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March 27, 2025 • 28 mins

Voice of the Nazarene 3-2-25

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Pastor Ray LaSalle (00:01):
Coming to you from North Central Ohio. We
share with you the voice of theNazarene, a week by week,
venture into the Word of Godsponsored by the Bucyrus, Ohio
Church of the Nazarene. We joinour Pastor Reverend Ray LaSalle,
and the voice of the Nazarene.
My question to you this morningis, who's the greatest

(00:22):
influencer of all time, and I'dlike to give you the answer,
because I know it, and that'sJesus Christ. He impacted and
influenced more people, fromgeneration to generation, nation
to nation and around the globe,than any other man that ever

(00:42):
lived. And I tell you that notfrom a faith perspective, but
from a historical perspective,leadership is influence, nothing
more, nothing less. And Jesusinfluenced more than anyone else

(01:04):
that's ever lived. Socratestaught for 40 years, and Plato
taught for 50 years. Aristotletaught for 40 years. 130 years
of great philosophy Jesus taughtfor three years, and the words

(01:34):
of Jesus have been taught andbeen passed on more than all of
the great philosophers. Did youknow that Jesus, he never
painted any pictures? ButMichael Angelo and Leonardo da
Vinci Raphael, when they paintedpictures, they got their

(01:58):
greatest inspiration from thelife of Christ. Fact of the
matter, Jesus never even wroteany poetry, Dante and Milton and
the list goes on and on of thegreat poets. When they
researched and were coming upwith something to write about

(02:20):
and to rhyme. They were inspiredmore by the life of Christ than
any other man. He never wrote abook, and yet all of the
libraries of the world cannotcontain all the volumes that
have been written about him,greatest influencer of all time.

(02:40):
Never wrote any music, yetBeethoven and Bach and Handel
and Mendelssohn received theirinspiration literally from the
life of this man named JesusChrist, Son of God, who stepped
from cloud to cloud and fromhill to h ill until His feet
touched that hill calledCalvary, who became the Son of

(03:05):
Man. Now I share that with youbecause I want to talk to you
about Jesus, the greatestinfluencer of all mankind. He's
our example. Paul said, Followme as I follow Christ. And I
think that's great, and I canhandle that, but I'm saying to
you, don't follow me. I'm notPaul, just follow Jesus when I'm

(03:29):
long gone. This ministry willnot stumble a lick if everybody
here is following Jesus Christ,I want you to join me in the
book of Romans, chapter 12, weget a picture of what influence
is all about, and I'm going toread from the message today, if

(03:49):
you don't mind, here in verseone. So here's what I want you
to do. God helping you. Take youevery day, ordinary life. You're
sleeping, eating, going to work,walking around life and place it
before God as an offering. He'ssimply saying, place your hands

(04:11):
right out before God and say,God, you can have my ordinary
life just like it is. Don'tcomplicate it. Just give him
your life, all the humaninstrumentality. Just give him
your life. And he goes on. Hesaid, embracing what God does
for us is the best thing you cando for him. Don't become so well

(04:33):
adjusted to your culture thatyou fit into it without even
thinking. Instead, fix yourattention on God, you'll be
changed from the inside out.
Perhaps our problem is that welike being bigger on the outside
than we are on the inside. Andif you're bigger on the outside
than you are on the inside, it'sonly a matter of time till

(04:56):
you're going to cave in you. Butif you're bigger on the inside
with with integrity and withcharacter and with life change,
you're going to influenceeverybody around you. Remember
what Paul said, If any man be inChrist, he's a new creation, old

(05:17):
things are passed away. Andbehold, all things are become
new. And so I want to challengeyou to look at the life of
Christ for a few minutes and seewe can rise to a whole new level
and literally impact the worldaround us that we live in, down

(05:39):
there at the drug store, the gasstation, when we're buying
groceries. Can I just talk toyou about a few things about
Jesus, the great influencer? Didyou know that he saw things that
other people didn't see? He wasamazing and intentional in his

(06:03):
scope of what he saw.
Influencers see things thatother people don't see.
Influencers see before otherpeople are capable to see. Jesus
said to His disciples, as theywere looking around, he asked

(06:25):
this question, are you sayingthat four months cometh harvest?
No, no, no, he said, I'm sayingunto you, lift up your head,
look on the fields, they'rewhite already unto harvest. It's
harvest time. The fields arecalling and the grain is
falling. Oh, do not wait. It'sgrowing late. Behold, the fields

(06:50):
are white. It's harvest time.
That's what Jesus said. He sawpeople differently than what
other people saw. When he lookedup into that tree and he saw
Zacchaeus, a wee little man,wicked in the side of the
people, Jesus looked up at him.
He said, I want you to come downfrom out of that tree and I'm

