WEBVTT 00:04.874 --> 00:10.082 [SPEAKER_00]: As we wrap up this week, looking at the longings of the human heart we all share. 00:10.863 --> 00:16.151 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to look today at the longing to make a deep and lasting impact. 00:17.473 --> 00:23.362 [SPEAKER_00]: God has a plan to use you in ways far beyond what you could ask or imagine. 00:24.203 --> 00:28.570 [SPEAKER_00]: A plan for you to make a deep and lasting impact in the world. 00:29.596 --> 00:37.916 [SPEAKER_00]: As we make space for God to speak and lead today, may He give us a deeper sense of purpose and calling in Him. 00:39.079 --> 00:41.445 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the first 15 podcast. 01:10.855 --> 01:33.066 [SPEAKER_00]: our verse for today comes from Matthew 25 verse 21 scripture says well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little I will set you over match enter into the joy of your master 01:36.742 --> 01:43.309 [SPEAKER_00]: People often ask a common question when it looks like their time on earth is drawing to a close. 01:44.330 --> 01:46.052 [SPEAKER_00]: Did my life matter? 01:47.534 --> 01:48.695 [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever wondered that? 01:50.037 --> 01:57.605 [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever taken a minute to look back on your life and wonder if all your efforts will mean a thing when you're gone? 01:59.467 --> 02:01.990 [SPEAKER_00]: We all dream of being a great success. 02:03.050 --> 02:09.280 [SPEAKER_00]: No children playing sport in their backyard, fantasize about hanging up the towel after high school. 02:10.181 --> 02:11.844 [SPEAKER_00]: They dream of making it pro. 02:13.206 --> 02:17.433 [SPEAKER_00]: No musician dreams about playing to a handful of people. 02:18.294 --> 02:23.562 [SPEAKER_00]: They see themselves on a massive stage in front of thousands of screaming fans. 02:25.205 --> 02:29.091 [SPEAKER_00]: We all have a longing to make an impact in this world. 02:29.915 --> 02:35.623 [SPEAKER_00]: We all desire to make a difference to the degree that we will be remembered when we're gone. 02:37.486 --> 02:43.775 [SPEAKER_00]: God designed us all with this longing, while having the perfect plan to satisfy it. 02:45.177 --> 02:50.125 [SPEAKER_00]: The problem is that we have twisted what success really looks like. 02:51.367 --> 02:58.437 [SPEAKER_00]: We've made success into something prideful, an idea constrained to the ways of this world. 02:59.530 --> 03:05.115 [SPEAKER_00]: We've been living under the notion that making an impact is all about ourselves. 03:06.657 --> 03:20.470 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, making a lasting impact doesn't necessarily mean you're known by the entire population, have books written about you, or are even a success at all in the eyes of the world. 03:21.991 --> 03:25.875 [SPEAKER_00]: Success is solely defined by God. 03:26.058 --> 03:31.506 [SPEAKER_00]: and solely achieved by your faithfulness to whatever he has called you to. 03:33.349 --> 03:43.224 [SPEAKER_00]: You are meant for the impact that faithfulness to God brings, not an impact wrought with struggle for achievement by the world's standards. 03:45.368 --> 03:51.357 [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible clearly defines success as being faithful to what God has spoken. 03:52.433 --> 03:58.620 [SPEAKER_00]: In Matthew 2521, God says, well done, good and faithful servant. 03:59.601 --> 04:07.710 [SPEAKER_00]: You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much, enter into the joy of your master. 04:10.353 --> 04:18.002 [SPEAKER_00]: Your desire to make an impact will only be satisfied by living in obedience to God's will for you. 04:19.231 --> 04:21.754 [SPEAKER_00]: It's his plan, we're all a part of. 04:22.255 --> 04:23.036 [SPEAKER_00]: Not our own. 04:24.698 --> 04:31.666 [SPEAKER_00]: God has brought us into the glorious narrative that has been playing out from the foundation of the earth. 04:33.429 --> 04:45.103 [SPEAKER_00]: Being faithful to your page in God's grand narrative has an eternal impact, more important and long lasting than anything you could achieve on your own. 04:46.670 --> 04:55.679 [SPEAKER_00]: One day, all of the grand stories of what man kind has done in pursuit of our own glory will be brought to nothing. 04:57.281 --> 04:59.944 [SPEAKER_00]: One king will stand above all. 05:01.225 --> 05:13.318 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus Christ will be given His reward and we will reign alongside Him forever. 05:14.277 --> 05:21.384 [SPEAKER_00]: Be faithful first to love God and then to love others with compassion and humility. 05:23.106 --> 05:26.710 [SPEAKER_00]: You have a chance to lead people into eternal life. 05:28.092 --> 05:34.939 [SPEAKER_00]: You have a chance to store up your treasure in heaven where math and rust will not destroy. 05:34.999 --> 05:43.828 [SPEAKER_00]: You have a chance today to make a deep and lasting impact beyond anything you can imagine. 05:45.074 --> 05:58.510 [SPEAKER_00]: allow God to define your identity and purpose, experience the joy and fulfillment that can only be found in the whole hearted communion with your heavenly Father. 06:25.270 --> 06:26.111 [SPEAKER_00]: as we begin. 06:26.171 --> 06:30.757 [SPEAKER_00]: Take a moment to reflect on the life of Jesus. 06:32.379 --> 06:38.907 [SPEAKER_00]: Allow what Scripture says about Jesus to establish a true definition of success. 06:40.369 --> 06:50.181 [SPEAKER_00]: Philippians 2 verses 5 through 8 says, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. 06:51.173 --> 07:19.037 [SPEAKER_00]: Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death 07:59.872 --> 08:19.821 [SPEAKER_00]: and next, take a moment to surrender your notion of success and impact and center your life around God's truth. 08:51.948 --> 08:56.020 [SPEAKER_00]: And last, what plans does God have for you today? 08:57.444 --> 08:59.591 [SPEAKER_00]: How can you love him and others well? 09:01.035 --> 09:04.084 [SPEAKER_00]: In what way can you impact eternity? 09:38.472 --> 09:58.391 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is the perfect example of what it looks like to make a lasting impact because he was wholly surrendered to the will of the Father. 09:59.852 --> 10:05.037 [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of his ministry, he had only a few followers that stood by him. 10:06.080 --> 10:11.728 [SPEAKER_00]: He never wrote a book or even traveled more than a few hundred miles from where he was born. 10:13.191 --> 10:17.417 [SPEAKER_00]: Rather than considering him successful, the world killed him. 10:19.099 --> 10:23.526 [SPEAKER_00]: But he made the biggest impact of anyone in all of history. 10:25.609 --> 10:26.951 [SPEAKER_00]: Live like Jesus today. 10:28.273 --> 10:30.957 [SPEAKER_00]: Live solely for the opinion of God. 10:31.797 --> 10:36.828 [SPEAKER_00]: and find your satisfaction in being faithful to what he has called you to. 10:36.848 --> 10:46.127 [SPEAKER_00]: May your day be filled with the abundant life that comes from surrender to the perfect plans of God. 11:00.299 --> 11:03.048 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening to today's podcast. 11:03.068 --> 11:04.713 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Josh with verse 15. 11:05.636 --> 11:12.840 [SPEAKER_00]: If God is using this podcast in a meaningful way in your life, would you consider supporting our ministry? 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