The Way Of Jesus Marker # 3 - I Am Becoming Like Jesus In My Attitudes, Behaviour And Character Series

The Way of Jesus # 3 - I Am Becoming Like Jesus in My Attitudes, Behaviours and Character

These are sermon notes, rather than my usual full-text sermons. Always learning.

Intro:

I want to put this up here for us to think about. We’ll come back to it later: "Prayers are tools not for doing or getting, but for being and becoming." ~Eugene Peterson

When you were growing up, who did you look up to? Maybe an older sibling? Maybe a parent. Maybe a more distant relative.

Often it’s a strong presence in your life

I admired my dad as a child; overlooked his flaws in my teens; came to love and respect him as an adult.

He was a true artist; disciplined, focussed, almost bipolar in his moods.

He had been a harsh man, blundering through and damaging a lot of relationships

His mentor called him on it; told him he needed to be much less of a jerk if he was going to have any friends let alone other artists who would want to work with him

At my brother’s wedding - heart attack

Triple bypass surgery followed

Humility followed that. He became a genuinely humble man; so much so that while he had been an atheist all his life, in his last months he repented of his sins and invited Jesus into his life. Amazing.

Over his life something changed. His attitude shifted. His Behaviour changed. His character.

His character, how he was on the inside and how he became known (interesting - can’t hide what’s on the inside) changed.

So much so that at his funeral people sang the praises of a patient, loving, gentle and kind soul.

So we may have people in our lives who we have admire.

We may have seen them change for the better over time.

I’d like us to continue in a bit of a dialogue as we continue in this message.

Attitude

What is attitude?

a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior.

It's what goes on inside your head.

How you think - about yourself, others, world events

What are some possible general attitudes you’ve seen in people?

Joyful, cynical, critical, open-hearted, racist, embracing of others, etc.

It’s an inside thought or feeling that is reflected in how we act, our behaviour

In the passage we read about Jesus from Philippians, what attitudes do you see in Jesus (have passage up)

Humility

What kind of humility?

Creator and maker of all things, majestic, mighty God, who became a baby, becomes a servant, a slave in some translations.

Passage about the church, how God wants us to interact with each other.

Also about our individual lives, our attitudes.

Today we’re look at 3rd anchor - I’m becoming like Jesus in my attitudes, behaviours and attitudes.

For our group that meets weekly we’ve seen that this is the first anchor that challenges the first 2 anchors

The 1st is I have begun following Jesus and am depending on the Spirit in my journey.

The 2nd is I am being sent by Jesus to bless others and invite them to follow Him.

This one, revisited on a regular basis, makes us take a good, hard look at ourselves.

Is my attitude like Jesus’ attitude. Have you ever asked yourself that question?

Is there humility in the way I think and feel?

Or am I letting negative attitudes rule - cynicism, negativity, defeatism etc.

So the attitude question is a big one. And it’s good to reflect. It’s a challenge.

And if you’re like me - attitude needs adjusting, not all it should be. That drives me to Jesus. Jesus...I want to be like you in my thoughts and in my feelings. Please change me on the inside so I become like you in my attitude.

Behaviour

Now let’s look at behaviour. This asks how my thoughts and feelings are affecting the way I live.

So the question we ask ourselves is, how am I living?

And we think about Jesus behaviour, how he lived.

The fruit of the Spirit describes what Jesus is like. How he behaved.

We’ll just look at three to keep it focussed.

Love - The first fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is love. Jesus' entire ministry was characterized by love.

And the greatest demonstration ever of that love was the sacrifice He made for all of us. Jesus, who was One with the Father (John 1:1), sacrificed His heavenly power and glory to become a human being and subject Himself to painful humiliation, suffering and death for the sake of mankind (Philippians 2:5-11).

Jesus emphasized the fruit of love at His last meal—often referred to as "the last supper"—with the disciples.