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Salt + Light Community is a SOMA church plant in the heart of Fort Worth, TX. Here you’ll find teaching and discussions from our gatherings on Sundays.
I know that.
In the last 24 hours, I think I've
had three conversations with people
saying, what are we supposed to do?
And, and I don't have an answer other
than right now saying, let's start
with prayer and ask God what next.
Um, but as cliches, it sometimes
feels to say, start with prayer.
I mean, I do believe that that
is the true and right response.
Um, so I'm thankful that we were
able to create space for that.
And, uh, Ben, you prayed
something that I am.
Was super convicted by just that we
would be know the difference between
being aware and and being fixated.
And that is something that's really
helpful for me to hear and I think
that that's a good word for all of
us, is we're continuing to process
and ingest and figure out, um.
You know, we, we aren't meant to
know everything and carry everything.
And this is a strange like time
that we live in where we do have
so much access to information and
news and stories and videos and,
you know, hot takes and opinions.
And so I think that there's a lot of
wisdom and knowing, asking God to help
us be aware, but know, help us know
when we are fixating and when we need
to turn our eyes a different direction.
So thanks for that.
Um, okay.
So we are kicking off a new series
and I'm excited to kind of get into
that and, uh, talk us through what the
next six weeks are gonna look like.
But, um, before we get into that, I
was going talk about a couple of other,
what we're talking about today is making
disciples, the disciple making life,
and that's what we're gonna be spending
the next six weeks or so, um, studying.
Um.
Okay, so when I was in high school
though, I had a good friend who
became a believer, like I think
my junior year of high school.
He did not grow up with Christian parents.
He was not raised in a church.
Um, but some friends shared the gospel
with him over time and they invited him
into their homes, into their family life.
They included them in their church
youth group, and the youth leaders
kind of just folded him in, um, as
if he's just part of everyone else,
you know, that was already there.
And over time, everything changed for him.
He became a believer and he told
everyone because he was so excited.
Uh, he was so excited and he believed
and he knew, and he had experienced that
his life had been radically changed.
But I'll never forget a conversation
that he and I had together, and I
actually think it was in math class.
Um, and he asked me,
why didn't you ever tell me about Jesus?
You see, I was not one of the friends, uh,
sharing the gospel or inviting him into,
uh, my home or inviting him to church or,
you know, including him in family dinners.
He knew I was a Christian.
He knew I was like a youth group junkie.
Um, but he was right.
I never talked to him about my faith.
And I've thought about that before
and I thought about it so much.
I mean, that has stuck with me.
That is one of the one of those
conversations that I will never forget,
and I've thought about it and I've
asked myself, was it because I
didn't care about him or was it
because I didn't care about my faith?
And I don't really know
what the answer is?
I don't think the answer
really matters because I think
either way, I missed the mark.
And then, uh, in my mid twenties,
another memory that came to mind for me.
Um, we were living in Portland, Oregon
at the time, and most of my relationships
were, um, were with people who were not
believers and many who were, you know,
actively opposed to faith in Jesus.
So I actually really loved
being open about my faith there.
Not in like a weird way, but I just
love for people to know like, yeah,
I actually am a Christian and I
actually do love Jesus and I do love my
church and you know, um, just letting
people know what I believed and why.
And really because I did
want to love people well.
I wanted them to taste and see that
there was goodness found in Jesus.
You know, I wanted them to know that
I loved God and that I would try
and look for opportunities to let
them know that God loved them too.
And I had this one coworker, uh, she
was about 10 years older than me.
She was very cool.
She was very smart.
Um, she was very fun.
And she was also kind of
into like Buddhist practices
and she was also very like.
New age, woo woo kind of girl, you know?
And, um, and so one day we, she and I
went out to happy hour after work and,
um, we were just, we got into this
awesome conversation about our beliefs,
you know, and she was asking me lots
of great questions and she was being
really open with me about what she's.
You know, what she had thought about
things and wrestled through and
life experiences and it was great.
It was like one of those conversations
that you just hope to have, you
know, um, like just so, like, um,
engaging and mutually respectful
and, um, it was awesome, but.
To keep the conversation going.
Um, I also had to keep up with her
drinking, is what it felt like.
