Be the Salt and Light: Living the Kingdom Way

Hello. Thank you. Awesome. Amen. All right, man. We’ve had a good service. We’ve had a challenging service. We’ve had all the things,

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right? Can I just thank the sound room and the crew to uh figures out the hard things sometimes even when you know we don’t know what we’re doing. God helps us out, right guys? God helps us out. Awesome. Well, um I was going to start and just give a little bit of an update, but I’m going to make it really, really fast because I really have a lot to cover today and I really want to cover it. Um, and so but this week, Pastor Jonathan and I, uh, my parents and George went with us to Florida for a

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affecting destiny conference. So, we bring greetings from Pastor Amanda Connor and some of our other friends that have been here, Ryan Deon. Um, actually Ryan hasn’t been here, but Dwayne White sends his greetings and several others, um, Jod and CJ Andrews. So, it was a great time. The Lord is moving, bringing inspiration and vision. So, um, if you h want to hear about it, come and come and talk to one of the five of us. Um, also, you know, as we prayed, please keep our teams in prayer this week as they are out ministering

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and in the next few weeks in Africa. Um, I love it. My mom said she’d never go to Africa, so I think it’s hilarious and great all at the same time. [Applause] And you know what the key was? They said, “Mom, are you coming?” They call my dad papa and they call my mother mom. And um the heart of fathers and mothers that are needed is so beautiful. And what what wouldn’t a parent do, right? What wouldn’t a parent do? Okay, I could spend a lot of time, but like I said, I have some things I want to cover today.

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We are continuing in our um series on the kingdom way, and we actually have our words back in our PowerPoint. And I was very motivated to help get that straightened out because as actually unusual, I’m usually just one that puts scriptures up there. I actually have like a lot of PowerPoint stuff today. So, I thought it was really interesting that everything just went down and I was like, “You’ve got to be kidding.” I have pictures. I have like bullet points and lists and all sorts of things today. And

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I was so excited about it. And then all of a sudden, everything crashed and I’m like, “No, that took me hours.” But God is good. >> God is good. So we are continuing on our theme, the kingdom way. It is not theory. It is reality. You see, Jesus gave us parables so that we could understand how his kingdom works because it’s different than how we function. Right? So Jesus teaches us in parables and says it’s like this because you you’re not going to really grasp it if I

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tell you literally because it’s outside of your understanding. the kingdom principles and how the kingdom function is different than how your everyday world functions and it’s a great thing but let me help you understand it. So that’s what we’re doing. We are walking through the parables of Jesus so that we can understand how his kingdom works how his kingdom collides with our world. How we are called to live in his kingdom. And each week we are going to step deeper into understanding these clashes

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of kingdoms. this call to citizenship into his kingdom, the challenge of our decisions and how they matter in what we do, the confrontation of darkness. But above all, we are going to learn that the kingdom of God is unshakable, unstoppable and alive within us. Alive within us. That is what we are doing in this series on the kingdom way. Because we have to understand our world is tired of the same old same old. Yes, I’m tired of the same old same old. I’m tired of the dog eat dog and upper get

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it the upper hand and all these manipulative things. And God says, “No, I have a better way for you and you can live it now and it’s powerful and it’s unshakable. It’s unstoppable and alive.” So, he’s challenging us to step into these places. We’ve been talking for several weeks. Um, Jerei did a fantastic job last week. We had Andrew, we’ve had Pastor Jonathan, Pastor David, Pastor Pat. If you have missed some of these, go back and listen to them. It is fantastic. But I wanted to just bring up

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one thing that that Jere spoke about last week that he said the kingdom of the kingdom way is simple yet world changing. We need to come to Jesus, pour out what’s costly, leave forgiven, and go in peace. And if that doesn’t just sum it all up, I don’t know what else does. So today, we’re going to journey into our next parable. Like I said, I was planning on taking a little bit more time on that. We’re just going to speed right through it. And we are going to be in Matthew 5, and we are

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talking about salt and light. So, as I was uh going through this message, I was like, I should have had like a science teacher teach this class, but sorry, you get me today. And I’m going to endeavor to have a little bit of fun with this. Um, and try to get through a lot of material. I’m going to try to stay close to my notes. We’ll see if that works. Huh. >> Here we go. We’re gonna We’re going to give it a try. Okay. I’ve got my eye on the clock. You know, I’m really focused

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on it. All right. Matthew 5, we’re going to go uh verses 13- 16 if you want to turn. Otherwise, we have them up on the screens. So, says, “You are the salt of the earth.” These are not unfamiliar scriptures to most of us. Yes, most of us are pretty familiar with this, right? This is Jesus speaking. He says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how can it be seasoned? Is it then good for nothing, but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men? You

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are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. So let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father that is in heaven. So, I just wanted to bring a little context to where we are in Matthew 5. This is part of the sermon on the mount. Some of us are familiar with this. Yes, it is Jesus’s first major recorded teachings. It’s found in Matthews 5-7.

