Some sermons are remembered for their volume. Others are remembered because they quietly rearranged a person’s priorities. The message “Focus on Christ to Make Great Impact” belongs to the second kind. It speaks to anyone who has started a new year with a long list of goals and a short supply of peace.
This article brings together a few things. It introduces the preacher, describes the sermon and where it was delivered, and then offers a full sermon study on the same theme, with scriptures, illustrations and practical steps you can apply this week.
Who Is Archbishop Margaret Benson Idahosa?
Margaret Idahosa was born on 29 July 1943 and is a Nigerian preacher, author and Archbishop of the Church of God Mission International. She was born into a royal family in the Benin Kingdom of Edo State. She is the widow of the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, who founded the church, and she is recognised as the first Nigerian woman ordained an archbishop and the first female chancellor of a university in Africa, Benson Idahosa University.
Her ministry path includes induction into ministry on 24 May 1983, consecration as bishop on 5 April 1998, and elevation to archbishop in November 2009. She is also the author of books including The Womb of Harvest, Tearing the Veil, The Female Minister and Expansion Without Limit. The Nigerian government honoured her with the Officer of the Order of the Niger in 2008.
Her pulpit carries weight because of the road behind it. She has served alongside a husband whom many call the father of Pentecostalism in Nigeria, and she has continued to lead a large church family, a school system and a university long after his passing in 1998.
About the Sermon “Focus on Christ to Make Great Impact”
The message was preached during the CrossOver Service and was shared on the Church of God Mission International United Kingdom YouTube channel. It was framed around the theme of the year, calling believers back to Jesus Christ as the foundation for purpose, influence and lasting impact. The description of the video stresses that real impact is not built on strength, status or strategy alone, but on a Christ-centred life aligned with the will of God.
A crossover service is a particular kind of moment. People arrive carrying the year that just ended, with its losses, delays and unfinished business, and they also carry hopes for the year that is about to open. A sermon at that hour has a double task. It must help people let go of what is behind them, and it must give them something sturdy to hold as they step forward. The theme chosen here does both by pointing everyone to a single centre.
Sermon Study: Focus on Christ to Make Great Impact
Main text: Hebrews 12:1-2
Supporting texts: Colossians 1:15-18, Luke 10:38-42, Matthew 14:22-33, John 15:1-8, Philippians 3:7-14, Acts 4:13, Mark 10:45, Isaiah 26:3
Note: This is an original sermon written around the theme of the message above. It is not a transcript of the Archbishop’s words.
Introduction: The Year of the Single Eye
Every January, a certain kind of person walks into church. They have a notebook, a plan, a vision board at home and a list of resolutions that already feels heavy. They want a great year. They want to matter. They want their work, their marriage, their children and their ministry to count for something.
Wanting impact is not a sin. Scripture is full of people God deliberately made fruitful. Abraham was told he would be a blessing to all families of the earth. Joseph saved nations from famine. Esther was positioned for a time like hers. Deborah judged Israel. Lydia opened her home to the work of Paul. God is not embarrassed by usefulness.
The question is where impact comes from. The world says it comes from strength, so be stronger. It says it comes from status, so climb higher. It says it comes from strategy, so plan better. Strength, status and strategy are not evil, and Christians may use all three. But none of them is the source. The source is a person, and His name is Jesus Christ.
The writer of Hebrews gives us the instruction in one sentence: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” Looking is a word about the eyes. It tells us that the Christian life is decided by where we keep our attention. Whatever holds your gaze eventually directs your steps.
So we come with one simple question that will carry us through this message. If I am given only twelve months, what will I look at?
Point One: Impact Begins With a Centre
Paul writes to the Colossians about Christ in language that stretches the mind. “He is before all things, and by him all things consist.” That last word, consist, means hold together. Christ does not merely start things. He keeps them from falling apart.
Think about a wheel. A wheel spins fast and carries heavy loads because every spoke is attached to a hub. Remove the hub and you do not have a lighter wheel. You have a pile of sticks. The spokes, however beautiful, have no strength of their own. They borrow it from the centre.
