January 4th, 2004
Let us pray
Welcome..
A happy and prosperous New Year to every-one. To-day is the first Sunday of the New Year 2004. It is a year we have never seen before, and a year that we know nothing about. Last year many started the New Year, but never finished it, and this year the same thing will happen, but let’s just live one day
at a time, and make sure every-thing we do will be to glorify the Lord........elaborate..
Our theme this year is, "Glorifying God," and our key verse is Matthew 5 verse 16. Each week of this year we will have a verse of the week that we all should memorize, for some it might be a verse that you know, and for others it might be new verse. Our verse for this week is Matthew 5 verse 16 (Let’s
say this verse together....)
What does this New Year holds for you? What plans are you hoping to achieve in this New Year? How does God fit in with the goals you have for this New Year? Someone has said, "No matter what a man’s past may have been, his future is spotless." Let’s all allow God to lead us, for He alone knows what the future holds for us....elaborate....
Please turn with me in your bi-bles to Matthew 5 verses 13 through 16. Let’s all stand and read together. Please tell someone, Our future is in God’s hands. Our topic for today is, glorifying God. The word glorify means, to give glory, honor or high praise to; exalt. To give glory to, especially through
worship. I do trust the reason for you being here today is to glorify the Lord. Some people might have come to the house of God just to see their friends,
but I came here to glorify the Lord. Some might have come because it’s the first Sunday of the New Year, that’s good, but I came here to glorify the Lord.
Some might have come just to see what’s happening at Harvey, but I came here to glorify the Lord. Some might have come because they have not been in church for a long time, but I came here to glorify the
Lord..........elaborate... Some might..
There are three things I would like to bring to your attention from our text for today, 1. You are the salt of the earth; 2. You are the light of the world; 3. Let your light shine.
What exactly did our Lord meant when he said, you are the salt of the earth? What is there so great or important about salt? I remember in Jamaica, my mother would buy meat, we had no refrigerator, but we had salt. My mother would take the salt, and rub that salt into the meat to preserve it, and that meat would last for a long time.....elaborate...salt
preserves...
In order for us to glorify God, and for "our lives to be a living sacrifice for God they must be preserved and seasoned with the Righteousness of Christ."
Salt is a silent witness of the Christian believer. It is that influence that you have over other people’s lives to season, and preserve for eternal life. As a Christian, at least 7 persons lives are influenced by your action, and I want to
encourage you to be very careful as to what you say, and what you do, because there is somebody watching you. Christ our Lord is saying let your influence season people’s life for the kingdom. Christ is saying you are the salt of the earth; you are the world’s seasoning to make it tol-e-ra-ble. Salt
changes things; a little salt "can flavor a big pot of beans." and that big pot of beans without salt will have no taste. I re-mem-ber as a young boy in
Jamaica, I had a pastor who was a lady, and she had high blood pressure. She cooked some spinach one day and gave me some to eat. Guess what? the spinach had no salt, it had no flavor, it had no taste........elaborate...it tasted awful...
It is said that, The salt is no good if it never leaves the salt shaker, it us only a decoration to the kitchen table." As Christians, we are the salt of
the earth; we are called upon to glorify God; we are called upon to be that influence in the world. The function of the salt is denied, when we fail to
mingle with those who are lost. The function of the salt is lost, when we fail to be kind to others. The function of the salt is lost, when we fail to rub
against those who have no flavor. Church of God, we have the truth, and if we have the truth, ane we know it is the truth, we are called upon to share the
truth. This year, let us share the truth with those who are lost, let’s be an influence in the world....elaborate..
What good is salt if the salt has lost its flavor? There are many Christians today that have lost their sal-ti-ness. O yes, they can sing, but the saltiness
is gone. O yes, they can preach, but the saltiness is gone. O yes, they can quote scriptures, but the salti- ness is gone. O yes, they know how to pray,but the sal-ti-ness is gone. O yes, they know how to work hard around the church, but the saltiness is gone, the influence is gone. and they are unable to reach a lost world for Christ. "Salt is a remedy for unsavoury meat, but there is no remedy for unsavoury salt." The bi-ble says, when the salt has lost its flavor it is good for nothing, but to be cast out and be trodden under the foot of men. I challenge every child of God here today to be salt in the earth, and be a Christian influence to others....elaborate....
Not only are we the salt of the earth, but we are also the light of the world. What does light do? When light comes the darkness is exposed. Darkness is
expelled as soon as you hit the lights. Most people who do evil things operate in the darkness. People are not aware of the darkness that they are in if they
don’t see the light. As lights of the world, as people who are willing to glorify God, we are called upon to help those in darkness to see the light. Do you know someone who is in darkness? If so, you are called to help that person to see the light; to accept Christ as Lord of their life......elaborate..
