Ready for Impact

It is my prayer this week that you are preparing your hearts for worship this Sunday. I am grateful to you all for the outpouring of love you extended to my family and me this past week. We are excited about the future of FBC Fairburn and I want to encourage each of you today as we seek to make an impact for God’s Kingdom.

We are the church of Jesus Christ. I know this is a statement you have heard before, but I do not want its significance to be overlooked or too “common”. There has not been a single greater event in the history of man than the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That alone means that our status as His called out of the ordinary into a life with Him people (That’s what church really means!) will have tremendous impact as we trust Him and live our lives on display for His glory. As the Church, this means that we have some impact work to do in our communities. I want to share with you 6 ways you can do that THIS WEEK!

1. Watch. We live in such a fast paced society that what goes on around us is often a blur. Most of the time we miss opportunities to impact the life of one person with the Gospel because we are caught in the rush and not watching for the work of God around us. Jesus tells us in John 5 that His Father has always been working and is still working. The question we have to ask is whether or not we are watching for His work around us.
2.  Listen. Much like watching, listening takes on a new meaning for followers of Christ. People are always talking around us and we hear without truly listening. Your neighbor will talk to you about an issue they are having, but in the midst of it is a groaning for completion that only the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings. We can learn to listen for the opportunities to demonstrate and tell of the hope we have.
3. Pray. Jesus tells us that if we ask in His name, He will hear and we can receive. This is not a prayer for self-indulgent riches. I believe that He is speaking of the same prayer in Matthew 9:38 that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers. TODAY pray to the Lord asking for a person you can impact with His truth.
4.  Invite. Last week inviting was a way to impact the church. I am reissuing this step because you can dramatically impact your community one life at a time by drawing men, women, and children into the ministries of the church. We would make sure that someone with a terminal illness knew to get to a doctor. So, why not ensure that those around us needing hope that only Christ can give would be able to come to the place where they are exposed to His love? If you need help with remembering everything we have going on, follow our Facebook page for updates. You can even share events and information for others to see!
5. Share. On this surface, this is an appeal to share the Gospel. The Gospel of hope transforms lives and impacts the community. Yes, that is what we are to be about. However, when I encourage you to share now, I mean share your life. We are all strapped for time. We are all preoccupied with life. You have the ability to demonstrate to someone else that you love them and care for them simply by being willing to drop the busy-ness and share your life with them. In these intimate moments of sharing life, you can impact someone on a very personal level as they see you live out and struggle with living out the Gospel. You are modeling discipleship just as Paul does in 1 Thessalonians 2:8.
6. Engage. In 2 Corinthians 9:13 Paul encourages the church in Corinth with their work in the Gospel. They were connected to their community above and beyond just having a home and a job. They saw the needs, sought the opportunities to be involved, and understood the way life worked. Their engagement was a service to Corinth and Paul tells them that it opened the door of the Gospel into their lives. We can have the same impact today if we look for opportunities to engage.

I believe that God has placed in our paths opportunities to impact our world for His Kingdom. I believe that God has placed us in our communities to have this impact. Take the first simple step and make an impact today!