Follow the example

Announcements:

1: Workday this weekend the 25th

2: Get connected (Graphic)

3: Young adult retreat date (August 21st-23rd )

YA Q&A:

YA Guatemala: Questions

1. What is one way you saw God move on the trip?

2. What is one thing you will always remember from this trip?

3. Who is someone that you met that you won’t forget, and why?

4. Why would you encourage someone else to go on a mission trip like this?

Intro:

Go ahead and open up your bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 we will start in verse one

Last week we talked about the DO’s and DON’Ts of the Christian life

Looking at how we need both in order to be a good representation of Christ

Paul closed with verse 32 of chapter 4 Eph 4:32

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

And the reason I mention this is because our text opens up with the word therefore

Everything that we will look at is built upon what came before it…

So as we go through our text tonight, please jot down notes on the paper you received… Put together questions for our discussion groups

I don’t want us just to receive this text. I want us to apply it. I want us to use it in our life and discuss it together as a community.

But before we jump into it, I want to ask you guys a question…

Do you have a younger sibling, younger cousin or have you ever worked with kids in your life?

Something really awesome and funny about kids as they tend to copy Copy anything They see especially older kids or adults

Story about Salah copying me and Sarah.

I was over at Sarah’s house a couple days ago doing a deep wedding prep session and she had her little cousins over as well

For context, Sarah has I think 16 or 17 nieces and nephews it’s crazy but one of those little nephews are named Selah

And she is about five years old and there’s a point during the night where I would say something to Sarah and she would say it as well and we’re on for about five minutes where she would just copy everything we said

Story Conclusion

And the reason I bring this up is because we see it in the first of our of chapter 5… To be imitators of God.

The same way that Selah was imitating us for fun. We are supposed to imitate God to imitate our father.

And similar to last week as we go through the text, we will be given an example to follow and an example to run away from

And as we go through this text, please jot down notes. Be ready for discussion groups after…

But before we jump into it, let’s pray…

Prayer:

Ephesians 5:1–7 ESV

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

We are given this command… We are told what to do… We are told what the bull’s-eye is what the focus must be…

High school basketball jumpshot illustration

In high school I played basketball and there were times where I would just be missing and missing and missing every shot,

and I realized it was because I was aiming in the general direction and area of the hoop, but not aiming of where I wanted the ball to go

Paul isn’t giving us a general statement of B better he’s telling us what to do and then how to do it giving us a target

That is to look like Christ…

And the question is what does that look like? What does it look like to imitate Christ?

Pause…

It looks like us walking in love, sacrificial love for those who don’t deserve it.

I’m gonna say that again, walking in love… and not just love but walking in sacrificial love towards those who don’t deserve it….

This is hard, but it is pleasing to God and vital to the health of our soul

And we might be sitting here and be like you don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know what people I’ve done to me and how much they don’t deserve love.

I know it’s not easy. It wouldn’t be called a sacrifice if it was easy.

The cross wasn’t easy, but it was a pleasing sacrifice to God

Which you and I whoever painted and believed, reap the benefit… This isn’t to be self-Pleasing, but Christ Pleasing…

The Bible says we are to be a living sacrifice… And in the church today, I think we’ve viewed this as I gave up TikTok I gave up social media

I sacrificed drinking or addiction or fill the list… And I’m not saying those things are bad I’m not saying those things are insignificant because they matter and it’s huge

but it’s nothing compared to what we’re called to

Imitate God act like Jesus… And Jesus said this in

Matthew 5:44 ESV

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

We are commanded to look like Christ. You’re commanded to love sacrificially

If you were to look back at this past month or maybe this past year, can you pinpoint when you loved sacrificially???

Can you pinpoint when you loved those who did not deserve it

because I might remind you we do not will never deserve the love of God, but we have received it paid in full

When Jesus said it is finished…

Paul provides this example. Paul show shows us what to do….

But as we move in diverse three, he’s gonna show us what should not even be named among us…

And tonight, I don’t want this to be a shame fest, but it look in the mirror to be convicted

And I want to clear it up right now no one is perfect in this room…

1 John 1:8–9 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So as we go into this next section, I am not speaking about legalism, but transformation of our souls

We are called to look in the mirror… The law of God the Bible is called a mirror that shows us our sin…

And some of us need to look in the mirror and ask God for forgiveness for the first time… Repenting and believing in him…

And some of us need to look in the mirror and ask God to sanctify to purify and to continue to make us look like him…

And no matter who you are no matter which person we’re gonna look in the mirror and I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I look in the mirror, I don’t see what I wanna see