Many of us are living as spokes without a hub. We have a career spoke, a family spoke, a ministry spoke, a finance spoke, a health spoke and a social spoke. Each one demands tension and attention. When something goes wrong in one area, the whole wheel wobbles, and we spend our energy trying to straighten the spokes one at a time. Meanwhile, the hub has been neglected for so long that we have forgotten what it was supposed to do.
When Paul says that Christ should have “the preeminence” in all things, he is not asking for a polite place on the list. Preeminence means first place in everything. Not first on Sunday and fifth on Monday. Not first in the church building and absent in the boardroom. First in your decisions, your spending, your speech, your ambitions and your private thoughts.
Here is a test you can apply honestly. When a major decision arrives, what is the first thing you consult? Some of us consult our fears. Some consult our bank balance. Some consult what people will say. A Christ-centred person consults the Lord first, and then lets every other consideration serve that answer.
Application: Write down the five largest areas of your life. Beside each one, ask a single question: where is Christ in this? If the honest answer is “nowhere in particular,” you have found the place where your impact is leaking.
Point Two: The Distraction Problem
Luke gives us a short scene that rewards slow reading. Jesus comes to the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha is “cumbered about much serving.” Mary sits at the feet of Jesus and listens. Martha becomes frustrated and complains to the Lord that her sister has left her to serve alone.
Notice what Jesus does not say. He does not tell Martha that serving is worthless. Hospitality is honourable. He does not say Martha is lazy. She is clearly working hard. What He says is more piercing: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful.”
Many things. One thing.
Distraction rarely arrives dressed as sin. It usually arrives as responsibility. Martha was not shopping for idols. She was preparing a meal for the Son of God. Yet in the middle of doing something good for Jesus, she lost contact with Jesus Himself.
That is the danger for devoted people. We can pour so much into serving Christ that we forget to sit with Christ. The choir member rushes from rehearsal to rehearsal and never worships. The pastor prepares sermons all week and rarely prays for his own soul. The parent organises every activity for the children and has no time for the family altar. The businessperson gives generously and never pauses to hear what God is saying about the business.
Our age has multiplied the problem. The phone in your pocket carries a library, a marketplace, a courtroom, a cinema and a crowd. It fires notifications at you before breakfast. You can spend an hour moving through other people’s opinions and never hear a single thought of your own, let alone a word from God.
Jesus said Mary had chosen “that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Think about that promise. Most of what we chase can be taken: the job, the title, the applause, the savings. Time at the feet of Jesus cannot be repossessed. It becomes part of you.
Application: Choose one daily hour, or even thirty minutes, and name it your Mary time. Take your phone out of reach. Open the Bible. Be silent long enough for your mind to settle. You are not wasting the day. You are protecting its centre.
Point Three: Peter on the Water
Matthew 14 shows us what happens when a believer looks away from Christ at the wrong moment. The disciples are in a boat at night, fighting a contrary wind. Jesus comes toward them walking on the sea. They are terrified, thinking it is a ghost. Jesus calls out and tells them to take courage.
Peter, always the first to speak and the first to move, says, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Jesus replies with a single word: “Come.”
Pause there. Peter did something no other disciple did. He stepped out of the boat. Eleven men stayed behind with their opinions about physics. One man trusted a word. And for several steps, Peter did the impossible. Water held him because the word of Christ held him.
Then comes the turn in the story. “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”
The wind did not suddenly appear. It had been blowing the whole time. The boat had been battered by it all night. What changed was Peter’s focus. As long as his eyes were on Jesus, the wind was background. When his eyes dropped to the wind, the wind became the headline.
That is how it works in our lives. Problems do not usually grow larger. They grow louder, because we give them more of our attention. A medical report, a delayed visa, a business loss or a broken relationship can fill the whole sky if we stare at it long enough.
Two details in this story deserve notice. First, Peter’s sinking did not cancel his faith. He still knew who to call. “Lord, save me” is a short prayer, and it was answered at once. “Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him.” No lecture, no delay. A believer who has lost focus can regain it in a moment by turning back to Christ.
Second, look at what Jesus asks: “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” He is not scolding Peter for stepping out. He is correcting the point at which attention shifted. The lesson is not “stay in the boat.” The lesson is “keep your eyes on Me while you walk.”
