Preached by Chris Broom, 10/26/2008

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Brittany Jones Gets Baptized!

The Power of an Example – Outline

This Sunday is the culmination of an incredible weekend for our campus ministry!

• Friday night, Anthony Franklin kicked off the weekend by preached out title sermon entitled “Useful to the Master!” One thing he taught that I believe deserves repeating is that we cannot be useful to God if we don’t have the same interests as God. God is looking for Men and Women who feel the same way about things as He does.
• We all went to Lake Michigan at 4am to see Jay-V baptized into Christ!
• Saturday, Chris Van Staden preached a great lesson on Discipling the Heart. Joel and Brittany Parlour then taught Men’s and Women’s classes and there were discipling groups where people got open about their lives.
• Last night was the Tacky Wacky Party (and I heard it was quite a time)!

Today, as we close out the weekend, we will focus on one of the greatest things God has given us to help us simplify things: The Power of an Example! 

Hebrews 13:7

• A physical example is so powerful.
• We need to imitate the examples of men and women of faith in our life.
• Jesus is our greatest example.

Mark 1:16-18

• We are going to begin a series on the Book of Mark next week.
• Come follow me, Jesus said and I will make you fishers of men.
• If we are not fishers of men, then either Jesus is not powerful enough to make us one or we are simply not following Him.
• If we are following Jesus, He will make us a fisher of men.
• My friend RD Baker sent me some notes on the Book of Mark as he has recently taught it:

Introduction to Mark study by RD Baker:

• Who Is Jesus? So many people don’t really know who Jesus really is.
• Many grasp at it, many have heard stories, even celebrate Jesus holidays – but many remain Jesus illiterate.
• Do we really know? Is there a way we can find out?
• How do we separate truth from fiction; man from myth?
• I’m excited to begin our study of the gospel of Mark. In times of chaos, confusion & uncertainty, going back to the pure gospel of Jesus brings peace, clarity & the direction we need.
• It gives us faith, answers many questions, allays our fears & calms our hearts.
• We all want to belong to a church that honors & glorifies God – one that we can all be proud of.
• And that’ll always require us going back to our foundation (& founder), which will always be Jesus Christ.
• Mark’s ‘Good News’ about Jesus Christ is just that: so simple & straightforward a child can understand it
• Mark was probably the first gospel writer to write about the life of Jesus… around 65 AD.
• He writes from Italy to non-Jewish Roman Christians, telling them about Jesus.
• But he’s writing to a church in great distress – being persecuted by Nero for the fire that destroyed Rome.
• That fire they didn’t start but they had started a spiritual fire that was now spreading throughout the world!
• Although all 4 gospel writers are anonymous, this gospel is widely accepted as being written by Mark.
• History tells us Mark wrote down Peter’s recollections of Jesus’ life (as Peter’s interpreter & accountant).
• And as a fisherman, Peter was probably great at story telling; fortunately Mark wrote it all down.
  In 1 Pet 5:13 – Peter calls Mark, “My son,” leading many to believe Peter baptized Mark.
• So Mark’s Gospel could also be called “The Story of Jesus as told by Peter”.
• Mark wasn’t one of the 12, but he likely knew Jesus personally & was present when Jesus was arrested.
• He was also known in the 1st-century church:
  ~ The church had prayer meetings in his mother’s house (Acts 12:12)
  ~ He was a cousin of Barnabas’, trained under the Apostle Paul…& valued highly by Peter
  ~ And was also part of the historic 1st missionary journey with Paul & Barnabas (Acts 13).
• Mark’s book is about action. He writes of an “Action-Oriented” Christ. Yes, Jesus came – but to Mark, he also DID something. When you read Mark, it makes you want to get up & do something.
• Mark wants us to be participants in his accounts – in the crowd, one of the disciples – not mere observers. It’s full of action: We see much more of what Jesus does… than what he says. Jesus was a man who backed up his words with action. And we’ll also see that not only did Jesus come, he “came to serve & give his life as a ransom for many”.

Matthew 28:18-20

• Jesus called his disciples to make disciples (fish for…) all nations and baptize them and teach them to obey everything He commanded them (which includes fishing for men…).
• Why is it that we don’t fish for men?
• Either we don’t believe it to be true or we get afraid of what other people think of us.
• Jesus wasn’t worried about what other people would think.
• He cared about others and wanted them to know the truth so they could make their decision.
• If at any point we don’t obey this commission, the message of Jesus sacrifice will be lost
• Our example is so vital. We all have so much to learn and change so that we can be the best examples we can be.
• 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (Pat Jr. brought Maria who brought Monica.)
• 2 Timothy 2:2 Paul tells Timothy to take what he has heard Paul teach to many and pass it on to reliable people who will teach it to others. (I found Joel Parlour as a 12 year old pre-teen in Syracuse in 1999. We baptized Andrew Smellie, who now leads the Washington DC church, who really helped Joel become a Christian. Joel is now leading our UIC ministry and has taught Oumar who has taught Jay-V, who we baptized at 4am Saturday morning in Lake Michigan.)
• 1 Timothy 4:11-12
• Again, our example is so important.
• You can’t follow an example unless one is set for you.
• If we aren’t an example, we can’t be a leader.
• However, we cannot expect our leaders to be perfect.
• No leader other than Jesus was perfect.
• I pray for more young men and women who have the same interest of God like our campus disciples.
• If we are not fishers of men, then what kind of examples are we to our children?
• Either be involved in fruitful labor or let’s go to Heaven now!!
• Let’s set an example.
• When we do mess up, let’s just get honest and breath a sigh of relief that everyone knows we aren’t perfect.
• Children have more need of models than critics. – Joseph Jobert.
• About 3000 teens run away everyday in America. About 3000 of their parents get divorced everyday in America!
• I hope my kids grow up to be like our strong campus disciples.

I went to church my whole life and yet I was not living a life that was pleasing to God. When I was 23 years old, I studied the Bible with true examples of Jesus Christ, and it changed me forever.

• Tom Hughes was out fishing for men one night on the subway train in New York City.
• He called me for church the next Sunday and I made an excuse that I was too sick to go with him.
• He didn’t give up on me and the next Saturday he invited me to Bible Talk. The opening question was about something we had been ashamed of. I shared how I had lied about being to sick to attend church.
• During the Word of God study that day, I was convinced that although I wanted the Bible to be my standard, I was not living according to the scriptures.
• The next day at church, I met another great example named Randy Tinnen. He came with me to a scene night were there was examples of impurity and I was ashamed. If Randy had not been there, I would have not been ashamed. That’s the power of a Godly example.
• In the household I moved into, there was an incredible example of prayer, Bible study and fishing for men for me to follow!
• That’s the example Jason needs to see as he comes into our church.
• I also saw examples of marriage and family that were what I hoped to have one day.
• We need to be these examples to people and call them to follow us as we follow Christ.

1 Timothy 1:12-16

• “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”
• If we don’t feel like the worst of sinners, we probably aren’t really Christians.
• If we do understand how sinful we are, we know from Paul that there is unlimited patience for us. It was given to Paul as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.
• Brittany Jones is about to be baptized into Jesus’ name after service today.
• What we are doing is not of man. We have shortcomings and sins, but God is among us. We are his temple along with all true disciples around the world. Be encouraged that the spirit of God is here in the church, and the heart of Jesus is working his miracles through people that are less than glorious in the flesh but absolutely glorious in God.

- Chris Broom

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