DO NOT IMITATE THE IMITATION (Eph 5:1-2)

Seats in the center that are available. If you could squeeze in a little bit. We're trying to get everybody

Up in this area that we can possibly get into here and that way we everyone can find a seat comfortably.

Thank you Jesus said Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I Will give you rest

He then went on to say for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls

You see for those of us this morning who have Tasted and seen that the

Lord is good. We are recipients of that glorious rest in Christ, aren't we?

And you say one of the ways that we experience that rest is through One of the common means of grace, which is this the gathering of the

Saints the the the coming together in corporate worship

And outside those doors and we say it often You and I Who are in Christ are sojourners

We're foreigners out there, aren't we? And we feel that don't we at times when we're out there

We forget that his his yoke is easy and his his burden is light.

I do I forget I Forget and we take up our old chains kind of like in the text

We talked about last week in Ephesians putting off the old man and putting on the new But but we often go back to those old chains thinking that somehow that might fulfill us forgetting about his goodness

Don't give me that holy look We know we're all guilty of this constantly, oh

But then we get something like today when we come in to these doors and we enter on to our embassy

Our our kingdom soil here in a foreign land Where we get to to come together gathering around brothers and sisters

Gathering around other citizens of this glorious kingdom and are reminded

Or reminded of his goodness or reminded of his mercy were reminded of his grace

And if you are here this morning and you you have never experienced That freedom you've never experienced that grace.

We are glad you're here We're not foolish enough to think that everyone in this room is truly regenerate and a follower of Christ But we're glad you're here because what you were going to hear today what you are going to experience and see in today's service all throughout through the things we sing the things we pray the things that we read and the things that we say

Through the things that we do all of this is the absolute truth It's the only truth out there you're not gonna find any truth

You're gonna find lies and distortions and deceit but in here you will find the only truth and that truth is great news

The glorious news of Jesus Christ and the hope As we see in our call to worship today

That great news came to us in that the creator of all things

Sent his own son to seek and save the lost So let's stand as we go to the

Lord in a call to worship If if you were new with us this call to worship

Structure that we use is a is a read and response as we read through the text together

And we're going to go through Isaiah 9 that that commonly known passage there in Isaiah where he is

Prophesying of the coming Messiah When he says there in verse 6 for to us a child is born

And the government shall be upon his shoulders on his name shall be called

Of the increase of his government and of peace On The throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it to uphold it with justice and with righteousness the zeal of the

Lord of hosts Will do this Amen and amen.

Oh, what a what a great truth because that was written long before that child was born

Before the Messiah came and become like man the creature the one that he himself

Created long before he said it was gonna happen and it did and it did and today as we worship

The those Old Testament saints may be look been looking to that promise of the guarantee that he would come

But we look back knowing that he did come but we also look forward because he's coming again He's coming again, but not as a child not in obscurity he's coming as the reigning king that he is

Praise God, let's let's go to to our great God in a prayer of adoration

Dear Heavenly Father. We come to you this morning and and We acknowledge our great need for you

For You are our sustainer you are our help you are our creator you are the one worthy of all praise

You did not leave us to ourselves when When you created man and man railed against you and sinned in the garden and you said the day you eat of that tree

You will surely die but did not die in your could grace, but died spiritually.

Oh But then you promised you guaranteed right there in Genesis 3 I'm I'm gonna send hope

I'm gonna send my own son To redeem you so that I may purchase you

Back from sin and from death. Oh What a glorious God we serve

We ask that that Father Son and Holy Spirit you would be honored in this place today.

You would be honored not externally not outwardly through through emotions or through Just an adherence to your faithfulness and greatness

Oh, but from a heart a heart that sees and knows that you are good.

Oh Father help us Help us to worship you as as you desire to be worshipped help us to worship you as you are worthy to be worshipped

As we sing these songs as we read your word. I Pray that it would be a sweet smelling aroma coming up before you from your children

Christ's name. Amen Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh You may be seated we're gonna read from the gospel account of Luke as we really kind of prepare our hearts and thinking and processing this this season of Looking back at the coming of the

Messiah the incarnation the God man becoming flesh there

And so I want to read a portion from Luke chapter 1 of the birth of Jesus that is being foretold

There Starting in verse 26 Says in the sixth month the angel

Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was

Joseph of the house of David and the Virgin's name was Mary And he came to her and said

Greetings Oh favored one. The Lord is with you Oh, but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be

And the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name

Jesus he will be great and will be called the Son of the

Most High and The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father

David And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom.

