- Hey, it's great to have you back
for another week of Life Group.
And I just wanted to say thank you so much,
to those of you that are hosting, leading life groups,
opening up your home, or meeting online,
or meeting in coffee shops, I really, really believe
that you're making a difference in people's lives
and we know that life is better together.
We're in a message series called, I'm In.
Week number one we talked about the reality
that I'm invited into God's family.
Jesus invites those that others reject.
Week number two, I'm invaluable to God's work.
You've got gifts, you've got talents,
you're apart of the body of Christ.
This week we talked about the reality
that I am influential for God's glory.
I'm influential.
I would love it if you'd read scripture
before we get going today,
and then answer the first question.
We're gonna look at the words of Jesus again,
in Matthew chapter five, verses 13 through 16.
Matthew chapter five, verses 13 through 16,
talk about what it means to be the salt
of the Earth, the light of the world.
And the first question I want you to answer is this,
we're gonna talk about someone who influenced us
toward Christ, to recognize that we have no idea
how God might use one conversation,
one word of encouragement, one expression of love,
to influence someone toward Christ.
We know about you, as if you're a follower of Christ,
or even if you're seeking the things of God right now,
it's very likely that God used someone
to influence you toward the things of Christ.
Let's read Matthew chapter five, 13 through 16,
and let's talk about, who is a person or people,
that God used to influence you toward Christ.
Let's start there, let's build our faith,
and we're gonna recognize you are influential
for God's glory.
All right, let's talk about another question
that will hopefully help shift our focus away
from not just being influenced,
but being an influencer with other people.
We looked at the powerful story in scripture
about the woman at the well.
A woman who is hurting, who is broken, who is afraid,
who is desperate, who is influenced by Jesus.
He loved her, he accepted her,
he didn't just accept her sin,
but he offered her living water, forgiveness.
If you tasted this water you will never be thirsty again.
Then what did she do?
This woman who didn't know much at all,
didn't have perfect theology yet,
she ran back to her village and she influenced
a lot of people to come, and to see Jesus,
to experience Jesus, and then together
they influenced Jesus to stay on for a couple more days.
And because of this one woman's faith in Jesus,
she influenced so many other Samaritans,
people who were often hated by the Jews.
She influenced so many Samaritans to believe in Jesus.
Here's what I'd like you to think about.
This woman had people in the village
that she could influence.
They may not have even liked her that much,
or respected her, but she had access them,
and because of her faith in Jesus she influenced them.
I'd love for you to think about,
who are the people in your life
that you could most strategically influence.
Who are the people that you are around the most often.
For some of you, it might be family members,
it might be classmates, it might be teammates,
it might be people that you work with,
it might be that you go to a spin class every week
and you could really influence those people.
For me, the place that I go outside of my normal line
of ministry is the gym, where I tend to interact
with the same people week after week, at the same time,
and we start to develop a friendship.
Most of these people that I talk to are not followers
of Christ, but overtime, because of proximity,
because of access, because of my faith in Jesus,
and my friendship with them,
I can actual influence them toward Jesus.
So, let's think about it.
Who is it that in your life you interact with regularly,
you've got access to, they trust you, they know you,
that God might be calling you to influence.
Let's talk about that, and then we might pray
for them at the end our time together,
because God's gonna use you to influence others.
Okay, so we're gonna do one more question,
and then make sure you leave time to pray,
which is very important.
We're gonna pray for people that we know
and love that don't know Christ.
We're gonna pray for opportunities that the Holy Spirit
would prompt us to reach out to them,
that we're gonna believe that God
is gonna use us as salt and light in this world.
Now, before we ask the third question,
let me just tell you,
be very open to the Holy Spirit prompting you.
I know that so often, I can be kind of in a hurry,
I'm on my own agenda, but whenever I say, "God, use me,
"interrupt me, you have permission to interrupt me."
It's amazing how often that I'll be interacting
with someone, and I'll recognize, okay, this moment is more
about me blessing them, ministering to them,
helping point them to Jesus,
then it is about my own agenda.
So, just when you wake up this week, just be sensitive,
be on call, recognize the Holy Spirit might call you
to make a difference in the life of someone.
Now, I want you to think about how
you're normally most influential.
You have gifts, you have passion,
you'll interact with certain people in a certain way,
how are you normally most influential.
And this might even kinda raise your radar
to say, "hey, here's an opportunity."
For me, it's on one of two extremes.
I can be really influential in the short conversations
with people that I don't know well.
It's amazing how often I'll interact with a waitress,
someone at a convenient store, someone who's taking
an order somewhere, and in a moment can be prompted,
and I really believe, can make a difference.
It's those brief interactions.
The other side is, kinda the long-term relationships,
with people that I'm interacting with regularly,
that are not Christians, that start to trust me,
and I can maybe pray for them, or I can listen to them,
spend a little extra time with them.
So for me, it's often in the really short interactions,
or it's in the longer-term relationships.
Yeah, I want you to think about,
when are you generally most influential?
How is it that you typically make a difference?
This might help you see how God has gifted you,
and then be very open to those times when maybe
this is out of your comfort zone.
God will often call you to do things that really take faith.
Be aware, he might interrupt you this week.
Any week, anytime, to influence someone else.
So, let's talk about it, and then we're gonna pray.
How are you most often influential in the lives of others?
And then we're gonna pray for those
that need to know Christ, and we're gonna pray
for opportunities to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit,
and then guess what we're gonna do?
We're gonna be an influence.
(upbeat music)