God Uses Ordinary People
God Uses Ordinary People
Pastor Margaret Pashley shares her testimony and the vision behind the Centre for Change in the Philippines. Emphasising that God delights in using those the world deems ordinary, she challenges believers to offer their lives wholly to God’s service. Drawing from her own journey—from missionary beginnings to overseeing a thriving ministry—she illustrates how surrender and obedience can lead to impactful, transformative work. The Centre for Change offers care, education, and spiritual formation to children who have experienced trauma, with the ultimate goal of introducing them to Jesus.
Pastor Margaret stresses that true transformation comes not just through love and care, but through encountering Christ. She reminds the congregation that each person has a divine purpose and is created anew in Christ Jesus to fulfil good works prepared by God. She confronts the notion of being “used” by distinguishing God’s loving call from human exploitation, portraying divine use as a sacred privilege. The message is an invitation to live for eternal significance, echoing the truth that only what is done for Christ will last. She calls every listener to respond, surrendering their “ordinary” lives so that God might accomplish His extraordinary plans through them.
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Ordinary People, Extraordinary God: Finding Your Purpose in God's Kingdom
Have you ever felt like you're just an ordinary person with nothing special to offer? God specializes in using ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. When we surrender our lives to Him, He can work through us in ways we never imagined.
What Does It Mean to Be Used by God?
When we hear the phrase "God uses ordinary people," it might sound concerning to some. Being "used" often carries negative connotations of manipulation or exploitation. But being used by God is entirely different - it's a privilege, not a burden.
God doesn't manipulate or abuse us. Instead, He invites us into His eternal purposes with love and honor. When we understand that we belong to Jesus, having been "bought with a price" through His precious blood, serving Him becomes our greatest joy.
"When you have the revelation that you actually belong to Jesus, you're bought with a price... you just know that it's a privilege to serve Him in any way, big or small."
How Does God Transform Ordinary Lives?
The Evidence of Transformation
When we truly encounter Jesus, our lives change. This isn't just a nice idea - it's a spiritual reality. "If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come."
If your life hasn't changed since professing faith in Christ, it's worth examining whether you've truly met Him. God doesn't leave us as we are - He continually molds us to become more like Jesus. This transformation isn't just for our benefit but enables us to impact others for eternity.
Building Something That Lasts
Everything we build in this world will eventually fade away - except what we build with God for His kingdom. As C.T. Studd's powerful poem reminds us: "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last."
God has placed eternity in our hearts. Deep down, we all sense there's more to life than our brief time on earth. When we align our lives with God's purposes, we participate in something that will endure forever.
Why Does God Choose Ordinary People?
God deliberately chooses to work through ordinary people so that He receives the glory. Throughout Scripture and history, God has consistently chosen unlikely candidates for His greatest work.
"God doesn't choose the mighty, the powerful, the influential that much. He chooses to use ordinary people so that He gets the glory."
We see this pattern in the Bible with fishermen becoming apostles, a shepherd boy becoming king, and countless other examples of God elevating the humble to accomplish His purposes.
How Can I Discover My Purpose in God's Kingdom?
You Are God's Workmanship
Ephesians tells us we are "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for you to do." God knew you before you were born and has specific purposes for your life.
You don't need special qualifications or a platform to be used by God. You simply need to make yourself available and say, "Here I am, Lord. Use me for your glory."
Everyone Has Influence
Every believer has influence in their sphere of relationships. You can impact people that others can't reach. God has strategically placed you where you are to make a difference.
"God has set you where you are. If you're in Christ, you're a new creation and you have a purpose. You have a purpose to affect the lives around you."
Sometimes your purpose might be as simple as speaking a timely word to someone who needs encouragement or sharing about Jesus with someone who's never heard the gospel.
Life Application
The story of the slave girl who was purchased and then set free powerfully illustrates our relationship with Christ. Jesus paid the ultimate price - not with money but with His own blood - to set us free from sin and death.
When we truly grasp what Jesus has done for us, our only reasonable response is gratitude and surrender. Like the slave girl who fell at her redeemer's feet saying, "I'm going to serve you all the days of my life," we too should respond to Christ's sacrifice with complete devotion.
Questions to Consider:
Have I truly surrendered my life to Christ, or have I merely "added Jesus" to my existing life?