There will be no end When Mary said to the angel How will this be since I am a virgin?

And the angel answered her the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you

Therefore the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God Behold your relative

Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son and This is the sixth month with her and who was called barren for nothing will be impossible with God and Mary said behold,

I am the servant of the Lord Let it be to me according to your word

When the angel departed from her For nothing will be impossible with God Man brought sin into the world

That seems hopeless But nothing is impossible with God Let's continue to sing

As to certain Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Silent night

You understand that that is representing peace You understand that we can lay our head on our pillow at night and we can sleep restfully

Under the hand of a sovereign God who ordains every molecule of the whole of the universe

But has then bought us peace and his son I'm gonna read the account here in Luke chapter 2 of the birth of Jesus Christ and I don't want to challenge us

Not to check out Because you've heard this account so many times.

I Remember as a child every Christmas Eve We were up in Rector at my grandparents house and felt like half the community would show up in that little living room

And my grandfather would set and open his Bible to Luke 2 and he would read this account every single

Christmas Eve and I as a young child Could recite it backwards for you and I would find myself checking out.

Oh but That repetition was used by God in my mind to remind me over the years

Of what he has done for me So as we read this I I would ask you to Examine these words this truth.

This is a eyewitness account of this amazing magnificent truth in Luke chapter 2 and Starting in verse 1

Luke writes in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus That all the world should be registered

This was the first registration when Corinthians was governor of Syria and all went to be registered each to his own town and Joseph also went up from Galilee and from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called

Bethlehem Because he was of the house and lineage of David To be registered with Mary his betrothed who was with child

And while they were there the time came for her to give birth She gave birth to her firstborn son

And wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the end

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the

Lord Appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear And the angel said to them fear not

For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people

Front to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is

Christ the Lord And this will be a sign for you You'll find a baby

Wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising

God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased

When the angels went away from them into heaven the shepherds said to one another let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing

That has happened which the Lord has made known to us and they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger

And when they saw it, they they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child and all who had heard it

Wondered at what the shepherds told them But Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart

And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and saying as it had been told to them

At the end of the eight days when he was circumcised. He was called Jesus The name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb

There is so much there You realize that this account from Luke of all that came into play was all

Fulfillment of prophecy of the coming Messiah every little bit of it from having to go and move because God was working in in in the

Governing system to make them go to where God had prophesied They would go and where they would come and all that goes along with it had been prophesied thousands of years before and it must be fulfilled it it was

And then on top of that do you realize the significance of the shepherds being told first?

That's you and me the broken the weak The ones that were forgotten by society

Forgotten by the world that he didn't come for the for the great among you came for the weak praise the

Lord Oh, there's so much Magnificent truth in this this narrative account this gospel account of this

As we continue to worship, I I want you to to ponder those truths ponder those words

Because we're gonna sing a song that we introduced a couple of weeks ago. Oh Come you unfaithful

We were the shepherds out in the field insignificant And Jesus says come to me all who are weak and are heavy laden

All who labor I will give you rest and we are the unfaithful

He's the faithful amen, let's sing this together Not This Christ The taste of His birth and flow

I need

Him but there is no need to Say what you're not asked to Christ is born

Christ is born Christ is born for you

He selects me He's slain for my life

His promise and His peace Are all to me

He selects me He's slain for my life

His promise and His peace Are all to me

So come, though you have nothing

He is the offering Say what you're not asked to Christ is born

Christ is born Christ is born for you

Say it one more time Christ is born Christ is born

Christ is born for you

Say it one more time

Thank you Praise you God As we continue this time of worship and offering

Lord, I ask that you would prepare our hearts for the service, Lord For the sermon God, that you would open our hearts to receive the word

God, that you have prepared through Nathan this morning Thank you for this church body, this church family that meets here to worship and honor you,

God In your name we pray There is an epidemic

That plagues our culture Every single year at this time

It makes its way into nearly every home It makes its way into many of our hearts and our minds

And this scourge Is known by all of us As the

Hallmark Christmas movie You didn't expect that, did you?

