The Difference Makers
Matthew 5:13-16
I. You Are Valuable (v. 13a)
A. Because of the Price Paid (I Cor. 6:20a)
- You were not bought or created cheaply, but rather it cost something to get you to the point for God to accept you and use you.
- We were a slave to sin and darkness and God paid our emancipation fee with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
- Many will go through life thinking you are not worth anything, but God says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). You were thought of before the foundations of the earth that is the reason god had a plan to redeem you and save you before the world was ever created. (Eph. 1)
B. Because of the Benefit Reaped
1. As Salt You Are to Preserve (II Tim. 3:14, 4:14)
2. As Salt You are Seasoning ( Use illustration of seasoning meat)
- Sometimes seasoning means we must be a little bit irritating to the culture around us.
- For to many years we have been bland and not willing to be a seasoning agent in society. Just as salt will make the difference in the way something taste we are to make a difference in the way the world operates.
3. As Salt You are to Bring Healing
- As a healing agent salt was used to bring about healing of wounds. We are to be this same kind of agent for God. We are to be a healing agent within the body of Chris and sometimes this means causing pain to heal (illu. Setting a bone).
- The greatest way we act as a healing agent is to show a person how they can be healed of an eternal killer, sin.
C. You Can Lose You Value (v. 13b)
1. Loss of Testimony
2. Loss of Influence
II. You Are Vivid (v. 14a)
A. As Light We Penetrate the World (John 1:5a)
B. As Light We Dispel the Darkness (John 1:5b)
C. As Light We Guide Others (John 1:6-7)
III. You Have a Vocation (v. 16)
A. We Are to Stand Up (v. 15b)
- The time has come for us to be salt and light in this world and stop playing like we are the church and become something that this world will have to take notice of. While Christ was gentle in Spirit, He also faced the evil and darkness of His day. He was not tolerant of wrong and sin, but rather sought to call it what it was while at the same time showing those he was confronting how to change their life for good.
B. We Are to Make a Difference (v. 15c)
- We can’t make a difference if we are not totally sold out to God. We can not separate our lives and beliefs into different parts. We can’t say our faith supercedes this part of our life, but not this part of our life.
- God is not One to be part time in our lives and in the decisions we make. People will say that when it comes to things concerning morality in our society that we can’t legislate it, but we must as a people determine whether we are going to be salt and light in every aspect of our lives or are we going to decide God has a part in one part of life, but doesn’t in others. (Illu. Abortion, Gay marriage, alcohol and gambling)
C. We Are to point the World to Our Difference Maker (v. 16b)
- The greatest difference we can make in this world is to begin to try and win the world to Christ one person at a time. We must decide that we will become “Great Commission Christians and not just say that we are “Great Commission Churches”.
- The lost are in your world and for the most part not in this building.
We are called to be difference makers. Where do you need to start?
