Who Are You Following?

Me: Hello my name is will von der hoff, im the high school youth pastor here at renovation church. So great to be here this memorial weekend. Before we get started I want to update you on what God has been doing within Renovation Youth. This school year at renovation youth we've seen hundreds and hundreds of students step into renovation youth and encounter Jesus either for the first time in their life or in a fresh way that reignites their faith. As students have come to renovation youth this year we've seen just under 100 public commitments to christ and 35 baptisms so far….. As we head into summer I want to quickly reiterate what's going on at renovation youth. This summer we are continuing to meet as we know the importance of consistent gathering. We believe our MS and HS students will take a step in their own personal spiritual growth while also attaining and strengthening friendships centered on Christ. For information and details please visit our website or go to the welcome table in the lobby

We:

As our youth group has grown, people will ask me, how has it grown so rapidly? And I would tell you that a big part of it is our adult youth leaders. That our students have highly committed adult men and women of God to speak into and are involved in students' lives…. As people ask about becoming a youth leaders, I share with them, if you love going above and beyond for students, you’ll love being here. Because as a pastor of our students at Renovation Church I want it to be understood throughout our ministry, that in order for students to grow and live a life of faithfulness to Jesus, our students have to have someone….. they can follow……

Because the truth is, no matter how old or young you are, we all are looking to become like and follow someone…. You remember when you were a kid? You had a favorite athlete, artist, actor, you watched them, listened to them, maybe even tried to dress like them. But Why is this? Why do we find ourselves trying to to follow someone that closely…We do this .Because who you follow, is who you imitate... And this is normal! We, as humans, inherently follow and imitate other people. We cant help it… anybody see the MJ movie recently raise of hands?.... I just saw it the other day, and I know I cant be the only leaving the movie that was then convinced they should try and imitate his sining and dancing?... ive actually been practicing a bit you guys mind if I show you?... just kidding im not doing that…. But the truth is who we follow is who we imitate, And because of that truth, I want us this morning to simply reflect and ask ourselves, who are you following and who are you imitating? And maybe more importantly, where is that leading you?..... As we go into scripture during this service, we’re going to see how the type of person we follow…. reveals the type of people we become…. I want us to open up the word of God to 2 Timothy 3:10-17 page 814

What type of person should we follow?

In what we just read in the letter of Second Timothy, He starts describing his life because he wants Timothy to remember what he taught, how he lived, and his purpose. To also remember his patience, love, and faith but also to remember that hes been battled tested and persecuted…. When you read this scriputure you might be wondering why is pauls re-count of his life so significant that in pauls decides to include it in final charge to timothy?....why does he include this as one of the final things he could say…. But we need to know he does this because he knows if Timothy is going to be carrying out the call of God his life, he needs to take confidence in knowing that someone has gone before him and has done what he is now being instructed to do….

And, all of us in this room have a call of God on our life, and if we are going to experience God in all that he created us for, we need to be looking to people who have gone before us and done what we desire to do…. But so often I see when it comes to following the right people in our life, like spiritual leadership and mentorship theres a temptation to think of it as a nice idea but not a necessity to our christian walk….. But Paul thinks its of such importance that he writes it down as one of the final things he says to Timothy before passing!... And if it's that important maybe we too then should reflect think who have we been following?... And what has their life really consisted of?...

Do we follow the wrong people?

I had to ask myself this question about someone I looked up to at one point in my life. Before working in ministry, I pursued a different career field. And I had someone in my life who was super successful, driven, hard working, could get anyone to listen to them. And because of this, I admired their abilities and I started to follow them and imitate their leadership….. But recently, I was having this conversation with my fiance and I said, ya know, I haven't worked for this person in a long time, I wouldn't say they are my mentor, but I think I'm still wrongly inspired by them… Because although those things I said were true, they were super successful, driven, hard working, could get anyone to do anything….. the way in which those things came about, weren't Christ like….. Because yes you can be successful…. but is it worth the cost of knowing your family? Yes you can be driven and hard working but is it worth the cost of you never having time to have time for God? Yes you could get anyone to do anything but is it worth the cost of people being afraid of you and not wanting to be around you….