Great impact usually requires leaving a boat. It means taking steps that look unreasonable to the people around you: starting the ministry, forgiving the offender, giving the sacrificial offering, ending the compromise, apologising first, praying for the nation when it seems unchangeable. Those steps are only survivable if your focus stays on the One who said “Come.”
Application: Identify the wind that has been shouting at you most. Say its name aloud. Then say aloud what Christ has said about it in His word. Let the second sentence be the louder one.
Point Four: Impact Is Fruit, Not Noise
Jesus gives us the most useful definition of lasting impact in John 15. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
Look at the vocabulary. He does not say “much activity” or “much attention” or “much applause.” He says fruit. Fruit is what grows naturally from a healthy connection. A branch does not strain to produce grapes. It stays attached and the life of the vine flows through it.
This changes how we think about ambition. Many believers exhaust themselves trying to manufacture an impact that God only intends to grow. They stage events, build platforms, chase followings and measure success by volume. A great deal of noise is mistaken for fruit.
Noise and fruit differ in several ways. Noise is immediate, while fruit takes seasons. Noise is loudest at the launch, while fruit is most evident at the harvest. Noise draws attention to the person making it, while fruit feeds other people. Noise can be produced without character, while fruit reveals what is inside the tree.
Jesus also says something that many find uncomfortable: “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” Fruitful branches get pruned. Pruning feels like loss. The gardener removes good-looking growth that is draining energy from the branch. Some seasons of your life that feel like cutting are actually preparation for a larger harvest.
If your plans have recently been trimmed, if a door closed, a project ended, or a friendship faded, do not rush to the conclusion that God has abandoned you. The Gardener rarely prunes a plant He has given up on. He prunes the ones He expects to bear.
The word that holds all this together is abide. It means to remain, to stay put, to make a home. Abiding is not a mood. It is a decision repeated daily. You abide when you open the word before the news. You abide when you pray before you react. You abide when you obey in small matters nobody notices. You abide when you stay in fellowship even when the church is not perfect.
Application: Think of three decisions you will make this month. Before each, ask whether you are producing noise or fruit. If you cannot answer, you have not abided long enough to know.
Point Five: A Christ-Centred Purpose
Paul had every credential a first-century man could want. He lists them in Philippians 3: circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee, zealous, blameless under the law. By any religious measure, he was a high achiever.
Then he writes, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” He did not say those things were bad. He said that when placed beside Christ, they lost their value. He goes further: “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
This is a purpose statement. Paul’s driving ambition was not to build an organisation, though he planted churches across the Roman world. It was not to write letters, though half the New Testament came from his pen. It was to know Christ and to be found in Him. Everything else was an outflow of that single aim.
Then he describes how he lives: “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
“This one thing I do.” Not “these twenty things I dabble in.” Paul had a focus so clear that it organised his whole life. He forgot what was behind, both his failures and his victories. He reached forward. He pressed on.
A crossover service is a perfect place to hear that sentence. There are things behind you that must be left. Some are wounds. Some are mistakes. Some are even achievements that have become a resting place. A person who keeps rehearsing last year’s pain or last year’s glory has no hands free for what God is placing in front of them.
A Christ-centred purpose also protects us from comparison. When the goal is knowing Christ and doing His will, your race is your own. You are not trying to be a copy of someone else’s ministry or business or marriage. You are trying to finish what you were assigned. The Archbishop’s own story is a good example. She has stood in the shadow of a famous husband, yet she has built a pulpit, written books, led a university and carried a church family through decades. She did not do it by imitating. She did it by staying faithful to a calling.
Application: Write a one-sentence purpose for this year that begins with Christ and ends with people. For example: “To know Christ more deeply so that I can serve my household, my workplace and my church with integrity.” Put it where you will see it daily.
Point Six: A Christ-Centred Character
When Peter and John stood before the religious council in Acts 4, the leaders saw two men without formal theological training. They were astonished by the boldness of these ordinary fishermen. Then the text gives the explanation: “They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
That sentence is worth framing. The council could not argue with the healed man standing beside the apostles. But more than the miracle, it was the manner of the men that gave them away. Their courage, clarity and calm were evidence of company.
