(This sermon was introduced by showing a video clip. The clip contained a series of short interviews in which people were asked the question. "For what do you wish to be remembered?" The last interviewee said "I want to be remembered as someone who made a difference." That is my desire! With that in mind I want to share a message entitled "The Encouraging Difference."
Charles Colson shares a story that illustrates this point. In his book, "Loving God," he tells the story of an incredible ninety-one-year-old woman, known affectionately as Grandma Howell. As she moved into the twilight of her life, she had more than one reason to let depression take over and just give up. Her youngest son had died. Her oldest son was in declining health. Many of her friends were dying and she had begun to believe that she had nothing left for which to live. One day she prayed with all of her heart and told the Lord that if He didn¡t have anything more for her to do, she was ready to die. According to Grandma Howell, God spoke three words: "Write to prisoners." After arguing with the Lord about her lack of education and her age, Grandma Howell wrote her first letter.
Dear Inmate, I am a grandmother who loves and cares for you. You are in a place you had rather not be. My love and sympathy goes out to you. I am willing to be a friend to you in correspondence. If you’d like to hear from me, write me. I will answer every letter you write. A Christian Friend, Grandmother Howell
When the letter was sent to the Atlanta Penitentiary, the prison chaplain sent Myrtle the names of eight prison inmates. That was the beginning of an unbelievable ministry of encouragement. Over the next months, this elderly woman carried on an extensive writing ministry with hundreds of incarcerated men and women. All of it was done from her little room in a high-rise home for the aged in Columbus, Georgia. According to Colson, writing to the prisoners was only half of Myrtle’s joy. They wrote back! And their letters were warm, rich letters of gratitude.
One inmate who signed her name Grandmother Janice, wrote: Dear Grandmother, I received your letter and it made me sad to think you may not be alive much longer. I thought I would wait and come to see you and then tell you all you have meant to me. But now I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to tell you now. You’ve given me all the love and concern and care that I’ve missed for years and my whole outlook on life has changed. You’ve made me realize that life is worth living and that it’s not all bad. You claim it’s all God’s doing, but I think you deserve the credit. I didn’t think I was capable of feeling love for anyone again, but I know I love you as my very own precious grandmother." (SOURCE: Acts of Love, Vision House, David Jeremiah, pp. 159-161.)
(Contributed to Sermon Central by SermonCentral PRO)
I do not want to waste my time in this life. I want to make a difference. Life is filled with meaningless activity. I read about a fellow that stopped at a gas station and, after filling the tank on his car, he paid the bill and bought a soft drink. He stood by his car to drink his cola and he watched a couple of men working along the roadside. One man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on. The other man came along behind and filled the hole. While one was digging a new hole, the other was about 25 feet behind filling in the old. The men worked right past the fellow with the soft drink and went on down the road. "I can’t stand this," said the man tossing the can in a trash container and heading down the road toward the men. "Hold on," he said to the men. "Can you tell me what’s going on here with this digging?" "Well, we work for the government, " one of the men said. "But one of you is digging a hole and the other fills it up. You’re not accomplishing anything. Aren’t you wasting the people’s money?" "You don’t understand, mister," one of the men said, leaning on his shovel and wiping his forehead. "Normally there’s three of us--me, Sam and Jesse. "I dig the hole, Sam sticks in the tree and Jesse here puts the dirt back. Now, just because Sam’s sick, that don’t mean that Jesse and I can’t work." They just dig holes instead of planting trees.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Ed Vasicek)
I want to make a difference. Even more, I want to make a difference for God. I want you to look with me at a man who made a difference. In fact, as we look at his life we can see him as the man who made a difference by encouraging. What did he do and what can we do?
I. We can make a difference by sharing Jesus with people. Jesus can make a difference in people’s lives, not us. People do not need our religion. People do not need our ideas. They need Jesus.
