Our theme word for 2021 is “PURSUE” and our theme verse is a very familiar one, one of the top 40 most read verses on the YouVersion Bible app. Out of the 31,102 verses, this one is the #37 most read.

Matthew 6:33 – NLT - “SEEK {PURSUE} the Kingdom of God ABOVE ALL else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”

What our theme verse is saying is our bottom line for this whole year and EVERY YEAR:

PURSUE JESUS ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE!

PURSUE Jesus every day BECAUSE you BECOME like the one you spend time with.

Our new MISSION STATEMENT lays out part of that PURSUIT. This is what it says, “At BC, we want EVERYONE to KNOW GOD, FIND FREEDOM, CONNECT WITH OTHERS and MAKE A DIFFERENCE.” As we have said, each of those things require INTENTION. You will not accidentally KNOW GOD. You have to SEEK HIM. You won’t stumble upon finding freedom. You have to WANT IT and PURSUE it. You don’t typically connect with others unless you are looking for and seizing the opportunities to do that. And the same is true when it comes to MAKING A DIFFERENCE. You have to be INTENTIONAL. This week, as we wrap up this series, I want to talk to you about PURSUE…MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

Our definition for Making A Difference is this:

Impact your world by serving others.

What do you think of when YOU think of MAKING A DIFFERENCE?
· Coming up with the cure for some disease or virus?
· Scoring the winning basket for your team?
· Being the leader of a group of soldiers that wins a major battle?
· Becoming a soul winner that leads hundreds of people to Christ?

While I would certainly agree that all of those examples MADE A DIFFERENCE, so would these examples:
· Being a bench warmer that pushes the starters to get better in practice. Because of that, they improve which helps them to be better in games.
· Being nice to the new kid in your school
· Making a pie for the neighbors that just moved in
· How about someone that maybe just leads ONE person to the Lord?

Perhaps you have heard the story of Edward Kimball?

It was July 1, 1885 when Edward Kimball felt the tugging of the Spirit to share his faith with a young shoe salesman he knew. At first Kimball vacillated, unsure if he should talk to the man. But he finally mustered his courage and went into the shoe store. There Kimball found the salesman in the back room stocking shoes, and he began to share his faith with him. As a result, the young shoe salesman prayed and received Christ that day. That shoe salesman’s name was Dwight L. Moody, and he became the greatest evangelist of his generation.
But the story doesn’t end there. Through his ministry, Moody was responsible for a London pastor named F.B. Meyer coming to faith. Meyer was responsible for J. Wilbur Chapman coming to faith, and Chapman influenced Billy Sunday, another prominent evangelist of the 20th century. Billy Sunday was integral in a man named Mordecai Ham coming to faith. And Mordecai Ham was the preacher responsible for leading a young man named Billy Graham to Christ.
Talk about a chain of events! And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimball, who reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham. Look at what God has done over these many years because of the faithfulness of one person.”
Do you think Edward Kimball knew all of that before simply sharing his faith with one shoe salesman? No way! And you never know how much you can…

Impact your world by serving others.

Or perhaps it is skipping one small step of making an explosive bullet?
I read a story from World War II that shows how the smallest deed can make all the difference in the world to someone.

During the last months of the War, the British conducted daily bombing raids over Berlin and one night the bombers were attacked by a large group of German fighter planes.
During the dogfight one of the Bomber Planes got separated from the protection of British Fighter Planes. They watched helplessly as a German Fighter Plane came within range. Bullets whizzed by over and over until Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Five bullets slammed into the fuselage of the bomber near the fuel tank.
The crew braced for the explosion, but it never came. Fuel poured from the bullet holes, but there was no explosion. After landing, a mechanic checked out the damage. When he was done, he handed the pilot 5 bullets he had pulled from the plane.
The pilot carefully opened the explosive tip and found that they were empty --- except for a tiny wad of paper with a note that read: “We are Polish POWS forced to make bullets for the Nazis. When guards do not look, we do not fill with explosive. Is not much, but is best we can do.”

Those five small bullets were made by a few weak and lowly prisoners. But because of the small effort of those prisoners, EVERY member of that British bomber crew made it home alive. It didn’t seem like much to those POW’s BUT for the Crew of that British Bomber and the generations since that came from them, it made all the difference in the world. They definitely..

Impacted their world by serving others.

If you are a follower of Christ, God has a JOB for you! He has a task for His kingdom that He wants YOU to do! It might be a BIG JOB that others see and notice. It might be a BIG JOB that nobody sees or notices. But if God has the job for you, it is a BIG JOB, even if it’s a small task. Because of WHO it is FOR, you never know what He might do with that!

