 Okay, I have like a little question for you guys what What does everybody have that can change the world, but not everyone knows they have it mom Okay, I didn't want to have to use this. I want to keep it for myself But I have a $10 Dutch girls gift card for anyone who answers this right What is something that everyone has That can change the world, but not everyone knows they have it Okay, it starts in in and ends in ends Starts in in and ends with ends someone said internship No, it starts with in and ends with ends Okay, I heard a couple of people say influence. So the first person up here gets it Hey, you didn't say influence. Hey, whoever said influence. No, no, I heard someone over here someone back there No one wants $10 No one no one wants $10 Okay, let's give a round of applause Okay, so I'm gonna be speaking today about Influence and influence is something that we all have whether you believe it or not But it's something that that we all have and like I mentioned earlier. It's something that can change the world So influence is something when you make an impact or change the way someone acts You know like recently like, you know the water bottle flipping thing You know it takes one person to do it put it online and the whole world is doing it or like the little fidget spinner You know one person brought one to school now everyone has one. I have one, but As Christians, we're called to live in influential life. So that's gonna be my first point We're called to live an influential life So when but when you think about it, we all live influential lives Like everyone lives an influence influential lives like, you know, Justin Bieber everyone copies what he does You know the popular kid that your school everyone has influential lives But the thing is as Christians, we're not called to live ordinary lives. We're called to live extraordinary lives so the way we have to live is Extraordinary influential life and the extra doesn't just come just because you're a Christian But it comes from the way that you act it comes from the way that you act at school The way that you treat your parents the way that you talk to your friends, you know You're not at church. That's where the extra comes in the way that you live outside of church So, you know when we you know You hear it a lot during when people get saved you hear heavens throwing a party for you in heaven And they're not throwing a party for you You know not because you're up here copying what the people the pastor said But they throw a party for you because you're declaring that you're tired of living your old life And you want to start fresh you want to start a new life with Christ But nowadays a lot of people, you know saying they're a Christian is like saying you're a burrito like a lot of people Okay, so like okay stay with me. So you could say you're a burrito, right? But you know everyone can see you don't look like a burrito, you know, you look like a human You just you act like everyone else. You're not a burrito, right? You're just you're just like everyone else so I heard this story a while ago and I was listening to a podcast by Francis Chan and he went to He went to a third world country To be a part of one of their services and as he was there he was paying attention to how they do things He was watching everyone and the he said that it was the most amazing thing He had seen because everyone in the service was worshiping everyone was giving their all They were all praying they were all worshiping and they weren't doing it to look good But they're doing it from the bottom of their hearts. They're doing it with their all You know not just not just praying so that they look good to their neighbor and You know he after service he had stayed around like everyone stayed no one left and he was asking them questions and he had asked one of the He asked the pastor. He said we're we're all the fake Christians You know we're all the other the lukewarm people the people that aren't really Christians But they come to church to say they're Christians and as soon as he said that the whole church Just busted out laughing like it wasn't like like a little giggle It was like the funniest joke you've ever heard laughing like they were laughing and he was like sitting there serious like Wondering why they're laughing at it. So that's so he they all finished laughing and they're like wondering They're what do you mean fake Christian and they explained to him that where they live to say to say you're a Christian It's not just a title a sacrifice comes with it because over there if you say you're a Christian People are gonna take your land people are gonna steal from you people are gonna humiliate you You know there's people that were being persecuted for saying they're Christian So for them saying a Christian wasn't just wasn't just something that they say it was something that came with Sacrifice something that it wasn't just just a title wasn't just to look good But it was something that came with the sacrifice And I believe that's how Christian should be living nowadays that they shouldn't look at Christian as a title It's not something it's not just it's not something to do cool to be cool You know it's not something cool. It's something that comes with a sacrifice something that's gonna come with your life changing Not just saying you're a Christian and Some of you, you know, maybe you want to be that person Maybe you're trying to be that person to be an example for other people But you just struggling with it like maybe you're the only one that's Christian your family or in your group of friends And I want to tell you that God has handpicked the your family your people around you He can't pick everyone around you so that you could be that positive example in their life so that you could change their lives and I'm not saying you have to be a perfect example I'm not saying you have to be you know, like Pastor Vlad up here You don't have to be perfect, but you have I'm not saying it's perfect, but But you don't have to be perfect you get what I'm saying You just have to you have to be willing to continue to strive to be and You have to be willing and able to represent Christ in your life So my pet second point is going to be how to live a godly lifestyle And my first reason is everything that you do everything that you want to do have God first in your life So I'm saying like everything that you do not just when you're at church Not just when you're a home group or not just preparing for a con a conference But you have to have God first in your life 24 hours seven days a week You have to have him first in your life and no matter what you do You know in Colossians. I think that's how you pronounce it 317 It says whatever you do Whether you're a student whether you're an athlete or whether you're a musician You know, it doesn't just stop there whether you're a teacher whether you're a lawyer Whatever you may be everything that you do you are to do it unto the Lord and not for people So for example, you know when you're out there on the court when you're out there on the field when you're sitting in class You're not you're not cussing. You're not yelling at your teammates You're not yelling at the opponents, but you're setting a good example by the things that you do and the way that you act and My second