“Watered-down Witness”
May 4, 2008 Mt.5:13-20 Play
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Gone Off, Good-for-nothing
o Chocolate milk down the drain
o Christians / churches can ‘lose flavour’, too
How do you make salt ‘salty’ again?
o Salt worthless if loses saltiness (13)
o purity: called to live pure lives (Titus 2:14; 1Jn
1:7)
o precious: dearly loved by the Father (Rev 21:21;
Eph 5:1; 1Jn 3:1)
o preservative: gracious conversation has seasoning
effect (Col 4:6)
Lighten Up
o city on hill hard to hide: Jesus ‘Light of the
World’ shines through us (Jn 8:12; 1:4f,9; 1Jn 1:5; Eph 5:14; Jn 12:36)
o not hiding under bowl but noticeable as stars in
depraved generation (15; Php 2:15; Eph 5:8ff)
o our good deeds bring glory to God (16; 1Pet 2:12)
Kingdom, Commands, and Compliance
o “Kingdom of heaven” not realized on earth yet
(4:17,23; Rev 11:15, 12:10)
o Kingdom parallels to Incident Management System –
command, communication, orders carried out
o enter Kingdom if do Father’s will, abide by His
earth-outlasting revelation (18; Mt 7:21; Eph 5:10)
o compliance with God’s teaching determines whether
we’re viewed as small or great in the Kingdom (19f; Lk 11:42)
Bringing Light in Dark Circumstances
o J&L Niles emergency fostering of >1,000
children brings honours, motivates others