And it can be hard it could be heavy it can hurt so I want to share a passage with you before we jump into it…

2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV

10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

So if as we’re going through this text, you feel the weight the pain the grief understand that’s OK…

But that grief that pain that weight is meant to turn into repentance, not death…

But with that said, let’s pick up in verse 3

Ephesians 5:3 ESV

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

To not even be named among you, is the idea of I bring up your name and this would never be associated with you…

Think of the auto fill feature when you type into Google… You start to type in Tom and automatically populate with Brady

Maybe you type in a celebrities name and it auto fills with the latest gossip around them…

the things that Paul has already mentioned, and Will mentioned should not be named amongst the church

So begin to look at these things highlight these things… what are the areas that God is poking in your heart saying this needs to change?

Because I can tell you there are times in my life when I look at what someone else has and I go I wish I had that…

Sarah 🤍 knows this my brother has a very nice track. He’s been blessed. He worked hard. He got a nice truck pay cash for it.

And I have a truck and we stopped describing it after there because it gets sad right I have a 26-year-old truck

And there are times in my heart where I cover it or desire or wish I could have but someone else has worked for and that sinful and that’s wrong

What is the area in your life that the Lord needs to clean up that you need to partner with God to change?

Highlight these because the list continues write them down for your discussion groups or your prayer groups

Looking at verse four and five it continues

Ephesians 5:4–5 ESV

4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

What did you highlight? What did you underline? What is God poking at right now?

There’s a book I read growing up and this man was struggling to give his life completely to God. He looked at his life as a ship, and he had given God the captains quarters, but he didn’t want to give him the rest of the ship he didn’t want to give him the rest of his life.

And room by room, God would knock on the doors of the lower decks of the ship and take them over

Some of those rooms for him were pride idolatry, which, for him was a sports team that he basically worshiped

What is the room that you need to surrender to God?

If you’ve given your life to Christ, what are the things that you need to continue to surrender? Is it your mouth? Is it your humor?

Are you in this room and you don’t really care Jesus to you is fire insurance you don’t really care to change your life or surrender the way you do things because if that’s you

It says there is no inheritance in the kingdom of God

In Matthew seven many will say to Christ Lord Lord, but not all enter the kingdom. Where do you stand?

Is there need for sanctification or is there need for salvation in your life?

Because the text continues do not be deceived (Looking at her 6)

Ephesians 5:4–7 ESV

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them;

Have you been deceived that you can profess Christ and live however you want and still maintain fire insurance they avoidance of hell and yeah you’ll be with Christ but that’s OK

Have you been deceived that you can say a magic prayer a magic set of words and then boom you’re saved and you can continue to live as though you Don’t know God…

Paul is warning us do not be deceived by empty words do not be deceived by false hope by those who say live like you want God will forgive you anyway…

Enrollment Paul says should we send that Grace may abound he says by no means…

If you are in Christ, you are a new creation not a perfect creation. Your salvation was finished on the cross, but you’re sanctification continues through your life.

So tonight, there are two groups of people in this room, both of which are looking in the mirror that the law of God is a perfect mirror, according to the Bible

There will be those of you who look into it and say Lord, I need to change I need to grow. I need to be sanctified made better And one day made perfect when we enter his kingdom

And there are those of us we need to look into this mirror and say I need to be right before God

I need to be saved

And I’m going to encourage you I’m going to beg you if you don’t know the Lord if you’re living the way of the world acting the way of the world and pretend pretending to be a Christian please repent and believe today

Roman’s 10 nine says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved

ADD MORE

And if you’re in this room and you highlighted the whole passage and said I need help with all of this amen we’re all there together.

A pastor who is no longer with us used to say this…

“ Better today than yesterday… and better tomorrow than today.”

The only way we see progress, is surrender to the Lord and using the tools that he has given us to fight… to change… to grow…

And those tools are his word those tools are prayer. Those tools are accountability with the body of believers.

The person sitting next to you, honesty, vulnerability, confession, repentance, are all necessary to see victory over these Temptations over these sins

You can’t do it alone… It’s a work of the spirit using the tools of God has given us…

So tonight as we go to discuss discussion group groups be vulnerable be honest

Don’t go home tonight saying I wish I would’ve said this. Don’t wake up tomorrow saying I wish I had someone in my corner. Talk about it tonight.

If not in discussion groups in prayer groups…

Tonight I wanna challenge you, but you wrote down in your notes share it with your group

The things that you’re struggling with, be honest about them not to get Pity but to get prayer…

With all that, let’s pray…