Who in here has been subject to such an atrocity? Every year, right?

Every single year I think that we all have been sucked into one of these train wrecks

It's a train wreck because you can't seem to look away as it's on the TV And if you've seen one, you've seen them all, right?

You've seen them all It's always the same thing It's that successful business woman

Living in the city and her priorities are a little out of balance And she goes back home, back to her small town

Only to find out the importance of family, the importance of community And then ultimately to meet the love of her life, right?

That's the move, that was forgotten Yes, that handsome and seemingly weirdly successful blue collar man

And this man shows her what true love really is

You see, there's a reason we're all drawn to this

We're drawn to this because these are all good things They're not bad things

Family, community, significant other, all grounded and established in love

These, that we're all created with the desire to pursue It's within us

Because after all, we are created in the image of God Created in the image of God, a triune

God Who is in perfect communion and perfect love within the Godhead God the Father, God the

Son and God the Holy Spirit And we are to emulate and imitate that communion

But even though we are created in His image, sin has marred that image

Sin has distorted it And though we still have a longing for those good things

The good things like family and community and fellowship We look to and we settle for family, community and love

That completely misses the mark Thoroughly misses the mark

We often settle for a cheap Christmas Hallmark movie version of a good thing

When our life doesn't pan out into that happily ever after Like the end of that movie

We're often left discouraged, disillusioned and jaded We think that all of that is hopeless and we might as well give up on all of those things

And it's because we settled for something lesser And the fact that we were imitating the world's cheap facade of reality

And make no mistake, what the world has to offer is nothing more than a cheap

Christmas Hallmark movie There's nothing there, it's hollow, it's lifeless, it's worthless

Providentially today, here on Christmas Eve We come in our study through Ephesians to Ephesians 5

You thought I was going to stop and do a Christmas message, didn't you? We're not going to stop our study through Ephesians I think this is week 42, 43, somewhere in that range of Ephesians And we have finally made it to chapter 5

So go ahead and open your copy of God's Word If you've got one with you, open it to Ephesians 5 We're going to be looking at the first two verses of this text

Ephesians chapter 5 Paul says, therefore, be imitators of God As beloved children

And walk in love as Christ loved us And gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice

To God This is the reading of God's wholly inspired

Word Let's stop This is a serious matter This is

His Word, we want to be clear with it We want to be true to it So please, bow your heads with me

Let's pray that the Holy Spirit would illuminate our hearts and minds to this truth Oh dear Heavenly Father, we come to you now

And we acknowledge that we often times misunderstand These clear truths from your

Word We have trouble And at times we take our worldview

Of that cheap imitation And we look at your

Word through that lens And we distort it Oh forgive us, help us

Holy Spirit, I ask right now For all of us that you are indwelling in That you would illuminate these truths to us

Guard my words from error Guard the ears of the hearers

We know that your Word does all that it sets out to do And we pray that it would do its work

Its surgical work on our hearts and minds today In Christ's name

Well, Paul knew that we all as humans Settle for a worldly, perverted, corrupted version of reality

He knows this And that's why he had told us back in chapter 4 In verse 23, look back at it

In chapter 4 in verse 23 He tells us to be renewed in the spirit of our minds

Right? To be renewed in the spirit of our minds Looking to God's Word, the only truth

To change the way that we think To give us an accurate view of everything For that's what

Paul said That God's Word gives us everything we need For life and godliness, right? It gives us that perspective for everything

We must have our minds renewed The spirit of our, the very inner being Not just intellectual ascent

But a spiritual ascent of His Word Working its way into our hearts And in doing so, we are putting off that old self

Like we talked about earlier The one that is deceived by that cheap facade of reality

And we're putting on the new self Created in the likeness of God Himself Which is true righteousness and true holiness

The only true thing Putting away the worldly things

And doing things like forgiving one another, right? As we get near the end of chapter 4 He's like, hey, forgive one another

As God and Christ forgave you And now no longer being imitators of the imitation

No longer being imitators of the imitation The world's version of truth and love

This Word here Imitate that we see when He says, therefore Because Christ died for you

