#forparker #3
God Wants Me To Be Salt & Light
By Louie Marsh, 1-19-2020
Intro – 3 slides.
1) Dare to ask the big question: WHO AM I?
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:13-14 (ESV)
- UNDERSTAND what Jesus said.
“You – you alone are the salt of the earth…” Matt. 5:13 (RCH Lenski translation)
SHOW BONHOEFFER PICTURE & POEM ON CUE
Who Am I?
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?
Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!
- All followers of Jesus ALREADY ARE Salt & Light
Not should, could, ought.
SHOW YODA PIC/QUOTE
Do, or do not. There is no ‘try.’ – Yoda (Fictional Star Wars Thing/Dude
- Salt changes the nature of what it’s applied too.
- Light changes how we perceive reality.
As Salt I Need to Preserve…
1) Jesus as my FIRST love.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Revelation 2:4-5 (NIV)
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Jeremiah 2:2 (ESV)
- Live for an audience of ONE.
We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 (GW)
- Like Jesus, dare to be BOLD!
Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 2 Corinthians 3:12 (ESV)
Show cards!
2) My LOVE for God’s Word
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. Psalms 119:16 (NIV)
- IMMERSE myself in the Word thru reading, study and meditating.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalms 119:105 (NIV)
My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word. Psalms 119:148 (NASB)
- LIVE the Word
Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word. Psalms 119:17 (NIV)
To Live As Light I Need Too…
1) BELIEVE Jesus is the light of the world.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (NIV)
- The only reliable source of knowledge of God is
- Salvation comes from Him ALONE.
2) LIVE like it’s true.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:8-14 (NIV)
- Live to PLEASE
Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it. Ephesians 5:10 (MSG)
Not just “follow the rules” but go above and beyond to please the God I love. No “Spiritual Lawyers” Allowed!!
- Live a TRANSPARENT
Light exposes the true character of everything because light makes everything easy to see… Ephesians 5:13-14a (GW)
No Secrets!
What This Does Not Mean:
That I tell everyone everything about me all the time; That I tell everyone everything about me some of the time
That I tell everyone everything about me any of the time!
T – Too M – Much I – Information!
What This Does Mean!
No secrets – You’re Only As Sick As Your Secrets – No hidden, hypocritical life!
I tell someone everything about me – and have open honest relationships with God and people.
- Live like the MISSIONARY I am.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:7-8 (ESV)