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And in this section, Jesus is speaking. This is really important who Jesus is speaking to. Jesus is speaking directly to his disciples and to the crowds who have gathered around him in Galilee to hear his teachings. Okay? So he’s not speaking to Pharisees. He’s not speaking to Gentiles. He’s speaking to his disciples and people who want to follow him. And this comes right on the heels of the biatitudes. So I don’t have time to go into it but the biatitudes are that talking about the description of the

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people and the characteristics of God. So they must be poor in spirit. They must be meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers. These are inner characters of people that want to walk in the kingdom. They might be persecuted for righteousness. But here Jesus is describing character for those who belong to the kingdom. And then he’s describing who kingdom people are and what they are here for. So here’s our context. Matthew 5:13-16 is the answer to the question what now? So we’ve given this whole he’s given

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this whole teaching on the biatitudes. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the poor in spirit. They’re going to inherit the kingdom. Right? This whole thing they’re talking about the characters. Now what what now? How should we live in a hostile world? I think we have a slide for this. Yes. >> Yes. >> This is why I generally don’t do slides. How do we live in a hostile world? He’s giving us instructions to not retreat, to not blend in, but to stand out as salt and light. Okay, so this is what

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we’re going to be talking about today. So, we’re going to dive in and break down this kingdom parable as quickly as possible. Matthew 5, verse 13. Again, it says, “You are the salt of the earth.” This word you is specifically emphatic. It’s this like in the definition of the Greek word it says an emphatic you big bold like in our world it’d be like all caps and bold right going to all cap something because you’re you’re yelling it you’re emphasizing it right just be

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careful if you if you text in all caps everybody that usually means you’re yelling okay just so you know but if you that you is emphatic it is big you are the salt of the world so who Who is he speaking to? >> Us. Jesus’s followers. Christ’s followers. So in this parable, who is the salt of the earth? >> Not convinced, but okay, we’re going to get there. Okay. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses flavor, how shall it be seasoned? For it is good for nothing but it be thrown out and

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trampled underfoot. It’s important to understand that we are who God is talking to in these parables. You are, this is a present word. He doesn’t say you will be the salt of the earth. He says, “You are the salt of the earth.” Now, let me tell you, Jesus hadn’t been with his disciples that long. And the people gathered to hear him teaching, they were just hearing this for the first time. So, we’re not talking about these like really mature believers. No, come on. He’s talking to everyone who

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wants to be is and is professed Jesus as a follower of Christ. You You’re not excluded. You are the salt of the earth. So, salt, like I said, we’re gonna have a little fun today. Y there are many uses for salt in the first century. So Jesus does uses parables to illustrate spiritual things. So if we want to understand the spiritual things, we must understand the physical things. Yes. So we’re going to try to endeavor to understand some of the physical properties of salt and light today. Very small amount of it

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because it could be days and days and days. So, there were many uses of salt in the first century. I think we have slides. Maybe not. Maybe we’re still broken. That’s okay. Seasoning. That’s one of them. Yeah. Anything else? >> Preserving. >> Healing. >> Flavor. >> Removing snow on the ground. There we go. Melting ice. Love it. Yes. You know in the first century it was also used for currency and trade because it was very valuable. It was so valuable right? It was also used in religious and

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ritual uses. Yeah. It was used in agriculture actually was applied sparingly but improved soil fertility and crop yield. It was used in industry. Salt was essential for lathering um for leather tanner tanning and glass making. It was an essential piece for industry as well. Should be the next slide there. Maybe we’ll get there. It was also used to enhance flavor. Like we said, it was used for food preservation and for disinfectant or wound cleaning. All amazing things, right? I want to focus in on two more specific things

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about salt today. One is enhanced flavors. Anybody here cook or bake? Anybody here made cookies and forgot to put salt in them? How much salt is in a cookie recipe? So, I usually make like if I’m going to make cookies, I make like six or eight dozen at a time. I have a big KitchenAid mixer. You know, if I’m going to make it, we’re just going to do this thing, right? And it literally is like a teaspoon of salt for six dozen, seven dozen cookies, right? But if I forget to put salt in, they’re inedible.

