Good morning church.
How's everyone doing?
Good.
Happy Sunday.
If we have not met yet, my name is Michael.
I'm on the team here at flipside.
I serve our kids and youth.
And it's actually.
I've been here a year in July, which has been pretty cool.
And so
the first event I went to was a food bank service day, which we are doing tomorrow.
And so crazy how time flies.
Already been a year.
But Pastor Carl is out of town.
He is visiting grandkids.
And so I said this the first year.
I'm going to say it every time I'm up here is just my little bit of immaturity.
Send him a text if you have his number right now.
I would love for him to get 30 texts this morning.
And so just to kind of bother him and annoy him,
but let him know you're thinking about him. You care for him?
This morning, though, we're going to take a brief pause
from our current series, and we're going to jump into the Gospel of Matthew.
So if you have your Bibles or your smartphones, open up to Matthew five,
Matthew chapter five, we're going to we're going to sit in this morning
the sermon on the Mount.
At least we're going to introduce it.
We're going to talk about three things.
The Beatitudes or these blessings that Jesus talks about.
And we're going to talk about salt, and we're going to talk about light.
And really,
what kind of prompted this doing this one off, although I hope it continues.
Right.
My challenge is that we don't just sit in this morning,
but you will continue in Matthew in the coming weeks.
Is the you and I my oldest?
We I usually put him to bed
and we'll do some kind of Debo will read from his Bible.
We'll open up one of the devotionals he has,
or we'll just read the verse today.
And a couple weeks ago.
And when Pascale hit me up about teaching,
every day was Matthew, it was Matthew, Matthew, Matthew, Matthew.
And so our high schoolers and I, we went through the sermon
on the Mount last fall, and we sat in it for three months.
It was awesome, right?
Just these red letter texts
that Jesus has words on, on what it means to follow him.
And I thought it was so impactful and such a challenge.
And so this morning, that's my my heart.
There are two things I hope we could walk away with.
The first is that we'd have a value of Scripture.
We have a heart for it.
And the second is that we would understand what it means to follow Jesus.
Right?
That Jesus is challenging us in this text and saying, hey, it's not a mystery.
And what I what I expect of you, what I, what I ask of you, it's right here.
Right.
And so we're going to say it in Matthew five this morning.
Eight Beatitudes and then salt and light.
But here's the question that has been thrown in my head.
Really for like 20 years.
And it's why I want to start this morning.
As I became a believer in high school.
But, you know, there's not a ton of depth there.
But but that's kind of when this faith journey started for me
and this question all the way again, is elementary.
It's kind of morphed and changed how I interact with it throughout the years.
And I'll put it on the screen for you to look at.
It's this. And what does it look like?
What does it feel like and what does it sound like to follow Jesus?
Again, kind of elementary, but I'm talking about like
all in chips in the middle, like win or bust.
Go home.
What does it look like? Or does it feel like?
And what does it sound like to follow Jesus with everything,
every single second of every single day?
There's a dependance on him for for the thoughts you have
and the actions you take. And just whatever you're doing in life.
And so blessings salt and light.
But kind of to
position us well or posture us well.
There's a couple of things I want to throw on the screen for you to think about.
So, Pastor Carl and I, we're processing this week is this idea
that Matthew five through seven there Kingdom values.
But you might hear that phrase a lot at Flipside Kingdom
that it doesn't mean to be a part of this kingdom
when we're in the world, but not of this world.
So five, six and seven are kingdom values, not cultural virtues, right?
What culture says on what the kingdom and the values are, and what
Scripture shares are very different.
And the sermon on the Mount is not about chasing blessings,
although that's where Jesus starts these beatitudes,
but becoming the kind of person that God blesses, right?
That we look more like Jesus every day.
And in that way we live a fulfilled life, not a perfect life or always happy life,
but a fulfilled life. I would say a blessed life.
But as we go through these eight, you're going to
you're going to realize that they're not what the world says.
It's not,
oh, you're so blessed with the house in the car and the kids
and the health and the vacations and the whatever.
Those things are amazing, right? They're such a blessing.
But Jesus is talking about
what it means to be blessed and live a blessed lifestyle.
