How To Change The World

How To Change The World

Genesis 24:1-9 Matthew 5:38-48 Test Genesis 24:9-20

We are continuing our series, “Moving Things To The Next Level”. We have looked at “How to Kill a Church”, “How to Heal The Church”, “Look At How To Build A Church” and today we are going to look at how to change the world. You see our lives are to be focused ultimately not inward to the church but outwardly toward the world. You see God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. Our goal as a church has to end with reaching people for Jesus Christ in this world.

So how do we go about changing the world. It begins with us recognizing that we are significant in this world. We are significant not because of our education, our money, our background or our family, but because God has chosen to use us. What makes us valuable to God is our uniqueness. Now if you had a mint model T Ford back in 1935, it would not have been worth a whole lot because there were a lot of mint model T 1935 fords in 1935. But if you had that same car today, it would be worth a lot of money, because very few of them exist. The fewer there are of certain coins, certain paintings by certain artists, or certain pieces of jewelry, the more valuable they are. Why? Because there are not going to be any more of them made.

Not only are you unique, there has never been anyone else like you and there will not be one to follow. But that alone will not make you change the world. The decision of how you choose to use your uniqueness in your talents, in your relationships, and in your actions is going to make all the difference in the world. You can be the kind of person that does just enough to get by, and in the process miss all kinds of opportunities, or you can decide to give your best wherever you are, and have all kind of opportunities fall into your pathway.

Nobody knows when a simple decision is a decision that will change the world. How many of you know not giving your best has caused you to lose out on some things in life. You kept your world from becoming what it could have been. We are ready to grow in Christ, when we make up our minds to change this world by becoming and “and then some kind of a believer.” An a then some person is a person who does what’s asked of him or her, and then does something above that on their own. You ask the person to vacumn the living room, she does it, and then straightens the furniture on her own. You ask the person to change your oil, he does it but on his own he checks your transmission fluid level, your antifreeze level, and your tire pressure on his own. That’s an above and beyond and a then some kind of person.

In our New Testament reading, Jesus is telling us, do not settle just being an average kind of a person. Change this world for me, by shocking others by being an “and then some kind of a believer.” When was the last time you amazed someone by going above and beyond what was expected. God gives us the opportunity more often than we think God does.

We find a woman in the Scriptures who was willing to do what was asked and then some and in doing so, found the greatest of blessings for her life. The story is found in Genesis 24. We saw in our Scripture reading that Abraham wanted to get a wife for his son. Abraham was the first Jew called out by God, and God had promised to make him a great nation. Abraham waited a long time to have a son. He sent his servant to go and find a wife for his son Isaac from the land Abraham had come from.

Now the servant did not know he was on a mission to change the world. He could have taken a short cut, grabbed a young lady and said how would you like to go marry a good looking rich man. He could have paid her to say that she was from his people and nobody would have known the difference. But if he had of, he would have been changing the world, because there would not have been a Jacob and Esau. There would not have been the 12 tribes of Israel. There would not have been a David and a Jesus in his lineage. God was using this man to change the world and he didn’t even know it. Some of the most significant changes you have in this world, you won’t know they’re taking place