Right now, there is a team of people that are watching babies in Ocon and here. Changing diapers, holding them, loving them, keeping them safe. BECAUSE they are doing that, the parents have the ability to be in here hearing a message without distraction. What if God speaks to one or both of those parents and they put their faith in Christ or they follow God’s call for their life as a missionary or a pastor? Who made a difference that resulted in God’s will in their life? EVERY role at Bridge Church has the potential to MAKE A DIFFERENCE in someone’s life.

We have people who set up a room in Ocon, for others to sit in to hear the Gospel. And people who run the tech to get the livestream from here to there! And so many others.

There is also our incredible First Impressions team at both campuses! They rock! They are so warm and inviting and friendly. And it is not for show. They care about the people that walk through our doors and they want to help others KNOW GOD, FIND FREEDOM, CONNECT WITH OTHERS and MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Super proud of them. But you know who else makes me proud. Someone who isn’t on the team or isn’t “on duty” that day, and YET they reach out to someone sitting on their row or in the café and they are just friendly. They try to connect with someone else. THAT is MAKING A DIFFERENCE! You never know the impact that could make. You can…

Impact your world by serving others.

Too many people come up with reasons why God can’t use them.
· I’m too ordinary…that’s what the shepherd boy David said.
· I’m not very smart. That’s probably what Samson said. If he didn’t say it, he should have.
· I don’t have much going for me. That was certainly true of Joseph who had been a slave and a prisoner in Egypt right before he became the Prime Minister! Or how about…
· I don’t talk too good. That’s what Moses said…
· I am not that well liked by others. That was true of Matthew.
· You don’t know what I use to be like, what I use to do…That was something Paul could have said…
· How about, “But I’m disabled…”
· Nick Vujicic is a man who has no arms and no legs. What he says about that is “If you add “go” to the front of the word ‘disable’, it spells out “God Is Able”! I love that! Nick is someone who once saw no possible purpose for his limited life, now travels the world as an evangelist sharing God’s love with everyone he comes into contact with…Anyone can be used by God.
· How about “I’m depressed”? So was Elijah, YET, God used him!
· For every excuse we might use, God says, “If you give it to me, I can use that…”

When we don’t have much but we give it to God and He uses it, HE gets the glory for that! SO…

Use WHAT you have, WHERE you are

Let me give you an example from Scripture of someone that simply…

Used WHAT he had, WHERE he was

The story is found in:

Used WHAT he had, WHERE he was

We are not told the backstory here, so will you let me imagine what MIGHT have happened? The disciples saw they had a food problem and they started asking people if they had any food. Several people had packed a lunch for themselves, but they knew it wouldn’t make any difference, and they were hungry…so they weren’t offering it. But a young boy was there and heard the disciples asking. He thought to himself. I might as well just sit here. My little lunch isn’t going to change anything. But a thought entered his mind. “I’ve heard some things about this Jesus that make me think that He could do SOMETHING with my little lunch. I don’t want to just sit here. Let’s see what He can do!” The little boy came up to Andrew and tugged on his cloak. “Sir, I don’t have much…just my lunchables with falafel and gefilte fish. But you can have it if it will help…” He…

Used WHAT he had, WHERE he was

And Jesus took what he gave and fed well over 15,000 people with it. The Bible says 5000 men not counting women and children. And 2000 years later, we are still telling his story. What if he hadn’t shared it? Just be willing for God to use you and He will!

Use WHAT you have, WHERE you are

I love John Maxwell! He is a great communicator and author. I recently heard him tell the story of his father, Melvin, who at the age of 93, agreed to go into a seniors living facility. It was just being built. He decided that he wanted to be the first person to sign up to live there and the first person to move in. Why? He told John, “Because those people are OLD and they will be scared. I want to be there to welcome them, introduce myself and tell them it’s going to be okay.” He ended up starting a church service there. He eventually called it “The First Church of the Last Chance.” They were packed every Sunday. The people there loved Melvin Maxwell. He made a tremendous difference by:

Using WHAT he had, WHERE he was

Here is someone else who didn’t have much to offer at one particular moment in his life.

They couldn’t leave. They couldn’t move. They couldn’t read anything. They couldn’t write anyone. They couldn’t DO much of anything. But even in that situation there was something they could do.

What did Paul and Silas do? They…

Used WHAT they had, WHERE they were

And God used that to set them free! AND to MAKE a DIFFERENCE in the life of the jailer and his entire family.

And then Paul shared the Gospel in the middle of the night with the jailer and his whole family and they all became followers of Jesus! All because 2 prisoners…

Used WHAT they had, WHERE they were

Now, let me go off the sermon for just a minute: Do you know of someone who needs grace? Then…

Use WHAT you have, WHERE you are

Invite them, love them, and then let some CRAZY Jesus people show them the unconditional love of a God who has changed us. You get them into the presence of God, you bring them next weekend, guys invite them to Men’s Breakfast and No Regrets next Saturday! Or church on Sunday for our service and Tailgate Party. And then watch as God’s Spirit does something that WE don’t have the power to do ourselves. For anyone who thinks someone is too far from the reach of God, there is no person that God’s Spirit can’t touch, and bring them in a moment…into His love and grace. And God calls us to partner WITH HIM to MAKE A DIFFERENCE for…that ONE. And there is NOTHING better than being able to be part of someone else’s story of faith! And ANYONE can do THAT! Anyone can…

Use WHAT you have, WHERE you are

Let me give you another passage of Scripture.