And, um, I'll put it
this way, she was a pro.
I was not.
And so the next day I felt
embarrassed and regretful.
And
my point is, I have been a Christian
for well over 30 years, and making
disciples does not often feel easy.
I think most of us would say that.
And, um, maybe many of us you guys
have had like a, an experience or two.
Like I've had, um, I, there are plenty
more, but um, there are lots of times
and relationships that I feel like I
have missed the mark, that there are
people that I had wishing wish I had
given more attention to, that there are
conversations that I wish I hadn't shied
away from that I wish I would've just
been a little bit more forth telling.
But I also believe that nothing is wasted.
And that there's beauty and mystery
surrounding how a person's faith is
formed, and I know that a person's
salvation is not contingent upon me,
and there is peace in that truth.
Salvation is not contingent upon
you or me, but being a disciple
of Jesus does mean that we are
also called to make disciples.
And many of us can probably quote Jesus'
words at the end of the book of Matthew.
When he says to the disciples,
he says, therefore, go and
make disciples of all nations.
Baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
But what does it actually look like
to live a disciple making life?
I think there's a lot of barriers
that we need to call out and maybe do
some like introspective reflection for
ourselves to know what those barriers are.
For some, we don't really believe
that it's all that important.
We don't see it as, um, a part
of our role or our priority.
We just don't give a lot of stock to it.
For others, we, we do believe
that it's important, um, but
we're not sure how to go about it.
We don't wanna be weird, we don't
wanna be offputting, we don't wanna
be considered like those people.
We don't wanna make, um, people
into projects or deals to close.
Okay?
Those are all super valid things.
Nobody wants that.
But we can all probably come up
with a solid reason for why we don't
value making disciples as much as
we, as much as we believe that God
calls us to, we don't have the time.
I don't feel confident in my knowledge.
Like, what if someone asks a question?
I don't have the answer.
Everyone around me already follows Jesus.
They've all, they've all heard it before.
If they're not a Christian now,
like it's a done, like they're done.
Whatever the reason, um, or the barrier
as a church community here, we wanna take
the next six weeks to consider what it
looks like to live a disciple making life.
And there's a couple reasons why
now, why we're choosing that to be
the thing we focus on right now.
And the first is we, we kind
of, you know, already kind of
leaned into this last week.
It's the start of a new year.
So we wanna pause and consider,
Lord, who are you calling me to love?
How are you calling me to
reorient my life right now?
How are you calling me to reorient
my time and my priorities?
What area or community are
you calling my attention to?
And the other reason why we wanna look
into this is while it's the start of a
new year, it's the end of a season for us
at Salt and Light as we move buildings.
We're wrapping up our time here.
Um, God is ushering us into a new
space for a new season, and that's
really exciting, um, because change
opens the door for opportunity.
So we want to prepare as people
here, we want to prepare for and
embrace the opportunity that God is
inviting us into for this next season.
So, a little history, a reminder
of where we've been though I would,
I wanna do a quick overview about
our church community real quick.
We planted salt and light,
uh, in January of 2021.
So five years ago this month.
Um, yeah, go ahead Ben.
It's crazy.
Yeah, five years.
Um, so that date though, January, 2021
should immediately conjure up some
emotions, maybe, maybe some triggers.
Um, uh, you know, we, that
there was a lot going on.
Culturally, uh, there was a lot going
on with our, um, you know, we are still,
we are very much in the throes of COVID.
Uh, so we started on, if you
weren't familiar, January, 2021.
We started our first gathering on Zoom.
Um, and met for several months that way.
Not very fun.
I don't think any of us that did
it felt like it was super great.
Um, but it was an important time.
Remember, uh, I actually
saw this the other day.
Remember the kids.
How they would make videos.
Um, if you aren't familiar with this,
we had, uh, the kids would come up with
different, um, Bible stories and they
would, uh, either, you know, act it
out or use puppets or, I don't know,
the forts did something clever, um,
and uh, and they were so fun and cute.
Um, so, you know, there are
like redemptive qualities to it.
Um.
And then we moved from Zoom
to the back patio of brood for
several months, and that was fine.
Um, but it was hot and there was eighties
music blasting from the bar next door,
if anyone remembers that as well.
