Making A Difference

Some can live their entire life and never make any difference in a positive way.

For example, God can leave some people on this earth for 90 or 100 years, and when they die, their life has made very little DIFFERENCE!

Illus: God let Methuselah live on this earth for 969 years, and the only thing the Bible says about him was how long he lived on this earth, and that he died.

Isn’t that sad? He lived 969 years, and there is not one thing that the Bible records he did in a positive way.

It is easy to understand why some folks are not looking forward to meeting the Lord. Why? Because God left them here on earth for so many years, and they lived each year he gave them for themselves.

But on the brighter side, others can live a short time on this earth and their life will make a major difference.

For example, some have made a tremendous difference:

• IN SPORTS - They have set new records that will exist for years after they have departed from this life

• IN POLITICS - They have done things for this country that will affect the economy and the morals of this country for years to come

• IN ENTERTAINMENT - When the Warner Bros. dad sold a horse to start his sons off in the entertainment world, they made a difference. It was during this time that they started making talking movies, and they were told that this would never be successful. They started, and the movie business has never been the same since that time

• IN RELIGION - Look at the great heroes of the faith. Luther, Spurgeon, Wesley, Moody. What a DIFFERENCE they have made

• IN MUSIC - Think of Fannie Crosby, that little blind girl who loved the Lord, who grew up to write beautiful Christian music that we enjoy singing today

As we go through life, there are always those that seem to just stand out. THEY HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE WITH THEIR LIVES, FOR THE BETTER OR THE WORSE!

But none has ever made such a difference as the Lord Jesus Christ made when He was here on earth.

Illus: Someone said, “He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.”He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave.”“Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race, and leader of mankind's progress.”“All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the kings that ever reigned, have not affected the life of man as much as that One Solitary Life.”

No one has ever had such an impact upon humans as the Lord Jesus. ABSOLUTLELY NO ONE!

But whether it is in church, or school, or on the ball field, or on the job, there are always those that shine a little brighter than others.

But none of us here today want to live a wasted life. We would like to make a DIFFERENCE with the one life God has entrusted us with. We realize we do not get a half a dozen shots to MAKE A DIFFERENCE, we only get one chance! And we would like use the one life we have to make a DIFFERENCE for the good.

HERE IS THE PROBLEM WE ALL FACE. The fact is, we could spend our entire life trying to make a difference in politics, sports, entertainment, music and etc. and probably not make very much difference.

SO WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO?

We need to find out where we can make a DIFFERENCE.

In this sermon I want to show you one way we can make a difference.

HOW CAN WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

I. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR CHURCH

The church today needs Christians who can make a difference. Our churches are filled with professing Christians who can pass from this life, and when they are dead and buried it will not affect God’s church in the slightest, other than the little space they take on the pews on Sunday morning.

The reason their life did not MAKE A DIFFERENCE was because the whole time they were on the face of the earth, they got side-tracked and got involved in everything but God’s Work.