“And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.” (Acts 6:8,9 KJV)
“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:55-60 KJV)
On Tuesday the 26th of March, 2013, I listened to Pastor Colin share one of the most challenging messages. He spoke about Stephen his biblical hero and described him as a game changer. I became challenged and decided to become a game changer. The question I want to ask you today is similar to what we were asked on that Tuesday, are you a game changer or a deal broker?
Stephen was not one of the Apostles, he was not one of the earlier disciples. For all we know, he could have been one of the first 3000 or 5000 that accepted Jesus after Peter's sermon.
We are told that he was full of faith, good reputation, wisdom and the Holy Spirit, yet he was appointed to serve tables.
Stephen raised the bar, because he went from serving tables to being the first Christian martyr as recorded in the Bible. Stephen raised the bar for us as Christians. He was a game changer.
Who is a game changer?
Game changers are men and women who change the course of history, they give their all, they do not hold back, they go all the way.
Game changers reform history, they are men and women who are not bound by status quo. They do not think about themselves alone they think about others. Game changers know nothing can keep them from the love of God.
The Bible and history are full of men and women who have changed history. Even today in modern times many are changing the face of history through the choices they make for the gospel of Christ.
In 1933, Edwin Howard Armstrong changed the way we listen to Radio when he invented the FM (Frequency Modulation) by controlling the noise static caused by electrical equipment and the earth's atmosphere. In the 1870s, Alexander Bell and Elisha Gray changed the way speech was transmitted, they invented the telephone. In 1928 a bacteriologist Alexander Fleming made a chance discovery in the way bacterial infections are treated. He invented the penicillin.
Stephen changed the game when he died for what he believed in.
King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:5 changed the game when he offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep as sacrifice to the Lord at the dedication of the temple. This had never been done before.
Between 1518 and 1520, a German monk by the name of Martin Luther changed the history of the church when he risked excommunication and death to defend the truth of God's word. Roberts Liardon in his book the God's General said this about Martin Luther, "Luther was a man on a mission. His mission was not to expose the errors of religion but simply to make peace with God". Luther changed the game with his 95 revelations which he nailed to the church door at Wittenburg in Germany. He also translated the Bible from Latin to German.
Will you enrol and become the next game changer for Christ? How can you change the game? The Bible tells us in Revelations 12:11
“...........They Loved Not Their Lives Unto the Death.”
To be a real game changer you also, must not love your life in the face of death. You must be pro-active like Stephen was through the power of the Holy Spirit. To be able to bring about godly change to your neighbourhood with the love and the gospel of Christ, change to your work place with the love and gospel of Christ, change in your family, change in the lives of your friends and colleagues, change in the community and society, you must forsake your comfort zone and stand up for Jesus boldly and fearlessly.
You too can be a game changer.
