Make your changes and save. Deleting removes it from the archive for good.
Title:
Slug:
Content type: Sermon Poem / Prayer Service / Tribute Incomplete Biography
Body: Can anyone tell me this morning who Leonard Slye was? The king of the cowboys, Roy Rogers. He was one of the good guys, one of the good cowboys, a man that boys of that time wanted to imitate. He was born November 15, 1911, as Leonard Frank Slye, in Cincinnati Ohio; the son of Mattie and Andy Slye. Roy died on July 6, 1998, at age 86. In 1943 Roy was voted the #1 Western star at the box office, and Republic began billing him as the King of the Cowboys. In 1944, a lovely young cowgirl named Dale Evans co-starred beside Roy in "The Cowboy and The Senorita." There was something about the couple that sparked audiences. With Gabby Hayes, Roy’s trusty sidekick, Dale, and The Sons of The Pioneers all together, the package was complete. The public absolutely loved them. Dale was such an amazing person, she had little trouble juggling the responsibility of taking care of three children, plus a new marriage, and her filming career. In August of 1950 Roy and Dale became the parents of Robin Elizabeth. A few days after her birth, Robin was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. The doctors advised them to place the girl in an institution. But for Roy and Dale, this was never an option. Roy said, "There must have been a reason God gave us this child, so we would take her home, take care of her, and love her." Despite receiving the best care possible, Robin died shortly before her second birthday. Her death not only strengthened the Rogers’ faith in God, but was the inspiration for Dale’s book, "Angel Unaware." Roy Roger’s fan club once boasted 1.75 million members registered in the United States alone. His fan mail peaked at 75,000 letters a month in 1945. He was a good Christian man who could well be imitated! Imitated mainly for his Christian life and attributes. But as great as Roy Rogers was, there is someone much greater who needs to be imitated. Not only do we need to know Him, BUT WE ALSO NEED TO BE LIKE HIM! Paul said clearly, "Be imitators of God..." Ephesians 5 1-7 **1**Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children **2**and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. **3**But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. **4**Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. **5**For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] **6**Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. **7**Therefore do not be partners with them. According to this text, in what ways should we imitate God? We should. 1- Imitate His love 2- Imitate His holiness 3- Imitate His thinking How can we imitate God? Well, first Paul tells us we need to imitate God’s love. Look again at Ephesians 5:1-2 again “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” John says, “since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” I John 4:11 In fact, 1 John 4:8 declares “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” That’s what we ought to do as Christians! We ought to love one another. But, oddly enough, we can have a hard time loving others. In fact, it’s such a difficult issue for us that the Bible spends a great deal of time telling us to do it. One poem described the problem this way: “To dwell above with saints we love, That would be grace and glory. But to live below with saints we know. Well, that’s quite a different story!” Why do we have such a hard time loving others? Because sin has deformed our souls. Is there anything greater than love? Is there anything greater than God’s love? John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Romans 13:8 "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." I Peter 4:7-8 "The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." Listen to this example of God’s love. ILL.- His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry for the students but are not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed, and he can’t find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick. About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor? It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing. The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do. And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him, so that he won’t be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister regains control, he says, "What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. " Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love. II. IMITATE HIS HOLINESS In Leviticus 11:44 God declares "Be holy, because I am holy." And Ephesians 5 tells us to imitate God’s holiness. 3But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. No immorality, no impurity, no greed, no obscenity, etc. What does this sound like? HEAVEN? Is there such a place on earth? In her childish way the little girl replied, “Yes, I know daddy, but I’m prettier clean.” AREN’T WE ALL PRETTIER WHEN WE’RE CLEAN? Oh, to be clean, innocent, and pure like that of a small child! But as we grow up, we get spoiled and soiled in this sinful world. ILL.- Two theological students were walking along a street in the White chapel district of London, a section where old and used clothing are sold. "What a fitting illustration all this makes!" said one of the students as he pointed to a suit of clothes hanging on a rack by a window. A sign on it read: SLIGHTLY SOILED -- GREATLY REDUCED IN PRICE. "That’s it exactly," he continued. "We get soiled by gazing at a vulgar picture, reading a course book, or allowing ourselves a little indulgence in dishonest or lustful thoughts; and so, when the time comes for our character to be appraised, we are greatly reduced in value. Our purity, our strength is gone. We are just part and parcel of the general stock of the world." SLIGHTLY SOILED -- GREATLY REDUCED IN PRICE. As we become soiled by the sin of this world we are greatly reduced in our value and our witnessing value. We are not as strong a witness for Christ once we become soiled by sin. God calls for His people to live holy lives. To be holy simply means to be ‘set apart’ (saint and sanctified come from the same root word). What Ephesians 5 is telling us is this: Once God has made us holy (set apart) now you and I need to reflect that “set apartness” in how we live. We need to live differently. We may have sinned in the past, but we accept that it was a bad idea. We make no excuses… we ask forgiveness and move on because we’ve determined that we won’t live in sin any longer. ILLUS: Back in 1980 New York City Mayor Ed Koch appeared on a local news program in the middle of the city’s financial crisis. Koch had spent over a quarter of a million dollars to put up bike lanes in Manhattan, and they turned out to be a disaster. Cars were driving in the bike lanes, pedestrians were walking in them, and bikers were getting crowded