(07:12):
going home to your house to eat.
And there, in Luke 19, thepeople were indignant to think
that Jesus would cozy up to thisman that everybody said was a
crook, but he said, I'm going toyour house, if you read it, even
Zacchaeus was stunned. He he hecouldn't believe he thought he

(07:34):
must be he must have a searchwarrant. He's going to search
for all my corruption and andsurely he wouldn't be my guest
today, but he was when Jesuslooked at people. He doesn't see
people like like we do. You seeHe sees people by how they can
become, that we can be betterthan what we are. And he sees

(07:57):
that that we can be transformed,and we can be be changed. And he
looked at Zacchaeus in a waythat nobody had ever looked at
him that way. And there's thewoman at the well, same story,
Jesus sitting there in broaddaylight talking to this old
gal. And the disciples when theyreturned from their errands,

(08:18):
they were amazed. They could notimagine Christ talking to a
woman, a Jew talking to aSamaritan. Well, what about the
woman caught in the very act ofadultery? The story just goes on
the list. Never stops. Rememberwhat he said, I am come to seek

(08:38):
and to save that which is lost.
He was seeking people out. Hewas seeing people that needed a
divine touch, and God wants youto begin to see people that
others cannot see. He saw thisblind beggar making a lot of

(09:01):
rock of Jesus, thou, son ofDavid. Somebody said, hush,
we're in church. Be quiet.
You're disturbing things. Jesuswasn't disturbed. Jesus walked
over to him and realized that heneeded a touch. There's an amen
that needed to walk. People justwalked on by Him. But Jesus
didn't he give him a liftinghand. Lepers, the crowds would

(09:23):
avoid them. Jesus, incompassion, walked over and
wiped away the white scale ofleprosy. There in Matthew,
chapter nine, the Bible saidthat when he saw the multitude,
he had compassion. Others didn'thave that, but he saw what other

(09:43):
people couldn't see. Did I evertell you about the man that fell
into a pit and couldn't get out,anybody home? I asked. You a
question, Did I ever tell youabout the man that fell into a
pit and couldn't get out? And asubjective person came along and

(10:10):
said, I feel for you down there.
And an objective person camealong and said, Well, it's
logical that somebody would fallinto a pit. And a Christian
scion came along and said, youonly think you're in a pit. It's

(10:32):
all in your head. It's like atoothache, it's all in your
head. And a Pharisee came alongand said, Only bad people fall
into a pit. Newspaper reportercame along and said can I have
an exclusive story about how youfell into that pit?

(10:53):
Fundamentalist came along andsaid, You deserve your pit. And
a Calvinist said, if you'd havebeen saved, you wouldn't have
fallen into that pit. And theNazarene said you were saved and
still fell into that pit. And acharismatic came along and said,

(11:13):
you just need to confess yourway out of that pit. A realist
came along and said, Wow, that'sthe pits. IRS agent, He said,
Have you paid taxes on your pit?
And a county inspector said, Didyou have a permit to dig that
pit? The basic person came alongand avoided the subject of the

(11:36):
pit, and a self pitying personsaid you haven't seen anything
until you see my pit. And anoptimist said things could be
worse, and a pessimist saidthey're going to get worse. But
Jesus came along and he saw aman in a pit, and he reached out
and lifted him out of that pit.

(12:02):
I'm trying to tell you thatJesus sees people like you and I
are not capable of seeingpeople, but this great
influencer, Jesus, Christ, notonly saw what others couldn't
see, he said words that othersdid never seem to say, and his
words were like a magnet. Theywere attractive to people and to

(12:27):
others, repelling to people. Hiswords attracted people who were
seekers of the truth, but theyrepelled people that were out to
build their own kingdom. He saidthings with words like noone
else. He said, I'm a doctor, andI came to heal the sick. He

(12:51):
said, I'm the bread of life.
Anybody hungry? He said, Ifyou'll drink this water, you'll
never thirst again. He talkedabout the fact that you can have
a better life. Fact of thematter, the King James
translation says, I am come thatyou might have life, comma and
life abundant. My question toyou is, which side of the comma

(13:17):
are you on? I got life or I gotlife abundant. Sorry, I asked.
And so today, the greatinfluencer, he sees things that
others can't see, and also hesaid things that others never

(13:40):
said. He said, If I be liftedup, I'll draw all men unto me.
He said, I'm the Way, the Truthand the Life. He attracted
people by what he said, and hismessage was so appealing that
attracted seekers of the truth.

