What if I told that if you could make a million for only a $1 investment, wouldn’t you want to know how? Or what if I told you that making the difference with one could exponentially impact the world, would that make you curious enough to try?
"When you lead one person to Christ, you reach everyone they encounter as well." - Fred Stayton, Pastor of Columbia City United Methodist Church.
I was in church at the Columbia City UMC Church when Pastor Fred Stayton made this very statement. He was talking about the difference that we can have when we reach just ONE person. After reading the parable of the good shepherd who left the 99 sheep to find the lost ONE, he challenged us to make a difference in the life of just one other person. He encouraged us to reach them for Christ and the impact will make a significant difference in the lives of many more. His simple faith statement caused me to image what I could do in my simple journey through life. "When you lead one person to Christ, you reach everyone they encounter as well", said Fred Stayton, Pastor of Columbia City United Methodist Church.
This prompted me to write this blog and to just imagine the impact that we can have by reaching one person at a time for Christ. We all know the Dr. Billy Graham became an incredible evangelist and America’s pastor.
Dr. Billy Graham shared that his conversion came as a result of a shoe salesman named Edward Kimble who led Dwight L. Moody to Jesus. Even in his time, Moody was known as one of the greatest evangelist, preaching to millions over to continents. It was through just one person who reached another and another until finally we pick up the story of Dr. Billy Graham who came to know Jesus. The conversion of Billy Graham
What was true for them and also true for my family, though perhaps not the dramatic influence as they were. For my family the It was through a neighborhood revival meeting that my brothers Bob and Jim attended. They eventually ended up attending the Monroe First Wesleyan Church and later my parents came to know the Lord. Eventually calling several of us into full-time church ministry but impacting other siblings for Jesus as well. Most of us were impacted by the ministry of Sunday School teachers. Nelly Ihrkey was one of our Sunday school teachers who loved children and loved Jesus. Her classes, during my preschool years are memorable even to this day because she taught lessons using a sock monkey and an incredible love for us. Her simple, yet effective teaching has had an impact on my family and now my grandchildren. Simply making the difference in one person has exponential impact on others.
What Pastor Fred at the UMC Church reminds us that we can make an incredible difference if we should choose to leave the 99 and go after the ONE who is least and lost all around us.
Who is that one individual that you would like to reach for Christ? Who could you plant a seed of hope in the Gospel today that would yield a harvest of many souls?
Of course we know it doesn’t take much to make a difference in the lives of people. Just by listening we can become a profound impact in the life of another. If we start by listening and respond quickly with loving words we can make a difference of just one other in need. Only what is done for Christ will last. We try to gather money, property, & stuff but these things will rust and be destroyed.
I love the saying that we impress people from a distance but we impact them up close. It is true that if we attempt to go through life trying to impress everyone, it will leave us empty and vain but if we serve to impact people up close, we will make any eternal difference.
Matthew 6:19-20
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal."
