Sermon Central
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To Know Christ And To Make Him Known
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Feb 28, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: This little Creed is the essence of the life of a person who is truly born again. It is also the desire of a person who is truly born again.
“But if from [exile] you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
The Lord is not hiding from us; He came to save us!!!
Do you see that motto on the back wall? It says,
“Making Christlike Disciples in the Nations?
And, that is our goal; to increase the kingdom of God around the world; to tell others that there is a Savior who came and died so that their sins might be forgiven and so that they might have eternal life!
But, there is a prerequisite for this. In order to make Christ known you must first know Christ. To Know Christ and to Make Him Known!
How do you know Christ?
1) You come to the point in your life where you realize your need for Jesus and you start to seek Him.
2) You start seeking Him in the Holy Bible
3) You start seeking Him in prayer (Often in conjunction with the Bible)
Once you come to know Him as your Savior that is just an introduction!
You CANNOT make Christ known until you Know Christ personally.
Now the real work of coming to know Jesus intimately starts.
1) You still realize your continuing need to seek Him in the Bible and in prayer
2) You come to know Christ more by emulating Him in sacrificial self-denial
My desires are set aside for His desires
“Whatever”
Looking at whatever is in your life and asking, “Do I really need this?”
Will this help me to know Christ more or will it be a stumbling block?
“Lord, please use this sacrificial self-denial to help me know You more.”
Do not allow this sacrificial self-denial to become a ritual or an object of pride
(See Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5)
Also ... “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.”
3) You come to know Christ more by emulating Him in acts of service
James – true religion = care for widows and orphans
“How can I help someone with the help of Christ today?”
“How can I help someone as a representative of Christ today?”
Whenever you do an act of service with someone else you get to know your
co-laborer better!
We come to know Christ better by working with Him.
4) You come to know Christ better in worship
We come to church to GIVE WORSHIP and in that giving we know Christ better
When we know Christ intimately, worship becomes a part of life as natural as
breathing, which, of course, we do all the time!
5) You come to know Christ better in times of Christian fellowship
Men’s Group
Sharing how the past couple of weeks have gone - victories and failures
Sharing burdens
Praying for one another
Encouraging one another
Helping each other to know Christ better helps us to know Christ better
6) You come to know Christ better through perpetual cooperation with the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit urges and empowers you to know Christ better
The Holy Spirit lets you know when you fail
The Holy Spirit corrects you and enables you to follow Jesus better
The Holy Spirit knows Jesus intimately and will help you to do so, too
OK, so remember the creed, “To Know Christ and to Make Him Known?”
Knowing Christ intimately will result in a natural outflow of Making Him Known!
