A Leader Is A Hero
HERO Def:
1 a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
b : an illustrious warrior c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d : one that shows great courage
2 a : the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work b : the central figure in an event, period, or movement
Kids
Kids are the best examples of heroes. Kids believe they can fight anyone and win. It doesn’t matter how big or small the advisary. Kids are helpful around the house (remember when your child first discovered the vacume cleaner and wanted to be mom’s little helper). Kids will perform at talent shows (sing: TOMMORROW from Annie).
Adults
· Fearful
· Self-centered
· Prideful
Characteristics of a Hero
1. Selflessness
2. Brave
3. Fights for what is right
4. Anonymous
Jesus - Selflessness
Illustration
A mother of a 9-year-old boy named Mark received a phone call from his teacher in the middle of the afternoon. Marks teacher said Mrs. Smith; your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it."
The mother was uneasy and nervous by such a beginning to a phone call. The teacher continued, I have been teaching a long time and nothing like this has happened. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper.
The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work. Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he hops to the ant’s house and begins to beg. ’Please Mr. Ant, you have so much food please let me eat, too.’ Then I challenge them to write an ending to the story.
As in all the years past, most of the students said that the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. A few children said, "No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer and not played. Now, I have just enough food for myself." So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.
But your son ended the story in a different way. He wrote, "So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper and the ant died.” Your son Mark had drawn three crosses at the bottom of the page. Under the crosses he had written, "Jesus died so we could live."
Application
Jesus is the best example of a selfless hero…he died so that we might live
David – Brave
Goliath
1 Sam 17
A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet [1] tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing 125 pounds [2] ; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed 15 pounds. [3] His shield bearer went ahead of him.
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
David
45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
Esther – Fought for what was right
Bunny trail: Often members of the church will fight for “what’s not important.” Members take offense and react in un Christian ways. The bible says in the psalms “those who love thy law, nothing shall offend them”
John the Baptist
- anonymous
John3:30-31a
“He must increase, but I must decrease. 31He who comes from above is above all”
Closing
Illustration
Babe Ruth had hit 714 home runs during his baseball career and was playing one of his last full major league games. It was the Braves versus the Reds in Cincinnati. But the great Ruth was no longer as agile as he had once been. He fumbled the ball and threw badly, and in one inning alone his errors were responsible for most of the five runs scored by Cincinnati.
As the Babe walked off the field after the third out and headed toward the dugout, a crescendo of yelling and booing reached his ears. Just then a boy jumped over the railing onto the playing field. With tears streaming down his face, he threw his arms around the legs of his hero. Ruth didn’t hesitate for one second. He picked up the boy, and hugged him back. The noise from the stands came to an abrupt halt.
Suddenly there was no more booing. In fact, hush fell over the entire park. In those brief moments, the fans saw two heroes: Ruth, who in spite of his dismal day on the field could still care about a little boy; and the small lad, who cared about the feelings of another human being. Both had melted the hearts of the crowd.
Application
We need to embrace God’s forgiveness and take courage and the world will see the Lord…
Illustration
People had been trying to break the four minuet mile since the days of the ancient Greeks. Someone found the old records of how the Greeks tried to accomplish this. They had wild animals chase the runners, hoping that would make them run faster. They tried tiger’s milk: not the stuff you get down at the supermarket, I’m talking about the real thing. Nothing worked, so they decided it was physically impossible for a human being to run a mile in four minutes. Our bone structure was all-wrong, the wind resistance was too great, our lung power was inadequate. There were a million reasons. Then one day one ahuman being proved that the doctors, the trainers, and the athletes themselves were all wrong. Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. And the year after that three hundred runners broke the four-minute mile!
Application
Rise up to the challenge…be a hero and people will follow