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You don’t taste anything. They’re so bland, right? It’s a very interesting concept. So, we’re gonna get there. Salt enhances flavor in several key ways. It’s more than just making things salty. Super funny. Yesterday, we were sitting at a restaurant with Pastor Amanda and um some pastors, some of her for campus pastors, and one of them is very, very English. And um we were talking about how English food is very bland and how everything just needs salt. Everything just needs salt. And Amanda’s

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like, “I don’t understand. If you just salt the pot roast, the Sunday roast would be so much better.” Right? So we just having this conversation. We get our food out. And his first comment with his biscuits and gravy was, “These are really salty.” But salty is salt is more than just making things taste salty. It balances and enhances natural flavors. You see, salt reduces bitterness and acidity while amplifying sweetness. Do you know that? That’s why you have to put salt in chocolate chip cookies. They

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don’t taste salty, but it amplifies the sweetness. A pinch of salt on watermelon, anybody done that? makes it so sweet. If you haven’t done it, now you’re gonna try it. The other thing salt does in this enhancement of flavor, it boosts aroma. Yeah. Which actually affects our taste buds. Yeah. Salt helps release molecules in our food, making flavors more noticeable. Most of what we consider taste is actually smell. So when it re releases these aromatic molecules in the foods, it actually

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makes things taste better. It activates our taste buds. Sodium ion and salt triggers specific receptors on your tongue. This increases overall sensitivity to other flavors, making food taste more vibrant, not just salty. It improves texture and moisture. In meat, salt actually breaks down proteins. Okay? There’s a chemical reaction that salt actually breaks down proteins so that they hold more water, making it juicier and more tender. In bread, it controls yeast fermentation and strengthens gluten for better

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structure. Salt. Salt also draws out flavors chemically. When added to vegetables or meat, salt draws water, carrying these flavor compounds to the surface where your tongue can detect them. And as we know, the right amount of salt matters. Too little salt, food tastes bland or flat. Too much salt, salt overwhelms and masks the flavor rather than enhancing it. but just enough flavors will snap into focus and feel balanced. I think it’s funny that sometimes we as Christians feel outnumbered in our

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world, right? We feel outnumbered in our world. But like with that batch of cookies, how much salt does it actually take to influence? Right? Don’t discount what we bring. You are the salt of the world. Food preservation. So we talked about flavor enhancing. Talking about flu food preservation. Salt has been used for thousands of years to keep food, especially meat and fish from rotting. Most of us probably basically know this, right? But this was actually really really important in the first century.

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There was no refrigeration. We didn’t they didn’t have freezers and refrigerators that they could go buy their meat from the store and bring it home and keep it nice and fresh. They required meat required this process if they weren’t going to eat it right away. Otherwise, it went bad. So, how does food get preserved by salt? It dehydrates bacteria. Salt draws out the water and draws out the bacteria. Bacteria needs moisture to live and multiply. So when salt is implied, it creates a

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high salt environment that causes water to leave the bacterial cells. The bacteria becomes dehydrated, shriveled, and they die. Salt removes moisture from food. It pulls the water out. Less water means less bacteria. Slows the decay. It creates a hostile environment for decay. Love that. Salt on meat creates a hostile environment for decay. A salty environment disrupts bacteria’s enzymes and their DNA structure all the way to the DNA. It prevents them from reproducing. Salt prevents bacteria from reproducing.

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In ancient times, people would pack meat in salt or brine to keep it safe for weeks and months. It was an imperative part of their diet. Salt is also used as a disinfectant and wound cleaner. soldiers, midwives, healers often washed wounds with salt water, packed injuries with salt because it reduced infection and drew out impurities. In the Roman world, soldiers carried salt. When someone was wounded, they scrubbed salt into the wound. Ouch. Now, it wasn’t to hurt him, although it did hurt,

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but it cleaned the wound to stop the infection. It may have burned, but it saved their lives. This is why it was actually so valuable in the ancient days. Part of why it was considered currency is because salt was so imperative in life. It was so imperative to be able to have food through wintertime. It was so imperative to have food through famine time. It was so imperative that their food did not go bad or make them ill. And it was imperative that there was an injury, especially on the battlefield, that the