(14:03):
We not only see what othersdon't see, we say things that
we're going to be an influencerthat others do not say. I don't
know about you, I pray to Godnearly all of my day. God help
me to say the right thing. Youcan say the wrong thing, and you
just can't take it back. I don'tcare how many times you say
you're sorry if you stabsomebody, there's always that

(14:25):
wound. Be so careful littletongue what you say. I'll get a
call out at night and somebody'sdying. They're about to step
into the great beyond, andthey're lying up here at the
local hospital, and they'resaying they're needing a
chaplain. Would you come? Andmany times, Jan will answer the

(14:47):
phone and I'll say, Well, was ita man or woman? She said, I
don't know. Did they give aname? No, I don't have a name.
And I drive my way through thislittle German, American town
called Bucyrus, bucket of rust,and my headlights will glare
off of windows as I'm passingand the streets are alone and

(15:10):
I'm saying, Oh God, I don't knowwho I'm going to talk to in a
moment. I don't know if I'llmake it there in time, but if I
get there in time, Please, God,would you give me the wisdom to
say the right thing? Family maybe there, and it's going to be
awkward even trying to talk tothem, and I don't know if they
can hear and they may be gaspingfor breath. They may be

(15:33):
unconscious. God give me wisdom.
Somebody said about Jesus Christthat often he would ask
questions. And in asking aquestion, it would draw out
where the other one was comingfrom. Somebody told me that if
they were around people of nofaith, they would like to ask
the question at a table. If, ifyou were asked a question, what

(15:55):
question would you like to haveasked of you? And it said, by
the time it would get to me, myanswer was I would like to be
asked how I came to know God.
And it gets quiet then. Andinvariably, later that evening,

(16:16):
in the privacy outside, somebodywill come up out of the dark and
say that question that youwanted to have asked, How did
you come to know God, can I askyou? Would you share an answer?
One speaker said there are fourways to add value to people's
lives. If you want to add valueto a life, you gotta value their

(16:38):
life. If you don't value people,you can't add to people. And a
second way if you're going toadd value to people, you've got
to have more value and betteryourself. If you don't have
anything to offer, how are yougoing to add value? And a third
way to add value is to know andrelate to what they value you,

(17:01):
gotta connect with people. Andthe speaker said, Okay, I've
given you three out of the four.
Now let's move on, and somebodyto raise their hand, but you
didn't tell us the fourth? No,it's three for you and four for
me. And they won't give it up.
What was the fourth one, youdon't want to know. Tell me the
fourth one, well, if I had totell you, don't, don't, don't

(17:23):
listen, but if I had to tellyou, you can add value to other
people's life, when you realizewhat God values, what God
values. And listen, I'mconcerned that the people of God
will say the things that attractpeople into the kingdom and not

(17:46):
say things that will offendpeople out of the kingdom.
Effective influencers not onlysee what others see, but they
say what others don't say. Jesusbelieved what others do not
believe. He was full of faith.
I'm going to read to you Johneight, verse 23 Jesus said, and
I'm going out of the message onthis one, you tied down to the

(18:09):
mundane. You're tied down to themundane. I'm in touch with that
which is beyond your horizons.
You live in terms of what yousee and touch. I'm living on
other terms. He couldn't believethings others couldn't believe

(18:33):
because he could believe. That'swhy he looked at fishermen and
saw the value others would havesaid they'll never amount to
anything. But he saw that theyknew people that nobody else
knew, and they'd become a greatinfluence on them. He looked at
Zacchaeus, while everybody elsesaw a dishonest man. He saw a

(18:56):
man whose life could be changed,and a man who would say to
others, I've stolen from you,and I'm willing to make
restitution to give you a backfour fold. I want my life
straightened up. Nobody else sawthat, but Jesus did. Jesus
looked at Lazarus and said, Ibelieve he can be raised from

(19:18):
the dead. He looked at theSamaritan woman, and he saw
value. He looked at sick peopleand said they can be healed. He
looked at a thief and said theycan be forgiven. He believed
what others could not believe.
And by the way, it was Jesus,not Norman Vincent Peale, that
said, nothing is impossible withGod. And it was Jesus, not

(19:38):
Robert Schuler that said, youcan have a better day. Today is
the day of salvation. And it wasJesus, not that Tony Robbins
that said, if you have faith asa grain of mustard seed, you can
move mountains. Robert andNorman and Tony, none of them
said those verses Jesus did. Andlet me tell you this, when you

(20:03):
believe you can make adifference, you get a church
full of people that begin tobelieve for the miracles of God
and the impossibility andbelieve that God can transform
lives, and you can't stop themarch of that church.
But Jesus felt things thatothers did not feel. He was

(20:24):
passionate. He expressed hisfeelings vigorously. He was
angry when Satan persisted intemptation. He was apprehensive
that his miracles would becomepopularized. He was surprised at
the centurions faith. It wasexasperated when the apostles

(20:47):
couldn't seem to catch on to histeaching. He was disappointed
with Peter's faithlessness. Hewas sympathetic with crowds that
did without meals in order tofollow after him. He shed tears
over Jerusalem, and he hadunspeakable joy when Peter
identified him as the Messiah.
Jesus was a passionate, lovingLord. May I say this? We're