Um, okay, so then we.
We landed here at Fortress and I
can't quite remember, it was sometime
that summer though, that we, uh,
we were invited to come and meet
at Fortress in the evening time.
Uh, and we met in the evening for
a couple of years and that also was
challenging and had some hard moments.
Um, you know, it's just hard.
Honestly, it's hard to stop
what you're doing on a Sunday
afternoon and show up, um, to, to
gather together Sunday evenings.
And then finally, we were
given the opportunity to
start meeting in the morning.
And so many of us in this room
have been here since the beginning.
Um, or clo you probably jumped
in at maybe one of those stages.
And without trying to sound hyperbolic,
um, I think we really needed each other
in that time, in a really acute way.
When I think about the people that
were leaning in and committing to those
really weird, quirky ways of meeting,
it was because we needed each other.
We really needed to hold onto one another.
And if I could capture that time
for our community, I would say that
a lot of us were trying to make
sense of our faith and specifically
what we believed about the church.
How we believe the church should, uh, act
and be in culture, uh, how to view and
live in culture as followers of Jesus.
Many people were wrestling with questions
or felt confused or felt hurt by church
and culture and the entanglement of it.
And I had many conversations with people
who kept saying, I love Jesus, but I'm
not sure what I think about the church.
Or I'm not totally sure what I believe
anymore, but I'm not ready to call it.
It was a really tender time for a
lot of us, and that was the kind
of community that made up salt and
light our first couple of years,
and so I kind of just love that.
The name of the building that we
moved into is called Fortress.
Because we as a community needed to
cultivate a safe space to ask questions
and to wrestle and to stay curious and
to challenge and encourage one another.
And now I believe that that is,
uh, that wasn't just a season for
us, but that is a foundational part
of our culture as a church family,
and I'm so grateful for that.
And at the risk of, uh, putting
too much stock in a name, I'm gonna
double down here for a minute.
I also really love that the next
season for our community, that
God is moving us into a place
with the word launch in the name.
Because we are grateful for the
season that we have had, where
many of us were able to catch our
breath and tend to each other, and
tend to our faith and be tended to.
But for a while now, uh, we
have felt a call to let God
launch us into a new season.
A season where we aren't just
placing an emphasis on being a
disciple of Jesus, but we also are
participating in making disciples.
And I think that that's so important
right now, especially as I keep
praying, Lord, what do we do?
Because this world is hurting
and broken and the news is
overwhelming, and what do we do?
We see people motivated by power, by hate,
or motivated by fear or self-interest.
We see so much wrong motivation.
What the world needs is people
motivated by the great love and
grace and forgiveness of Jesus.
So it matters that we are see ourselves as
not just a people who follow Jesus, but a
people who help others follow Jesus too.
We wanna be called into that season.
We wanna call ourselves to
lift our eyes and look out.
We wanna ask God, how can we help
bring your kingdom on earth as it is
in heaven to this broken space that we
occupied right now that you have called
us to in this moment for this season?
What does it look like for us?
How can we go and make disciples?
What?
Where are you already working
that you are inviting us into?
I think that there's something really
powerful for us right now in this
season that we're coming up on.
So this winter, before we move into
this new season, we wanna look at the
life of Jesus and the disciple making
life that he calls his followers too.
And then in your houses with your
family, with your DNA groups,
as they start to meet, we wanna
talk and pray about these things.
Most of our DNA groups are starting back
up this week if they haven't already,
and we hope that those gatherings
will be such an encouragement to
you and such a challenge to you too.
We want to not just show up on
Sundays and listen and carry on, but
we wanna engage with these topics
throughout the week with each other.
Our prayer is that individually
and collectively as a church body,
God is going to grow our knowledge,
our capacity, and our desire
to live a disciple making life.
And so today we're starting with this as
our foundation to a disciple making life.
A disciple making Life
starts with dependence on God
through prayers for salvation.
And I wanna unpack this by first
understanding God's heart and then
understanding our dependence, and then
finally understanding our call to action.
So, but the first thing we
need to do is understand God's
heart for building his kingdom.
God longs for everyone to know
his love, for all to be saved
and welcomed into his family.
God's heart is motivated by love.