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salt would save their lives. So what are the results here? Salt doesn’t salt doesn’t make the food better later. It protects it now from what would destroy it. Let me say that again. Salt doesn’t make the food better later. It protects it now from what would destroy it. See, I believe that Jesus although important salt adding flavor and I think we all can could capture a few spiritual principles in that flavor conversation. He meant more than that because in biblical times salt was valuable because

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it preserved life from decay. See, salt slows decay, and we too are to slow moral and spiritual decay. Now, I know this isn’t a totally brand new concept, but hopefully we can put some pieces together for some of us today. Just like meat naturally decays socially, our world tends towards corruption, tends towards selfishness, injustice, and sin. You know, salt doesn’t complain about decay. It just prevents it. Christians aren’t called to sit in a salt shaker, an eight-walled salt shaker.

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They are called to be rubbed into the world. Can we put that first picture up, Elias? >> Sorry, Liam’s up there. Elias, in order to cure the meat, it was a hands-on process. Has anybody ever seasoned meat, cured meat? What happens to your hands? They’re covered. They’re covered in the salt and the seasonings. Right. Leave it up here. Leave the photo up here. We are called as salt to be rubbed into the world. The problem today isn’t that the world is rotting. is that the salt is still in

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its shaker instead of being rubbed into the world. Leave leave the photo up. See, salt much must touch to preserve and heal. Influence requires proximity. So Jesus is talking to his disciples who are very aware of what salt is in their everyday life and he’s they will know that salt only works when it is close when it is actually touching and being rubbed into the meat or being rubbed into the wound. There is no advantage to like throwing salt at something. I can’t throw it at the meat and expect

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it to cure the meat and to stop decay because in order for decay to not happen, it has to be covered. Like every part of the meat has to be covered in the salt. Has to be rubbed in so there’s no place exposed. We are never going to be salt and stop decay if we refuse to touch what is needing to be touched. Sometimes truth feels like salt in a wound. Painful at first, but it heals. It protects. It prevents deeper infection. See, Jesus was our example. He ate with sinners. He loved the broken. He touched

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the lepers. He preserved life by being present and touching them. Additionally, how many of us are broken? How many of us of us have had been in pain? All of us. Jesus is giving us the answer. Guys, get close to the salt. Get close to the followers. Don’t be afraid to let them touch, to let them rub in the salt that preserves and that heals. When we find ourselves in need of healing and restoration, is our initial thought to pull away? It should be to draw close. Salt requires purity. Our holiness matters.

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Can you put the picture the next picture up? I don’t know which is next. Okay. See, most of the salt in the ancient world was derived from the salt marshes like at the Dead Sea. So this is pictures of salt of the Dead Sea rather than evaporated salt how we would know it today. And this kind of salt contained many impurities. It was mixed with gypsum and other minerals. And so if rain washed the real salt away, what was left looked like salt but tasted like dust. And actually what they would do with

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that salt is they would throw it on the road to keep the weeds down or on the soil of flat rooftops to harden the surface. Can you put the next picture up? This is another picture of salt at the Dead Sea. Go to the next one. So you can see this salt is not pure. There is mixture mixture in it. You see, strictly speaking, salt cannot lose its saltiness. Sodium chloride is a stable compound. But in those days, they didn’t have pure salt. They had a mixture. So when Jesus is telling his disciples

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in verse 13, “If the salt loses its flavor, how can it be seasoned when it’s good for nothing? It’ll be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” He’s talking about this mixed salt. This salt that was full of impurities that actually had no effectiveness because this kind of salt doesn’t do what pure salt will do. Go to the next picture. But pure salt cannot lose its saltiness. We must not allow mixture in our lives to cause us to lose influence. That will cause us to lose effectiveness. And that

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can bring hardness because that’s what salt with mixture will do. That word there lose its saltiness is actually translated in other places to be made to become foolish. It’s hard not to conclude that the disciples who brought mixture into their lives were making fools of themselves and who they were saying they represented. Salt also creates thirst. Anybody else like popcorn? So, my dad and I are major popcorn junkies. And we would sit and we would each have our own bowl. Like, not kidding you. Not

