The Difference Was Made When…
When you look at major events many times you can see a time and place a difference was made. You see it, in the Word of God, you see it in history, and you see it in the stories of your own life.
In prayer this week the phrase “the difference was made when…”echoed in my mind. I want to be a difference maker. I want Discover Life Church to be a difference maker. Further more I believe God wants us to be difference maker.
There is something that makes the difference between…
Victory and Defeat
Life and Death
Prosperity and Poverty
Success and Failure
Health and Sickness
The question is “What makes a difference? How can we make a difference? Today we will see that the ‘difference is made when...’
1. The Difference was made when we realize we aren’t the difference maker!
a. You have heard it before…”If you believe it, you can achieve it.”, “You can be and do whatever you want as long as you put your mind to it”.
i. While I believe that attitude, positive thinking and determination are very valuable it is important that those things are a reflection of our faith in Christ not in ourselves.
ii. There is nothing…absolutely nothing that we can do in and of ourselves that has eternal value. Only that which we do through Christ makes a difference eternally.
iii. Many people say I want to make a difference in the world. That is noble and good. However I believe that because we live our lives for God we as Christians should be making a difference in our world that will build the Kingdom of God.
b. There are many examples in the word of God where it is obvious that the difference was made by a divine power not of this world.
i. In Joshua 10 during a battle against the Amorites God caused the Sun and moon to stand still for about a full day.
ii. In Exodus 14 Children of Israel at the Red Sea with enemy behind them… Moses stretches out his hand and the red sea parted. Did the power to part the waters come from Moses raising his hand?
iii. In Joshua 6 God the army of Israel marched around the Jericho once a day for 6 days on the final day they marched 7 times the trumpets sounded then Joshua said, “Shout for God has you the city.” People obeyed, it took effort, but was it their marching that caused the walls to fall? Was it the trumpets or the shouting that caused the walls to fall?
1. They can shout and blow trumpets all day long but if God wasn’t in it the walls aren’t falling.
2. Even though it is God who does brings down the walls notice there were still requirements upon the people.
c. God is calling us to make a difference that is beyond our own capabilities. The sooner we realize this, the better of we are.
i. In 1 Samuel 17:37 David says before his battle with Goliath “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."”
ii. He recognized it was God’s battle. Philippians 4:13
2. The difference is made when the people of God have Faith!
a. We already established the fact that God is the difference maker that should increase our faith.
i. I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in what I can do on my own.
ii. When I began to think in the natural about what God has called me to do I have doubts, I am afraid, I feel inadequate but when I realize that God is for me that nothing can stop me from doing what God has called me to do.
iii. We quoted Davis before 1 Samuel 17: 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" 45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."
1. Can you hear the confidence in his words? His faith is not in himself but God
2. He knows he will win because the battle is God’s
iv. I also think of Elijah in the battle with the prophets of Baal, The Hebrew children when they wouldn’t bow to the idol.
b. Through out the New Testament…when miracles of healing took place Jesus said to those who were healed…”your faith has made you whole.”
c. Hebrews 11 1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
i. The chapter goes on to say by faith
1. Abel offered a better sacrifice
2. Enoch was taken from this life and did not experience death
3. Noah was warned of things not seen.
4. Abraham when called went to a place he would later receive his inheritance even though he didn’t know where he was going
5. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time
6. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea
7. By Faith the Walls of Jericho fell
8. 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
9. David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
3. The difference was made when someone did what they could.
a. Sometimes we feel like what we have to offer is insignificant.
i. How can God use someone like me? What do I have to offer?
1. In 1 Kings 17 He used the widow in Zarapath to feed the Phophet. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" 11 As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread." 12 "As surely as the Lord your God lives," she replied, "I don’t have any bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it--and die.
a. What an unlikely source of provision
b. God takes something small and seemingly insignificant and does the miraculous.
2. As we discussed already he used little David to beat the giant Goliath
3. He used Rahab who was a harlot, David who was an adulterer, Moses who was a murderer and was handicapped, he used Uneducated fisherman to be his disciples, he used a little boy with only a small lunch to feed a multitude, he used a persecutor of the church to pen over half the New Testament…if you still not convinced that God can use you and what you have to offer may I remind you this morning that God even used a dumb mule to speak the Balaam… and bless God if he can use a donkey I know he can use you.
ii. Offer God your life, your talents your possessions and see what he does with them!
iii. 1 Corinthians 1:26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
4. This Difference is made when people pray! James 5:15 tells us the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective… it makes a difference. The difference was made when
a. Hannah prayed for a child…
b. Moses prayed that God would spare Israel after the incident with the golden calf Exodus 32
c. God miraculously answered Elijah’s prayer on Mt. Carmel when he rained fire from heaven in the showdown between God and the false god Baal 1 kings 18
d. Daniel prayed to be shown the king’s undisclosed dream and God answered him Daniel 2
e. Daniel also was thrown to the lions because he continually prayed to God and God spared him (Daniel 6:4-24
f. The early church in Jerusalem prayed for Peter after his arrest by Herod and God miraculously answered their prayer by sending an angel to free Peter from prison (Acts 12:5-10)
g. David: God answered David’s prayer and forgave him for his sin after his adultery with Bathsheba (Psalms 51)
h. Has miraculously answered a prayer from every Christian in the world today when he forgave their sins, made them new creatures in Christ, and gave them His salvation.
A difference is made when People Pray.
Closing:
I believe that every person in the sound of my voice wants to make a difference. I believe every person who is a part of Discover Life Church wants or church to make a difference. If we will commit to…
1. We aren’t the ones that make a difference but God and rely or him.
2. Remember that the difference is made when we have faith.
3. The difference is made when someone does what they can.
4. Be people of prayer and it will make the difference.
