REFLECTING THE CHARACTER

OF CHRIST
(PART 1)
INTRODUCTION:
1. A few years ago, the Dallas Morning News reported that an
elderly North Dallas couple, the Davenports, was sitting at
home one quite evening, enjoying a delicious meal. As they
were finishing up their meal, a burglar broke into their house,
pointed a gun at them, and demanded money.
2. While Mrs. Davenport frantically searched through her pursue
for some money, the burglar noticed that the television was
on, so he asked Mr. Davenport what they were watching, and
he said, The 700 club. Are yall Christians?, the burglar
asked. Yes Mr. Davenport replied. And the burglar said in
all seriousness, Me too.
3. That criminal honestly believed that he was a Christian.
However, he was deceived because his lifestyle and character
proved that he was not a Christian at all.
a. Jesus once said,

"By their fruit you will recognize them (Mt. 7:16).

4. Its easy to say that we are Christians, however, the truth is,
that our character, not our tongues, will reveal who we really
are.
5. As Christians, our character should be like Christ' character.
We are to strive to be like Jesus.

(1 Jn. 2:6) Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.

6. How is your character? Is your character like Christ'

character?

THE POINT IN TODAY'S LESSON IS

THAT OUR LIVES NEED TO REFLECT
THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST
THIS MORNING, I AM GOING TO
PROVIDE TWO PERSONAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRIST THAT
WE NEED TO DEMONSTRATE IN OUR
LIVES.

I.

FIRST, AS CHRISTIANS, WE
SHOULD BE KIND-HEARTED
JUST AS JESUS IS KINDHEARTED.

1. In (Mark 10:13-16), we see the kindness of Jesus being

bestowed upon the little children.

In (Mk. 10), people were bringing some little children to Jesus hoping
that He would touch them, but the disciples rebuked the people. When
Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, Let the little
children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God
belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not
receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And
He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed
them.

2. In this passage, several parents were bringing their children

to Jesus hoping that He would bless them.
a. Now, we must remember that in their culture, the Jewish
people believed that children should be seen not heard. They
were not the center of attention like they are today. The
disciples thought that Jesus had no time for the children, so
they scolded the parents, shooing them away and telling them
to leave.
3. Boy, were the disciples wrong. Jesus became displeased
with His disciples' statement and in firm and patient voice,
Jesus said, Let the little children come to me.
4. You can imagine the little children rushed to the ground
where Jesus sat. Jesus was probably smiling as He hugged
the ones nearest Him. After several minutes of conversation,
Jesus probably took the children one by one into His tender
arms and pronounced His blessings on them.

5. From this story we can see the charter of kindness that

radiated from Jesus.
6. As disciples of Christ, we to are to be kind to others.

(Eph. 4:32) Be kind and compassionate to one another"

a. To be kind means to be friendly, and warmhearted in nature.

(1) Robert Burns once said,
The heart benevolent and kind is the heart that
most resembles God.
ILLUSTRATION:
Dan Clark, an actor, songwriter, recording artist, and video
producer once wrote an article that can inspire us to be kind.
Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line
to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family
between us and the ticket counter. This family made a big
impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under
the age of 12. You could tell they didnt have a lot of money.
Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The
children were will-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-bytwo behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly
jabbering about the clowns, elephants and other acts they would
see that night. One could sense they had never been to the
circus before. It promised to be a highlight of their young lives.
The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing
proud as could be. The mother was holding her husbands hand,
looking up at him as if to say, Youre my knight in shining
armor. He was smiling and basking in pride
The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He
proudly responded, Please let me buy eight childrens tickets
and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus.
The ticket lady quoted the price. The mans wife let go of his
hand, her head dropped, the mans lip began to quiver. The
father leaned a little closer and asked, How much did you say?
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The ticket lady again quoted the price. The man didnt have
enough money.
How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didnt
have enough money to take them to the circus?
Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand into his pocket,
pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground. (We were not
wealthy in any sense of the word). My father reached down,
picked up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said,
Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.
The man knew what was going on. He wasnt begging for a
handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate,
heartbreaking, embarrassing situation. He looked straight into
my dads eyes, took my dads hand in both of his, squeezed
tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear
streaming down his cheek, he replied, Thank you, thank you, sir.
This really means a lot to me and my family.
My father and I went back to our car and drove home. We didnt
go to the circus that night, but we didnt go without.
7. This story exemplifies the kindness that we are to have as
Christians. The kind of kindness that reaches out to others
with the love of Jesus.
8. When we are kind to others, people can see Christ living in
us.
9. William Wordsworth once wrote: The best portion of a good
mans life, is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of
kindness and of love.