What areas of my life am I still holding back from God's control?
What specific gifts, talents, or opportunities has God given me that I could use to serve His kingdom purposes?
Am I living with an eternal perspective, focusing on what will last beyond this life?
How can I make myself more available to God this week to be used for His glory?
Take time today to pray, "Lord, what would you have me do? Where would you lead me? Take my ordinary life and use it for your glory." Then watch as God works through your surrendered life in extraordinary ways.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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Very good. All right, who's ready for the word? You ready? Margaret's ready. She's been like, I've been ready for, like, I've been ready for years.
So Pastor Margaret Ashley, she went to Bible college way back when my parents were in Bible college and served God and felt God say, I've called you to the mission field. And people said, maybe, you know, maybe not. Maybe, maybe not. And she said, I don't care what man says. I'm going to do what God says.
And she went over to the Philippines. She went and supported some missionaries over there. And then God called her into an amazing ministry that's now called center for Change. And she'll probably share a little bit about that. Many of you know about it, but she's an amazing woman of God.
She's an amazing woman of faith, a woman of integrity. And it's an honour to have you with us, Margaret, and it's an honour to know you and we're so proud to watch you and we look up to you and your example of ministry. And so you're going to be really blessed today. As she comes to share, why don't we give her a great hand as she comes to share the word with us today? Life.
Wow. Good morning. God bless you. God is good all the time.
Filipino. Thank you. I feel at home. Thank you. Oh, it's so good to be with you at Connect.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for standing with us for so many years. And we just appreciate. We appreciate your prayers.
Do you pray? We appreciate your giving. I know you give every month or regularly. And please know that we are also praying for you. Every Friday, we have our chapel service and you are named by name.
We. We mentioned Connect Church, and we pray God's blessing upon you. And it's exciting to be here again and see what God is doing here. And weren't you just enthralled with the presence of God as we were worshiping? How beautiful to be led into worship in such a wonderful way and to sense the holy presence of God in our midst.
And that's what we need, holiness unto the Lord. That's something that's in my heart, especially for center for Change. You know, there's so much going on all the time. We have lots of kids all around us all the time. There's lots of activities, fun and games and all kinds of things.
But, you know, there's a place we need to come to where there's holiness unto the Lord. And when we. We come in in that spirit, of worship that we had this morning. Oh wow, Lord, more and more and more. Because you know, when we get taken up with the presence of God, then God gets taken up with us and his holy presence comes in the midst of us and wow, that's when we have the connection and that's when people get saved.
That's when you who am I to stand before a holy God? And that's when God works his miracle of new life when we say, woe is me and please forgive me. And we yield our life to him because he points us to Jesus. All of this happens in an incredible mix that sometimes we don't even understand. But we know that God is there and suddenly our hearts are awakened and, and we know that he's real and we know we can't stand in our own right before him and we cry unto him and he saves us.
It's so exciting. And so I just sensed this morning, I said, oh, thank you, thank you, thank you Lord for this holy presence in this place. And please pray for us because you know, we have kids coming in from everywhere and they've got a lot of crisis to, to move through. And at the moment we meet in the ark, which is our evacuation center, and sometimes it gets a bit rowdy. Kids are running to the toilet all the time.
You know, we're gonna build a chapel. You see it? We don't have a toilet in it. Sorry, go before you come or go out there.
And so in my heart, that's what we're going to put holiness unto the Lord because we want a place where people come and go. Yeah, we're here to meet God. We're here to worship God. So I'm excited with what I sense in this place and please pray for us that we will know that holy sense of the presence of God because we want to see lives transformed. Our kids need Jesus.
They get it from morning till evening. As long as they're there, you know, our staff, they love God and they're there because they're called of God. And these young people, children, we had a three and a five year old come in this week, a couple of days ago. They need Jesus. They've all been through crisis and by God's grace we can set the atmosphere of love and acceptance.
But oh, you know, when I first began reaching out with the kids on the streets and we brought them in, I thought we just love them and care for them and I thought that's enough. But you know what? It's not enough. They need to experience Jesus because Unless they experience Jesus, there's no change. We call ourselves center for Change and we're looking for the change in lives.
And so I am excited. Do you know, currently we have 10 of our former kids who are working with us. ADA officially, you know, they're sort of on our center for Change staff and two of them are in our center for Change community church in the pastoral role. Thank you. For those praying for Pastora Grace, she had an open heart surgery.
