Sermon Tone Analysis

10-30-05 \\ Dallas Baptist Church

Week 4, Purpose Driven Life

Created to become Like Christ

 

*Sermon Transcript *

/ /

Everybody needs a purpose.

In Week One we looked at \\           “/You Were Planned for God’s Pleasure/.”

In week TWO, we found out that our first purpose is to get to know and love God.

That’s called….Worship.

Then last week, week 3, John shared with us that /“//We Were Formed for God’s Family/.”

The Bible calls that…Fellowship.

Today we move to the third purpose, and we find it described in Romans 8:29:  In your outline, and on the screen, Romans 8:29 says,

*/For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.*[1]*

NIV /*

God’s plan has always been, to make you like Jesus Christ,…

          That’s our third purpose…to be like Jesus.

God’s plan was to make human beings like Himself.

In Genesis, God says it like this … \\           “Let us make man in Our image”… \\           /by the way, that’s the very first reference to the Trinity…/

God is speaking of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

But, God is not saying you or I are going to be a god.

We will never be a god.

What God really wants is for us to /become godly/.

He wants us to develop His character.

That means:

He wants you and me to think the way He does;

He wants you and me to act the way He does;

He wants you and me to feel the way He does;

He wants you and me to have His values.

That’s why He wants to make you and me like Jesus.

Next, look at the next verse, Ephesians 4:15.

/Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

/*[2]*  NIV

 

The message paraphrase says it like this… \\           /“God wants us to grow up…like Christ in everything”.

/

Obviously we’re going to grow up physically, \\           so God is talking about some other kind of growing… \\                    He wants you and me to grow up to be like Christ.

Again, My third purpose in life is to become like Christ.

So, “How does God do it?”

In other words, HOW does God help me grow spiritually?

Actually there are several ways we usually think of…these being: 

God uses His Word…the Bible.

His Word will transform us.

\\ The Bible tells us in Rom 12:2, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, which means, IF we want to grow up spiritually, \\           we’ve got to get into THE Book.

And the more we get into it, the more we grow.

We have to read it, study it, \\           memorize it, meditate on it, and apply it in our life… \\                    because it takes truth to transform us.

The other thing God uses is that He uses people.

When we learn from each other, we grow and we develop.

Simply put, God uses people in our lives to help us grow, \\           and that’s why we’ve got to have a lots of contact… \\                    that’s why we need fellowship.

God never designed us to be ‘lone strangers.’

But, God uses more than ONLY His Word in the Bible and fellowship.

In fact, there are (3) three other things God uses.

Your outline calls this the “THREE UNEXPECTED TOOLS.”

In Romans 8:28…God says,…/“In all things God works for the           good for those who love Him, who have been called according     to His purposes.”

/

/ /

Some people will tell you that in /MOST things, God works for the good…/but that is not what Romans 8:28 says…it says in ALL things.

Does that mean that God even uses bad things?

Yes.

Does that mean that God even uses our \\           so called ‘mistakes’ when we sin?  Yes.

The Bible says again, \\ /In all things God works for the good of those who love Him./

So as we look at these (3) three unexpected things that come into our lives, guess what…we’ll see them even in the life of Jesus Christ.

Think about this for a moment with me:

          Jesus was greatly troubled in the garden of Gethsemane.

And He was tempted in the desert, \\           and He had trespasses against Him \\                    while He was dying on the cross.

SO…IF then, God wants us to grow to be like Jesus Christ,                        then, God’s going to take us through \\                              some of those same experiences.

But there is still a problem… \\           and that’s because none of these things \\                    will automatically help us grow.

We have to have our hearts ready, \\           because if our hearts aren’t ready, \\           then we’ll just get bitter \\           when God allows these things to come into our lives.

/ /

Let’s first look at this thing called ‘Trouble.’

Why trouble?

Because TROUBLE teaches us to trust God.

It is usually when we’re in trouble that we really turn to God.

In the Bible the word Greek word “θλίψεσιν” means “trouble” \\           and it is often translated as either “trials” or “sufferings”.

Think about this…and, where is MORE faith required in life?

Is it when we’re on “Easy-Street, coming up roses,” \\           or when we’re down and out, crushed and bruised?

IF things are going really super good in our lives, \\           it doesn’t take a lot of faith to live the Christian lifestyle.

So, How does He use these things to help us grow to trust Him? 

*Look at Romans 5:3-4 **/3 /**/Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope/*.[3]

(NIV)

 

/So  “…trouble produces patience, and patience produces character, and character produces hope”./

What is God most interested in developing in our lives?

Character.

He is more interested in what we are, in other words, \\           OUR CHARACTER… 

          That’s because God says that the goal of life is \\                    character development, \\                              and not our own personal comfort.

AND, I speak from lots of experience here… \\ Until you understand this and accept this, \\           life isn't going to make sense.

And the Christian life is not a life of constant peaches and cream (granted, that’s what I’d prefer also)…but it’s just not…

          This is why the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel \\           that you hear coming out of so many pulpits \\           is so popular today, and that attracts big crowds, \\           but it is shallow and empty and a lie, \\           and it creates disillusioned people when \\           God allows troubles to come into the believer’s life.

All kinds of problems are going to come into our lives – \\           and what are we going to do?  \\           Are we going to immediately call out, \\                    /“Why me Lord?

Why is this happening to me?”/

Life here on earth is NOT heaven.

One day you’re going to be in a place with no problems, no trials.

*/And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

/*[4] (Rev 7:17)

No more tears, no more sorrows… \\           and that’s going to be great, and I look forward to \\           the day we get taken Home to be with Jesus, but folks, \\                    life here on earth is NOT heaven.

And IF…IF, we live in constant wishful thinking \\           that we’re going to have heaven on earth, \\           we’re going to be very disappointed.

Earth is not the place for continual comfort.

But God uses our time here on earth to develop our character.

Look at Jesus’ own life.

Jesus Himself went through many trials in His life, \\           and the greatest was the night before He was crucified.

He went to this place called Gethsemane. 

/“They came to a garden called Gethsemane and Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray’.”/

(Mark 14:32).

Do you see something here?

Even Jesus wanted to have friends around when He went through troubles.

Folks, that’s why you need a small groups, your Lifegroup or Sunday School class.