Today's Passage - 1 Thess 1:6

1 Thessalonians 1:6   You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.   In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul said that "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."  First of all, Paul followed Christ, and then the Thessalonian church followed Paul and even other churches followed the Thessalonian church.  It is contagious to follow other examples.  I knew a pastor from Mongolia who used to be a thug that would get drunk and beat other people up.  After he became a preacher, he preached the gospel with tremendous power, and he often asked other brothers to share their testimonies.  We noticed that, interestingly enough, the testimonies of these brothers are often around how they were drunks, had beaten others up, and their lives were changed by Jesus, hallelujah!  A leader will attract similar kind of followers, thus we also need good examples to follow in our lives.   When I was in college, I had a group of close classmates whom I talked about everything with.  One classmate once told me that he had a special feeling for me.  He felt that other people could make mistakes, but I couldn't because I was a Christian.  I suddenly realized that it's a great responsibility to be a Christian.  If our lifestyle and behavior cannot bring people before Jesus, we might actually keep them away from God.  May God help us and let us have good testimonies in life, and set good examples in church.  Brothers, we must rise up for the Lord, because men tend to follow the leaders.  If there are good brothers rising up in the church and setting good examples, then other brothers will follow.  But don't expect others to rise up first - Start with yourself by offering yourself to the Lord!  Once you become a good example, you'll see how you become more influential.  Not only that, we also need to set good example at home.    A father once testified that one time he was shoveling snow in the winter, and half way through he noticed that his son was following him, and his son said: "dad, I am following your footsteps!"  This word greatly inspired him.  Brothers and sisters, your children are following your footsteps now.  The testimonies of our life will impact their whole life tremendously.  May God help us to keep on following and imitating God in our life, so that we may live out the fragrance of Jesus.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because you are our greatest example.  Let us follow you and imitate you in our daily life so that we may manifest your glorious beauty and draw others to follow you too.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!     Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow the project on Facebook ! Help us to reach our Phase I Target, and witness how God expands His Kingdom on earth!  Click here to donate online.