And so that's we're going to talk about, this morning.
And before we do, though, again, I want to kind of set this up, God,
to be kind of stirring in my heart.
This idea about our primary call in life.
I think for a long time I've always struggled with what's my
what's God's will for me.
Right. We pray, father, your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth or in my life as it is in heaven, right?
And so I try to give my career to the Lord.
And I think I've stumbled a lot with
like, what is God's call for me professionally?
And that's when I'm living in God's will is when I'm in that role
or I have that status, or I have a check that box or achieve this
something in life.
And I realized that I was missing it, I think, the whole time,
and this is our primary call, this is the Lord's will for our lives.
It's it's our primary call for intimacy with the father,
a closeness to him and a dependance on him.
That's our primary call in life, not our ministry role, not the job that we have.
Although we may still be living in God's will for us professionally.
I hope you are.
But don't get stuck that when I get to that job or that promotion
or I can check that box, then I'm living in God's will.
Know.
Don't miss the life that's happening all along, right?
Living in God's will means a dependance on him and
and a knowledge that His Word is beneficial to you.
And I think one way in which we have that intimacy with God,
one way in which we we draw near, is through God's word.
Right? We need to know what God says.
We didn't know how he interact
with his creation, how he talked about us, how he views us.
We need to know God's voice.
My father in law, he's sitting in the back, right?
He used to ask a really funny question when we were in high school.
We had a Tuesday night Bible study
and he would he would ask, What's God's favorite flavor of ice cream?
It was a silly question, the dumb question.
But it gets to the heart of, do you know God's voice?
Do you know God's character?
Do you know him intimately enough where you would know his favorite flavor
of ice cream? Right? As silly as that is.
And that's the kind of intimacy we need with God.
A very close nearness where we can say, yeah, I know, I know what he likes.
I know how he speaks.
I know what he says.
I know his posture towards me, what he wants of me, what he does not want for me.
I know these things because I meditate on his word day and night.
And so that's my hope that we walk away this morning with a value of Scripture,
a view of Scripture that is beneficial to you.
And then also when it kind of looks like to live
this very challenging walk as a believer, because the sermon on
the Mount is not easy, it is challenging for sure.
So eight blessings, eight beatitudes here.
This is the sermon on the Mount is the longest recorded sermon that Jesus gave
it. And what I love is he's talking to his disciples, right?
But it's not just the disciples.
2000 years ago, anyone in the room?
This is Jesus, the Lord and Savior.
He is my Redeemer, right?
He has made me new.
You are his disciple.
And so in that way he is speaking directly to you.
I believe in Matthew five six and seven and I thought, we have to know this text.
We have to have to have to.
And if I can humbly say this right, and if I could speak for Jesus, it's
I think he's saying this.
You say, Michael, if you want to follow me, this is the standard.
This is the standard.
Matthew five, Matthew six, Matthew seven.
This is the standard for following me and living a fulfilled life.
Right?
Because if you just look at the just the tops of these text, right.
Salt and light talks about murder, adultery, divorce,
oaths, eye for an eye, loving your enemy, prayer, fasting, worrying.
Judging.
True and false prophets, true and false disciples.
He taught touches on the wise and the foolish builders.
He touches on everything that we're going to interact with in this world.
Right?
All the things we're going to rub up against, not the process.
As believers.
And so it is the standard at which you're called to live.
If you're a follower of Jesus right here.
So don't miss this text.
I think we should come back to this every single year at minimum annually,
every July. Just make it put on your calendar.
Sermon on the Mount.
Sermon on the Mount, sermon on the Mount.
Come back to it.
Because here's what Pastor God told me this week I've been processing it.
Is that the sermon on the Mount?
It's a radical redefinition of what it means to be blessed.
Right? Radical redefinition of what it means to be blessed.
Again, we think of like these external things
that we can acquire, and that's not a blessing.
Those are just fun parts of life.
Right?
But these these blessed statements, they're not positions we earn.
We don't earn them from God.
They're just postures that we embrace.
We try to live out every day and we're walking and doing and,
you know, taking on, you know, with joy the responsibilities God's given us.
And so eight, eight Beatitudes, eight characteristics.