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like a little bowl, like a big bowl. And we would each have massive amounts of popcorn, salted and buttered. >> Yes. Hallelujah. >> But what happens when you eat a bowl of popcorn? You’re really, really thirsty. You crave water. Our lives should make people crave God. When people taste our lives, when they taste of peace in the chaos and love and for our enemies and quiet strength, they should say, “I want what you have.” We as Christians are not just here to make life taste better, although that’s

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good. We’re here to stop decay, to cleanse corruption, and to bring healing even when it stings. Uh the commentary of critical and explanatory explanation on the whole Bible by Robert Jameson said the remedy for this corruption of mankind in the world is the active presence of his disciples among their fellows. The character and principles of Christians brought into close contact with it are designed to arrest the festering corruption of humanity and season it. That’s what we’re designed to do, you

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guys. Okay, got to got to keep moving. There’s so much there. Matthew 5 going on to verse 14 says, “You are the light of the world. A city a set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but they put it on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house. So let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. Again, we have this emphatic you, right? You are the light of the world. You are emphatic. As the words are

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introduced, they apply not to people at large, but to those committed to Jesus. They are talking to the disciples of Jesus. Light sustains life and enables vision. This is what light does. It’s both in our physical world and in our spiritual world. Sustains light and enables vision. There are source the sources of light. In science, it originates from our sun and our physical physical stars and can be artificial lamps. But in the spirit, the light comes from God. John 15, 1 John 15, God is the light and in

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him is no darkness. There must be purity of light. Do you know that white light contains all of the colors? Right? Most of us know this. White light contains all colors. symbolizing the completeness and purity. When light passes through a prism, it reveals the full spectrum. Every color is present. Go ahead and put the next picture up. Just leave it up. It reveals when light passes through a prism. reveals the full spectrum. Every color, nothing missing. I love this because we are to reveal the fullness

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of God >> as the light of the world. Each flavor, each individual color, there’s a place for it. And our job as the light is to reflect the light of Christ that is indwelling in us out in full spectrum of color. I get through this. All right. The functions of light. Light enables vision. It reveals what is hidden. Light carries energy that powers photosynthesis, drives ecosystem, and enables technology. Light fuels light. life. God’s life is our spiritual energy. And just as plants need sunlight to live and

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grow, believers need God’s light. Plants don’t glance at the sun. They absorb it. They don’t just stare at it. Oh, how pretty. Isn’t that beautiful light? No, they absorb it. And it is part of the photosynthesis process, the transformation process of light. The behavior of light is reflection and refraction, polarization. Light reflects off of surfaces, allowing us to see objects. Um, just like the prism, the clear goes in and the rainbow comes out. Light enters a prism and is scattered into

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colors. So, the life of Christ is to reflect into every area of our world. do the next picture. I love this um this next picture because it shows all the spectrums of the colors. And you know that each of us have a unique way of reflecting the light of God. Each of us have a unique light that we get to express. And it’s beautiful. There’s not one that’s more beautiful than the other. Light defined in Matthew 5 means to shine or to manifest means to be luminous which is the property of emitting or

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reflecting light and the figurative sense of being clear or easily understood. I think it’s funny today that we were missing some of our light and we were missing our light. Things were not clear, right? We didn’t know what we were singing. We didn’t know where we were going. Put a whole lot more strain on Jere to have to be like, “Okay, I got to prompt them all their words.” Right? When we were missing our lights, we didn’t have clarity. That’s part of it. Jesus is preeminently the light of the

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world. John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world, and he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. But this role passed to the disciples.” Acts 13:47 says, “For the Lord gave us this command and said, I have made you a light to the Gentiles to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.” Ephesians 5:8, “For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” So walk as childrens of light. 1 Thessalonians 5:5,

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you are sons of light and sons of the day. You are not of the dark or of the night. John 1:4 says, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” So, is Jesus the light or are we the light? >> Thank you. [Applause] Yes. The source of our light is Christ. And we have the life and light of Christ residing in us when we receive him. It’s not of our own doing. It’s not of our own works, but his his great love and mercy. And it’s because we received his light that we can shine in this world.

