Untitled Sermon

Empowered To Transform a Generation

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We have engaged a series on the Holy Spirit entitled “Empowered to Live in the Moment.” Life is a comprised of moments and each moment can present to us a different set of circumstances. Each moment is a door that opens or closes doors to other moments. Another word for moment based on last Sunday’s message is opportunity. The book “25 Biblical Laws of Success” suggest that everyone receives opportunities. The best you can do is learn how to seize the opportunities, understanding that success does not depend on the amount of chances you get, but rather on the chances you take.” Moments are filled with opportunities to take chances and some of those chances could created a dynamic whereby you are positioned to impact a generation.

We see it play out in daily life where it seems like some people are chosen to impact a generation, either locally or globally. Just think about your life so far and the folk that have played a significant role in shaping the way you are, the thinking mechanisms by which you process information, the lenses through with you view life, the character that embodies your life, and even the way you interact with others in life. Your tastes, your preferences, your quirkiness, your sense of humor, your faith, your struggle with faith, your handling of finances, relationship, power, responsibility; how we engage all of this is a result of how we have been influenced, taught, impacted. Someone has been the change agent in our lives, and we are both a composite of those things that naturally exist within us, as well as those things in our environment that as shaped us. Some call it nature verses nurture. I submit to you that it is not one or the other, but simply it is both and.

As a man of faith, I refuse to believe that our lives are simply a sum-total of moments based only on nature and or nurture, but I believe in that the bible clearly demonstrates that the God of this universe sovereignly and deliberately moves in the lives of people according to his purpose. While life may seem to be a series of incidents and sometimes accidents, God is somehow at work not simply responding to crisis or the events that pop off in our lives. As I’ve said before, God is not event driven, but God is purpose driven and what God does, God does it according to God’s purpose, even if it means interrupting a life spiraling out of control, even if it means changing a life on death bed, or if it means saving a soul in jail or prison cell. Sometimes it means allowing someone to hit rock bottom just so they can realize Jesus is the Rock. And sometimes it means allowing a person to actually hate and fight against the church, only to turn around and use that same person to impact a generation with the good news of a life changing gospel.

The reason why this message is important today is that so many people are convinced that they are not the right material for God to really use in a transformative way. So many are looking at their own track record that seems to be riddled with one failure after another, or one immorality after another, or one vice after another, and the only think you see in your future is further mess ups waiting to happen. Maybe you feel powerless, no influence of any kind, no one is seeking you out, and you may as well be a wall flower or invisible. However, I’ve got good news today; maybe you are not the ideal choice according the typical standards of our society be it church or secular, but you’ve got to remember that God’s ways are not our ways, and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts…he does not move like we move, look for what we look for, and he does not always choose who we might choose. God can use even you to become an agent of change.

God can use your life, your stuff, faults, failures, successes, etc. to help transform the lives of others. While the bible is filled with examples of this truth, I believe our best example of this truth is Paul the Apostle.

(Give backdrop and conversion story)

If God desires to use you in a transformative manner that impacts forever the lives of others, then there are three important things we learn from this narrative is this.

Your past is not a deal breaker.

Past

Present

Future

Your passion is not diminished.

Today’s injustices

The need for radical people.

Your power is manifested when embattled

Your prize is the saving of soul/lives