PDL week # 4 YOU WERE CREATED TO BECOME LIKE JESUS--abridged teaching of Rick Warren, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012

Sermon Transcript Everybody needs a purpose and that’s why we’re spending 40 Days of Purpose, looking at God’s purposes for your life. Now, Week 1 we looked at “You Were Planned for God’s Pleasure.” Your first purpose is to express love to God. That’s called what? Worship. And last Sunday we talked about how “You Were Formed for God’s Family.” God wants you to learn to love other people and get along in His family, and the Bible calls that what? Fellowship. Now would you please take out your sermon notes on your blue insert from your bulletin, and pass and please pass out the pens at the end of your pews. Today, we look at the third purpose that God put you on this planet for, and we find it power point # 1--in Romans 8:29. Let’s read this one together: “For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him – and he knew who would – should become like his Son.” So, looking at point # 2 --Now God’s plan has always been, this is the third purpose, to make you like Jesus. His plan from the very beginning has been to make human beings like himself. (Pcture) Now, that doesn’t mean you have to grow a beard, long hair, and wear a robe. No, God s talking about developing your God-given potential for character, as we see lived out in Jesus Christ: the way he thinks, the way he acts, the way he feels, his values, his moral character. God wants to make you like Jesus. Let’s look at point # 3-- We neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. We are God’s masterpiece in Christ Jesus. Now, like me, you are a work n progress. This doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not like one day all of a sudden – ZAP – you’re just like Jesus. It’s a process, and this process is called “discipleship”, and it takes an entire lifetime. It’s going to take the rest of your life for God to build character in you, the character qualities of Jesus Christ. Now, to illustrate today’s message, we are now going to see a sermon video, which illustrates some of Rick Warren’s thoughts on discipleship. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, let’s imagine for a moment that each of us here today decided to cooperate with God as he chisels away at us to form the character of Jesus in our lives. As we heard in today’s Gospel, some who claim to be followers of Jesus just turn away from him at this point. “No thanks, God. I like myself the way I am.” But others of us, like Peter and the real followers of Jesus, choose to let Jesus help us spiritually grow. What might that look like? Well, here’s just one aspect of what that would look like: It looks like listening to Jesus’ words of life from the Bible, and seeking to personally apply them to our lives. It looks like recognizing that we need to acknowledge and confess our sins. It would look like confessing to God our anger, pride, laziness, & self centeredness. Some of us, like me, would confess that too often we compare ourselves to others, when we should be comparing ourselves to Christ. Some of us, like me, would confess that too often, we give undue importance to what others think of us, and not enough value to what God thinks of us. It would look like seeing ourselves and others as God sees us---as His masterpiece. It would look like believing and receiving God’s forgiveness and comfort. The master piece is the greatest, most defining work for an artist or composer. This one work is the total culmination of a life time of devoted work. You are God’s masterpiece. And God s working to complete His masterpiece n you. Pont # 3, let us read that together. In all things, God works for the good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes.. He asks that we do our part. Our part s simply to let God soften, shape, and change our hearts to accept and embrace God’s good work n our lives. I know that this s the desire of many of you. So now, I invite you to express this desire to God. Today we will sing our creed, our statement of belief, which you will find on page 5. “Change my heart, O God. Make t ever new. I want to be like you.” AFTER SONG: AMEN. So, singing is one way that God can change our hearts. The other s personal alone time with God in prayer. Rick Warren has written a wonderful prayer guide, which describes a simple way to spend alone time with God. Look at the bottom of your blue sermon notes to find out how you can obtain this prayer guide. But now, let us together, as God’s family, offer our prayers to him. And if you pray them with conviction, God will immediately begin to change your heart . Prayers of the People are on page 5 of the bulletin.