Determined to Make a Difference - Pastor Tom Wood
Previous Annual Themes
2022/23 - Beyond Sunday
2023/24 - Continuing What Jesus Started
2024/25 - Build & Belong
We don’t want to just have a great Sunday service. We want to have an impact, and to positively affect the community. What will make a difference is the church continuing what Jesus started. We are:
DETERMINED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
This is an invitation for every single one of us to further the Kingdom of God and to see people’s lives changed by the power of the gospel.
Key Scriptures:
1 Corinthians 15:58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Galatians 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Mathew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. 14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
…let [our] good deeds shine out for all to see…
…let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Determined to Make a Difference
Determined… = Attitude
…to Make… = Effort
...a Difference = Impact
Determined… = Attitude
What does determination look like?
Galatians 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
…to Make… = Effort
The book of Acts tells us that in God’s good design for the church, the followers of Jesus partnered with the Holy Spirit to advance the eternal Kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven. Could He do all this without partnering with people? Absolutely! And yet He chooses to work with us and through us.
...a Difference = Impact
The kind of difference the apostles and first church leaders made was the same kind of difference Jesus made and it’s the same kind of difference we, and every other church, is called to make.
“If we preach the same message Jesus preached, we will get the same results He got. But if we preach a different message, we will get different results.” - A.W. Tozer
1. Determined because of Love
It was love that gave Jesus the determination to endure the cross and it’s love that is our motive and the cause of our determination to make a difference.
1 Corinthians 13:7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
2. Everyone playing a part
Ephesians 4:11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
The responsibility of church leaders is to equip the church to do the Lord’s work. It’s to do everything they can so that God’s people can make a difference.
We don’t need bigger platforms for preachers, we need church members determined to make a difference on the platform they already have.
Romans 10:9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved…14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?
If only a few are sent - then then only a few will hear and only a few will believe. But if more are sent, more will hear, more will believe, more declare that Jesus is Lord and more will be saved.
No pastor can make as big a difference as a whole church living on mission.
3. The world is hungry for something different.
We are promising something different!
People are looking for something better and more fulfilling than what they’re getting right now.
Whether they can articulate it or not, what they’re looking for, what they want and what they need is Jesus.
This is going to shape our focus for the next 12 months.
1 Corinthians 15:58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Galatians 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Matthew 5:16b …let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
We are:
Determined to Make a Difference
Determined… = Attitude
Endurance and persistence
…to Make… = Effort
The example from the apostles is that they were active and busy
Dependant on the Holy Spirit but not idle or passive
...a Difference = Impact
The same difference that Jesus made
If we’re ministering in His name, then we continue what He started
Love is the motivation.
1 Corinthians 13:7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Colossians 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.