He says, therefore, be imitators of God This word in the Greek, mimetēs You can probably hear the word that we get from that Mimic We get this word mimic

Paul used this same word over in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, didn't he? He says, hey, be mimetēs

Be imitators of me as I am of Christ Mimic me as I am of Christ Paul is saying, look at my life

Study who I am Evaluate me Examine what I do And mimic it, do the same thing with your life

And this is what he's telling us to do with God Here in our text in Ephesians 5 He's saying, mimic, look at Study, examine

God And mimic Him Study Him, learn

Him, know Him So the question I think that we have Because we all kind of know this

If we've been in the faith for any amount of time And we've read God's word, we're like, yeah, we're supposed to imitate God I get it, we're supposed to mimic

God We're supposed to look to God, I know But how do we do that? How do we look to God in this way?

Well, look at the text There in verse 1, he says Therefore, be imitators of God Mimic God As beloved children

I think this is key Remember earlier on in this letter If you have been with us in the beginning

Back in chapter 1 Paul's giving us the theology Of how we came into salvation

He's giving us the theology here All of that doctrine That we've been walking through But in chapter 1, starting in verse 4

If you remember, he says Even as He, God, chose us In Christ Because he's saying in Him Even as He chose us in Him Before the foundation of the world

That we should be holy and blameless Before Him In love, He predestined us

For adoption Adoption To Himself As sons

Through Jesus Christ Children According to the purpose of His will

To the praise of His glorious grace With which He has blessed us In the beloved

We're beloved children And He has blessed us in the beloved How has He done so? By adopting us

And making us children So we are to imitate God as beloved children If you are in Christ You are now

His child Right? If you are in Christ He is now your father

He wasn't before He was your judge before He was your creator and judge

Now He's your father You've been brought into the family And you are dearly loved

Dearly loved You are beloved You've been brought close

I think of a son With his father I know that Some of us didn't have good fathers

Some of us might not have had fathers at all Many of us did We had earthly fathers

I remember being a child And I watched every move Of my father Every move

I knew his walk I knew the way my father walked I knew the way he laughed

I knew the way He brushed his hair in the morning As a child I would examine

Everything I watched the way he drove The way he talked How he responded to other people I studied my father

I believed every word that came out of his mouth As if it was gospel truth You remember that as a child, right?

Your dad could tell you Anything and everything And you're going to take it as truth Because he said it

You believed it to be true And I both consciously And unconsciously

Imitated him When people know my father They look at me

They can tell by the way I walk They go, that's Roy's son Because I grew up imitating him

I studied him I watched him I studied him I studied him I longed to be just like him If I did that with my earthly father

Who was a sinful broken man Just like everyone else How much more

Should I How much more should we, both consciously and unconsciously, imitate our

Heavenly Father? How much more should I long to be like Him?

I don't know about you. Let's just play the honesty game real quick, right? There's times

I don't long to be like Him. You're like, oh, no, the pastor's telling the truth here.

I don't always long to be like Him. Why? He's good.

Because I'm usually not being like a child. I forget that I'm a child. I forget that He's my Father, and I forget that He's the good

Father. Like I said at the beginning of the service, sometimes

I'm out there, and I put on the old chains, and I live in the old self, and I forget that I tasted and saw that He was good.

And I want to be like the imitation. I don't long to be like Him. We all struggle with this, but why?

Every single thing about our Heavenly Father is pure perfection. So how?

How do we imitate Him? We're building upon this, right? How do we do this?

How do we imitate Him? Like a child. Like a child being with and longingly watching their

Father. That's what we are. Hanging on to every word

He says as gospel truth. Because I'm sure a lot of things that came out of my dad's mouth were not gospel truth, but I still believed them.

But every word that comes forth from God that is breathed out by God in His Word is perfect and true and right.

And then living our lives in light of it. Childlike faith, right?

That begins to bring on new meaning, doesn't it? Coming to Him with a childlike faith. He is our

Father. He is altogether bigger, greater, holy, wonderful.

But then that leads us to a question. How do we know when we are truly doing this?

How do we know when we are truly coming to our Father in a childlike faith and longingly imitating

Him? Not being deceived by the world's imitation, but truly imitating

Him. Look at verse 2. And walk in love.