out. It was a mess and many people in New York were irate about it. Koch was coming up for re-election, so a handful of journalists cornered him on this show, planning to tear him to pieces for spending money foolishly when the city was nearly broke. One reporter said, "Mayor, in light of the financial difficulties New York City is facing, how could you possibly justify wasting $300,000 on bike lanes?" The stage was set for a half-hour confrontation. Instead, Koch said, "It was a terrible idea. I thought it would work, but it didn’t. It was one of the worst mistakes I ever made." Then he stopped. None of the other journalists knew what to say or do. They were expecting him to squirm and make excuses, but he didn’t even try. The next journalist stammered and said, "But Mayor Koch, how could you do this?" Koch said, "I already told you. It was a stupid idea. It didn’t work." Then he stopped. There were still 26 minutes left to go on the news show, and the reporters had to find something else to talk about. Because he was willing to accept that it was wrong… he won both Democratic AND Republican support. When we acknowledge that certain things are wrong in our lives, and we determine not to live like that anymore then we get something far more important than the support of Democrats or Republicans. We get God’s support. And we get that support because we’ve determined to live HOLY lives. Lives that have been “set apart” with no excuses. It is written: "Be holy, because (God is) holy." 1 Peter 1:16 So, we’re called to imitate God in His Love and His Holiness but there is one more thing we need to imitate, or we will fall into a trap. We need to imitate God’s thinking. Ephesians 5:17 says “Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is.” We need to understand what God thinks. Because if we don’t understand how God thinks - and begin thinking that way, we’ll start faking our faith. When Christians “fake their faith” the world has a name for us. What do they call us? Hypocrites. The word “hypocrisy” comes from the idea of putting on a mask. A false face. It happens because Christians can wear the faith as a badge. It’s on the outside, but it never really reaches their hearts. They don’t think like God thinks, and so the only thing left is for them to think like they did before they became Christians. So how can I think like God thinks? Ephesians 5:18 lets us in on the secret: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” So how will I know if I’m filled with the Spirit? My life becomes that way when I “learn what God’s will is” by thinking like God thinks. And I can train my mind to think like God does by DOING three things: 1. “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:19 Surround ourselves with Christian music. Read the Psalms. Sing the old hymns and or the new songs. The more we immerse ourselves in songs that glorify God and His love and mercy, the more we begin to think as God does. 2. “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20 We should make it a habit to spend at least part of each day counting our blessings. We need to refuse to dwell on our problems. We need to focus on what we have rather than what we don’t. 3. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Eph 5:21 Find ways to serve people around us. Find ways to honor our parents/ love the wife/ respect the husband/ serve the boss-employee. CLOSE: You and I have been saved so that we might imitate what God is really like to those around us. We do it by how we love, how we live, and how we think. Our lives should be so dedicated to this imitation of Christ that people should be able to READ God’s beauty in our lives. ILLUS: Back in the 1500s, people didn’t have a Bible they could read. The Catholic Church controlled the translating of Scripture and only offered it in Latin. But when Martin Luther rebelled against the abuses of the Church of his day, he worked hard to make a translation available in German (the language of his people). The daughter of the printer Luther used was cleaning in her dad’s shop and she picked up a piece of paper off the floor. It read, “For God so loved that He gave...” and that was all. The rest of the verse was not printed yet, but what she saw excited her. The thought that God would give her anything moved her. Her mother noticed a change in her and asked her why she seemed so happy. The girl pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and showed it to her mother. The mother read it and asked, "What did He give?" The girl said, “I don’t know but if God loved us enough to give us anything we should not be afraid of Him.” What she read on that scrap of paper changed how she looked at God. And what people read in our lives can change how others look at our God as well. One man has wisely said: “We may be the only Bible anyone ever reads.” But that will be true ONLY if we learn to imitate the God, we say we love. ILL.- General Grant was to be entertained at a banquet in the city of Houston, Texas. All that money could do to make the affair a success was done. The most notable men in the Lone Star State were present. After all were seated, the headwaiter approached the place where Grant was seated and was about to pour out the first glass of wine for the guest of the occasion. Quietly Grant reached forward and turned his glass down. With the true spirit of Southern chivalry, every Texan present, in the same quiet manner, reached forward and turned his glass down, and for once in the history of banqueting in the Southwest a famous dinner was served without a drop of alcoholic liquor being drunk. EVERYONE PRESENT IMITATED GENERAL GRANT. Wouldn’t it be great if we humans had that much respect and admiration for our God? Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children. Coming up this week, I am having an anniversary, a milestone so to speak. I was blessed with good parents, and as most children do, I imitated my parents. Of course, I wanted to be just like my father, but it was my mother’s holiness that led me to Christ. Before my mother died, I had already begun to imitate the wrong things but after her death my disobedience only got worse. Using alcohol and drugs seemed to be what helped me to “fit in”, and through the years the drinking became a habit that led to the hardening of my liver. On February 22, 2014, (10 years ago this week) I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and wasn’t expected to live. But our great God had other plans. Through many answered prayers and the grace of God, I am here today speaking to you about a miracle performed by the hands of God that healed a broken child of His. I chose to imitate this evil world instead of the holiness of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lived on this earth as an example that we are to do our very best to emulate.
Sermon date:
Author:
Location:
Status: Published Draft Needs Review Confirmed Duplicate
Topics:
Scripture: