Do More Than Exist

Youth group message 21st May: Everyone “enjoying” killing some butterflies? Remember- it may not be easy but our lives are not our own – we live by what the Bible says, not by our own feelings and wants and not to please everyone out there. We live to please God – God who loves us and sees all and knows all and is wise way above we can ever be… I think we can trust what He says… the bible isn’t a book of divine suggestions… find out how to live in here and then use that to smash crush and pulverize the butterflies in your life… because butterflies may look pretty and may look innocent… but like we saw in the clip… they destroy lives. Deal to the butterfly when it is just a butterfly…

So most of you know my story… When I was 16 I got invited to a youth group and having just moved to the area the year before and now attending a girls only school, I went for one reason and one reason only… to meet boys.

But God totally ambushed me – I went for boys and found out He was real. And I discovered something really interesting… I discovered, in a song, that I didn’t have any clue what I was doing with my life or where I was going. I was just a blip on this planet. But I wanted something more. It was like a wake up call.

“Dont you know that i formed you, before you were born i knew you, dont you know that my plans for you are good…. Dont you know that i formed you, before you were born i knew you, dont you know that my plans for you are good…. look and see i’ve engraved you on the palms of my hands, look and see i’ve engraved you on my hands” were what we sung and what spoke to my heart.

And I found out that I was more than just a blip – that God – creator of the universe, who breathes out the stars and knows where the ibex goes to have baby ibex (you can look that one up in job 39…. That He has a plan and a purpose for me.

And that my life has significance. I’m not just a blip but my life counts.

Don’t we all want that?

Don’t we all want to be the hero of our own story?

Don’t we want to make a difference and make our life count?

Whether we know it or not our life does make a difference…. It’s like throwing a pebble into a pond – ripples go out… your life does make a difference – but WHAT KIND OF DIFFERNCE are you going to make?

You see God creates us to know Him and make Him known, to make a difference by building His kingdom… He has a grand plan to take over the world!

For me life is a great adventure and I’m going to change the world…

You may look at me and say “you’re just a mum, you’re just a chick, you’re just a whatever… but “Size matters not, … Look at me. Judge me by size, do you?” Yoda… God has called me and empowered me and just asks for me to say YES and then the adventures can begin! You’re not a justa – you’re called and empowered by God!

The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him. I will try my utmost to be that man. -D.L. Moody

The world saw back in the day, way back in the day in 1 Kings 18 how one man fully wholeheardly consecrated – which is just a big word for surrendered , committed, sold out, fired up, and holy changed the world…

1 Kings 18:16-39

Pretty wild eh. One man made a difference. He made a stand for God in his generation and all the people turned BACK to God. He made a stand for God and defeated the false prophets. He made a stand for truth and defeated the lie. He made a stand for God and God came with power and fire and proved He was real.

You know… if it happens in “here” it can happen here.

If it happened in here – because this is a true book – an account of real events and real people and our real awesome almighty God – then it can happen in your life.

Kim walker smith one girl praying story – at the conference that Darren, emma and I went on Kim walker smith – one of the lead worship leaders in Jesus Culture – shared this story about how this 13 yr old girl came to one of their conferences and got inspired to start a prayer club in her school to pray for revival. To start a club in her school she had to get a teacher to sponser her, which she did. So she got permission, made flyers and invited all her friends to come. She put notices in lockers and announcements in the newsletters. And the day arrived for the prayer club to start and… no one came. But she was determined. She came every week and prayed for revival in her school. Every week she prayed alone, just her and God. So anyway after a long while, like a few months, a band came and approached the school – they tour all round America, to high schools and do a concert and preach the gospel and share their testimony. To hold a concert in a school you need to be sponsored by a club. The teachers looked down the list and saw they had a prayer club in the school. So they wrote prayer club down as the sponsers and the band got permission. So the day of the concert came. The whole school turned up. The band played, they shared the gospel and told their story. They gave an altar call and MOST responded. The band were really overwhelmed and moved by the response – so many kids responded to the gospel and got saved. So they asked the prayer club, who had sponsored them and made the concert possible, to stand up so they could thank them. The one little girl stood up. “don’t be shy, come on other people in the prayer club, stand up.” But it was just that one little girl.

One person can make a difference.

“Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God!”

God is wanting to reach this generation – your friends, your school mates, your family. You might be ONE PERSON but you have God in you and for you and THROUGH you.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7

God is calling YOU to make stand for Him.

Being a Christian means you are called to be a world changer. It wont be an easy road. There will be butterflies to be killed, maybe even stink kings to stand against. People might think you’re a dork. But we know the truth.

We know that 2000 years ago Jesus stretched his arms out on the cross and died and paid the punishment we deserved for our sin. We know that He did this so we can be born again, new, holy, righteous, innocent, clean, forgiven. So we can be children of God and have eternal life with God. We know that without being born again that we are dammed for all eternity.

Our mission is the same as it has always – to change the world with the gospel of Jesus. As you make a stand ripples will go out and affect the people around you. The Holy Spirit will be using your life as an example of what God can do. Your prayer changes things. Your conversation changes things.

This past 2 weeks I’ve gone out to botany and talked to complete strangers about Jesus….

So the other day i had to go back to a shop to pick up my I AM A BUTTERFLY KILLER tshirt and i saw an older woman sitting on a bench seat  by herself.  she was polynesian and in her late 50’s-maybe 60’s (i so am bad at guessing ages!)

i thought to myself, if she was younger, i’d go and talk to her…

And i had one of those d-ah moments.  d-ah just do it.  God sometimes speaks in the d-ah’s to me.

so i went over and said, excuse me, my name is claire, and then i begun to share that i like to talk to strangers and tell them God loves them and ask if there is anything i can pray for.  i EVEN told her that wee bit before, yip the d-ah moment and said how i felt from God that i should talk to her anyway! 

i asked her if she was christian, if she believes in Jesus.  and she said, oh yes.  and told me she goes to a catholic church but has had many friends become born again and tell her that catholic is no no… so i encouraged her, said that when you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord as the way to heaven, forgiver of our sins etc that THAT is what makes us born again on the inside… i think she really is a true believer.  so i encouraged her so.

asked her if there was anything i could pray for and she called her husband over who was coming out of a shop and told him what i was doing and he was like “wow okay” (but not in those words lol)

so she asked if i could pray for continued health, she is just recovering from breast cancer and also doesnt want to be worrying about health.

so i laid my hand on her shoulder, told her what i was doing and closed my eyes and prayed.

oh there was a beautiful sense of Holy Spirit there!

when i opened my eyes she had teared up.

Oh how HE loves us and reveals His love to us!

I know that God has used lil’ ol’ me to change someones life and prove to them that He is real.

What are YOU going to do?