And walk in love. If Paul had stopped here, we might be left to define what this means based on whatever our view of love is, which, let's be honest, is usually the imitation, not the real thing.

We'd be left to define what that love is, to walk in love, to live in love, for our life to be one that is a pattern of love.

What is love? Oh, thank the Lord. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul went on.

Look at it. He goes on to define it. He says, and walk in love as.

What is love? What is walking in love? As Christ loved us and gave

Himself up for us. This defines love.

This defines what it means to walk in love, He tells us, as Christ loved us and gave

Himself up for us. Jesus Himself said in His earthly ministry in John 15, He says, greater love is no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

That's the greatest example of love that could possibly be given. You see, it's easy for you and I to walk in the world's version of love.

I find that really easy. That's my default. We walk in the world's version of love.

That version of love is selfish. What's in it for me?

That version of love is fickle and void of commitment, isn't it?

That's the love of the imitation. It's not real, it's hollow.

We can fall out of love as quickly as we fell into it, can't we? At least what the world says is love.

We can abandon our family and our friends because we felt wronged. Or even worse, we just weren't happy.

Boy, what a hollow facade. Always leaves us wanting.

Oh, it looks pretty on the outside. Oh, I fell in love with Him. I want to marry Him, Dad.

What's the guy like? We play video games 60 hours a week. Well, it's fickle.

You fell in love. What do you mean you fell in love? What does that mean? That's the world's perspective of love, right?

It's not real. It's not substance. It's not what God has described as love.

What God emulates, not emulates, but shows us. What God is showing us because God is love.

We only know love because of God. We think, well, that relationship didn't turn out like the end of that Hallmark movie, so I must go find one that will.

That's an easy walk. Walk in that love. Let's make it a little bit closer to home, right?

Within the church. Walk in love. I can love my brother and sister. I can love the people within my church until my pastor says something

I don't like. I can walk in love until that person in the church does me wrong.

I can walk in love until I'm gossiped about. I can walk in love within the congregation.

I can walk in this sacrificial love, but the world's version of love, until I need to pack my bags and go to another church hoping that the end of that church is a good

Hallmark Christmas movie happy ending, to only be let down at that other church that's full of a bunch of broken sinners just like you.

This is the way that we perceive so often. We're imitating the imitation.

We're missing the mark. We're missing the point. Jesus spoke of this love.

I mean, John spoke of this love. Jesus did through John in 1 John. As a matter of fact, turn to your Bibles with me to 1

John chapter 4. I want you to see this definition and what it looks like to love in 1

John chapter 4. We're gonna look at verses 9 through 12 this morning. If you ever read

John's first letter there, you probably feel the weight in your own

Christian life. Like, oh my goodness, am I living out this Christian life the way I should? Am I even a

Christian? Because we see such a clear representation of what it means to walk in love.

So there in 1 John chapter 4, in verse 9, he says, In this the love of God was made manifest among us.

John's already implying you didn't see love before this. You had no concept of love before this.

You had no ability to even comprehend the love of God, true love, real love, until this moment.

What is that? That God sent his only son into the world. We just read that passage from Isaiah earlier in our call to worship, didn't we?

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This, this is what showed us love.

The love of God was made manifest among us. It became flesh among us.

Christ, the second person of the Godhead, dwelt among us, showing us love.

And yes, God sent his son into the world as a baby. But you've got to remember that eternal second person, the

Godhead, condescending to be made like the creature, is not just here to be a pretty little nativity set.

That's not the purpose. For what reason did he send his son in seemingly obscurity when there wasn't any room for him in the inn?

There wasn't room for him being born with animals out in a stable. What was the purpose of it?

So that we might live through him. How?

Well, because of his life, Adam brought death into the world, right?

And death was all we knew. The facade was all we knew. The imitation of what

God created was all we knew. And we were all spiritually dead and spiraling towards physical death, towards eternal punishment and judgment.

But Christ came. Christ came so that we, his beloved, might live through him, through his life, through his death and his resurrection.

You can't have the birth of Jesus without the resurrection of Jesus. Just the birth of Jesus still leaves us in our hopelessness.