(21:12):
never going to change our worldby just having more seminars and
intense training. It's gotta besomething that happens inside of
us. It's one thing to take paperand write down a lot of notes.
It's another thing to say, God,I'm trying to write some notes

(21:33):
but would you write on my hearttill the Gospels written there,
and it comes from out of a warmheart. We'll never touch a
broken world until we see himfrom a broken heart. Here's the
last thing, and I'll just quit.
And I believe there's many more.
Jesus did things others did notdo. He was fruitful. He was

(21:57):
fruitful because he had a lifesaving message. I believe he was
fruitful because he trained anddeveloped other influencers.
There's a passage of scripturethat really grabs me quite good,
and it's found here in John 14verse 12, the person that trust

(22:19):
me will do not only what I'mdoing, but shall do greater
things, greater things. Well,that's frightened us, and
whatever you requested my name,I will do. You know what I'm
thinking. I'm thinking that thechurch lives beneath its means.

(22:39):
I've been reading lately thebook of Acts, and I believe the
book of Acts the church wasliving beyond and above her
means. As I look at the Lord,he's our model. He's the perfect
model of the greatestinfluencer. So all we've got to

(23:01):
do is look to Jesus, and it'stime the body of Christ becomes
bold. We're the salt and thelight. You say, Well, Pastor,
what does that mean? It meansthat we are to make things
better and we're to make thingsbrighter. Are you making
anything better or brighter?

Second Corinthians, 5 (23:26):
11, my life verse. These years that
I've preached and traveled andwritten in people's Bibles, I've
never seen anybody else use thisfor their life verse, but it's
the verse that grips my thinkingand drives me more than any

(23:47):
other verse. Therefore, knowingthe terror of the Lord or the
fear of the Lord, we persuademen. When I came out of Bible
college, and all of us weregraduating, it seemed like to be
the student body. Their mainburden was standards. We're
going to go out and straightenthe church up. Church is

(24:10):
compromised. We're going to beatthe living daylights out of it.
Our burden is standards. I'm notagainst standards, but my burden
has been souls. And I thinkbecause of that, I don't fit
anywhere. I don't think there'sa denomination in the world that
I really fit in. I'm not sure Ifit in anything. My burden has

(24:31):
never been systems anddenominations, and I'm not
against any of them, but I'mgoing to tell you this much,
everyone at some point willbecome a disappointment. Every
last one of them will diesomewhere along the trail, or
they're in the midst of dying,or they're already dead, it'll
happen. They'll lose theirministry, they'll lose their

(24:53):
message, and they'll becomeinstead of a movement, they'll
become a monument. You. Myburden is souls. My burden is
people. I want to influencepeople into the kingdom. We're

(25:13):
not gathered here by accident.
We're gathered here on purpose.
And I believe that God wants totake our ministry here to
another level, till we can set atone among the people that we
bump into from day to day, ourown children, our neighbors,

(25:35):
people that we associate with,people that we work beside. And
I want to get serious about thegospel. It's my burden. And
somehow I pray that God willtake the burden of this old
pastor's heart and somehow beginto massage that burden into your
thinking and into your heart,till when we look around, we'll

(26:00):
see people not as others seethem. We'll see them as a living
soul that someday soon, willbreathe their last and step out
into the great beyond, eitherready or they're not ready, only
a little bit of time on Earth,maybe 70 years, stretch it out,

(26:22):
maybe they'll get 80 short time,the only span of time they have
to get right with God, and Godhas put you and I as salt and
light in their path. Can we helpto make them better and
brighter? Can we get enoughlight turned on that conviction
will grip their heart and pullthem into the kingdom, pull them

(26:47):
from the very fires of hell andhelp them to find their way to
heaven. Father, take thissimplistic message anoint it to
our thinking. Would you take usto a new level as we look at
your life and the impact thatyour life had greater than all

(27:07):
of the philosophy and all thebooks of time, it changed the
lives of men and women everytime they came into contact with
you. Would you let a little bitof that rub off on us? Give us
enough burden that we don't wantto go to hell, that we want to

(27:28):
go to heaven, turn the light onbright enough that we want to
keep our family out of hell andour neighbors and to help people
to get into the kingdom. Letthat be our thought this
afternoon, we're out there on aMonday when we're on the job or
in the classroom. Help us to seewhat you saw. Help us to say

(27:55):
what you have to say. Help us tobelieve like you're able to
believe. Help us to feel likeyou're able to feel. Help us to
be doers of the word, not justthinkers about it, but help us
to be doers.
Thanks for being a part of thevoice of the Nazarene. Visit us

(28:16):
every Sunday at 9am with BNC'sPastor Ray LaSalle for more
information regarding BNC, visitbucyrusnazarene.org.
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