Just what was that? One month, three, four weeks ago? Miracle. She got there and they said, when did you apply for this? She said, I think it was a couple of weeks ago.
They said, people are waiting for years for this operation. They said, how did you get here? People are praying. And when she went into the operation, she said to the doctors, she said, mom, you know they always call you mom in the Philippines. Mom, mom.
They told me eight to nine, but they came at seven. So I went in and she said to the doctors, they're asking her what she does, a pastor. She said, can we pray together before we operate? So the doctors all said, yes, yes, yes. And so they all were.
She said, mom, they were all very serious as I committed myself to the Lord, body, soul and spirit and I prayed for wisdom and I. She said, lord, I trust you and I trust these doctors. You'll give them the wisdom. She went to sleep and she came out and she's doing great, actually, she's doing really well. So glory to God and thank you for those who've been praying and we do have a little video, please hello to all our friends and supporters.
It's a great joy to update you once again with the happenings here at center for Change in the Philippines. Currently we have 17 girls and 28 boys, plus seven independent boys and seven independent girls. We regularly see new children coming in and others being reconciled to. Family transformation is a process. It begins when children see the opportunity they have for a new life.
As they come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior and as they embrace a lifestyle of learning what is good and profitable for their lives. It begins in our alternative family homes with a loving house parent. Every parent is different, yet all have the same goals. To see each child in their care grow into a healthy, well balanced young person who has learned the life skills necessary to ensure they know how to care for themselves, prepare meals and keep a healthy, clean home environment. Family devotions are equally as important as the practical training.
And what is learned in the home is reinforced in our Christian school. Firstly in our morning chapel services and then in the classroom, on every page of the curriculum. We are thankful to Sir Hurdito Mabaz who leads our school to greater heights. Our social workers under Mrs. Renime Mimi Arenzado are always on hand to assist every child to reach their goals. Counseling is a big part of the work of our social workers.
Together with helping each child form life plans that will help them achieve their goal of a brighter tomorrow. Wherever possible, children are reunited with family or even trusted foster parents. All of our staff are key in helping our children and youth. Whether admin led by Pastor Sandy Abuya or maintenance also overseen by Sir Hurdito, the life skills of our workers teach the value of keeping everything running smoothly. Center for Change is about people who love the Lord and have been planted by the Lord in this place to minister to needy children.
We always support that Jesus is at the center because he was the one to instruct us to do something about the plight of the needy children here in Leyte and Sama. On February 26, we celebrated our 23rd anniversary with a theme Rising to Greater Heights by God's grace. This ministry extends beyond our in house care into the greater community. Through our child sponsorship program helping youth in their own families reach greater heights of opportunity and through Kids Club that shares good news with children in villages around us. God has opened doors to reach out to our district prison, to the police, to the fire brigade, the high school students.
We count each as an opportunity to impact more lives. As we reach to greater heights, we are pursuing our heart's desire to build a chapel. We are thankful the plans are ready and we trust for the financial provision to see this school chapel become a reality. The chapel is not tax deductible in Australia due to government rulings. But this is not a hindrance to those who see the value of a place set apart from the day to day activities to worship our great God who continues to be the center at center for Change.
From the center for Change family, thank you and God bless you for your continued partnership as we rise to greater heights in faith and practical outcomes of the ministry of Lakey Sama's center for Change foundation here in the Philippines. From the center for Change family, thank you and God bless you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. God is so good. Wow. It didn't stop like that. You know.
We started out in the streets, then to a hall, then to a rented house and then the next step, the next step, the next step. And you know what? God uses ordinary people. There's no one extraordinary in our team. We know ourselves about how good it is when God brings all the people that you need together.
We all have different gifts, we all have different talents, even if we don't recognize them. And most of us don't think we do things very well. But, you know, others see the potential in us. And when we yield ourselves to God, we, wow, anything can happen. And so the title of my message this morning is God Uses Ordinary People.
Are you an ordinary person out there? You're in good company. You know, God doesn't choose the mighty, the powerful, the influential that much. He chooses to use ordinary people so that he gets the glory. Now, when I use that word, use, I'm very aware that some people, it hits hard in their heart because they feel they've been used, they've been manipulated and they've been abused.