As I considered this person I followed and imitated, I finally sat back and thought, because I admire this guy, I'm not becoming more like Christ….This isn't bringing me closer to the call of God in my life as a pastor, future husband, friend, family member…. The truth was, I was admiring what was on the outside, not what their life really consisted of on the inside (admiring the outside or inside?)

I really want us to leave here challenged with knowing why we really follow someone? Sometimes I think we follow certain people because following and imitating them acts as our bandaids to insecurity…. We hang around and imitate certain people because deep down we’re insecure about who we really are…. We’re insecure about our finances so we imitate the lifestyle of rich people. We’re insecure about our physical apperance so we only associate ourselves with people of high social status tomake us feel like we’re the same…. We follow people who are demanding and controlling because we've actually always felt weak and powerless…. But money, physical attractiveness, power, is not the purpose to our life, and its the not the answer to our brokeness…. The idolization of those thing is not how we were created to live….. But rather the purpose to our life, the answer to our brokenness, the reason we are alive today…. Is to become like Jesus…. And if we would humbly recognize that following does lead to imitation….. then what should people's lives consist of that we are willing to follow?

Admire and honor people who are grounded in the word

For Paul and Timothy, Paul has given Timothy a laundry list of qualities to admire and remember about him in v10. But what stands about all of it is when Paul tells timothy to remember his character, he points to the word of God in v16 and 17 as what will draw out those characteristics in timothy!..... These are the people you want to admire! Follow people who are grounded on the word of God and point you back to it…. And to encourage this room, all of us in this room are taking a great first step in following this charge from Paul….. If you are a regular attendee here at renovation church, I want to take a moment to honor our pastor as he is not here today but on a well deserved sabbatical. Pastor David is a man of God and leader who has been faithful in love, patience, endurance, even when faced with oppostion…. I want to remind us all here this morning that we would never take for granted the leadership of pastor David. That we have a leader who recognizes the value of v16 if you look agai your bible , when it says “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” In a time where we can see a lot of leaders and pastors bending scripture to fit the world, he is one who stands on the word of God and does not move,,,. He is one that does not shy away from biblical truth but does it from a place of love for all of you to see you walk in the fullness you were created for….. When you have leadership like this, we need to be quick to honor and slow to complain. We need to pray for Daivd and the rest of the leadership here at Renovation church…

And When a leader like Pastor david decides to ground himself in the word of God, its not because its the easy thing to do all the time, or that is convenient or just fits his preferences. Its because the word of God is the truth, and like the scripture explains, its God breathed….As we live the christian walk its crucial for us to know why we believe the word is God breathed….This morning, I want to take a moment to help us better understand why we can know this book is God breathed.

We know this scripture to be God breathed because there is no other book like this…

(- 66 books written over 1000 years, 40 different authors, 3 continents, 3 languages, one unified story

- Hundreds of detailed prophecies

- Life changing power)

The bible is a collection of 66 books written over 1000 years, by 40 different authors, on 3 continents in 3 separate languages, and tells one unified story without contradiction. Without scripture being God breathed, that is impossible. This book holds hundreds and hundreds of detailed prophecies about nations, cities, and people. No other book in history holds this many specific prophecies that would come true. This book's power is not only shown in the way it was constructed, its power is still shown when it is read and applied in our lives. What other book can you read that sets addicts to free, what other book can move you from hate to love, what other book can make you broken to healed, only something God breathed can do that!

So We are blessed to have leadership that sees the bible as truth…..But what I want to present to us all here this morning as much as we desire Pastor David and the leadership at Renovation to be grounded in the word of God, do you share that same desire from other people in your life you follow, to be just as grounded?... I think its easy to go “of course I want my pastor to be grounded in the word because I know it’ll effect my relationship with God as one who speaks into my life”.... But maybe where we aren't as quickly to desire a groundedness in the word of God is from everyone else we allow to speak in our life…. The truth is, If we follow one person who is grounded is the word but follow another that is grounded in the ways of this world, where youll find yourself is stuck in between. And its in the in between that can be the scariest place to be….. Because its there that you are aware to what is true but never can experience the fullness of truth because a part of you is still being pulled in the opposite direction of God…. And satan would love nothing more for us to live lives where we are convinced we know God, look christian, but never live fully alive in christ because what and who we follow has misled us….

Are you grounded in the word?