A. If we are to share Jesus we must get out of our comfort zone. The believers who went to Antioch had to leave their comfort zone. Up until that point in time, the gospel had not been outside of Jerusalem. God’s plan was to evangelize the Jews first and then expand into other areas. The believers were limited to Jerusalem. However, there arose a time of persecution against Christians. During that time a dynamic Christian, named Stephen, was stoned to death in a brutal act of persecution. This persecution caused the believers to spread beyond the borders of Jerusalem. One of the first places they went was Antioch. Antioch was not an easy place in which to share Jesus. Antioch was the third greatest city in the world next to Rome and Alexandria. It was famous for her chariot races and for the worship of Daphne whose temple stood five miles out of the town. The priestesses of the Temple of Daphne were sacred prostitutes and nightly the worshippers and the priestesses participated in an immoral worship of the pagan god Daphne. "The morals of Daphne" was a phrase that the entire world knew for loose living.
A faithful Christian soldier went to his chaplain for advice. "Last night," he said, "when I knelt by my bed and prayed, the fellows began to ridicule and throw shoes at me. What should I do?" "Well," said the chaplain, "why don’t you stop kneeling down? Just lie in bed and lift your heart to God in silence and He will hear you." After a few days, the chaplain asked the soldier how he was faring with his evening prayers. "I’ll tell you, reverend. I followed your advice for three nights, but my conscience began to bother me. I felt as if I was betraying my Lord. So I began to kneel as I did before." "And what happened?" I was really amazed. Not a single fellow ridiculed me. Now the fifteen men in my tent kneel down with me, and I pray aloud for all of them."
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Sean Smuts)
We must get out of our comfort zone. One poet said it well.
Some like to dwell within the sound of church and chapel bell.
But I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell.
C. T. Studd
Getting out of our comfort zone requires that we be faithful in the place where God has placed us. (vs. 19) It seems incredible that it was in a city like this that Christianity took the great stride of becoming a world religion. What a tribute to those early believers that they won the name "Christian" within that context. My point, they were faithful. God does not ask us to keep up with any other church. However, he does expect us to be faithful. God does not expect you to imitate any other believer. However, he does expect you to be faithful.
In his book, "When God Whispers Your Name", Max Lucado tells the story of John Egglen, who had never preached a sermon in his life. One Sunday morning the pastor of John’s church was unable to make it to church, because of a snow storm. John was the only church leader to show up. He was not a preacher, but he was faithful. On that particular Sunday morning he preached. God rewarded his faithfulness, and at the end of his sermon, one young man invited God into his heart. No one there could appreciate the significance of what had taken place that morning. The young man who accepted Christ that snowy Sunday morning was non other than Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the man who has often been called, the "prince of preachers." When he was less than 30 years of age he became the pastor of London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle. His sermons were so powerful people would line up outside trying to hear his sermons. That amazing life of faith all started on a cold Sunday morning with the faithfulness of a deacon who had never preached a sermon. Faithfulness means being committed to what God gives us to do, whether it looks like a big assignment, or a small one. Preaching a sermon to a handful of people on a Sunday morning seems insignificant, but it demanded faithfulness. God blessed John Egglin’s faithfulness. (Contributed to Sermon Central by Tim Richards)
B. God has equipped us with a unique set of skills and a unique personality. Not everybody can be a Billy Graham. Not everybody can be a Rick Warren. However, we can be our self. That is what God blesses.
It was by the grace of God they sent the man they did to Antioch. They might have sent someone of a rigid mind who made a god of the Law and was shackled by its rules and regulations; but they sent the man with the biggest heart in the Church. Barnabas had already stood by Paul and sponsored him when all men doubted him (Ac.9:27). Barnabas had already given proof of his Christian love by his generosity to his needy brethren.¨ (Ac.4:36-37). (Taken from Barclays’s commentary on Acts 11:22-26)
Illustration: Several weeks ago a friend sent me a humorous e-mail. It contained a picture of an F-16 jet flying beside a refueling tanker. The story below the picture told the story. The pilot of the F-16 was a brash young pilot. He was teasing the pilot of the tanker because he could fly faster and do much more than the tanker. He flew a couple of loops and did a couple of rolls and then asked the pilot of the tanker what he thought. The pilot of the tanker acknowledged the maneuvers and then asked the young pilot to watch. The radios went silent for a few minutes and the tanker pilot came back. He asked the young pilot what he thought. The young pilot acknowledged he did not see anything. The tanker pilot said, "I put my plane on auto-pilot, got up and went to the bath room." He asked the young pilot if he could do that in the F-16. The tanker pilot made his point. He felt good about his air-craft and its unique qualities. Even so, you and I must appreciate the unique qualities and opportunities God has given us.
