[SPEAKER_00]: Christian parenting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello to Seekers and welcome back to our Summer Series.
[SPEAKER_00]: This week we are learning all about what it means to be an influencer for Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever been watching TV and all of the sudden a commercial comes on for your favorite cereal and you just know you have to eat some of that cereal because you just saw that commercial and it made you so hungry for that cereal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Guess what?
[SPEAKER_00]: You were just influenced.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are so many ways we are influenced all the time every day.
[SPEAKER_00]: But do you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: We get to be influencers for Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can influence other people by the way we live, by the words we speak, by our actions.
[SPEAKER_00]: When people see Jesus in us, they will want to know more about this Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: They can't help but be drawn to Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus has given us ways that we can follow Him, and as we follow Him, other people will see us following Jesus, and they'll want to know more about what it is that causes us to want to follow Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now you may be thinking, how can I be an influencer?
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't even have a YouTube channel or a podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me let you in on a little secret.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have family members?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have siblings?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have friends?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, then you have the ability to influence those around you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if we are going to influence those around us for Jesus, then we have to follow him.
[SPEAKER_00]: As we follow him, others will look at our lives and how we live.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they will be drawn to Jesus through us.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus gave us a set of eight ways we can follow him and also influence others as we follow him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He called these the Beatitudes.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Beatitudes are part of a sermon Jesus gave while he was here on this earth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus had many people who were following him while he was here because he performed many miracles.
[SPEAKER_00]: But a lot of those people were only following Jesus for a moment because they wanted
[SPEAKER_00]: But when it came down to it, he wasn't really Lord of their lives.
[SPEAKER_00]: They hadn't made him their Lord in Savior.
[SPEAKER_00]: When Push came to shove, they weren't true followers of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about you, but I want to be a true follower of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I know that Jesus is the one true and living God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as God, I owe him my allegiance, my loyalty, my worship.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am so glad that Jesus gave us specific ways we can follow Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you ready to talk about the first way we can be an influencer for Jesus?
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, true seekers, what is the first way Jesus told us to follow after Him?
[SPEAKER_00]: What does it look like to influence others for Jesus?
[SPEAKER_00]: You may be surprised by this first one.
[SPEAKER_00]: You might be thinking, oh I know, influencers are popular and funny and outgoing and confident.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not the first be attitude that Jesus left for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: To be an influencer for Jesus is to be poor and spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you say that with me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Poor and spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you know what it means to be poor and spirit?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well I'm going to share a story with you about a woman in the Bible who gives us a perfect example of what it means to be poor and spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to talk to you about a woman named Esther.
[SPEAKER_00]: You see, Esther was an unlikely influencer.
[SPEAKER_00]: She did not set out to be an influencer.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, Esther's life started with heartbreak and sadness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Esther was an orphan.
[SPEAKER_00]: Her parents were killed by enemies of Israel when she was young, and she went to live with her older cousin Mordakai.
[SPEAKER_00]: And things only got harder for Esther.
[SPEAKER_00]: When she was a young lady, she was taken captive by the Persian army and required to stand before the king, so he could decide if she was the one he wanted to marry.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure it was all very overwhelming for a young girl who had lived a quiet and secluded life with her cousin.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here she was in the middle of a Persian kingdom, having to live with other women, being brought before the king and inspected to see if she would be the new queen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did she even want to be a queen?
[SPEAKER_00]: A queen and a land that was not hers?
[SPEAKER_00]: Over a people that were not hers?
[SPEAKER_00]: Esther was a Jew?
[SPEAKER_00]: She became queen, she would be queen of the Persians.
[SPEAKER_00]: People who did not know her God, people who were enemies of her people.
[SPEAKER_00]: When Esther was chosen to be the new queen, she had nothing of her own to bring to the kingdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure, she was given jewels and a crown and beautiful dresses, but Esther had nothing of her own, not even mortic high could come and live with her.
[SPEAKER_00]: In reality, she was alone.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only thing Esther had was her faith in Yahweh, the one true and living God, and that is the one thing she would not let go of, even in a foreign palace in a foreign land far away from home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Esther held to her God.
