4-15-2018 - Children of God

Sermon

Thesis: Follow those who follow Jesus and be purified from sin.

For kids:

Who is your Role Model

Someone we want to be like.

The Bible tells us we should be like Jesus, but sometimes it is hard to do since He is only here in Spirit and not like a person with a body.

Who do we know that shows us how Jesus would act?

Me

Fusion last fall with

Indian Charismatic Christians

Atheist Chinese students

Methodist and Baptist Kentucky Students

A Japanese student trying to figure out what he believed

Korean Christians (Presbyterian)

Many others attending from many other places across the world

How can I tell if they are truly following Jesus?

How do I know if I'm really doing my job right?

We

I love the different perspectives we get from the different authors of the New Testament

Mark-Peter

Some small focus on Gentiles but main audience Jewish

Luke-Paul

Strong advocates for Gentiles (Luke probably was one himself)

John

Doesn't use the term "Gentile" much. His word for them is "brother or "sister"

Somerset "Neighborhood guests"

We are all "neighborhood guests" to Jesus

He sees us and wants to make us family though.

Do we see others like that?

God

Scripture:

John Chapter 2 summup

If you can't love one another, you don't really love God.

If you have God inside you, He will lead you to do the right thing.

If you are consistently not doing the right thing, you are not letting Jesus lead

Which means you have not truly made Him Lord of your life.

(NIV): 3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,  we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

We are like Jesus

Loved by God

But not know and shunned by the world

We will be like Jesus

Purified - Free from sin

The hope we have in Jesus returning for us leads us to "purify ourselves"

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Leviticus sacrifices

For "unintentional" sin

No atonement for sin committed willingly

No forgiveness without repentance

No salvation without transformation

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

How do you become more like Jesus?

Follow someone a little further along than you

Follow someone you see Jesus in

Following Jason Clark

You

Who are you following?

Are they leading you to be more like Jesus?

We

Who is following us?

What are we doing to bring them closer to Jesus?