Dr. Scott Todd was telling a story about a starfish that had washed up on the shore. There was an old man who daily went out for a morning walk along the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a girl reaching down to the sand, picking up a starfish and very gently throwing it back into the ocean.
The elderly man asked her “Why are you throwing starfish back into the ocean?” The little girl said, “The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I don’t throw them in, they will die.”
The elderly man looked at her and said, “But dear, there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You cannot possibly make a difference.” The little girl listened politely, then bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the sea. She said, “It made a difference to that one.”
The meaning of the story is there are millions of people who are dying without a relationship with Jesus but rather than turning a blind eye to their spiritual needs and doing nothing to help them out of their situation. We can, at the very least see the person that God has placed in front of us and help them find a relationship with Jesus. There will be nothing more exciting than when you and I get to heaven and someone looks at us and says, I am here in heaven because of you. Thank you.
But let me share with you something more interesting. Recently, Dr. Todd shared a new version of the story.A man was walking along the beach when he saw a girl taking a picture of a starfish with her iPhone. Approaching the girl, he asked,“What are you doing?”
She said, “I am uploading pictures of these stranded starfish to my Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram and I’m asking my friends to tweet the call to action,” she said. “The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I can get enough friends out here, we can get all these starfish back into the water before sunset.”
The man asked the little girl, “What does tweet mean?” The girl rolled her eyes. She bent down, picked up a starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then she gave the man a wry, twinkly-eyed smile and said, “If you want to help out, this is how you do it.”Within hours, thousands of teens stormed the beach and every starfish was rescued!
Dr. Todd’s point: things are possible now that have never been possible before in human history! You and I live in a day and age when, because of connectivity, change can occur at a rate that for most of human history was unthinkable. Nations have been overthrown in six months. Diseases are being eradicated. Historic changes are happening rapidly that were never before possible. We live in exciting times.Let me ask you a question. What are you posting on Tik Tok? What are you interacting with? Are you posting things that make a difference or just are fun to laugh at for a little bit?
The bottom line is, are you using your influence to help anyone find Jesus? Does anyone even know that you are a Christian because of, not only the things you post but in how you live your life every day? Do you see the spiritual needs around you or do you ignore the difference you could make?
Here at Sagebrush Remix, we believe that people are better off with Jesus than without him.
We believe every life would be better we are always looking for opportunities to share the difference that Jesus has made in our life because we do believe there is a heaven and a hell and that people are going to one place or the other.
Here is what I want you to do today. I want you to write down the names of 5 people who aren’t Christians and I want you to start praying for an opportunity to share what Jesus has done in your life with them and I want you to pray for them every day until all 5 have placed Jesus to be the leader and forgiver of their life.
Last week we wrote out our story of how Jesus changed our life. Our story should have included three parts. In our story about how Jesus changed our life we should...
Why would we do this? Why would we take the time to write out our story? Because we should always be equipped to share with someone what God can do for them.
Have you ever had someone you knew or loved die? Maybe a family member or a friend or someone at school? What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear that person died? If you are like me you wonder, “Were they Christian? Did they love Jesus? Are they in heaven now?”
The worst feeling you will ever have in your life is when you are standing by the graveside of a family member or friend and you don’t know where they are now that they are dead because you never cared enough to tell them the difference that Jesus has made in your life.Do you see why this is so important? Their eternity is at stake. They will spend their eternity in heaven or in hell and you can make a difference in their life for all of their eternity, so you need to always be prepared to share Jesus when the conversation comes up.
1Timothy 2:3-4says,“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
God wants everyone to choose a relationship with Him. The person who cuts your hair matters to God. The coach of your team matters to God. Your family, your friends, your classmates, and every single person you have locked eyes with matters to God and they should matter to us as well.
You need to get to the point where you can share what Jesus has done for you without even thinking about it. To kick off the series today we used a video of some of our Remix student's stories and how Jesus changed them. We've heard how broken we can be before knowing Jesus, how Jesus can change our lives, and what our life will look like after.
The problem is we always think that people aren’t interested in spiritual stuff but survey after survey shows that people are more interested in spiritual things than ever before and you will be shocked that they aren’t offended when the subject is brought up. People want to talk about this stuff.
Never underestimate the power of one conversation. One conversation can change a person’s life.In John 4 the Bible tells us that Jesus went into Samaria and sat by a well in the middle of the mid-day sun. The disciples went into town to get some food. While they were gone, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus intentionally started a conversation with her. Through the course of that conversation, we find out that this woman has been married five times and the man she is currently living with isn’t her husband.It was obvious to Jesus since she was drawing water in the hottest part of the day that she wasn’t excited about how her life had turned out. She was probably sick of the other women in her village looking at her and whispering about her past failed relationships and I’m sure she had a regret or two.
This woman was there for water to quench her thirst physically, but Jesus offered her water that would quench her soul. Living water. That was the water she thirsted for.
Jesus took an ordinary conversation about water and reached this woman’s point of need and her eternity was changed as a result. We can do the same thing. An ordinary conversation can become extraordinary if we allow God to lead us and guide us to the people who are ready to hear your story.
Think about this:
I bet someone took the time to share with you the difference that Jesus could make in your life. They invited you to church, you started asking questions and they were there to help you along the way. That is what we have to be for the people in our life. They might be one conversation away from asking Jesus into their life.
The people you go to school with, the people in the band, the people on your teams, need Jesus. They need what you have. They need to see and hear the difference that Jesus has made in your life.
Some of us are here today because someone cared enough to have one conversation with you. They shared with you about this church or they shared with you about the difference that Jesus has made in their life and you are here today. Aren’t you glad? Now it’s our turn to pass on the story of God’s amazing love for us that he would send his son to die in our place so that we might have abundant life on this earth and eternal life in heaven.
Remember sharing Jesus with someone is one friend telling another friend about the best friend that they have.Aren’t you glad someone cared enough about your eternity to share Jesus with you? Grab a piece of paper or get on your computer and start writing the story of what Jesus did for you.
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