And so it sounds very strange to say God uses ordinary people. But when you know Jesus, it's a privilege, you think, oh, wow, Almighty God, who made me, he wants to use me in his glory, kingdom, work. And you know, you can't do anything. You need him to use you. You need the plus factor of God on your life to accomplish anything that's going to last for eternity.
And, you know, we're not just about here and now. This life is very short. And you can build things here, but they won't go on up to there unless you have the plus factor of God. When you have yielded your life to him and said, here I am, Lord, I'm available. Do whatever you want to do.
I'm yours, Lord. I'm yours. So when you have the revelation that you actually belong to Jesus, you're bought with a price. The precious blood of Jesus. You just know that it's a privilege to serve him in any way, big or small, no matter what it is.
Day by day. We want to live with him. We want to walk with him, we want to talk with him because we have relationship with him. We once were going our own way, but when we met Jesus, when we came to know the living God, our lives changed. If your life has not changed, I doubt you know God.
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. But it's the truth. The truth hurts. If you know God, there must be a change in your life. If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation.
The old is gone, the new has come. And he doesn't leave us the way we are. He keeps on working in our lives. And I am so thankful. We are who we are by the grace of God, but his grace doesn't also leave us the way we are.
He keeps molding us, keeps making us. He wants us to be more like Jesus. And as we are more like Jesus and we allow Jesus to shine through us, we can affect more people for the kingdom, for eternity. And so we all want to be a part of something that's going to last. Whatever you're building here, it's not going to last.
But if you're building with the Lord in His kingdom purposes, it's going to go on up into eternity, forever and ever, which is a long, long time. So it's very exciting when we consider God uses ordinary people a privilege. God does not abuse. God does not manipulate you. God loves you, he honors you, he wants to bless you and he chooses you.
He has chosen you before the foundation of the world. And it's the most exciting, wonderful thing when you understand it and you say, I can work together with the Lord or yeah, we're working with him, he's not working with us. It's not our plans, it's his plans. Our plans are so small compared to God's plans. The things we can think of and dream of are so small compared with what God has in mind.
Especially when you realize it's not only here and now, but it's on into the future forever and ever. It's not only about working with him here. He's got plans for us forever. So how exciting is that to be used of God? Now I know that God has placed eternity in the hearts of men.
The Bible tells us that in Ecclesiastes God has placed eternity in the hearts of men. And so it's really quite strange when you meet people that say, oh no, there's no God, there's nothing. You mean you're just going to die and that's it? You know, nobody really believes that. I mean, my father said he was an atheist, but at 86 years of age, he came to know the Lord.
And Thomas said, tell Margaret what you've done. I've joined the Lord. Well, you know what? He's the best person to join with. You know, God has put eternity in our hearts and he's always wanted us to live with Him.
He's always wanted us to be with Him. It was lost to us by the rebellion of Adam in the garden. And don't just blame Adam. We all followed him. We've been very effective at making enough mess of our own lives.
Yes, but praise God, Jesus purchased our salvation at the cost of his own lifeblood. Amazing. As I said, we are bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus. Therefore Glorify God in your body, you say. How?
By living a life that's pleasing to him. You know, when you know Jesus, you want to please him. Ah, you just want him to be happy. You want him to smile over your life. Because we love him.
Because we realize what he has done, the price he has paid to set us free and to put us on the right path, to go the way of God all the way into eternity. Oh, we love him and we want to live for Him. We want to please him, want to glorify God in our lives. In Matthew 6:20, we're told, Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth and rust destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. You know, it's just a reality check.
We're not going to live on this life here on this earth forever. There's a lot of change going to happen, change in us. I'm looking forward to that change. Come, Lord Jesus, are you looking forward to that new body? I sure am.
But you know, it's not just about here and now. So it's good to store up things in heaven. This amazes me. Because you know, God rewards us for the way we live here, to glorify Him. You think it's just enough to know you, but it's just enough to serve you.
But he says, no, you're going to be rewarded for what you do on this earth for me. Wow, that's mind boggling for me. So why we can't do anything to purchase our salvation, to make us right before Almighty God? Because Jesus did that. But we can offer him the treasure he is looking for.
The treasure? What is he looking for? He's looking for our surrendered life to Him. That's the treasure. When we will say, here I am, Lord, such as I am, I yield my life to you.
So praise God that we know God uses ordinary people. And even when he uses us, he says there's going to be a reward for whatever you do in cooperation with my spirit as I lead and guide you. So we're storing up things in heaven because I don't know how God's going to work together with us in heaven, but it's going to be quite amazing. The heaven, the new earth, I don't know. But we trust God.
He has a hope and he has a future for all of us. And it's beyond here and now. It's forever. It's forever. So listen to this poem.
Sometimes we just breeze over poems, but you know, some of these mighty men of God of years gone by, They've written things that will really touch your heart and give you perspective if you listen. And this is a poem by an old missionary called C T Stud, and it's called Only One Life. Only One Life. It's a little bit lengthy. Stay with me, I hope.
Two little lines I heard one day Traveling along life's busy way Bringing conviction to my heart and from my mind would not depart Only one life Twill soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life yes, only one soon will its fleeting hours be done Then in that day my Lord to meet and stand before his judgment seat Only one life Twill soon be passed Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life the still small voice Gently pleads For a better choice Bidding me selfish aims to leave and to God's holy will to cleave Only one life Twill soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life A few brief years each with its burdens, hopes and fears each with its clays I must fulfill Living for self or in his will Only one life Twill soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last when this bright world would tempt me sore When Satan would a victory score when self would seek to have its way Then help me, Lord, with joy to say Only one life Twill soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Give me, Father, a purpose Deep in joy or sorrow Thy word to keep faithful and true Whate' er the strife Pleasing thee in my daily life Only one life Twill soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last oh, let my love with fervor burn and from the world now let me turn Living for thee and thee alone Bringing thee pleasure on thy throne Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life yes, only one now let me say Thy will be done and when at last I'll hear the call I know I'll say Twas worth it all Only one life Twill soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last what an amazing poem. And what a reality check for us. We're on this earth for a reason. We were born for a reason. We were reborn for a reason.
And only what's done for Jesus is going to enter into eternity. And it's a privilege. It's a privilege that God Almighty invites us to work with him in something that's going to last forever. It's a privilege, a very great privilege. Now may we understand it's a privilege that God has made a way for us to know him and to spend eternity with him and look upon him, to look upon his glory, Almighty God.
You know, we were saying we sense something of his glory and the holiness earlier. But even everybody that has come to know Jesus has a longing to know God in a better way. And Moses knew God. He talked with God, but he said, I want to see your glory. I want to see your glory.
And God was so gracious because God lives in unapproachable light, Almighty God. And yet he said, okay, here's a place in the rock. I'm going to pass by and I will allow you to see a little of the back portions of my glory, of my goodness. And how awesome was that to see something? But just think about us when we get to heaven, when we get to into that eternal state of God ruling and reigning forever.
And we will be. It'll be available to us to see more and more of the glory of God. I mean, who could comprehend God? We will be all of eternity and we still won't know all there is to know about God and his goodness and his kindness and his mercy and his compassion and his grace and his judgment, justice. Wow.
But we have that privilege because he's going to dwell with us and we're going to dwell with Him. It's an exciting expectation we have. Our expectation is not limited to these years on this earth. It goes beyond. And it's exciting.
God says, hey, I've got something for you to do here and now, and it's going to count for there. And so let's not be wasteful with our years here when we can say, okay, God, I'm willing, I'm ready. If you can use me in any way, I'm available. And he says, yes, he's got something for everybody in his family, and it's a privilege. May we always remember, no one loves us like Jesus loves us.
And he wants us to spend eternity with Him. He gave his life for us. Yes, that righteous one for us. Unrighteous. And this kind of love does not use and abuse.
It's a love that honors and upholds, cherishes and gives us a place in the family, in the family of God where we can be a part of his kingdom purposes or his kingdom business. This is God's business. He's building his kingdom right here and now. And we will enjoy it forever in eternity. So as the old song says, to be his Hands extended, reaching out to the oppressed.
Let me touch him. Let me touch Jesus so that others may know and be blessed. It's a privilege to be used of God, a great privilege. I wonder if you've heard that illustration. Preachers sometimes use it.
I think there was one occasion I used it. So here it is again. And it's to show us how we're brought out of the slavery of the old life that keeps us ensnared on the path to destruction. And it's told about a young woman, a slave back in the day in US when slaves were openly bought and sold. And we know it goes on today, but not so so much in the open.
And so the block was there. The slave girl was paraded, and there was a gentleman walking by, and he heard the ugly talk and the looks of those who were bidding for this girl. And he stepped in and he began to bid. And the bid went higher and higher, and it double anybody else? And finally, salt.
How about that salt. A young girl, she came down off the block. She had real hatred in her eyes. And with all her might she gathered all the spit she could in her mouth. And when she came down, she spat in his face.
And the man took a handkerchief and wiped his face. And he went to the table and he paid in full for her. And then he turned to the girl and he gave her the deed of sale. He gave her her freedom. He said, you're free.
And the girl took her a while. She's thinking, what has just transpired, what's going on here? And when she realized that this man had bid for her, he'd paid this enormous price for her to set her free. He didn't want her caught up in all the ugliness that he heard going on. He wanted to see her free.
And she fell at his feet. And she said, you did this for me. I'm going to serve you all the days of my life. Now we know it was only money paid for this slave girl. But just think what Jesus paid to set us free from the slavery of sin and death and all the guilt and everything that goes with all the rottenness that we managed to do in our lives.
Jesus paid with his lifeblood. And so we say, how can I make a lesser sacrifice?
Could we be so ungrateful? No. We recognize his great love. He gave his all then how could we give less than our all? And I pray that you're not one of those that there's so many people these days, they seem to say, oh, I'm in Jesus.
I accepted Jesus. And it seems they kind of added Jesus to their life somehow, thinking, well, I'll have a better life and God will help me to achieve what I want to achieve and I'm going to escape hell. And it's so. It's so not real. It's so you think, do you really know Jesus?
It's actually, you can't know Jesus and act like that. When you know Jesus and he gave his life for you and he's given you new life, then you say, here I am, Lord. I'll serve you forever. I'll serve you forever. Thank you, Lord.
Our love for Jesus in giving his life for us is now the motivating factor in our lives. And it's our desire to find our place and to know what the Master would have for us in his kingdom. Work. So to be used of God is now our desire. And if you think God can't use me, just know God uses ordinary people because he's the extraordinary God, as Paul said.
He said, by the grace of God, I am who I am. By the grace of God, you are who you are. And the grace of God is not in vain in my life. It's not useless. God has graced me.
And the grace of God is not in vain in my life. No, I worked harder than them all. Yet not I, but the grace of God in me. So God made you exactly the way you are and then he remade you. When you came to Jesus and something happened that brought a change on the inside.
And your desires change, your attitudes change, your life changes. You might not immediately have an amazing changed life on the outside, but something has begun on the inside. And God says He will carry it on to completion. And as we yield our life to him, we're giving him permission to work in our lives in a special way that's going to make a big difference not only in your life, but the lives of the people around you. Because every one of us have influence in this world.
You can influence people I don't even know. God has set you where you are. If you're in Christ, you're a new creation and you have a purpose. You have a purpose to affect the lives around you. God has something for all of us.
Might be just speaking to a young person, being in the right place at the right time, you know, to give the word that will lead someone to know Jesus. And in all of our doing, because Ephesians tells us we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for you to do. Just think of that. God knew you, as pastor said, before you were born, before the foundation of the world. He chose you, he created you.
And he created you again in Christ Jesus to do good works which he has prepared in advance for you to do. God knows the way that you take. And if you are on the way, not in the way, but on the way, the way of following Jesus, then he opens up to you, opportunity on the way, just even to speak a word for Jesus. And we must somehow speak a word for Jesus, because how will they know him? How can they call upon him unless someone tells them of Jesus?
And the scripture goes on to say that how can they preach unless they're sent?
But God has sent all of us. If you know Jesus, you're commissioned already. You don't actually have to get a diploma up here. You're commissioned because he said to all of his people, every disciple, go into all the world and make the disciples. You can't go everywhere.
I can't go everywhere. But the people of God, we all are in our area where we can make a difference. And people won't know Jesus unless we tell them. Especially today. I don't see a lot going to Sunday school these days.
You know, we have an opportunity to work on with our God and make ourselves available and say, here I am, Lord, use me for your glory. And he says, that's great. That's what I want. I want to see an available person who will just make themselves available. And when you make yourself available, wow.
