I WANT TO FOLLOW JESUS
(Luke 18.18-30)
Introduction
Ask the average person on the street, or some of the people you know "are you a Christian?", they would probably answer, "of course". They would say that be-cause they aren’t atheist, Jewish, Islam, or Bhuddist.
Ask the same person how you become "right with God", and they would probably say some-thing along the lines of "be good; don’t commit any of the "big ones"; and if your good side is bigger than your bad side, you’ll be ok."
Unfortunately, nothing could be further than the truth. You see, being a Christian changes you. Being a Christian is a way of life, a relationship with God that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Look at the verse printed across the top of your outline. Let’s read it together.
"Disciple" means a student. I don’t know what kind of student you were or are, but a real stu-dent is diligent and sincere in their efforts. A real student becomes consumed by what they are studying.
In the same way, a disciple of Christ follows his/her teacher, and actually becomes like them. Jesus said, "take my yoke upon you and learn from me"
"Christian" means one of Christ’s. A student pays for the privilege of learning. A student of Christ has a scholarship: bought and paid for by the master. We are owned by Jesus. We are one of His.
A favorite term of Paul is "bondslave". We are owned by Christ, and beholden to Him.
Jesus often called people to "follow Me". But what does that mean? What does it mean to fol-low Jesus? To be a disciple of Christ? To be a Christian?
Let’s take a look.
I. It means we believe with all our hearts that Jesus died and rose again for our sins.
A. Let’s read the verse on the outline: John 3.16
1. We know this, right?
2. But do you know this?
3. We don’t want to miss heaven, and all God has to offer by 12 inches!
B. We are sinners. No matter how good we are, we aren’t good enough. Ever.
1. God knew this¡K do you?
2. He knew we couldn’t pay, so He sent Jesus to die in our place.
C. Notice it says, "believes in Him"
1. Blondin and Niagra Falls
2. Will you trust your eternal destiny to Jesus?
3. Do you believe with all your heart?
That’s what it means to follow Jesus.
II. It means we love Jesus.
A. Let’s read the verse together: Mark 12.30
1. It seems odd for men to express love for another man
2. I think it’s because we really don’t understand what love is¡K our view of love has been corrupted
3. "I love you" = I want to have sex with you
B. To love someone means we commit our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength to them.
1. There is no holding back
2. "I love you" 99% isn’t good enough
3. And to love God means we turn it all over to Him
4. "I love you Lord" and I lift my voice. To worship you, oh my soul, rejoice.
5. God loved us, and de-clares it for the world to hear and see
„« Jesus: "I love you this much"
6. And we love Him back
That’s what it means to follow Jesus.
III. IT MEANS WE TRUST JESUS
A. Let’s read the verse together: Proverbs 3.5-6
1. What is the document called that pretty much founded the United States of America?
„« Declaration of Inde-pendence
2. See? We don’t want to de-pend on someone else!
„« Goal: self-sufficiency
3. As a Christian, as a fol-lower of Jesus, God wants just the opposite:
„« Trust Me!
„« Depend on Me!
4. If it’s to be, it’s up to Thee!
5. James 4. And "if God wills"
B. Growing as a Christian, ma-turing as a follower of Christ, has to do with this very thing
1. Leaning on God
2. Learning to trust God
3. Following God’s direction
4. Recognizing God at work
C. "In God We Trust"
1. We want it on our money, but do we want it in our life?
That’s what it means to follow Jesus.
IV. It means we obey Jesus
A. Let’s read the verse together: John 14.15
1. Ever think about how we form opinions?
„« Parents
„« Peers
„« Experiences
„« Gut feelings
2. The follower of Jesus learns what is right and wrong from the words of Jesus¡K The Word of God
„« That’s where we learn what is right and wrong
B. To claim to be a follower of Christ, a disciple of Jesus, a Christian, and not to obey Him, does not compute!
1. We cannot pick and choose what we want out of this relationship with God
2. Look at the verse.
„« The love of God is not dependent on our obe-dience
„« Obedience doesn’t make God love us more; Disobedience doesn’t make God love us less.
„« It’s a simple statement of fact: If you love me, you will¡K
3. Think of it humanly.
„« I love Ronda.
„« What if I ran around on her?
„« What if I were never home, never provided, never paid any atten-tion to her
„« What if I was a scoun-drel, a cheat, a liar, a wife beater¡K "but I love her!"
„« Uh-huh. Yeah. Right.
C. When we love someone, we submit ourselves to the other person.
1. It’s no longer, "Me, Me, Me", it’s "We, We We"
2. It’s not, "woman, obey me!"
3. It’s "what can I do for that person?"
4. We subject our will to God’s will
And that’s what it means to fol-low Jesus.
V. It Means we serve Jesus.
A. Let’s read the first verse to-gether: Luke 4.8
1. This starts getting tough
2. See Luke 16.13
3. I pledge allegiance to the flag; I pledge allegiance to the company; I pledge al-legiance to the cause¡K
4. What about, "I pledge al-legiance to my God!"
5. John, there you go again¡K Look what Jesus told the rich, young ruler!
B. Let’s read the second verse together: Colossians 3.23
1. This tells us how to make a living, and still serve Je-sus¡K
2. In college, work was called my a-vocation: it was what I did that al-lowed me to do what I really wanted to do!
3. I want to make more¡K
„« Not to feather my nest
„« Not to buy better stuff
„« Not to make my life easier
4. But to serve God better!
„« By not having to worry about scrounging for food
„« By being able to help when needs arise
„« By being able to raise my standard of giving NOT my standard of living!
5. Know what Jesus says? "So don¡¦t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern." -- Matthew 6.31-33 (NLT)
That’s what it means to follow Jesus.
VI. It means we tell about Jesus.
A. Let’s read the verse together: Mark 16.15
1. You and I have a mission: proclaiming the good news!
2. It really is good news, you know!
„« Not further bondage; but real freedom!
„« Not giving up "good times"; but real joy!
„« Not what we lose; but what we gain!
3. It is good news that we can be forgiven, and be put back in harmony with the God of the Universe¡K our Maker!
B. The people in the New Tes-tament that followed Jesus couldn’t keep quiet about it!
1. Here’s our fears:
„« We’re going to be asked something we don’t know (we can fix that)
„« Our friends and family will think we’re crazy (they probably already do!)
„« That’s about it!
2. You want purpose? Rea-son to get up in the morning?
„« Cultivate your rela-tionship with God
„« Get involved in the Kingdom of God!
„« There is work to be done!
That’s what it means to follow Jesus. Will you? It means
a) completely giving yourself to God;
b) b) trusting Christ to forgive your sins;
c) c) letting Him have control of your life.
