You Can Make a Difference!
(summary of an extemporaneous sermon by Jeffrey
Westbrook)
Texts: I Corinthians 10:31b; Colossians 3:17 (NASB)
Intro: - Anthony makes a difference for God’s Kingdom in his ministry in India, as we heard about in the moment for missions
- We’re going to switch from today’s plan and save the sermon for next week, because we are low on time. So I’d like to offer a few thoughts about making a difference for the Kingdom.
v Maybe we’re not serving full-time in some far-off land, but we can still make a difference for the Kingdom of God where we are.
v Expound on the verses:
I Cor. 10:31b à “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Col. 3:17 à “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”
v Story of “A Nobody Named Kimball” (see http://gci.gospelcom.net/dw/1999/05//03 )
o 19th c. – a Sunday School teacher named Edward Kimball obeyed God’s call to share the Gospel in a shoe store with a shoe salesman
o The shoe salesman turned to Christ, went into the ministry, and became one of the most famous preachers and evangelists ever: Dwight L. Moody.
o While Moody was preaching in England, a young minister – Frederic Brotherton Myer – listened and was inspired to become an evangelist.
o Meyer, preaching in Massachusetts, challenged a young man named J. Wilbur Chapman, who in turn became an influential evangelist.
o Chapman influenced one of his campaign volunteers, who later took over Chapman’s ministry – Billy Sunday. He went on to become “one of the most dynamic evangelists of the 20th century.”
o Billy Sunday led an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte, NC, in 1924. Christian leaders in that city, inspired by the campaign, wanted to evangelize the city. They invited Mordecai Ham to lead a campaign in 1932.
o A 16-year-old by attended the campaigns and at one meeting gave his life to Christ. He was Billy Graham, “the man who has undoubtedly communicated the gospel of Jesus Christ to more people than any other man in history.”
o Because 19th century Sunday School teacher Edward Kimball obeyed God and witnessed to a shoe salesman, millions of lives have been changed, millions of people have heard the Gospel.
v Maybe your results will be less spectacular than Kimball’s, or maybe more so. But the key is to glorify God and serve Him in ALL you do.
v Are you willing to let God use you to make an impact for His Kingdom?