God has plenty of option to say, this is what I prepared for you. I'm glad you're stepping up, glad you found out because now you can step into my purposes. Amen. Amen. Glory to God.
Well, I'm going to hand to you because about halfway through my message, wasn't that great? Why don't we give Margaret a hand?
Thank you. Thank you. Margaret and Pastor Margaret will be sharing the second half of that message or another message tonight at Casey. She's five o'. Clock.
She's going to be at our Cranbourne Church sharing the word. And what a powerful woman of God. Hey, I want to pray for us because we're going to give an opportunity at the end, don't leave just yet. We'll be finished in a couple of minutes. But at the end, we're going to give an opportunity.
If you want to give into the work Margaret's doing, we want to bless her being with us today, but we want to we sow into their ministry We've done that for years and years. And the church I was at, in this church for many, many years, we give every month into the center for Change ministry. And that's why we're partners, we're family together. And we're going to opportunity to sow in more. They've got a building they want to build.
We got a building we want to build. You got a building you want to build. And that's it. Into the chapel there. And I'll be right.
I mean, ordinary people. Here's what I think. You know, we think we're ordinary, but when God looks at you, he doesn't see ordinary. He sees extraordinary. He sees his workmanship.
He sees people that can that he made to declare his glory, that he made to do something incredible. And the world, you know what, who cares what the world looks see, we look at people on stage and we think, oh, they've done something important. We look at people who run and say, oh, you've done something important. You know what I think when we get to heaven, we're going to be surprised with who God says, well done, good and faithful servant. Because I know all through my life I went over been there numbers of times.
I got to obviously know Margaret, but I got to meet some of her team, people like Grace and others that you won't get to meet. But you know what? Men and women of God who are sowing their lives into changing lives, going out. They run kids programs in villages and areas, and they're just young people said, I want to be sold out to God. Filipino people, men and women of God saying, use me, God.
They're not going to be on a stage, they're not going to be on a video. But God's using ordinary lives to do extraordinary things. I look at people in this church and I see, I hear the stories of people not just serving in our church, but going out into the world and ministering God's love and changing lives. That's what he's called you to. God hasn't called you to stand on a stage necessarily, but he has called you to be his voice, his heart, his life out into the world to make a difference.
And that's what Margaret's talking about. Ordinary people.
It's funny, you see Margaret, you think she's not an ordinary person, but she was young woman, went to Bible college from Gladstone in Queensland.
No one thought one day Margaret's going to be running a this huge center for change. I mean, you did and God did. You had a different thing you did you just said, God, I'll serve you. And she went and served as an assistant and God put a vision on her heart. You know what?
Ordinary people just serving God, saying, I'm not here for the big lights. And I want to challenge to say, God, what would you have me do? That's what Margaret asked to do. I want you to ask right now, say, God, what would you. I want to serve my.
I want to surrender my life to you. I want to give my life for your glory, Jesus. I want to make a difference in this world for you, Jesus. Maybe you don't feel worthy. Jesus makes you worthy.
Maybe you feel like you failed. Jesus overwhelms your failure. We've all failed. The apostle Paul failed. And he went on to be one of the greatest men of God this world has ever seen.
Holy Spirit, why don't we ask him right now? Say, holy Spirit, here's my life. Ask him. Say, lord, what would you have me do? Where would you lead me?
What would you want me to do? Take my ordinary life and use it for your glory.
In Jesus name. Jesus name. Maybe you're away from God right now and you need to. First thing you need to do is accept his grace and forgiveness in your life. Why don't you do that right now.
We're going to say a prayer and you just repeat it after me with all together and you say, lord, forgive me, cleanse me. I'm yours again. I'm yours for the first time. Dear Lord Jesus, I give my life to you today. I believe you're the Son of God and you died on the cross for my sins.
And you rose again from the dead. So forgive me, Jesus. Be my Lord and Savior. I'll live my life for you in Jesus name.
Amen. Amen. Here's what we're going to do. As we sing, we're going to sing this song. Jesus, if you say, Lord, here's my life, I want to be anointed.
Ordinary life, but it's yours. Lord, will you lead me? Will you guide me? Will you speak to me? It's in the surrender that the Lord opens your heart to speak to you about what he has for you.
