A City On A Hill Series

A City On A Hill

Matthew 5:13-16

OKAY – so we are in this message series, a chapter by chapter, verse by verse… in depth study, of the Gospel of Matthew.

TODAY – is week 16.

NOW – some may wonder, why we are spending so much time on just this one Gospel.

WELL – the answer is pretty simple.

YOU SEE – the goal of this study is for us (His people @ 3210 Proffit Rd) TO…

Know better, and to follow more closely, The One…

who gave His life for us, and whose name we bare.

QUESTION – is anyone out there or listening online good with this goal?

NOW CURRENTLY – we are unpacking the Sermon on The Mount (Matthew 5-7), which is the longest recorded sermon that Jesus ever gave.

AND – as we have been saying for weeks, this sermon given on the Northern slopes of the Sea of Galilee…

WAS and STILL IS – Jesus radical, counter-culture manifesto about what life in “His Kingdom” is all about…

UNDERSTAND – His Kingdom Is About…

•Being poor in Spirit, acknowledging our brokenness (our broken mess)… admitting that we are bankrupt before God and need His help… ‘God, please help me with…’ my worry, my family, my marriage, my addiction, my depression…

•Mourning… our loss, our sin and for this lost world…

•Being meek… keeping our power and strength under control for the good of others and the glory of God.

•Stopping all of our pretending, faking and spotlight performing… taking off our masks and getting real, cleaning the inside of our cup, aligning both our public self and private self, it’s about integrity

•Showing mercy…

•Hungering and thirsting to be right with God and to live right for God. It’s about hungering for His justice to roll on like a river and His righteousness like a never failing stream

•Being a peacemaker, actively seeking to reconcile people to God and to one another. It’s about breathing truth and righteousness into conflict

•Being persecuted because of the life we live and the Lord we love.

AND B/S- His Kingdom Is About…

•Being blessed, Inheriting the earth, being satisfied, receiving mercy, seeing God, being comforted, experiencing the kingdom of heaven, rejoicing in our great reward and being called a son of God.

AMEN?!

OKAY – here’s the deal…

Jesus opens up His radical, counter-culture Kingdom Manifesto, by describing… the character… the lifestyle,

of those who follow after Him and live

in His kingdom (in His church),

AND THEN – in Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus uses 2 metaphors to underscore the influence and the impact that those who live that way will have on the world around them.

AND UNDERSTAND – this is the only time in all four Gospels that Jesus uses metaphors to describe who His followers are.

SO MAYBE – it would be a good idea to lean into the Word today… What say you?

AMEN?!

NOW – I am pretty sure that most of us have heard this passage and these metaphors before…

BUT – I want to encourage you to hear them again, as if for the first time.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:13-16

MGCC…

WHEN - Jesus uses these two metaphors, ‘SALT’ and ‘LIGHT’

IS HE – saying that, “I want your faith to be private and personal.. and to go unnoticed?”

QUESTION…

CAN - SALT go unnoticed, when it flavors food?

CAN – LIGHT go unnoticed, when it dispels darkness?

UNDERSTAND B/S – in these 2 metaphors (salt and light)

Jesus is giving us/you/me… a mandate for us to live out our faith in a way that positively impacts and influences the world around us.

JESUS – is calling those who are following after Him, those who live in His Kingdom…

• TO - make a difference in the world.

• TO – not be silent and passive

• TO – not be hidden or embarrassed.

MGCC JESUS – is calling us…

• TO – be engaged with our culture

• TO – promote biblical values

• TO – speak the truth in love

• TO – live for Him, and…

• TO – share Him wherever and whenever we can.

AMEN?!

OKAY – here is how I want to attack our conversation this morning… By unpacking these two statements.