Key Essentials for impacting your community for Christ

Impacting your community for God

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Key Essentials for impacting your community for God!

Power, in the culture in which we live, people are searching for power! The millennial generation puts a great deal of hype on power…Money, status, and material things often keep us from being what God truly intends us to be! I want to propose to you, that in order to understand true power…you have to be in a real relationship with Jesus Christ. It has to be a real relationship!
I know that there are many people who know about Jesus! Jesus asks the question of His disciples over in Matthew Chapter 16. He asked them “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” It was a valid question 2000 years ago; it is a valid question today! If I were to walk the streets of any town USA today and ask the same question, I would probably receive the same answers the disciples received so long ago! Many people think that Jesus was a good man.
For year’s people have talked about how good Jesus is, but they fail to realize that He is not only the Son of the Living God, He is God! Jesus goes on in His questioning, He makes it personal. He asks the question “Who do you say that I am?” If I were to walk on any campus, and ask students, what would their answer be? What would you answer be? What are you going to say? How would it be with you, if you were to stand before the judgment throne of God, what would your answer be?
Jesus is asking, “Who do you say that I am?” If you are going to impact your community for God,
if you are going to impact your city, your school, your church for God you are going to have to answer the question that Jesus asked. Who do you say that He is? In thinking about you, I began to think about Characteristics that we must possess in order to impact our community for God!
I began to think about how the Holy Spirit could use us to be witnesses in our community.
So I have come up with six characteristics that will help you impact your community for Christ!
The first essential is…Dream Big! The Sky is the Limit! Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” God wants you to prosper. He wants you to dream big! (We are to have a confident expectation) He wants us to do great things for His Kingdom. He wants us to be part of the movement. The great Evangelist D. L. Moody wanted to be a part of a movement! One night the young evangelist heard Henry Varley say, “It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him.” And from that day on D. L. Moody wanted to be that man, and the world did marvel to see how wonderfully God used him. He has plans, sovereign plans, and you are a part of those. He has tailor made plans for every one who knows Him as Lord and Savior. If you choose or have chose to follow Him, He wants you to dream big. The sky is the limit. No limitations can be placed on God. He wants you to succeed! He really does, He knows you better than you no your self! DREAM BIG! I think about being part of the movement, to see Christ glorified on School Campuses, all across the State of Florida, all across this nation, the world! To see Him High and lifted up! Shining in the Light of His Glory. Jesus said “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto my self.” Our Goal is not to draw people to our churches, because the church cannot save people! If we are going to impact our community for God, our goal is to draw people to Jesus! Dream Big! God does not have little plans for you; He has plans to prosper you. To give you HOPE and a FUTURE! Set Goals, Dream, He has expectations. Dream Big.

The next essential characteristic we need to impact our community for Christ is to Work Hard! He wants us to work hard. There are so many people with so many needs, God wants his people work hard. Don’t confuse this! The Bible teaches us “It is by Grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of your self, so that no man can boast.” Salvation is a gift of God. You don’t have to work for salvation. Jesus; has already taken care of that. It is a gift, freely given. But He does want us to work. He doesn’t want us to get saved and cruise. We need to sing like we are saved! We need to smile like we are saved! We need to smell like we are saved! We need to search like we are saved! He wants us to be like Him. (Ephesians 5:1) He wants us to reach out, to offer hope to the hopeless; he wants us to encourage those who are down and out. He wants us to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey everything He commanded us.” Work Hard! Do what is right! Everyone can have an opinion, but God needs to be the one who gets His way. Don’t be lazy! One of the biggest problems for professional ministers today is that they are lazy! Work for Jesus! Remember what He has done for you! We are to submit to Him! (Lordship) let Him be Lord! We have to instant in season as well as out of season. (Be Ready) We need not to conform to the patterns of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. How does Jesus expect us to do this…by spending time reading His word? By spending time praying! By spending time involved in the work of His church. (Missions)(Campus Clubs) If you spend time in prayer and study, you will be motivated to work. Work hard!
The next essential characteristic is to Get It Done! “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what can be done today” God wants us to Dream Big, He wants us to Work Hard, and He wants us to get it done! I don’t know how many times God impresses something on me to do.
And sometimes, I let it slide. Put it off. There are people reading this blog that are having a difficult time. There are people who are reading this blog that are putting spiritual decisions off. Today you need to get it done, and make the decision! You need to choose!
So many times in many of our lives we put off things that God impresses on us to do. Maybe it is talking to a friend, or sharing your faith with a family member and we put it off. We look for the opportune time can I tell you this? There is no time like the present.
Get it done! You’ll feel better! Get it done! It’s the right thing to do. “But be doers of the word and not hearers only. If you are only a hearer you are deceiving your self! Dream Big, Work hard, Get it done and
Play Fair…God wants us to play fair. In life, in the things that you do, in the people that you come into contact with, play fair.
Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children (2) and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” God is fair. God is just. If we imitate God, we are going to be fair and just. To many Christians are not playing fair. They are cheating people. Taking advantage of people. Play Fair. Do what is right.
Could you imagine Jesus taking advantage of someone? Of course not! He is Fair, He wants us to play fair, to be real, to daily evaluate our lives and search for those things that are not fair or real and quickly make corrections. Do what is right! Dream Big, Work Hard, Get it done, Play Fair and…
Have Fun…It is ok to have fun! It is ok to laugh. Being a Christian is loads of fun. I love to have fun; I love to be around fun people. By the way Jesus came so that we could have life. The Bible tells us this; he came so that we could not only have life, but an abundant life. I don’t know about you, but an abundant life sounds pretty fun. Think about it. An abundant life! A life that is full of joy and peace and love. Have fun, smile every once and a while. Christians have what the world is searching for. We must never forget this; we have what lost folks are searching for. Have Fun! It’s ok.
Dream Big, Work Hard, Get it done, Play fair, have fun and finally…
Make a difference…In someone’s life! Make a difference for the Kingdom of God. What are you doing that is significant for God’s Kingdom? Anything? Are you making a difference in someone’s life? Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (21) I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained by the law, Christ died for nothing.” Make a difference! Do what is right! Live for Christ!

What will your answer be? Who do you say that Jesus is?

I love you all!