It's a package deal, though.
You can't all look at this one three, five all or nothing.
Right. This is what it means to live a blessed life.
What it means to live a fulfilled life.
And so let's jump in.
The first one Jesus highlights is Matthew five three
says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I think Jesus starts here so wisely and intentionally.
Blessed are the poor in spirit I mean sync with me.
I think Jesus wants us to start with this.
This view and understanding of how desperately we need him.
There's a desperate dependance on Jesus because think for a second, right?
How how Jesus has made you new. He's transformed you.
He's changed your outlook on life and who you become.
And you just what you do in life.
Now remove that spirit.
We would be the poorest of the poor.
There is nothing good I can do in this world apart from Jesus
and the Holy Spirit working through me.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
If I would be fully empty and without hope, right?
And so in that it is blessed to acknowledge my huge and overwhelming
dependance and need for Jesus and need for the Holy Spirit.
And so we need to just say yes, it is a blessing to be poor in spirit
because I need to acknowledge and live in the reality
of how much I need Jesus every second of every day.
That we need to embrace the idea.
That's all you and none of me.
All the good I do is you and all the bad I do with me.
All the selfish I do is me. We are poor in spirit
and it just highlights this desperate need
for Jesus, this desperate need for the Holy Spirit, his guidance
and in his encouragement.
So I love that Jesus starts here.
So you hate me, me, me, me.
It's all about me.
You need me to live this life well,
second beatitude
again, these are blessings that are not always part of what we view.
But it says, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
We all mourn.
You may be even in a season of mourning.
Now mourning just angel transition or loss of a loved one or something
that is just different in life.
And what's interesting here, I think, is
it's how we respond when we're mourning, right?
As believers, we're called to mourn with hope, right?
Because we have salvation, we have eternity.
We have a future apart from this world.
And so we mourn with hope.
We certainly have to get the tears out. We have the process.
We don't want our mourning to Lord over us and control us in that way.
We have to give it to God
and allow him to transform whatever we're going through.
And I think as I process mourning really well biblically,
I think of of just believing two things.
First is that God is good because if he is good, then I can mourn with hope.
And the second is believing that God is always working right.
Scripture talks of the invisible hand of God where we see him working in real time.
We feel the spirit.
We feel God's encouragement.
We can see him bring people into our lives
and the church, the sermon, the teaching, whatever it is. Right?
But then we often look back,
right 2020 vision when we see like,
oh God, was just working things out the whole time.
But if you believe that he was working there
and we can look back and see, then he was working the whole time, we missed it.
And so we can believe that God is good always.
And if we can believe that he's always working things out,
then we can mourn with hope,
because there's never a season
or a second that God is not still working things out.
I heard one pastor say, God can take a crooked stick
and continue with his straight path, right?
Our sinful desires, our sinful world, he takes the brokenness, but his path
and what he wants is still going to be accomplished.
And so we can mourn with hope because God is good and he's working things out.
We can mourn with hope.
The third beatitude,
this blessing that Jesus highlights is is blessed are the meek.
Pascal.
I had a pretty good conversation about this one.
Blessed are the meek, for they won't hurt the earth, right? Meek.
Biblically it is strength under control,
strength under control.
And so we don't have to be weak.
It's not meek and weak, it's we have strength,
but we're going to be mindful of how we use that strength.
It's not wielding power against others,
although sometimes we might want to.
Right?
It's fun to have power, authority, and to be in control,
but it's strength under control.
So as believers, we should be strong.
We should be confident.
We shouldn't be shy or bashful or weak.
Not at all.
Like we have the the God of the universe who speaks.
And this whole thing gets going living in us.
We should be biblically strong.
Pastor Carl said, when the when culture crowns
the strong, Jesus blesses the surrendered.
So even though we have that strength,
we still surrendered to God's will in our lives.
And we surrender to Scripture and what it says of us.
I heard one pastor say,
if we have a complaint with Scripture, we have a frustration.
We don't agree with it.
Then change your mind right?
Change your mind because you're wrong.
And so biblically, we're
called to be meek, strong, but have self-control.
Our fourth blessing that Jesus shares is five six.