What seed are you sowing? There will be a harvest of THAT seed! See…

The seed you are SOWING is likely SHOWING in the fruit that is GROWING in you

I love what Paul says in that passage. Don’t give up!

John Mark McMillan in his song, “The Road, The Rocks, and the Weeds” says this:
“shall I plant sequoias and revel in the soil, in a crop I know I’ll never get to reap. Give my body to my Maker and my heart to my Savior and spread me on the roads, the rocks and the weeds”

Don’t get tired of doing good while nobody notices and even when you may never SEE the fruit. Trust that the fruit will be there, eventually. Don’t quit! Don’t stop! Don’t get tired of doing good!

· What if the Polish POW’S got tired of hiding what they were doing by not putting the explosives in the bullets? Then whole generations of British families would never have been born.
· What if Edward Kimball said, “Not today God! I’ll talk to someone about you tomorrow”. What happens to all the men of God that got saved in that stretch of spiritual domino’s…if the first domino doesn’t fall?
· What if our Kids Church wasn’t available because our workers didn’t show up? And that was a Sunday where a child was going to understand the Gospel on their level and surrender their life to Christ!
· We NEVER know the incredible difference we are making, when we make ourselves available to God! When we SERVE in some way!
Let us:

Use WHAT we have, WHERE we are!

Again, our definition of MAKING A DIFFERENCE is:

Impact your world by serving others.

Paul and Silas did that just by singing when they could have been whining. Melvin Maxwell did that by focusing on others instead of himself. The little boy did that just by offering his lunch to Jesus! What is Jesus leading you to offer? To use? To serve? What could He do through you if you chose to serve, if you chose to not just sit there, but offer your lunch, and make a difference?

Elevate the way you think about SERVING:
Look at those opportunities as meaning something valuable to God’s Kingdom. For example:
· Cleaning the building as a form of outreach. People who come through the door notice how well you take care of God’s things. It says your faith is real enough that you care even for the simplest of issues.
· Work in the Nursery - Changing diapers on new couple’s kids isn’t just about changing diapers. It’s potentially changing eternity for an entire family.
· Working in the café serving someone an incredible cup of Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Mocha makes their entire church experience better and they come back.
· Or how many of you sit in the same general area every week? What if you decided that you were going to get to know the names of others that sit in YOUR area? Get to know them, invite them to the café after service? Pray for them. Can you imagine the difference that could make?
· Or maybe you live in an apartment building. Could you make a difference there IF you viewed yourself as the Chief Connections Officer of the complex? That it was your mission field. And you planned events and sowed seeds, connecting people together. Building a community of care.
· Or at your workplace, you decide not to just clock in and work, but you decided to get to know others. To care about others. And you still do your job well, but you also choose to care about others and you make a difference in their lives.
· Or like Melvin Maxwell, you live in a senior living complex or even in a place like jail or prison like Paul. Could you make a difference if you viewed yourself as someone that went around and welcomed and talked to everyone. And showed them LOVE?
· Or if you are at home, could you make a difference by calling people, encouraging them, speaking life into them?
· Or could you write a letter? 10 years ago, a 22-year old girl named Hannah started writing hand written love letters to strangers and placing them around town in NYC. Now, she runs a non-profit where people can request hand-written letters and a group of volunteers around the world write that person. So someone who is lonely or depressed gets a STACK of hand-written letters reminding them that they are loved. In the last 10 years, there have been 250,000 love letters delivered to people in need in all 50 states and 73+ countries. Do you think those letters have ever MADE A DIFFERENCE.

We ALL can:

Impact our world by serving others.

How do we do THAT? We focus on the people that are in front of us, not on the impact. We make more of an impact when we care for the people. And We…

Use WHAT we have, WHERE we are

We give it to Jesus and see what He does with it!
Ask God:
· WHAT does He wants you to do?
· WHO does He wants you to serve?
· WHERE does He want you to focus?
· WHEN does He want you to start?
· HOW does He want YOU to MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Now the main question today, is WILL YOU DO IT?
· Knowing what to DO doesn’t always translate to DOING IT. Otherwise, we would ALL eat healthy and exercise regularly. So, let me ask a couple more questions.
· What did you DO last week to “MAKE A DIFFERENCE”?
· What WILL you DO THIS WEEK to “MAKE A DIFFERENCE”?
· Decide, CHOOSE, COMMIT to DOING this! And the greatest IMPACT might just be IN YOU!