Guidelines to Success
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Seek Divine Help
Seek Divine Help
1 thss
Introduction:
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.
Guidelines to Success
Seek out trusted models
Seek out trusted models
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
1 thess
Terry Cavanaugh / General
Seek to be a Trusted Model
Seek to be a Trusted Model
And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
1 thess 1:
Make For More / Success /
Introduction:
Success. What does success mean? Have you seen the new trending photos? It a picture of people falling out of their luxury car surrounded by their expense stuff. They see themselves as a success. But I would like for us to look at a total different definition of success. Success is not about the stuff you accumulate, it is about the influence you have. Let me let you in on three guidelines that bring real success. The kind of success that will outlive you.
Seek Divine Help
Seek Divine Help
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.
NIV
Read it with me, We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. There are two words I want you to circle, go ahead and circle the always and all. In this verse we get and glimpse into the prayer life of the great missionary ever. If any one was a success it was Paul. He established churches all over the known world. He wrote over half of the New Testament. If his goal was to be a Jesus follower, then no one was more successful. Listen to what Paul said.
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.
though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
Read it with me, We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. There are two words I want you to circle, go ahead and circle the always and all. In this verse we get and glimpse into the prayer life of the great missionary ever. If any one was a success it was Paul. He established churches all over the known world. He wrote over half of the New Testament. If his goal was to be a Jesus follower, then no one was more successful. Listen to what Paul said.
Look at what he said; He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, he had been trained by one of the greatest teacher of his day. He was a Pharisee, it was also one of the leaders of the Jewish nation. If you were to look at him, you have to say, success with a capital S.
(NIV)
4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
Look at what he said; He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, he had been trained by one of the greatest teacher of his day. He was a Pharisee, it was also one of the leaders of the Jewish nation. If you were to look at him, you have to say, success with a capital S.
Yet, this clearly successful leader, said, he always prayed. Paul said, I prayed some times. No. I pray when it is convenient. No. I pray when I am in trouble, like the break glass in case of emergency. No. Paul said, I pray always.
Paul said, I need to communicate with God. I must connect with my creator. I need to have a life of prayer, in the same way a fish needs water, and a bird needs air. I need God. I will always seek divine help,
Bill Hybels said “Prayer is a very unnatural activity. In fact, the whole concept of prayer flies in the face of the deep-seeded human value of self-reliance. Prayer is an assault on human autonomy, an indictment on a life whose aim is self-sufficiency. Prayer is an embarrassing interruption to someone who is on the fast track, bound and determined to make it on their own.”
Paul understood he needed to put his self-sufficiency on hold, and step off the fast track, and admit he needed help.
Where do you need help, real help, God’s help. Where in your life, have you discovered you can not do it on your own? Where do you need to seek divine help? Listen to what he said:
(NIV)
3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The first guideline to success, true success, is seek divine help.
Seek out trusted models
Seek out trusted models
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
NIV
Circle the words, “Became Imitators.” Paul said, you learn to be a Jesus follower, by watching Jesus followers.
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
Circle the words, “Became Imitators.” Paul said, you learn to be a Jesus follower, by watching Jesus followers.
That is one of the reasons for the church. The church is to provide you with examples. People you can look up to, people who are not perfect, but who are trying to be true Jesus followers.
The Thessalonians stopped following other things, but followed after Paul and the Lord, they saw him as a Jesus follower. Paul says that it was a good thing for them to follow him, and he wasn’t shy about saying “follow me” because he knew where he was going.
This shows that Paul’s message included an element of personal discipleship. There was a sense in which Paul personally led these Thessalonian Christians in their spiritual life. They could see his life and were invited to learn from his example.
There is no better way to learn than to imitator, but you need to find trusted models to imitate.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
(NIV)
We need to find good examples, Godly examples, trusted examples. Paul said follow me, not because I am great, or because I have it all figured out, or even I am worth following. No, follow me, because I am following Jesus.
11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
We need to find good examples, Godly examples, trusted examples. Paul said follow me, not because I am great, or because I have it all figured out, or even I am worth following. No, follow me, because I am following Jesus.
If you want to be a success. There are three guidelines to follow. 1. Seek out Divine Help. 2. Seek out Trusted Models. Third, seek to be a trusted model.
(NIV)
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
If you want to be a success. There are three guidelines to follow. 1. Seek out Divine Help. 2. Seek out Trusted Models. Third, seek to be a trusted model.
Seek to be a Trusted Model
Seek to be a Trusted Model
And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
NIV
Paul said the reason we seek out divine help, and we seek out trusted models, is so we can become trusted models ourselves.
And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
Paul said the reason we seek out divine help, and we seek out trusted models, is so we can become trusted models ourselves.
Again, the church was a place to find trusted models. The church should be a place where people can be real. Not perfect, but real. The church is not a place to hide our brokenness, but a place to find wholeness.
Mark Howell points out “A common misconception people on the outside of the church have about people on the inside of the church is that people on the inside are somehow insulated from or unaffected by the real struggles of life. Many attenders perpetuate this idea by observing the unwritten rule that when attending church, if you pretend that your life is perfect, you may just be able to convince others that it is. They could borrow a line from the old commercial on a certain deodorant: when in church, never let those in the pews around you “see you sweat.”
But what we really need is not people isolated from real life, instead we need trust models who are not afraid to let their cracks show.
God needs you to step up and be a trusted model. Your friends you family, you neighbors need examples. Without examples, there is nothing to look up to, to model after, to mold yourself by.
You may be the only example, the only model, the only pattern those closest to you will ever have.
Other Jesus followers struggling to see the faith lived out in real, real life, need you.
Conclusion:
So what does success look like. For a Jesus follower, success is seeking out divine help, seeking out trusted models, and ultimately become a trusted model yourself. How would your life be different if your life was turning to God, seeking out real Jesus followers, and then become a real Jesus follower others can follow.
LET US PRAY:
Dear Jesus,
This morning we are looking for Success. We know that we were made for more than what we have already experienced. We were made for more success, not the kind of success that leads you to “fall out of your luxury car surround by your expensive stuff.” Success that is defined by looking for God’s help. Success that is defined by looking for models. Success that is defined by becoming a Godly model. Jesus help us, each of us, to become a model for others. Amen.
Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 8:23 PM November 3, 2018.