It says, blessed are the.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled
is an interesting question
I ask myself last couple of weeks is what do I hunger and thirst for?
What are you constantly craving in life, or pursuing or viewing or wanting
or just what are you?
What do you hunger and thirst for in this world? Right?
What has your attraction? What has your eye?
What has your your your gaze like?
What is it?
Not just bad things.
Good is what is it across the board, right.
The religious leaders, they back in Jesus's day, it was all me, me, me.
Look at me. I'm doing it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it.
Let us self righteousness, not righteousness.
But Jesus says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst,
and he is righteousness, right?
So those who hunger and thirst for Jesus have this unquenchable thirst for Jesus.
That's what what's what Jesus is saying here.
I think that we want more of us and less of me.
I want to hunger and thirst for you this unquenchable way
where I need to wake up and spend time with you.
I need to have lunch with and I need to go to bed and spend time with you.
I just I need to hunger and thirst for the God of the universe
who is good and always working things out
right.
Not a self righteous, but there's a righteousness.
We just seek and desire and demand more of Jesus and less of me.
Our fifth, fifth beatitude this morning is, five seven.
Blessed are those
who are, or blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
This one I think, is challenging as well, but I think it starts
with this acknowledgment and this reality of
of just a self-assessment of how much mercy I've been shown.
We know the depth of our sin.
We know the depth of our hurt and our frustration.
We know the depth of our wickedness at times.
And when we can sit and reflect and acknowledge how much mercy we've been shown,
right.
Even though it's difficult at times to to to give it out,
we can't not just extend that out,
right.
We don't get to receive mercy and then not, not give it out.
And so that's the challenge here
because we are always quick to receive and not always quick to give,
right? When it comes to mercy and grace
and forgiveness, it's just not always our default.
So we have to acknowledge how much mercy we've been shown,
and let that just be an important reality for you so that you can extend it out
to your wife, to your kids, to your your coworkers, your friend,
your family, your neighbors. Right?
Show that mercy.
Extend that mercy.
Right.
The sixth this morning beatitude is Matthew five eight.
It says, blessed are the pure in heart.
Blessed are the pure in heart.
For they will see God.
I don't know about you, but I want to see God.
A time
and in as we process Pharisees and this lack of internal
transformation, I think pure heart is all about the internal why do I do what I do?
Why do I say what I say?
Why do I think what I think, what I pursue, what I pursue,
like, is just getting down to this base level
of what is my motivation for all the things me.
And if it's not Jesus and it's not for others, and it needs some tweaking
and needs some adjusting, it needs, you know, a reconfiguration,
inward transformation.
I want to look more like Jesus and less like myself.
I have to believe and actually like walk confidently in this reality
that I am a new creation and you are all in Christ, a new creation.
Scripture says the old has gone, the new has come.
You're not even the same Michael anymore.
You're not the same person anymore.
And so live confidently in that reality
and have a pure heart, right?
And that's where it comes down to, I got to believe this,
and I'll be confident because I have to walk in purity.
The world's going to say, that would be fun and that would be cool.
And you might really enjoy that,
but it's not going to be a part of that fulfilled life.
That's a roadmap of what it means to experience a blessed life
according to the scriptures.
So pure in heart.
It's a challenge for us.
Our seventh beatitude, our blessing this morning is is five nine.
It says, blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
I want that title a Child of God.
Embrace that role in life.
And so I think the challenge here, right?
I was talking with John B, he helped serve our junior highers on Sunday morning.
He shared last week.
He can't wait to hear the words, well done, my good and faithful servant.
Right?
What an embrace to hear that from the God of the universe who can speak
and change and do insert himself in the humanity and died for us, like
to hear that from him.
There's nothing better you can experience.
And so we have to look to him and say he is the ultimate peacemaker.
He took the sting of death
and the sting of sin away by going to the cross and dying for us.
Jesus is the ultimate peacemaker.
And so I think he's challenging us then to be peace, peaceable people.
I mean, walk into our homes. Do we bring peace?
Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't.
Right.
And my sense of
peace this morning, a sense of peace with our junior high students, my kids
do I bring a sense of peace in the rooms that I'm in?
That's a really challenging question, because if not, why not?
