can be just like Jesus by: SLIDE #10
II. SEEING WHAT HE WANTS US TO SEE.
SLIDE 11
1. We need to see people as Jesus sees them. 1 Samuel 16:7
• Seeing people the way Jesus sees them will change how we deal with them.
• Jesus did not look at the physical, He looked into the heart.
• God was going to replace Saul as King of Israel because of Saul’s disobedience. God sent Samuel to find the new king. He sent Samuel to the house of Jesse for God to select one of Jesse’s sons to be the new King.
• CLICK #11 As the first brother passes by Samuel, Samuel surmises the first one has to be it, then God responded to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7. God told Samuel he was looking at the wrong criteria. He told Samuel that God looks at the heart!
SLIDE #12 We need to understand:
2. What comes past your eyes goes into your whole body. Matthew 6:22
• What you let your eyes fixate on will enter your mind, which in turn will affect your actions.
• I still have images in my head from when I was a young person of things I wish were not there.
• We are hit with so many negative images in this day that we must be very careful what we allow ourselves to view.
• Would Jesus look at what I am looking at? SLIDE #13
3. Jesus wants us to see our glorious future. 2 Peter 3:13
• One of the biggest mistakes I made early in my life was not looking ahead to the future. I think this is a common error of youth.
• I did things without seeing what it would do to my future.
• Jesus was thinking ahead, He was looking toward the future, this is part of what got Him through the crucifixion.
• We need to be able to look past what is before us to see our glorious future and that it is glorious enough for us to be able to endure what we are dealing with now.
• SLIDE #14 In John 6:66, Jesus was starting to lose popularity because of what He was teaching. Many disciples left Him and Jesus turned to Peter and asked if he was going to jump ship also, and Peter told Jesus in John 6:68, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.
• We need to see what Jesus wants us to see. SLIDE #15
We can be just like Jesus by:
III. SAYING WHAT HE WANTS US TO SAY.
SLIDE #16
1. Our words are a window to the heart. Luke 6:45
• What we says spills from our heart. This is the basic message of Luke 6:45. We need to allow the word of God to penetrate our hearts so we can speak God’s truth in love.
• James speaks of this in James 3. The tongue can do a lot of damage, so we need to make sure we speaking what Jesus wants us to say.
• There are times when our words can change the course of another persons life, good or bad. We must be willing to speak the truth in love. (Eph 4:15) SLIDE #17
2. Do the things we say contradict what Jesus said?
• We need to be careful that what we say does not contradict what Jesus said.
• The only way for this to happen is for us to know what Jesus said. SLIDE #18
3. Jesus wants us to speak words of encouragement to one another. Hebrews 3:13
• We say way too many hurtful things to one another, if we are going to be like Jesus, we need to learn how to say encouraging things to one another. This does not mean we ignore problems or faults, but we are to make sure we are known as encouragers.
• Plenty of people can find the faults; few are willing to offer suggestions to fix them.
• How did Jesus speak to people? Once again, the way we learn to speak as Jesus spoke is by reading His Word!
We can be just like Jesus by: SLIDE #19
IV. DOING WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO.
SLIDE # 20
1. Are we doing the things Jesus did when He was a man?
• Back in John 12:26, Jesus told us that if we are going to serve Him, we must follow Him.
• Part of following Him is doing what He wants us to do. Are we doing the things Jesus did during His life? Jesus prayed, meditated, fasted (opps), encouraged, taught, He loved people.
• Are we doing what He wants us to do with our lives? Jesus wants us to take up our cross and follow Him; He wants us to put Him first in our lives.
• Jesus should not be at the bottom of our checklist.
• Many people who are not growing are not growing because their priorities are not in the proper order.
• I am not saying that all you are supposed to do is read the Bible, but you are supposed to read the bible. I am not telling that all you can do is pray, but you are supposed to pray.
• I am not telling you all you can do is study and meditate, but you are supposed to study and meditate. CLICK #20
• The question is:
2. Who sets the agenda of your life? 1 John 2:15-17
• Are we letting the world and pursuits of the world set our agenda or is doing the will of God top priority in our lives?
• I believe some of the problems we have comes from not allowing God to set the agenda.
• News, newspaper, sports page, opps, not time to read my bible, American Idol is coming on!
• In order for us to be just like Jesus, Jesus needs to take first place in our lives.
CONCLUSION
SLIDE #21
• I may have made some of this seem pretty simple today, but you know, it really is. IF we are wanting to be just like Jesus, we need to think what He things, see what He wants us to see, say what He wants us to say and do what He wants us to do,
• Here is the key to this, it will only happen as we get to know Him. We cannot think, act, speak, or see like someone we do not know.
• I want to encourage you to be committed to getting to know Jesus, start today, it will not happen by accident or by some miraculous way, it takes prayer, work, commitment, and study.
• If you will commit to being Just like Jesus, you will be so amazed at what God will do with you.
• Do not settle for being a casual Christian, strive to be sold out to Jesus, give Him your first and best and you will be surprised at what God can do!