II.

SECOND, AS CHRISTIANS, WE
SHOULD BE EMPATHETIC JUST
AS JESUS IS EMPATHETIC.
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1. In (John 11), we see the empathy of Jesus. In (John 11), we

read that Lazarus, one of Jesus closes friends, died. Now
when Jesus finally made it into town to see His deceased
friend, He was met by Mary, Lazarus sister. And in (verse 33),
it reads:

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with
her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Where
have you laid him? He asked. Come and see, Lord, they replied.
"Jesus wept."

2. Why was Jesus crying? He was hurt and sad because His
friend passed away.
3. Just as Jesus was empathic, we must do the same.
a. To be empathetic means to experience another persons
feelings from that persons point of view. Its considering the
feelings of others. Its putting yourself in another persons
shoes.
4. We are to rejoice with those who rejoice; and mourn with
those who mourn.

ILLUSTRATION:
Charlie, an art teacher, was once visited by a former student of
his.
His former student, Angela, had been in his art class nearly five
years earlier. He remembered here as a quiet, plain girl who
mostly kept to herself.
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Now she was a confident young woman, and a mother. She had
come to see her former art teacher and she had an agenda. She
told her art teacher:
When I was in high school, my stepfather abused me. He hit me
and he came into my bed at night. It was horrible. I was deeply
ashamed. I told no one. No one knew.
Finally, during my junior year, my parents went away for the
weekend, leaving me home alone for the first time. It was at that
time that I had planned my escape.
They left on Thursday evening, so I spent the entire night
preparing. I did my homework, wrote a long letter to my mother,
and organized my belongings. I purchased a roll of wide plastic
tape and spent an hour taping all the outside doors and windows
of the garage from the inside. I put the keys in the ignition of my
mothers car, put my teddy bear on the passengers seat and then
went to bed.
My plan was to go to school as usual on Friday and ride the bus
home, as usual. I would wait at home until my parents called, talk
to them, then go to the garage and start the engine. I figured
nobody would find me until Sunday afternoon when my parents
returned. I would be dead. I would be free.

Angela had held to her plan until 8th period art class, when
Charlie, her art teacher, perched on the stool next to her,
examined her artwork and slipped an arm around her shoulder
and encouraged her.
Angela had gone home that Friday afternoon and written a
second, different letter of good-bye to her mother. She removed
the tape from the garage and packed her teddy bear with the rest
of her belongings. Then she called her minister, who immediately
came for her. She left her parents home and never went back.
She flourished and she gave her art teacher the credit.
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Charlie gave his interpretation of why Angela had given him

credit for saving her life. He said, Angela had decided in that
moment, in that art class, that if a casually friendly teacher cared
enough about her to take the time to stop, make contact, look at
her and listen to her, then there must be other people who cared
about her, too.
5. Brothers and sisters, we need to genuinely care for people
and when we do, we can make a huge difference in their lives.
At times, we may not know that our empathy is making a
difference, however, it is.

CONCLUSION:
1. This morning, we have been challenged to be more like Christ;
to exhibit the qualities that make Jesus so wonderful.
2. So far, in our series on Reflecting The Character Of Christ, we
have noticed that:
a. AS CHRISTIANS, WE SHOULD BE KIND-HEARTED JUST AS
JESUS IS KIND-HEARTED.
b. AS CHRISTIANS, WE SHOULD BE EMPATHETIC JUST AS
JESUS IS EMPATHETIC.

3. With the help of the Spirit of the Lord, may we strive to exhibit
the beautiful Characteristics of Christ.
4. At this time, the Lord's invitation is now offered for anyone
who may be in need. Please come as we stand and sing.