Uh, in the fall we studied one Timothy,
and one of the passages that I got
to preach on was one Timothy two,
where Paul writes about God's heart.
And this is actually the same passage
where he calls us to pray for our leaders,
but he says, God our Savior, who wants all
people to be saved and come to a knowledge
of the truth, that is God's heart.
And I could read so many verses it,
I mean, go to your scriptures this
week and just look to understand
a little bit more of God's heart.
I'm gonna read though a couple more, that
just would help us understand God's heart.
Ephesians two, but because of his
great love for us, God who is rich in
mercy, made us alive with Christ even
when we were dead in transgressions.
It is by grace that you have been saved.
And in Matthew nine talking about Jesus.
He says, when he saw the crowds,
he had compassion on them because
they were harassed and helpless
like sheep without a shepherd.
He had compassion.
And John three 16, the one that we
all know, for God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only son,
that whoever believes in him shall
not perish, but have eternal life.
And we could go on and on and on and
on and delight in that this week.
But who is on God's heart?
It's the lost and the hurting, and the
broken and the wandering God's heart
longs for all people to know his grace
and his love and his forgiveness,
to know that he is faithful and
trustworthy and kind and gentle.
God's heart longs for all people
to know him, to love him, and
to receive his love for them.
As followers of Jesus, we
wanna be like him in this way.
We want to reflect the same
heart to the people around us
and to the world that we live in.
And so if God's heart is for salvation
for all, then how do we respond?
What does it look like to join
God in what he is already doing?
Kingdom work.
I say this all the time,
kingdom work starts from a
posture of dependence upon God.
It has to start there.
So I wanna read Luke 10 again.
We're gonna read, um, the first
couple of verses after this,
the Lord appointed 72 others.
Some, some scriptures say 70, uh, and
sent them two by two ahead of him to every
town and place where he was about to go.
He told them the harvest is
plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to
send out workers into his harvest field.
Go, I'm sending you out
like lambs among wolves.
Do not take a purse or bag or sandals
and do not greet anyone on the road.
Okay, here's just another great example
of just the richness of scriptures.
There's so much to take
away from these few verses.
First off, Jesus appoints 72 people and
he sends them out of head ahead of him.
And this is important.
This is just one of those small details
that you can just skim on over, but
take a minute to think about this.
This is not the 12 disciples.
These are other people.
These are other just followers of Jesus.
Ordinary people.
They're not the leaders.
We don't know their names or who
they are, uh, what they do, how
long they've been with Jesus.
We don't know anything about them,
but we know they're not the 12.
There are others.
We know that Jesus entrusted
them with this opportunity.
He sends them ahead to
where he was about to go.
It says he's not sending
them somewhere for no reason.
He's coming.
He's on his way.
He sends them out as his ambassadors to
proclaim the good news to talk about the
Messiah that they have met themselves.
Before they go.
He tells them though, he says the harvest
is plentiful, but the workers are few.
And to bring a bit more, um, a bit
more context to this topic about the
harvest, I wanna also look at Jesus'
words when he is speaking about
the harvest in John chapter four.
And he's talking to his disciples
and he says this, he says, my food
said Jesus is to do the will of him
who sent me and to finish his work.
It.
Don't you have a saying?
It's still four months until harvest.
I tell you, open your eyes
and look at the fields.
They're ripe for harvest.
Open your eyes and
look, do you catch this?
The issue is not the harvest.
The issue is the workers.
The harvest is ripe.
It's ready.
Jesus is inviting his disciples to step
out of themselves and to look around.
Believe that a harvest is happening.
And what is needed are workers.
They're told then to pray.
It says, ask the Lord.
Ask the Lord of the harvest for workers.
I love that.
The Lord of the harvest.
There's an acknowledgement here.
Now, this is God's field.
It's his harvest.
It does not belong to you.
It does not belong to the enemy.
You are not in charge of the harvest.
This is God's work.
A person's salvation is not dependent upon
you, but rather the God of the harvest.
So we do, as Jesus says, uh, when he
says, ask the Lord of the harvest.
And pray to the Lord.
Jesus did not immediately
say, here's the harvest.
Go.
He said, here's the harvest.
Pray.
Here's the harvest.
Ask God, the harvest is here.
