How many of you want to make a difference? How many of you want to make a big difference? Making a difference takes time and effort. The good news is that we can. It may be challenging and possibly hard, but it’s worth doing.
Someone is always watching us. I don’t mean that in the paranoid, “cameras are everywhere” way. What I mean is that people are always watching you to see what kind of example you are setting. If you have kids, you know exactly what this mean because you know your kids see everything.
Matthew 4:18
There’s something about Jesus – Jesus makes desire for Himself in our lives. He is always calling and beckoning us to follow.
1 Corinthians 4:14-15
Jesus sets a desire in us to follow His example. As Jesus raises us up to follow His example, He wants us to have others follow us to Him.
Matthew 28:18-20
There’s something about having a mentor and being a mentor. Jesus wants us to follow him, but we also need earthly mentors as well as to be mentors to others.
Spiritual disciples are not born that way they are made that way. Great men and women are great because there were people willing to be “spiritual mothers and fathers” who saw in them what others didn’t see and stepped into their lives to “mine for the gold” that was in them. They made a conscious decision to be disciples and to learn from people who could teach them. God leads us to those who can point out the good in all of us and to help us change the things which are not so good.
Jesus did what He is calling all of us to do and that is to “double the difference our lives” make by making disciples. This is do-able. You can be a disciple and disciple others. You don’t need a seminary degree or special training. Most of what you need is just to be willing.
“A disciple is our enduring testimony to a world and a time we will never see.” – Unknown
Discipleship is important
It is not only God’s plan for helping people it is Jesus’ strategy for winning the world. Jesus’ plan for reaching the world isn’t centered in trying to meet the needs of the masses but in developing the potential of a few who will develop others who will touch the masses.
There are kids who live in our neighborhood who come to hang out with our youth group on Wednesday evenings. Many of them don’t go to church because their parents don’t attend a church and so don’t make time to take them. They come and hang out and we have become like family for many of them. This didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t happen without time and effort – but it did happen. Those kids will go on to make a positive impact on others. That’s where the multiplication comes in.
Mark 3:14-15
You never know who you will make a positive impact on. That’s why you always need to be prepared. As a pastor, Jim gets looked to for spiritual guidance all the time. But, you don’t need to be a “professional” in order to provide that guidance to others. You have something to offer to someone – again, most of the need is for you to be willing.
Matthew 9:36-37
You are His workers. You are all of what God wants to use where you are.
“Discipleship is the wineskin that Jesus is preparing to bring revival to the world.” – Unknown
Where you are is where God wants to use you.
We’ll continue this topic next week …