my second reason is going to be seek God to the fullest So consistent Consistency and prayer and Bible reading. It's not gonna come easy You have to constantly be thriving to make it a lifestyle make it a part of you You have to push yourself to pray and push yourself to read the Bible Even when you're not motivated to even when you don't feel like it, you know, that's saying fake it till you make it This is the only reason this is the only time that you can use it Because you know, even if you don't feel like it even if you're not motivated to and you know Your reasons aren't the right reasons to pray You have to push yourself to pray every single day and push yourself until it becomes a lifestyle so So I used to I used to try to be consistent in my prayer life But you know, I was it was it was hard I would my fire would always my flame would always die out after like two days and like it was hard to continue to keep praying I'm serious but um It's hard Yeah, my fire would go out until eventually God gave me the opportunity to be able to evaluate my life and See that what I do the things that I do today I will what will make a difference tomorrow. Come on repeat after me what I do today Will make the difference tomorrow All right, so for example When I first started coming to church, I didn't come because I wanted to live a holy lifestyle I came because my sister made me I was forced to come to church and It was against my will and I did not want to come but if it weren't for that I wouldn't be where I am today And when I first started coming, you know, it wasn't for my reasons It wasn't because I wanted to live a holy lifestyle But because I was forced to but once God met my motives behind no God once God met me my motives began to shift I Began to be I began to start coming, you know Not because I was forced to not because my sister made me But because I actually wanted to build a relationship with Christ because I wanted to change my life and begin to live a life for Christ And so once God meets you through your constant seeking You will start noticing a shift and your prayers will begin to bring you closer to God my favorite part about this is that Once you become that wants to become the part of you once this happens once he meets your needs You know, you'll become a lifestyle and it'll be it will become easier But the best part is that all the worldly things all those things will become the most unattractive thing to you and though and God's will and a godly lifestyle will become the most important thing in your life and Last and most important way to live a godly lifestyle is to surround yourself with the people on the same path and goal Which is to seek a relationship with God Like it said in 1st Corinthians bad company corrupts good morals So no matter how determined you are no matter how hard you want to try to be to start reading your Bible to start having a relationship The people that are around you will determine whether it will they will hit either hinder you or they will either lift you up And I'm not telling you like no Christian friends like only surround yourself with Christian people But you have to make sure that the time that you spend with your Christian people are more are greater than the time You spend with the un-Christian because once you start spending time more time with the un-Christian friends That's when they'll begin to hinder you That's when they will begin to bring you down and you will begin to live the lifestyle that they're living So like for me, I know most of you probably know my testimony, but Excuse me. Sorry Okay, but in seventh grade Back then like in sixth grade. I never thought I was gonna I never thought I would be a person to smoke I never thought I would be a person to hang around bad people. I was always good keeping up with my grades. I had Nostril days, but I had good grades and not I I always caught up with my work And I was always doing good until eventually I started hanging around these two other guys You know, there were the cool kids in the class and I started hanging around them And you know my time began to increase. I began to spend more and more time with them and Sooner or later. I began to be like them. I began to talk like them. I began to cuss like them I played basketball like them. That was good, but I began to be more like them and Eventually it led into some deeper and darker things. I began to I began to seek to their approval I began to want to be like them and that is what led me to begin to begin to cuss that's what led me to start smoking and living that lifestyle and I didn't I didn't want to be a part of it until I had seen how I had seen them doing it And I had seen how you know, there were the popular kids and I wanted to be like that So then I began to do that stuff And it wasn't till my sister invited me to church and I began began to hang around these people Like Zaki and Jacob, you know, they're the biggest part that made me who I am today because if it weren't for them I would still be living my life the way that I was because they helped me see that you know living a Christian life It's not boring. It's not it's not the Bible is in a book of do this and don't do that You know, it's a it's a it's a story of someone that died on the cross for you Someone that loves you so much that they literally died on the cross for you You know, you hear that so much that it's like it's not a big deal anymore But really every time you hear it should be a bigger and bigger deal because someone literally died for you to be able to So that you could get to know your father So, you know, I want to encourage you guys I want you guys to begin to evaluate your life to see who are the toxic people in your life That are constantly bringing you down to see who's keeping you from reaching your full potential Who's keeping you from getting to where you want to be, you know, what's in the way of that? You know, and I don't want you guys to wait for For a wake-up call don't wait for a wake-up call do not wait until Until you get expelled do not wait until you know your friend Your friend and don't wait until you get a DUI don't wait until your friend come in suicide Don't wait for that the wake-up call is now. I want you guys to look at your life Evaluate your life and think to yourself What is holding me back? What is keeping you from reaching where you want to be? You know instead of being the person that going at a party and getting a DUI You can be that person that your friend calls to pick that you so you can pick them up you instead of you know Instead of waiting to your friend commits suicide be the person to be there pray with them be the person that's gonna be There's a pray with them and influence life into them Instead of waiting to get expelled instead of waiting for your friend to get expelled be the person that Influence them to do better in school show them that there's you know that there's no point in living a life Where you're slacking on everything where you're slapping on even school. I Mean school is what's gonna give you a future school It's what's gonna get you a future job. So I want you encourage you guys evaluate your life What are you doing today that that you don't want to be doing tomorrow? Who's keeping you from reaching what you want to what you want to be tomorrow?