This morning we have talked a lot about who we follow and if they are grounded in the word, but as we leave here, as much as you might desire now desire to follow people who are grounded, I want to ask us all, do you share that same desire for yourself….. to be just as grounded? (is your life grounded in the word?) And could someone follow you?.....How have we been interacting with the word of God? Would we be a church that does not take the word of God for granted. Because as much as there is a temptation to become apathetic to the word of God, would we continuously push ourselves to be consuming the word. Would we not treat the word as a collection of old fairy tales that are a nice idea but instead remember this bible is alive and active!.... It is crucial we a grounded daily in the word. Because the more you ground yourself, the much more expectant you become……(say again). This is freedom for some of you…. If you’re constantly reading the miracles in the Gospel accounts you don't think you’ll start to believe for God do more miracles in your life? If you are constantly reading about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus you don't think you’ll have a deeper desire to live in freedom of what you've been forgiven of? If you are constantly in the epistles like the letter of 2 timothy you dont think youll have an increased desire in growing in Godly character and becoming a man and woman of God like hes designed you to become?.... The more you are in it, the more you will be changed…

I know as I share this, some of you may be sitting here going, I've been reading it everyday and I don't feel “it”.... We’ve all been there before. Getting in the word, and feel nothing….. But if you’re reading the word daily and not feeling anything, my encouragement to you is now apply what you’re reading….. You read about miracles, now believe for and seek a miracle. If you’re reading about wisdom, apply those principles. If you’re reading the commands of Jesus, live by faith and do them….We cant take the word of God for granted, where we read the God breathed word then dont apply…. Because there is a lot of people in the world who are desperate to know the word of God and would do anything to have the chance to ground themselves in it….

There's a man by the name of Brother Yun, who was a Chinese house church pastor many refer to as “The Heavenly Man, (image of book on screen)”. The heavenly man is the title of an autobiography of brother yun. Brother Yun grew up in a village where his family didn’t even own a Bible. As a teenager, he was so desperate for God’s Word that he fasted and prayed for 100 days only eating one bowl of steamed rice a day….God answered, and he finally got a copy. But he didn’t just read it casually—he devoured it, he wasnt just about verse of the day. He began to memorize entire books, sometimes an entire Gospel in just a month. Later, when he was thrown into prison for his faith and stripped of everything, even a Bible, it didn’t matter—because the Word was already inside of him. He could recite Scripture to strengthen himself and encourage the believers around him. People said it was like he had the whole Bible living in his heart…. .Brother Yun didn’t just add God’s Word to his life—he made it his life……

A story like brothers yuns should convict you, it convicts me!.... But Brothers yun desire for the word of God is much more common than we realize. There is still in our current day a large need for the word of God for people who have no or extremely limited access to the word of God. Across the thousands of languages spoken in our world today, nearly 43% still have no access to Scripture in their own language. Only about 25% of the world’s languages have just the New Testament, as they are still waiting to receive the fullness of Scripture. And only around 11% of all languages on earth have access to the complete Bible…. All in all this means around 1.5 billion people do not yet have a full Bible in their own language…. But language isnt the only barrier to the word of God, some governments openly oppose the bible. Roughly 45% of countries in the world today have some level of Bible restriction, censorship, or severe limitation. And In some of these countries, simply owning or distributing a Bible can result in imprisonment, forced labor camps, or even death…..

For 1.5 billion people, the full bible is still unavailable, untranslated, or out of reach…. And yet there is one in all of our laps this morning…. As we are all American christians we have to fight to stay awake to the reality of God. And the only way you will stay awake is if you ground yourself in the word of God and you follow people who stand on the word of God….

Close

And as Paul closes the chapter by telling Timothy to remember the way he lived — a life that grounded in the truth of Scripture —And as we go into worship, I want to leave you with this question: if your life ended tomorrow, would people want to imitate the way you lived. Have you built your life on the Word of God in a way that others can imiate and follow? And if not, what is God revealing in your heart today that needs to change before you leave here?... I want us to stand in go into worship

Gospel

For some of you as I share this message of following people who follow the word, maybe you’re sitting here this morning thinking, ive tried following lots of things but the word, and i feel lost, confused, stuck… And if that's you this morning you will have an

opportunity in a moment to make a decision leaving here following and surrendering your life to the word of God. And if that's something you think you'd want to do, here's what you need to know. You need to know the Gospel.