Ask the Lord of the harvest
to send out workers.
We start in that posture of dependence.
God, this is your harvest.
We pray for awareness.
And for faith, we pray for eyes to see and
faith to trust the Lord of the harvest.
But there's this scaffolding that
we see in Jesus's words here.
He has just told though, there's
a harvest and to pray for workers.
And then he immediately
says, go, I'm sending you.
It's you.
You're the answer.
What a privilege and joy that God
invites us to partner with him in
his harvest, in this kingdom work.
Ask God and then go, I'm sending
you out like lambs among wolves.
We are being sent out like lambs among
wolves and our in first inclination
is to see that and think, hmm.
I don't know.
Right.
Um, to see the fear and
the risk in that statement.
A lamb among wolves, yes, you
will encounter opposition.
Yes, there will be enemies,
but notice what he calls them.
Lambs.
John 1 29 says The next day,
John saw Jesus coming toward him,
John the Baptist, and said, look.
The Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world.
Jesus himself was described
as the Lamb of God, and so we
are sent out to be like Jesus.
This is why it matters that we understand
God's heart, that our hearts should be
to want to participate in this harvest
work, to have a willing heart, to
have a compassionate heart like Jesus.
There is a harvest always available and
Jesus sends us to where he is already
going, so we don't need to strategize.
Instead we say, God, here I am.
Send me believe that God will send
me, send you to the people who are
ripe and ready to receive, and you'll
have knowledge and wisdom to know
if that, if you're in that right
relationship or not in that moment.
We have no idea who is being prayed for
and who we are meant to be the answer to.
I think that's such an interesting thing
to think about, but we might get to be
the answer to another person's prayer he's
sending us and he is sending us to the
places that he's already going, and we
just get to be on each other's journey.
We're all part of this process.
We have no idea what
role we will get to play.
We have no idea what prayers have
been prayed before we ever step in.
We depend on God for all of that.
And while I was working on
this sermon, I thought about my
brother-in-law, uh, who I love so much.
He is such a solid guy.
I mean, he's just one of
the best humans I know.
Uh, he's a faithful follower of Jesus.
He's a wonderful husband and father.
Um, but he was not a
believer when I met him.
And I prayed often for him, and I
prayed for people to minister to him.
We didn't live in the same area.
And he eventually placed
his faith in Jesus.
And I'm so thankful that there
were others who walked alongside
him, who answered his questions and
encouraged him and prayed with him.
'cause it changed everything.
And I just think about that,
how there were workers sent.
We don't know what prayers
are being prayed, that we get
to participate in an answer.
And I believe that part of the joy
in making disciples is that we get
to help be the answers to prayer.
We don't know what we are stepping into,
but we depend upon the one who does.
So here's your call to action.
Very simply, pray first.
Pray for yourself.
Pray for eyes to see others
the way that Jesus sees them.
Pray for a heart of compassion.
And a heart of faith.
Pray to be a worker in the harvest
and then pray for people by name.
Uh, pray that they would experience
the richness of God's love.
Pray for you to show them God's love.
Pray for others to show them God's
love and trust those names to God.
Spend some time thinking about that today.
Who are the people that
you wanna pray by name for?
Third thing to pray.
Pray for opportunities.
Pray for new relationships.
If nobody comes to mind, pray
for names to come to mind.
Pray to meet people.
Pray for the fields that
you find yourself in.
Whether it's your kids' school
or your neighborhood, or
your workplace or the gym.
Uh, walk those spaces and pray
before you enter that space.
Pray.
Ask God to bless those spaces
to make them ripe for harvest.
God is already at work.
Um, there are not places that are a
wasteland to him, so ask God to invite you
into the work that he is already doing.
And the last thing I would encourage you
to do is share those prayers with others.
Invite other people to pray with you.
Let other people know
who you're praying for.
Be open with other people about it.
To be a disciple of Jesus means
that we join him in his mission.
We are called to help make disciples,
but you cannot be a disciple of
Jesus who never shares your faith.
We have misunderstood that the
people who share their faith are for
those with the gift of evangelism.
We are all called to the disciple
making life, but we are not called.
Or expect it to do on our, on our own.
It's not about a strategy,
it's about dependence.
So will you simply be open and willing