Impact flows through character before it flows through gifts. A gifted person without integrity makes a large mess. A person with modest gifts and deep character quietly changes a neighbourhood. History supports this repeatedly. The people whose influence outlasted their lifetimes are rarely the most talented. They are the most trustworthy.
What does being with Jesus produce? Scripture gives us a list in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. These are not personality types. They are the fruit of the Spirit, formed in us as we stay close to Christ. If you want a Christ-centred life, begin by checking which of these is weakest in you. Is it patience in traffic? Is it gentleness with your children? Is it self-control with money, food, speech or screens?
Character is also revealed in how we treat people who cannot repay us. A leader who is warm to important guests and rude to the driver has not yet been with Jesus. A believer who prays loudly in church and gossips quietly at work has not yet been with Jesus. Christ’s presence does not only make us bold in public. It makes us consistent in private.
There is a practical lesson here for homes. Children rarely follow the sermons their parents preach, but they absorb the atmosphere their parents create. A home where Christ is central has a recognisable climate: apologies are offered, prayer is normal, honesty is expected and mercy is practised. When the next generation is raised in that climate, the family’s impact outlives the parents.
Application: Ask someone close to you which fruit of the Spirit they would most like to see grow in you this year. Do not defend yourself. Write the answer down and pray over it.
Point Seven: A Christ-Centred Service
Jesus, speaking to disciples who were arguing about greatness, said, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” That is the template for impact in the kingdom of God. Greatness is measured by how much of yourself you pour out for others.
The world defines influence as the ability to make people do what you want. Jesus defines it as the willingness to give yourself for what people need. The difference is enormous. One road leads to a crowd that depends on your approval. The other leads to people whose lives are actually better.
Think of what service looked like in the ministry of Christ. He touched lepers. He fed hungry crowds. He washed feet. He wept at a grave. He answered the cry of a blind man while a crowd tried to hush him. He had time for children when the disciples thought they were a distraction. His impact was not marked by spectacle but by compassion backed by power.
Churches carry this same assignment. A congregation that only gathers and sings, and never feeds the hungry, educates the young, visits the sick or speaks up for the vulnerable, has missed part of the gospel. The Church of God Mission International, for example, has built schools and a university alongside its worship, because it understands that the gospel speaks to minds and communities as well as souls.
Service also keeps us humble. When we focus on Christ, we remember that every gift we hold was lent to us. We do not own our talents. We steward them. When someone thanks us, we can receive the gratitude gracefully and pass the glory upward.
The practical question is simple. Who is better off because you were in their life this month? If you cannot name anyone, then however busy you have been, your impact has been thin. You do not need a stage to serve. A neighbour needs a lift. A colleague needs encouragement. A widow needs a phone call. A young person needs a mentor. These are small acts, but heaven keeps careful records of small acts.
Application: Choose one person this week to serve without announcing it. Do not take photographs. Do not mention it later. Let Christ be the only audience.
Point Eight: A Christ-Centred Peace
There is a promise in Isaiah 26:3 that every believer should know by heart: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” The word translated stayed carries the idea of leaning or propping. A mind stayed on God is a mind leaning its full weight on Him.
Perfect peace is not the absence of events. Notice the order in the verse. Peace comes after the mind is stayed, and the mind is stayed because trust has been placed in God. Peace is a result, not a prerequisite. People often ask for peace so that they can start trusting. The text says it works the other way.
Peace has direct bearing on impact. An anxious person makes short-term decisions. A peaceful person can wait. An anxious leader controls people. A peaceful leader releases them. An anxious parent suffocates children with warnings. A peaceful parent equips them for the road. Anxiety shrinks influence because it shrinks the heart.
The reverse is also true. Jesus slept in a boat during a storm that terrified seasoned fishermen. He was not careless. He was anchored. His rest was a statement about who held the universe. When you are centred on Christ, you can sleep during storms that would otherwise keep you awake, and you can speak calmly when everyone around you is shouting.
If you are carrying a burden into this year, hear the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Notice that He does not offer a technique. He offers Himself. Rest is found in a Person.
Application: Make a list of your current worries. Beside each one, write “Lord, I place this in Your hands, and I choose to focus on You.” Then pray the list aloud, line by line.