But that birth of Jesus was tied into something that would be fulfilled and was prepared before the foundations of the world, that God, God would pour his own wrath out upon his own son for you and I.

Saints, this, this is love. God sent his only son.

Look at verse 10. And this is love, right?

That he sent his son, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son.

And what did he send his son for? To be the propitiation for our sins.

There's a $10 word for you, right? What does this mean? Well, keep your fingers there in 1

John. We're going to look back at the rest of that text in a moment. But look back at our passage in Ephesians 5, okay? Ephesians 5.

We're going to see what it means to be the propitiation for our sins. And what Paul says in Romans 5, 2, the second half.

Remember, he says, And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Our sin was so heinous. You realize that, right? You know that. The law of God is written in all your hearts.

Our sin was so heinous. It is cosmic treason against an almighty creator.

All of us have broken God's holy perfect law. We are all guilty.

Every single person guilty. And we all deserve his rightful judgment, don't we?

But God sent his son into the world. The one who fulfilled that law perfectly.

The perfect spotless lamb that would be sent to the slaughter. Given over as a fragrant offering for you and for me.

What does that mean? What does that look like? What does he mean a fragrant offering? You see, if I, Nathan Hargrave, apart from Christ, if I were to be put on that altar and burned,

I would still not be able to make amends for my treason against God.

If I were to be put on that altar and burned, I would most certainly not be a fragrant offering to God.

I, in my sin, would be a foul stench coming up into the nostrils of the almighty.

For my greatest righteousness is as filthy rags. It's disgusting before God.

Oh, but God's son, Jesus Christ, in his perfection, he was the perfect spotless lamb.

He went to that death, that sacrifice, willingly.

And his sacrifice came up before God as a fragrant offering. Fulfilling God's righteous demand of judgment and justice on behalf of us who would believe.

So we're not on the altar. He's on the altar. And he paid for all that were his.

Don't get lost in the baby Jesus narrative. If you get lost in anything, get lost in the fact that, oh, that baby grew perfectly, died, and rose again, and now reigns at the right hand of the

Father. That's the good news. All of it, the package deal.

Can't have one without the other. Well, look back with me at first, John. I told you to keep your fingers there.

I want to look at verse 11 there of chapter 4. It says, beloved. There it is again, right?

You're loved. Beloved, saints, children, those that God loves so dearly that he sends his own son to purchase you and to bring you into the family.

If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. There's your walk in love.

Love one another. Earlier on in first John, chapter 3, it says, by this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

You see what we're to imitate? What your father did.

Sacrificially sending his son. We're to live for each other in that sacrificial way.

Are we imitating God by our actions, by the way that we walk?

Are we walking in love? Are we walking in the love that Christ represented at the cross and through his life?

Or are we imitating the imitation? You see, if we are loving our brothers and sisters with that Christ -like sacrificial love, this can only come from the source, the

God who is love. You're incapable of it outside of Christ.

But when we are in him and we walk in love by walking in his word, looking to him, imitating him, studying him, evaluating what he does, what he loves, what he hates, and desiring to be like him.

There's a difference between imitating someone you want to be like and imitating your father.

You see, someone you want to be like. I've imitated other people. I've watched movies and seen movie stars as a kid and gone,

I want to be like that guy. I'm going to kind of imitate what he does. There's a difference between that and my father.

I had to be like my father. At times I desired to be like someone else. But this is the

Christian life. Sometimes we desire to imitate something else, but we have to be like our father.

We long for it. We're driven to it. We love righteousness. We love holiness.

We've been given the power to do so. So, saints, don't be deceived by the imitation that the world offers this

Christmas season. Don't be deceived by it. Don't fall into it going, well, everybody's okay.

This is okay. They have love. They're singing about love, singing about the whole world loving each other. Oh, this is all good.

It's nothing more than a Christmas Hallmark movie. It's hollow. Look to the one who laid down his life for you.

That's love. Imitate him. Follow him.

Walk in love, saints. Well, in light of this, as we do every single week, we are going to see that great sacrifice represented before us through the ordinance of the

Lord's Supper. If you are in Christ this morning, if you are a saint and you are in good standing with a local evangelical church, you are welcome to this table.

And we pray that you would see the love of Christ represented and the fact that his body and his blood was given over for you.