1 Timothy
4:12 NLT "Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example
to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your
faith, and your purity."
1.
We
are living influencers.
1.
The
word example means for one to be imitated.
1.
The
Greek means "to mimic," to behave in such a way that another can copy
it exactly.
1.
Paul
constantly told his disciples be imitators of me.
1
Corinthians 4:16 NLT "So I urge you to imitate me."
1
Corinthians 11:1 NLT "And you should imitate me, just as I imitate
Christ."
2.
That's
one bold Christ Follower.
1.
Or
had Christ just done that much work in his life that he feels confident enough
to speak those kinds of statements?
1.
He
walked close with God, spent time in God's word, in prayer, and was aware of
God's presence in his life at all times, that's how he could make this kind of
statement.
2.
Modeling
an exemplary lifestyle is the essence of discipleship.
1.
When
you strive to make yourself an example, you are preparing for multiplication.
1.
Although
only Christ is perfect, you should be able to say, "Follow me as I
follow Christ."
2.
Your
example to your family, your business, your community, and even your enemies
makes you a leader.
2.
You
have a realm of influence, regardless of what you do for a living or what title
you possess or don't, and in that realm people are watching to see if your
actions match your words.
1.
Your
influence is important.
3.
Perhaps
greater than any other time in history, we live in a world that is desperately
crying out for help.
1.
It's
a world where more than 1 million people live on less than one dollar a day.
2.
A
world where disease, and unknown outbreak are taking the lives of young and old
alike at an alarming rate.
3.
A
world where nearly 16,000 children die daily from hunger related causes, that's
1 child every 5 seconds.
4.
Tk
and I are passionate about missions, locally and globally and we have made a
decision that we're going to help as many people as we can to relieve as much
human suffering as we can with the time and resources we are given.
1.
That's
the life of a Christ follower.
1.
We
use the term missions quite a bit but this word is never actually mentioned in
the Bible.
1.
Missions
comes from the medieval Latin word meaning a "task assigned; an act of
sending."
2.
And
this is exactly what Jesus did before His ascension into heaven.
1.
One
of His last instructions to His disciples was:
Mark 16:15
NLT "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone."
5.
We
call this the "Great Commission."
1.
Not
the great concern, not the great suggestion, and hopefully it's not the
greatest ignored statement in the Bible.
1.
This
command isn't just for these disciples or for the early church it is for all
those who would ever know Christ and accept Him as their Savior.
2.
We,
the church, have been given an incredible assignment.
2.
Our
assignment is the task of evangelizing the world!
1.
That
is done through words, and that is done through actions.
1.
Listen,
we are Christ's personal representatives and God is literally making His appeal
to the world through us.
2
Corinthians 5:18-21 NLT [18] "And all of this is a gift from God, who
brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of
reconciling (restoring friendly relations between, bringing together) people to
Him. [19] For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer
counting people's sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of
reconciliation. [20] So we are Christ's ambassadors (personal representatives,
servants,); God is making His appeal(His serious or urgent request, *as
a law term He is trying to get the judgment overturned on our behalf* we were
born into sin but Jesus Christ came as the payment for our eternal freedom)
through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!"
[21] For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so
that we could be made right with God through Christ."
2.
When
I read these scriptures, it grips my heart and captivates my soul.
1.
I
want to make sure that I'm doing all that I can to fulfill this high calling
and take advantage of every opportunity.
3.
I
believe each one of us should regularly ask ourselves:
1.
What
am I doing to help someone else?
2.
What
am I doing to help people find a relationship with God through Jesus Christ?
1.
So
the question is, how do we go about modeling the message to all people?
1.
The
blood of Jesus Christ and the word of our testimony.
2
Corinthians 3:2-3 NLT [2] "The only letter of recommendation we need is
you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can
read it and recognize our good work among you. [3] Clearly, you are a letter
from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This
"letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the
living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts."
3.
In
other words, you and I are meant to be living influencers!
1.
Our
attitudes, our actions and how we treat people will always speak louder than
anything we'll say.
1.
Many
people have faith in Christ but don't want to bother others by sharing this
great news.
1.
They
keep quiet about this eternity altering, spiritually freeing, God honoring,
life shaking message.
4.
Purposely
reaching out to others is very important to Tk and I and it is one of the main
focuses of the ministry that God has called us to, always has been, always will
be.
1.
I
stress the word purposely because it is something we must do by choice, we
can't wait until we feel like doing it!