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We are to be the light. This isn’t something we do. This is something we are. We are to reflect his light and brightness. We are to bring something that is clear and easily understood. This is who we are. It’s part of our identity as believers in Christ. Verse 15 in Matthew 5 says, ‘N neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on a stand to give light to everyone in the house. See, the very purpose of being a follower of Jesus is to give light. Giving light is not an option, so to

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speak. It’s part of being a disciple. It’s as much a part of disciplehip as giving light is of that lighted lamp on a stand. Oh man, I got a I got a few more things to say, guys. I’m gonna I’m just going to w get through this. I try to be really good most of the time, babe. Woo. So what? We just read the scripture. Neither do people put a lamp under a basket, but they put it on a stand. So what does that basket represent? What is the what are the hidden causes of concealing the light that is inside of us?

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fear. Anybody else? >> Shame. Those are my first two. Go ahead, put it up. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power. Right. >> Okay. What else? What else causes us to conceal or suppress the light that’s on the inside of us? Anybody else? >> Somebody say just >> sin. >> Sin. Sin. Sin and compromise. Yes. >> Unbelief. Good. There’s Right. So, we have fear and shame. We have sin and compromise. Sin clouds our witness. Your iniquities have been barriers

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between you and God. And your sins have concealed his face from you. You were once in darkness, but now you are in the light. Yeah. All right. What else? What about distractions? Anybody else feel like distractions can uh we can put our little basket on our light? Right. When we prioritize things like wealth and comfort and status, our focus shifts from God’s mission and our light gets buried under material pursuits. Our testimony becomes dim because our values don’t look different from the

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world. Are our values different from the world? How about complacency? Complacency. Neglecting prayer and scripture and service makes our spiritual flame flicker. We miss our opportunity to influence others for good. Romans 12 says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fe fa fervor.” How about cultural pressures? Anybody else? Cultural pressures. Yep. Trying to fit in with society’s values instead of standing for truth will cover our light. But Romans 12 says, ‘Do not conform to

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the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your life mind. >> That’s right. Fear of rejection. What else? What are some other things that prevent us? >> Insecurities. That’s speaking to identity, >> right? Lack of time. We’ve got that complacency, >> health issues. resentment >> unforgiveness. It’s so interesting because a lamp is meant to shine and not be hidden and covering defeats its purpose. But sometimes I don’t think we

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understand that that’s our purpose. Maybe, maybe not. No one lights a lamp to hide it. They set it where it can glow brightly in the whole room. In the same way, we are called to shine as lights in the world. Not to keep our faith tucked away, but to let it radiate through our words, through our actions, through our life. When people see hope and grace and transformation in you, they’ll be drawn to the one who makes it possible. And give glory to God for redeeming the hearts and opening the doors for others

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to experience the same renewal. Uh Bonhaofer is quoted saying, “Flight into the invisible is a denial of the call.” Flight into the invisible is a denial of the call. A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow him. You know, I had I had some time in my life where um I love Jesus and I I’d love to serve Jesus here and I could be all day here, but in my everyday life, I was I I was afraid to say I was even a Christian because of the questions that it might pose to me.

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And that’s putting our light under a basket. There was shame. There was embarrassment. fear of rejection, all of the things. But God has not given us a spirit of fear. We must be lights. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. I’d like to just end with the message translation in Matthew. Matthew 5 says, “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt seasoning that brings out the God flavor of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will

02:21:02 – 02:22:09
people taste goodness, godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.” Here’s another way to put it. You are the light bringing out the God colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this. As public as a city on a hill. If it makes you lightbearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket. Do you? I’m putting you on a lampstand now that I’ve put you out there on the hilltop on a lampstand. Shine.

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The kingdom way is different. The kingdom way is full of life and joy. The world says blend in, protect yourself, chase success. But Jesus says, “Shine, stand out, live for something greater.” We are salt preserving what is good and pushing back the decay of compromise. We are light, brightening the dark world with hope and truth. A city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Neither can a heart transformed by Christ. So don’t hide what God’s done in you. Let it shine with joy. Let your life radiate

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grace so powerfully that people can’t help but glorify the father. So go and live the kingdom way. The courage with love with joy. Be salt. Be light. Shine so bright that the world sees Jesus in you. Amen. [Applause] Amen. All right, church. Our community is going to get brighter >> and tastier. Yes. Father, thank you. Thank you for a clear word. Thank you for inspiration today. God, may we uh be able to take this challenge to bring flavor, to bring light, to bring health, to bring strength to our community,

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Lord, in our prayer closets this week. Father, may people be saved, may people be rescued as we follow you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Church, we have fellowship across the way. For those who have never been here before, that means we have food available for you if you would like to join us. It is how we connect. Love you all. God bless.