And if that's you and you say Lord, I want to respond as we sing this song. I want to invite you to just stand, we worship and say, lord, here I am. Here I am, God. Ordinary life, but it's yours today. God, lead me, guide me.
Here I am, God. Whatever you have for me, wherever it is, whatever it looks like, Jesus, Jesus name above all the Name.
Jesus.
Jesus Name above all other name. There is none like you.
You alone are worthy of your honor and praise. There's no other name.
There is none like you.
You alone are worthy of all honor and praise. There's no other name.
With our eyes closed now take this moment and say, lord, here I am.
Surrender to you or go where you lead. I'll do what you say. That's all he wants, is my life. Lord.
See the story Margaret told about that slave girl.
It's an analogy. It's a story about you and I.
We were slaves. Slaves to sin. Slaves to this world. Slaves to the passions of it.
The Lord God came and he paid the price, the high price. He paid the price. And some of us, we did, we have in our lives, we've spat in his face. We said, I don't even know what you're doing. I don't know what you want from me.
And the Lord looks into our eyes and he says, here you go. Here's your freedom. Here's your freedom. You go do what you want, but I set you free. And you get to choose what you do with that.
You get to choose. You know you do. You get to choose how you live. Now. You can do whatever you want to do, but when you see what the Savior's done, when you see the price is paid, surely.
Surely our only response can be, thank you, Lord.
What would you have me do?
I want to live my life, to bring glory to you.
Speak to me. It's all he wants. Here's my little heart.
What's he saying to you?
You're free.
Ask me what I planned for you, Holy Spirit. We do that.
Let your chains drop off, says the Lord. Let your chains drop off. I release you from them.
You're forgiven. I give you a new life.
There's still scars there. We'll walk. We'll walk through them, will work through them. But the Lord says, I give you a new life. Choose how you shall live.
Choose. I got a plan for you. I got a life for you. Follow me. Follow me.
You watch what I do. You watch what I do. You watch the plans I have for you.
You watch the life. You watch the legacy. You watch your children. You watch the grandchildren. You watch your friends.
You watch what I do through your life.
Trust me so, Lord, we do that today.
In Jesus name, take our lives. They're yours.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Why don't we grab our seats just for a second?
Here's what we're going to do.
We're going to take an opportunity, and we've got ways to give. If you'd like to give to Margaret today and to the ministry of center for Change, then I want to give you that opportunity. We'll make sure that we get that to her and to their ministry. And it's great to be a blessing. And so there's ways to give there.
If you just put for Margaret, center for Change, we'll make sure we bring it all together and get that to them. If you want an envelope right now, you'd like to fill that in, you've got some cash or on Visa, just pop your hand in the air and one of the team will bring that to you. Just keep it up till someone brings it to you. There's ways to give there. There's eftpos at the end by the Bible College, by the bookshop, and you can give there as well.
Isn't it good to be a blessing? Isn't it good to know that your generosity, our generosity as a church is helping impact lives that will never get to meet. I've met some of those young people. Their lives have been transformed because of the love of God, because people have said, we want to bless you. We want to love you when no one else will love you.
We want to give you a plan. They're getting educated. They're growing up knowing Jesus. They're growing up in the house of God. Growing up, growing in their morals and their values and their belief in their love that God has for them.
We get to be a part of that. So, Lord, as we give to you today and we give, Lord, to this ministry, we pray God that you would bless her, bless Margaret, bless Grace as she continues to recover God. I pray God, that the mighty men and women of God in the Philippines, you've called to rise up. Future pastors, future business people and educators and mums and dads would rise up out of that place, God, to continue your plans for their lives and for that nation, we pray it in the name of Jesus. Everyone said amen.
Cool. Why don't we pass those buckets down if you're giving that way? Otherwise, through there. Thank you.
Wasn't that good? Hey. He's glad they came to church today. I'm glad you came.
Gonna be good.
Praise God. Hey, next week I. Pastor Fua, while we pass the bucket, why don't we stand to our feet? We're gonna finish there. We got morning tea. God bless you guys.
Related Bible Verses
1. 2 Corinthians 5:17
"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
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2. 1 Corinthians 6:20
"For God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."
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3. Ecclesiastes 3:11
"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end."
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4. Matthew 6:20
"Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal."
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5. Ephesians 2:10
"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
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6. Matthew 28:19–20
"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
📖 Read on Bible.com