Touching the World for Christ – Overflowing Outreach
Over the past four weeks we have been looking at how God wants to give us an overflowing life – an abundant life. A life so full of His joy, His peace, and His love – that it spills over into the lives of those who are around us. In John ten – ten it says:
“I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 10:10 (HCSB)
The word picture that the Greek paints for “abundance” actually means – an overflowing abundance. Not that your cup is full – but that it is flowing over the rim. The cup is so full that it is spilling out into the saucer. God wants our lives overflowing with is His love, His joy and His peace. He wants our lives so full with all the gifts He has to give to us – that it overflows into the lives of other people around us. That’s called outflow.
If you were to picture your influence for Christ as a fountain it would look sometime like a four tiered fountain. God fills up the top level – the top tier. That tier represents you. He then fills you so full that you spill over into the next level – the second tier. The second level represents the people who are closest to you – that would be your family and friends. The third tier represents your community. The fourth tier represents the world. God wants to have an impact on us – to have an impact on our family and friends – to have an impact on your community and finally to have an impact on the world. Today we are going to talk about – how you can have an influence for Christ on the entire world.
Let me give you three important insights about how God is involved with you to reach the world for Him. Here is what God does for you:
1. God SENDS YOU.
There is an interesting verse in John chapter seventeen. It is verse eighteen. Let me give you a little back ground before we read the verse.
What is going on in John chapter seventeen is that Jesus is praying for His disciples. The entire chapter is a prayer that Jesus prayed. He is praying for the disciples who were with Him while He was alive but He was also praying for the disciples who were to come after His death and resurrection. In other words – He is praying for you and me. The whole chapter is a prayer for us. Remember Jesus is praying to the Father and He says:
“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” John 17:18 (NKJV)
Wow! Jesus is saying that in the SAME WAY God the Father sent God the Son into the world – Jesus is now sending us into the world. In the SAME WAY! Folks if you are a Christian - you are a new creature in Christ:
Your sins have been FORGIVEN.
You have a home in HEAVEN.
You have a purpose for LIVING.
You are important! You have been commissioned by God to serve God. Just as God the Father sent Jesus into the world – Jesus sends us into the world. IN THE SAME WAY that God empowered Jesus – God empowers you. IN THE SAME WAY that God commissioned Jesus – God commissions you. IN THE SAME WAY that Jesus reached the entire world – God wants you to reach the entire world.
Do you know what happens when I read the Great Commission? I get overwhelmed. I often think the task is too big. It’s too large. It’s too huge. Look at what Jesus tells His disciples in Mark:
“And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15 (NKJV)
Wow! That is huge. That is gigantic. How in the world are we to reach the world? How are we to have an impact on the entire world? Do you know how you do it? You do it the same way you eat an elephant. You eat an elephant - one bite at a time.
Here is an old saying I heard somewhere:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
We are to touch the world in the SAME WAY that Jesus touched the entire world. Do you know how Jesus changed the entire world? He touched the entire world by touched people. He touched people one at a time. He accepted people where they were. He talked to them. He listened to them. He helped them in times of crisis. He served them. He gave a word of hope to those who viewed life as hopeless. He offered direction to those who were on the wrong path.
I read somewhere a long time ago that Jesus never traveled more then two hundred miles from where he was born. I don’t know if that is true or not – I do know that he traveled to Egypt when He was a baby. But I do know that he didn’t travel very far from his home town – yet He was able to touch the entire world.
God sends us to the world – but you know what I have found – the world God sends us to - is the world we are in right now. It is the people who are around us. It is the people we come in contact with. Touch them and you touch the world. That is the world that God sends us to.