1.
Yes,
there are occasions when we may feel like giving, we feel like helping others,
but many times we don't.
2.
I'm
sure that Jesus didn't feel like dying on the cross to pay for our sins, but He
did it on purpose.
1.
He
decided in the garden of Gethsemane that He would do what Father God was asking
Him to do no matter what it cost Him personally.
1.
If
it wasn't for His purposeful, difficult decision, we would not have salvation
today!
3.
I
believe it's so much easier to say, "let's pray for revival" than to
actually take action and help start one.
1.
I've
seen congregations get together they weep, they worship, they give diligently;
believing and praying for revival.
1.
But
then when the bus ministry/kids/youth/men's/women's ministry gets fired up and
started bringing in the poor, or the homeless from shelters, the struggling
from housing projects and people from off the streets, or the broken from their
friends lists many of the people who prayed for revival left the church.
1.
They
didn't want to sit with those people.
2.
They
didn't want those people messing up their church, messing up their traditions,
and messing up their relationships.
1.
I
may be terribly mistaken but Jesus died for "all people," right?
2.
I
believe the global church has preached too much and forgiven too little, shown
too little, given too little, served too little and loved to little.
1.
Many
people have so much pain in their lives that they can't hear what we say until
we help relieve their suffering.
2.
That's
why I am firmly convinced that we must go armed and ready to help hurting
people.
3.
When
we meet people's physical needs it opens the door wide for us to address their
spiritual needs.
4.
Perhaps
you want to help but don't quite know how to go about it; one of the things we
can do is join with someone else who is already established, who is reaching
hurting people and reach with them.
1.
You
may never have an opportunity to travel to a foreign country yourself, you can
help finance the preaching of the gospel by supporting ministries and
outreaches that relieve the suffering of those less fortunate.
5.
That's
why we give to missions, that why we pray, give, and go.
1.
Making
the difference and changing our world.
3.
We
are all called.
1.
Called
to give, called to send, called to go and called to serve!
1.
I
firmly believe that every church and every Christian should be involved in
missions locally and globally, helping the poor, needy, lost, broken and
confused.
2.
It's
a vital part of the Christian lifestyle we are called to live.
3.
As
we join together and each of us does all we can, multitudes will be helped and
will come to the saving knowledge of God through Christ Jesus.
1.
The
Bible has a truckload to say about reaching the lost, the poor, the needy, the
hungry, those who are oppressed, the homeless, the widows and the orphans.
1.
As
a matter of fact, there are over 2,000 scriptures that give instruction on the
matter!
2.
These
passages reveal God's heart for the hurting, His passion for their salvation
and they have dramatically altered my purpose, my motives, and even my
lifestyle.
2.
Though
you love God with all of your heart if you're still searching for satisfaction
and you feel like something is missing.
1.
Or
perhaps you feel unfulfilled wondering if you've missed God's purpose for your
life.
Consider this:
Isaiah 58:10-11 NLT [10] "Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you
will be as bright as noon. [11] The LORD will guide you continually, giving you
water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a
well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring."
2.
Absolutely
and utterly incredible!
3.
Do
you see what God is saying here?
1.
When
we make it our business to feed the hungry, help those who are afflicted, those
overwhelmed in sin then He will take up our case and fight on our behalf.
1.
We
will be completely satisfied and lacking nothing!
2
Corinthians 9:9 NLT "As the Scriptures say, "They share freely and
give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever."
2.
And
the good we have done will not be forgotten, but it will last into eternity.
1.
That's
uncharted influence!
1.
Do
you need help in your life?
1.
Then
the answer is to reach out and help somebody else.
2.
Are
you looking for fulfillment, purpose and direction?
1.
Then
look for the lost and help show them the way through Jesus Christ.
4.
Jesus
called us to live unselfish, laying down our lives for those around and about
us.
1.
Engage
in what we were created to do, reach out.
5.
God
has not called us to in-reach, but to out-reach!
1.
He
has not called us to solve our own problems but the problems of others and as
we do, we will find God moving in amazing ways to meet our own needs.
1.
What
you make happen for someone else, God will make happen for you.
1.
I
encourage you to purposely and aggressively begin helping other people
everywhere you go in every way you can.
2.
None
of us can do it alone, but together we can reach out, proclaiming to the
nations the greatest message ever heard.
1.
Forever,
influencing our world.
Next month we launch a series entitled Love Conquers, be looking for it!
