INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Last week we examined what it meant to be the salt of the world.
• Today we are going to look at part 2 of our message on the Bold Walk.
• For our walk to be bold, we must get out of the salt shaker so we can bring flavor to this world along with all the other wonderful things salt can bring to this dying world.
• Jesus in the second part of this analogy calls us the light of the world.
• As salt makes a difference in people’s food, so light makes a difference in their surroundings.
• For our walk to be a bold one, a walk that makes an eternal difference in the lives of those around us, we need to understand a few things about why Jesus calls us the light of the world!
• The positive influence of Jesus’ followers is next described as the light of the world.
• Let’s begin our examination in verse 14 of our text!
• SLIDE #2
• Matthew 5:14 ( ESV ) “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. OUR LIGHT IS MEANT TO BE SEEN. V14
• As we look at verse 14 Jesus says that a city set on a hill cannot be hidden!
• Both in the daytime and at night, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. It is exposed for all to see. By day its houses and buildings stand out on the landscape, and at night the many lights shining out of its windows make it impossible to miss.
• Christianity is something which is meant to be seen. As someone has well said, “There can be no such thing as secret discipleship, for either the secrecy destroys the discipleship, or the discipleship destroys the secrecy.” A man’s Christianity should be perfectly visible to all men.
• Further, this Christianity should not be visible only within the Church. A Christianity whose effects stop at the church door is not much use to anyone. It should be even more visible in the ordinary activities of the world. Our Christianity should be visible in the way we treat a shop assistant across the counter, in the way we order a meal in a restaurant.
• Jesus did not say, “You are the light of the Church”; he said, “You are the light of the world,” and in a man’s life in the world his Christianity should be evident to all.
• Regarding our light let us first understand that light attracts.
• SLIDE #4
A. Light attracts.
• If you have ever been to an outdoor evening event in the mid-west, you will understand this concept. When the lights on a ball field come on, it seems like every bug in the state flocks to the light.
• A city on a hill attracts people who are looking for something.
• Christians are called to attract others to God.
• IF our lives are seen as they should be, they will be attractive to those who see us.
• When our lives reflect to Lord we serve, our lives will attract others to Christ.
• SLIDE #5
• Ephesians 5:8-9 ( ESV ) for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
• SLIDE #6
B. Light removes fear.
• How many of you were afraid of the dark when you were a child, how many of you still are?
• I used to be very afraid of the dark; my imagination ran wild when the lights went out at bed time.
• If I wanted to calm down, all I needed was some light. Then my fears were relieved!
• There are people who are living this life in fear, they fear the present and they fear the future. By shining the light of Jesus on them, we can help them remove their fears.
• When we are called out of the darkness, we no longer need to fear!
• SLIDE #7
• 2 Timothy 1:7 ( ESV ) for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
• SLIDE #8
C. Light is welcoming.
• Have you ever been lost or in need of help. You were about to give up hope, when in the distance you saw a light.
• When I was dating Robyn, I went to see her at her parent’s home; the wind chill was something like 50 below zero. I left I got about 15 miles down the road when my engine froze up.
• It is something like 50 below, there were no cell phones. I was nervous to say the least; then a few hundred yards up the road through the snow I could see a porch light on!
• WOW! Did I feel great! I ran to the house knocked and someone welcomed me into their home while I waited rescue.
• I had another time at 5 am when I was going to work and my car slide into a ditch avoiding a cat. I saw a house with some lights on, as soon as I got to the house and knocked, the lights went out. I guess I was not welcome!
• People need to see our light shine because it tells them that God will welcome them into His kingdom as He welcomed us!
• SLIDE #9
• Let us look at verse 15 for our next observation.
• Matthew 5:15 ( ESV ) Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
• Next we see that our light is meant to be used!
• SLIDE #10
II. OUR LIGHT IS MEANT TO BE USED.
• Imagine needed light, having light, but not using the light you have.
• How is our light to be used?
• SLIDE #11
A. Light is used to remove darkness.
• In the mid-west, our power went out a lot in the winter; it was nice to have flashlights we could use so we could see.
• We do not want to walk in an unlit parking lot; we want some light so that we are not overcome by darkness.
• Jesus called out of the darkness!
• SLIDE #12
• 1 Peter 2:9 ( ESV ) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• SLIDE #13
• Light is also used to illuminate a path.
B. Light is used to illuminate a path.
Have you ever walked around in the dark and stubbed your toe or ran into something? In our house we have small night-lights that pierce the darkness so that we can see.
We are to help guide people with the light of the gospel.
• So then a Christian must make the way clear to others.
• A Christian is called to be an example. One of the things, which this world needs more than anything else, is people who are prepared to be focus of goodness. We need people who will shine in the light of truth and who will shine the light of truth.
• SLIDE #14
C. Light is used to expose problems.
• Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences.
Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. “Why,” he exclaimed, “when I went a-courtin’ I never carried one of them things, I always went in the dark.” “Yes,” the hired man said wryly,” and look at what you got!” Some people change their ways when they see the light, others only when they feel the heat.
The world is living in darkness and it is the job of Christians to shed the light of God’s truth into the world.
Many times we get upset at the way people act, but we have to remember that they do not always have the light of Jesus to tell them what is right and what is wrong and why.
• The light of the gospel will reveal what is truth and what is masquerading as truth.
• We are called to help expose the deception under which people are living.
• Let’s go to verse 16.
• SLIDE #15
• Matthew 5:16 ( ESV ) In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
• SLIDE #16
• Our light is meant to shine toward God!
III. OUR LIGHT IS MEANT TO SHINE TOWARD GOD!
• There are a couple things we need to understand concerning our shining light!
• SLIDE #17
A. Jesus is the true light source.
• Jesus is the real light of the world.
• SLIDE #18
• John 8:12 ( ESV ) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
• This is why we are to walk as He did.
• SLIDE #19
• Ephesians 2:10 ( ESV ) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
• Keep this in mind when we get to the last part of this point.
• SLIDE #20
B. Our light is to be reflected from Him.
• The sun provides the light for our planet; the moon reflects the light from the sun on the earth to give the shy some illumination.
• The SON is our sun. WE are to reflect HIS light! One thing we need to understand concerning reflected light is the closer you are to the source, the brighter the reflection, the further from the source, the dimmer the reflect.
• When we understand that we are reflecting the light of Jesus, it will help us to stay close to the source!
• SLIDE #21
C. Our reflected light should lead others to the true light.
• Jesus went at the Pharisees because they were acting like they were the light of the world; they wanted the attention on themselves and not on God.
• In Matthew 6:1-2, Jesus basically said that if we live for ourselves, we have already received our reward.
• SLIDE #22
• 1 Peter 2:11-12 ( ESV ) Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
To God be the glory. When people see what we are doing we must make sure they know we are doing it in the name of Jesus. When people know that we care, they will care about what we know.
If the last point was not added, then it would seem that we are to be self-serving, self-glorifying, but our works are not to our own credit, but for God.
CONCLUSION
• I walked with the world in darkness until I was 20, the last 24 plus years I have been walking in the light with God’s family. You could not pay me enough to go back.
• I love the church and God’s people. When the world sees that the church is walking in the light, and we are reflecting the light of Jesus, we will not be able to build a church big enough to hold everyone.
• People are seeking the truth, let us continue to be a people who not only tell them about Jesus, but let us continue to be a church that shows them Jesus.
• In 1969, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. His footprints are still there. They will be there a thousand years from now! It is very possible that your influence will last as long!
• We are called to be a light to the world, let us stay close to the light source and light the path toward Jesus for the world!