[SPEAKER_00]: You see Esther was poor in spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: She had nothing else in her own strength to do what God had called her to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: She had to rely completely on him in nothing else.
[SPEAKER_00]: because the time came when Esther would have to choose to either rely on God or her own strength.
[SPEAKER_00]: You see, Esther's people, the Jews were in danger.
[SPEAKER_00]: The King had ordered a decree that the Jews living in Persia were to be killed.
[SPEAKER_00]: All of the Jews, just like that, murdered.
[SPEAKER_00]: Esther was a Jew, but the King did not know.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Esther had a choice to make, would she go to the King and stand up for her people or would she stay quiet and save herself?
[SPEAKER_00]: Esther call on her people to fast and pray for three days.
[SPEAKER_00]: She knew that she could not go to the king in her own wisdom or strength.
[SPEAKER_00]: She had to take three days to seek the Lord's face and ask for help.
[SPEAKER_00]: Esther was poor in her own strength and wisdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: This means that she knew she couldn't face this problem on her own.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when it was time for Esther to go before the king, the Lord went before her and made away.
[SPEAKER_00]: The king listened to Esther's request.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when she told the king that she was a Jew, and that her people were in danger, the king listened, and Esther's people were saved.
[SPEAKER_00]: Esther wasn't influenced her for Yahweh, because all of the people around her, even the king, saw that Esther did not rely on her own wisdom or her own strength, but that she put her faith in the one true and living God Yahweh.
[SPEAKER_00]: Esther influenced so many people that day, and so many people saw God's goodness and faithfulness because Esther did not make it about her.
[SPEAKER_00]: She did not let the power of being a queen go to her head.
[SPEAKER_00]: She did not forget who she was.
[SPEAKER_00]: She knew she could do nothing without the help of the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dear true seekers, are you poor and spirit?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you realize that without Jesus we have nothing?
[SPEAKER_00]: We are sinners, we are lost in our sin, we are lost in darkness without Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are poor in spirit, but Jesus said blessed are those who know that they are poor in spirit, those who rely on Jesus for their salvation and for their strength will be blessed.
[SPEAKER_00]: To be poor in spirit is a good thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: It means you don't just do things without thinking of Jesus and asking for His help.
[SPEAKER_00]: It means you know that you are weak without Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: It means you know that you can do nothing without Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: But
[SPEAKER_00]: Being poor in spirit means praying, just like Esther did, when you have big or small decisions you have to make for guidance and for help.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you have put your faith in Jesus, then the Holy Spirit lives in you, and the Holy Spirit is your helper.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have a built-in helper to go with you everywhere you go.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to rely on your own strength or wisdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: you don't have to try to figure things out on your own.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to do life in your own strength.
[SPEAKER_00]: You won't be able to.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have the Holy Spirit when you put your faith in Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the good news.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a blessing for those of us who remain poor in spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: For those of us like Esther who rely completely on the Lord, Jesus has promised that our blessing is the kingdom of heaven.
[SPEAKER_00]: For those who are poor in spirit, we will receive the kingdom of heaven.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are promised a heavenly home where we will always belong and have everything we need.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray before we go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dear Jesus, I ask the Youa cause us to not rely on our own strength, but to rely on you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank You Jesus for giving us the Holy Spirit to live with us, to guide us, to lead us, to comfort us, to give us wisdom, to help us make decisions, to help us live for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus, we know that this is the best way to be an influencer for those around us who are watching.
[SPEAKER_00]: help others to see that we don't rely on ourself, but that we rely on you.
[SPEAKER_00]: That you give us the strength we need.
[SPEAKER_00]: You give us hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: You give us forgiveness of sins.
[SPEAKER_00]: You cover us in your righteousness.
[SPEAKER_00]: You wash us clean of our sins when we could not do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: We couldn't save ourselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus, thank you for saving us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Help others to see you in us as we rely on you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Help us to be influencers for you as we follow you in your name we pray.
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, true seekers, join me tomorrow as we learn about a second way we can be influencers for Jesus.