Light exposes or expels the darkness, and light also serves as a guide. Airport runaways helps planes see their runaway by the lights. As Christians we are
guides to people who are in darkness. How good a guide are you? Can someone see the light in you? Light is to be seen. Please note very carefully,
there is no such thing as a secret Christian. If you are God’s child your light must be seen. Too many Christians are walking around incognito. Their
identity is disguised, and no one really know who they are. Light shines not that people may see the light, but that they may see other things because of
the light. Light shines not to attract people to us, but that they may be attracted to Jesus Christ. People needs the Lord, and as Christians, we are the
light in a darkened world. What good is light if it is placed under a bushel? What good is your
Christian life if no one knows that you are a Christian? It is said that in Palestine homes were generally dark having one small window. There were
no elec-tri-ci-ty, and light bulbs like we have. Their light consisted of a lamp which was a bowl filled with oil that had a wick. (How many of you knows about a lamp with oil? I do. I have a few in my office at home when we were all preparing for Y2K.......) When the people in Palestine back then needed light the lamp was placed on a lamp stand. The most difficult thing of having this light in the house was in lighting the lamp. Back then they had no
matches or cigarette lighters. As a result, no one wanted to let their light go out because it took too much work to get the wick lit again. When leaving the
house it was dangerous to leave the light on, so for safety reasons when they left their homes the lamp would be taken from the lamp stand and placed
under an earthern vessel where it could burn risk free. As soon as someone returned they would put the lamp on the stand. No one lights a light only to put it under a basket or earthern vessel, we are to
let our light shine to the fullest. This brings me to my final point, Let your light shine. Why should I let my light shine? Why can’t I live anyway I
chose to live? Because, others want to see our good works, and others want to glorify our Father which is in heaven. Our light shining is not about us, it is
about glorifying God. The story is told of a man whose job was to be on the railroad track and warn with his light the upcoming train of the bridge that has been damaged. That night as the train came the man showed his lamp, but the train went right into the ditch. The man was taken to court because they
wanted to know why the train did not pay attention to this man who was to warn the train of the danger ahead. The man was asked by the judge, "Were
you on duty on the night that the train had the accident?" The man replied, "Yes sir." The judge once again asked, "Did you have the lamp with you?"
The man replied, "Yes sir." The judge asked the last question, "Did you wave your lamp to the train?" The man replied, "Yes sir." The man was not held responsible, he had given all the answers to the questions he was asked. Later as the man went home he told his friend, "I am glad that the judge did
not ask me if my lamp was on." This man had a lamp, he was waving his lamp to the oncoming train, but his lamp was not lighted. What use is a lamp if the lamp is not trimmed and burning? What use is your Christian life, if you are not glorifying God?
Glorifying God, should be our aim in everything we do. "We must not only endeavour to glorify God ourselves, but we must do all we can to bring others
to glorify him." Let those around you see your good works; let them see the power of God’s grace in you, and thank you for it, and give God the glory. Let
them see your good works and be convinced of the truth and excellency of the Christian life, and have a desire of wanting to glorify God themself. On this
first Sunday of this New Year 2004, our deisre should be to glorify God, and God alone.
If you want, you can please man all you want, but my aim is to glorify God.If you want, you can let man pat you on the back, and say you are a jolly good fellow, but my aim is to glorify God. If you want you can let man say all the good things about you, whether true or false, but my aim is to glorify
God. I want to glorify God in the morning. I want to glorify God du-ring the day. I want to glorify God in the evening. In fact, every chance I get I want to
glorify God. For me, it is going to be Je-sus in the morning, Je-sus in the noon time, and Jesus when the sun goes down. It is time for God’s people to start
taking the time to glorify God. It is time to stop our fussing, and complaining, and take the time to glorify God.
As a child of God, you are the salt of the earth, and you are called to be an influence to those around you. You are the light of the world, and those who
are in darkness needs to see the light of God shining through you. You are called upon to let your light shine, so that the good works you do will not
bring glory to yourself, but bring glory to God, and that others will be able to glorify God also. Glorifying God should be our highest aim. As we all stand.........I wonder how many will say with me today, pastor I want to glorify God; I want to give honor to God, I want to exalt his name because he is worthy. If that is your desire, I want you to come, and tell God about it...........elaborate...
If you are not saved, if you do not know Christ as Lord of your life today is a good day to make Jesus your Lord..........elaborate...
Maybe you were once saved, but you turned away from the Lord, today you can come back to the Lord..........
Call to discipleship
Closing song/prayer