II. We can make a difference by encouraging people in their faith.
A. There is a tremendous need for encouragers: at work, at school, at home, and at church. Barnabas was such a man. Most every time you meet him on the pages of scripture he is encouraging someone. His name means "son of encouragement." He participated in a special offering to meet the needs of the early church in Jerusalem (4:36-37).Barnabas had been the one person who was willing to stick his neck out when everyone else was afraid of Saul of Tarsus. They suspected Saul’s conversion to have been a trap for Christians (9:27). Barnabas encouraged the new believers at Antioch. One of the highest human duties is the duty of encouragement. It is easy to laugh at men’s ideals; it is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. (Barclay)
Ill- During a practice session for the Green Bay Packers, things were not going well for Vince Lombardi’s team. Lombardi singled out one big guard for his failure to "put out." It was a hot, muggy day when the coach called his guard aside and leveled him, as only Lombardi could. "Son, you are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, and you’re not putting out. As a matter of fact, it’s all over for you today, go take a shower." The big guard dropped his head and walked into the dressing room. Forty-five minutes later, when Lombardi walked in, he saw the big guard sitting in front of his locker still wearing his uniform. His head was bowed, and he was sobbing quietly. Vince Lombardi, ever the changeable but always the compassionate warrior, did something of an about-face that was also typical of him. He walked over to his football player and put his arms around his shoulder. "Son," he said, "I told you the truth. You are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, and you’re not putting out. However, in all fairness to you, I should have finished the story. Inside of you, son, there is a great football player, and I’m going to stick by your side until the great football player inside of you has a chance to come out and assert himself." With these words, Jerry Kramer straightened up and felt a great deal better. As a matter of fact, he felt so much better he went on to become one of the all-time greats in football, and a few years ago was voted the best guard in the NFL for the first 50 years of professional football. That was Lombardi. He saw things in men that they seldom saw in themselves. He had the ability to inspire his men to use the gifts they had. As a result, these players gave Lombardi three consecutive world championships at Green Bay. (From a sermon by Jerry Shirley, "The Ideal Discipleship" 2/11/2009)
(Contributed to Sermon Central by SermonCentral Staff)
B. When we seek to encourage people, it takes time. In our text, Barnabus invested a year into these people. One of the greatest investments of your life is to invest in people.
III. We can make a difference by helping others to make a difference.
A. The church at Antioch sought to make a difference.
This church sought to help believers who were going through a famine (vs. 27-30). This church sent out the first missionaries. In fact, the church at Antioch would be the sovereignly chosen group that God chose to fund and direct the next decade of church expansion under a new missionary, Paul.
B. One of the primary ingredients that characterize growing churches is that their members feel as if they are making a difference in their world.
You do not have to do anything profound in order to make a difference. We have a young couple that recently moved into our subdivision. I went by and introduced myself to them. I have put together a directory for our subdivision. I provided the new couple a directory. Judy made them a cake and delivered it to them. A few days ago we received a nice note from the young lady thanking us for making them feel welcome.
Next month we are going to conduct a special focus called "Faith In Action." The slogan is "Don’t Go To Church---Be The Church---Put Your Faith In Action.¨ This focus leads up to our 10th anniversary celebration on Oct. 4. We are asking each member and each Sunday school class to perform a ministry project to reach out and touch our community. Our conviction is that we want our community to know that we are here to make a difference.
I find that people really do want to make a difference. Jonathan’s involvement with the homeless people of Mobile is a case in point. When they started this ministry they were inundated with clothes and other items that people gave for the homeless.
Another example is the meal that was provided last Christmas for lonely and struggling people. You poured out your hearts for that ministry.
Ill- Several years ago we made our first trip to southeast Asia to visit our missionary son and his wife. I was thinking we would not see or hear from other missionaries. However, I was amazed and blessed at the number of young missionaries who are willing to live on the cutting edge in order to make a difference in God’s kingdom. One night we went to dinner and we met two groups consisting of about 8-10 young missionaries. Churches that get it right are leading their members to get involved in order to make a difference.
Barnabus made a difference by encouraging others. You can do the same.