Point Nine: Running With Endurance
We return to the opening text. Hebrews 12:1-2 reads in full: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The structure of the passage is a coach’s instruction. First, we are surrounded by witnesses. Chapter 11 has just paraded Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab and many others whose faith carried them through impossible situations. They are not spectators who dictate our performance. They are proof that the race can be finished.
Second, we must lay aside two things: every weight, and the sin that so easily entangles. A weight is not necessarily sinful. It could be a good thing that slows you down: an obligation you should have declined, a friendship that drains your faith, a habit that steals hours, a debt of your own making, an unforgiveness you have nursed for years. Sin is the second category, and the text says it clings closely, the way a long robe wraps around a runner’s legs.
Third, we run with patience, which really means endurance. Impact is rarely a sprint. It is built across decades. The same Archbishop who preaches today has been in ministry for more than forty years. Faithfulness is a long conversation with God, and some of its sweetest chapters come late.
Fourth, we look at Jesus. The writer gives Him two titles: author and finisher. He began your faith and He intends to complete it. You are not racing toward an uncertain outcome. You are racing toward the finish that the One who started you has already secured.
Finally, the passage gives Christ’s own example. He endured the cross for the joy set before Him. His eyes were on something beyond the pain. When you feel like quitting, remember that the same Christ who despised shame is now seated in glory, and the same joy awaits you. He knows what the race costs. He ran it first.
Putting It All Together
Let us gather the threads. Impact begins with a centre, and that centre is Christ. Distraction is the enemy of impact, and it usually comes disguised as responsibility. Focus is not a mood but a decision made repeatedly, as Peter learned on the water. Real impact is fruit that grows from abiding, not noise generated by effort. A Christ-centred purpose gives direction. A Christ-centred character gives credibility. A Christ-centred service gives usefulness. A Christ-centred peace gives stability. And endurance is simply the long habit of looking at Jesus.
If you want a practical plan for the next twelve months, here it is in plain terms. Start each day with Christ before you start with anything else, because even ten honest minutes will change the tone of your morning. Name your distractions, write them down, and decide which ones you will reduce, delay or remove. Join a fellowship and stay in it, since impact is not a solo project and branches live on the vine together. Serve someone every week, and let gratitude from people be a bonus and not a motive. Review your year monthly, asking where focus slipped and where it grew. Finally, pray for your nation and your household, because the first thing a Christ-centred person does with influence is intercede.
A Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, we come to You as the centre of everything that matters. Forgive us for the times we have built our lives around lesser things. Forgive us for filling our days with activity and leaving little room for You.
Lift our eyes today. Where we have looked at the wind, turn our gaze back to You. Where we have been Martha, teach us to sit like Mary. Where we have chased noise, plant us again as branches in the true vine.
Give us a purpose that begins with You and ends with the good of others. Shape our character until people notice that we have been with You. Make us servants who carry Your compassion into homes, offices, schools and streets. Fill us with a peace that does not depend on circumstances.
Help us to lay aside every weight, to run with endurance, and to finish well. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.
Final Thought
The most valuable thing a believer can bring into a new season is not a sharper plan but a steadier gaze. Jesus has not changed. His word has not weakened. His hand is still stretched toward every sinking Peter. Keep your eyes on Him, and the impact will follow, not because you forced it, but because a life centred on Christ cannot help bearing fruit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Archbishop Margaret Benson Idahosa?
She is a Nigerian preacher and author who serves as Archbishop of the Church of God Mission International. She is the widow of the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa and the chancellor of Benson Idahosa University.
What is the sermon “Focus on Christ to Make Great Impact” about?
It was delivered at the CrossOver Service and calls believers to place Jesus Christ at the centre of their faith as the foundation for purpose, influence and lasting impact.
Where can I watch the sermon?
It is available on YouTube through the Church of God Mission International United Kingdom channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93BxeZYAuA.
Is this article a transcript of the sermon?
No. The study above is an original message written around the theme. For her exact words, please watch the video.
How can I apply the message of focusing on Christ in daily life?
Begin each day with prayer and scripture, reduce the distractions that crowd out time with God, stay connected to a church family, serve others consistently, and review your priorities regularly.