Main Idea || Becoming the kind of christian the world can't resist starts from the only place that we have any chance of growing into the version of disciple Jesus desires: humility. SERIES INTRODUCTION “Jesus said his followers would be a light to the world and a city on a hill a warmly inviting, neighbor-loving, grace and truth-filled destination for all. He envisioned his followers as life-giving neighbors, bosses, employees, and friends, the kind of people who return insults with kindness and persecution with prayers. Rooted in biblical convictions, they would extend love, empathy, and care to one another as well as to those who don't share their beliefs. Over time their movement would become irresistible to every nation, tribe, and tongue.” ~ Scott Sauls How can we replace the world around us from Jesus with them to Jesus? Let God use us like a sweet “Christ-like” . 2 Corinthians 2:14–15 (NLT) Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 15Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. “We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle (novelist / poet ) “Having been made new in Christ, we have also become his ambassadors in the world, “sent out” to be contagious contributors, not contemptible contrarians, to the world around us.” ~Scott Sauls How might we embark on a journey w/the irresistible Christ, alongside an irresistible community, to the end that we all, by the grace & power of Christ, become the kind of Christians the world can’t resist? We view ourselves as human “paradoxes”. 1 Timothy 1:15 (NLT) 15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all” Romans 7:24 (NLT) 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? We view ourselves from a of humility. Luke 18:9–14 (NLT) “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” “ God does not love us to the degree that we are like Christ. Rather, God loves us to the degree that we are in Christ. And that’s always 100 percent.” ~ Rankin Wilbourne If God is ultimately the one who completes the work he has begun in us, what are we to do and how are we to contribute to the process? To be like Jesus, invest yourself in being Jesus. Luke 10:38-42 (NLT) Expect growth only by gradual . 2 Peter 1:3–7 (NLT) CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: 1. In our culture, the word Christian can evoke as many negative reactions as positive ones. a. Have you faced any negative reactions to Christianity? b. How did it make you feel, and how did you respond? 2. Author Scott Sauls writes, “We are meant to be neither holier-than-thou enemies of the culture on the one hand, nor lawless and avaricious products of the culture on the other. Instead, we are to become culture-shapers for the good and flourishing of all.” a. In your opinion, what’s the difference between being enemies of culture, products of culture, and “sweet perfume” culture-shapers? 3. Scott Sauls also describes a vision for Irresistible Faith. After reading through these images tell the group about your gut reaction: a. What would it look like for Christians to become the first place people go for comfort when a life-altering diagnosis comes, when anxiety and depression hit, when a child goes astray, when a spouse files for divorce, or when a breadwinner loses a job? a woman with a crisis pregnancy to see the local church, not the local clinic, as her trustworthy source for love, non-judgment, practical support, wise counsel, and much-needed encouragement? the local church to become the most diverse and welcoming—rather than the most homogeneous and inhospitable—community on earth? not only the best kind of friends, but the best kind of enemies, returning insults with kindness and persecution with prayers? the ones who, en masse, to start loving and following the whole Jesus and the whole Scripture, the whole time, into the whole world? 4. Pastor Dan suggested “To be like Jesus, invest yourself in being with Jesus.” What does (or might) investing yourself into “being with” Jesus look like for you?