Our second point is:
2. God CHANGES YOU.
Look at what it says in second Corinthians chapter five verse seventeen:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
I want to show a video clip of a life that was changed. In fact two lives are changed in this clip. This clip comes from the movie, “Spiderman 2”
(Show video clip from the movie “Spiderman 2”. It is the clip where Mary Jane (Spiderman’s girlfriend) realizes that she loves Peter (Spiderman). In the clip Mary Jane is to marry another man but leaves the church on the day of her wedding to tell Peter that she really loves him. She is aware of his true identity and she has turned her back on a comfortable life for a life of risk, love and adventure with Spiderman. As they are kissing they hear a siren. Peter looks toward the window. Instead of holding him back, Mary Jane says, “Go get ‘em, tiger.” *Note: our church has a license from Christian Video Licensing International to show video clips.)
In this clip two lives have been changed. Mary Jane has given up a comfortable life for a life of adventure.
Spiderman’s life has changed too. Not just has his DNA been altered by a spider bite but now he also has a life full of purpose. His purpose is to help the world. You have a purpose too:
Your sins have been FORGIVEN.
You have a home in HEAVEN.
You have a purpose for LIVING.
God has changed you for a purpose.
Look at what it says in Ephesians chapter two and verse ten:
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)
Notice in that verse that God has changed you for a purpose - "for good works". God does not save you to let you sit on a shelf. You are not some type of trophy or nick-nack. He has saved you - changed you - so that you can touch the world. But that is not all God has done:
3. God EMPOWERS YOU.
God empowers you to have an impact on the world around you. Do you know what Jesus called His disciples? He told them that they were “the salt of the earth.” It is found in Matthew chapter five:
"You are the salt of the earth.” Matthew 5:13 (NKJV)
Salt is pretty common isn’t it. I’m sure that just about everyone here today has salt at home. Do you know what I have found? I have found that salt does at least four things:
A. Salt MELTS ice.
Here in Kansas when winter comes the road department uses a mixture of salt and sand on the highways. Why? Because the salt mixed with sand helps melt frozen roadways.
As Christ followers, we have the ability to melt the cold indifference of the world around us. Simply by allowing God’s love to flow through you – people’s hearts can be changed.
B. Salt PRESERVES food.
Some foods are preserved with salt. I know that in our cabinet at home we have a box of pickling salt. We add it to the mixture of brine when we are making pickles. Salt helps to make things last.
Christians part of the reason that we are here is to give people hope. We have been left here to share the Good News. We all know that there is a lot of bad news in this world. But we have been placed here to share the Good News. By sharing the Good News we can proclaim a message of hope – in what may seem at times as a hopeless situation.
C. Salt MAKES people thirsty.
As people see the love we have for God and each other – they will thirst for what we have. Folks we are far from perfect - but we are forgiven. Our sins have been forgiven. We have a home in heaven. We have a purpose for living. God loves us - and we aught to love one another.
D. Salt ENHANCES the flavor of food.
Folks you know what I have found? I have found that it doesn’t take a lot of salt to change the flavor of foods. In fact, most of the time it just takes a little bit. Did you know that that is true of people too? Sometimes doing small things can have a great impact. Look at what the Bible says in Matthew:
“And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." Matthew 10:42 (NKJV)
Small stuff matters. Let’s watch this video.
(This video clip is about a man going through a check-out line and notices a clerk wearing a button. He takes the time to talk to the clerk. A simple act - but an act of acknowledgement just the same. He talked to her about what the button said. But he noticed her and that - is important.)
Folks we have been put on this earth to minister to people who are around us - to the world around us. Most of us just rush through life. We fill up our schedules with stuff - running to and fro. The most important thing we can do to share God’s love is to notice people. Listen to them. Acknowledge them. Make friends with them. And maybe - just maybe - they will ask you why are you different? Then you can tell them that God noticed you. He acknowledged you. He listened to you. Then He touched you and your life has never been the same.
Your sins have been FORGIVEN.
You have a home in HEAVEN.
You have a purpose for LIVING.
Let us pray.
(At the end of the service I plan to have people come and get a bottle of water so that they can give it away - in their world.)