What do we need to work on?
What do we need to submit?
What do we need to do differently,
or call to facilitate peace and be peacemakers in this world?
Again, in a world where we sometimes feel like you deserve
what you got, why you made your bed, we're still called
to forgive and extend mercy and grace and provide some level of peace.
It's grace and truth.
There's a there's there's a balance there.
And then the last one wouldn't we wouldn't call this a blessing.
But Jesus says, blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,
right?
Fortunately, we live in a country where we don't face a lot of persecution
for our faith. Right?
We might get like a comment or a side eye or something here and there, but
for the most part, we're not persecuted, and that's a blessing.
But Jesus is saying, if you are persecuted, it's a blessing.
And so I want more blessings.
So if I have to be persecuted, I mean, I want to stand on and be next
to that name of Jesus as much as I can,
because again, it's going to make me a better
me and I'm going to live a more fulfilled life.
So if it's persecution, it's persecution.
So maybe we should be ready for a little persecution in this life.
As much as we don't want to experience pain,
right?
Jesus name, blessed are you because of righteous, because of me.
Jesus saying because of mine.
If you are attached to my name and you are persecuted, that is a blessing.
Embrace it.
Give it to me.
And so as we think about blessings, as we think about persecution,
if you think about what it means to walk
this faith out this morning, I think I want,
I want to I don't think we're going to sit in this idea of salt and light,
salt and light.
And it's interesting that Jesus calls us salt and he calls us light.
We're going to read Matthew
five verses 13 through 16.
I'm on the screen for us.
But this is the only time that Jesus uses this metaphor to describe us.
He says, Michael or anyone else, you are the salt of the earth
and you're the light of the world.
And so here's what the text says.
It says
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.
Verse 14 says, you are the light of the world.
A town built 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.
16 wraps up in the same way.
Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your father in heaven.
Is. This is interesting.
I think our call as believers
is to influence and impact the world around us
in the name of Jesus. That's our call.
And I would even be bold enough to say that this is a mandate.
It's not an option.
He didn't say, Michael, will you think and pray about being light and being salt?
He didn't say that, right?
He said very specifically, you are salt, you are light.
So the really honest, sobering question this morning
is am I effective salt in my effective light.
Right. That's the challenging piece.
It's not a am I doing it? Am I not doing it?
Should I do it should I not? You already are salt.
You already are light.
It's are you effective in those phases?
Are you salty? Are you helpful?
I'm going to unpack salt and light.
But but it's it's a mandate.
But here's why. It's not burdensome. Right?
Jesus has people in Africa.
He has some people in Asia, some people in Europe.
Like he's saying, Michael, right here, where you live, where you sleep,
where you work, where you go to school, where you go to the gym, where you coach.
Whatever you do, be salt and be light.
So it's not a burden.
It's it's just a blessing and a responsibility
to walk in the ways of Jesus and to influence this world in his name.
Right?
To say yes to the call
and yes to step up to the plate and say, all right, Jesus up.
I'm good. Let's go.
I'm not embarrassed. I'm not scared.
I'm not.
I'm not burdened by this.
It's a responsibility.
So think this morning,
how can you impact the name of Jesus right here where you live?
What does that look like?
Tangibly feed it for you to.
What does that look like?
Like what are some action steps you can do? What can you what can you do?
Who can you bless? Who can you pray for? What can you?
What does that look like for you?
Right here in the Ranchos, wherever you wherever you live.
And so salt want to talk about salt for a second.
So back in Jesus's day, right?
Couple thousand years ago, salt was rare.
It was precious.
It was a commodity.
Soldiers, Roman soldiers were often at times paid with salt.
Right. So it had value.
So think about that now for you and your faith.
You're called to be rare, called be precious.
You're called to be a commodity.
You're called to add value to this world.
In Jesus's name.
Are you doing that?
Are you a rare, precious commodity that adds value to this world?
If you think about salt as well, salt it can.
It can preserve, right?
Are you preserving life?
Are you preserving life? Right?
In the name of Jesus, salt can also limit the decay that happens.
This world is decaying. It is. It is broken.
It is filled with sin and hurt and brokenness.
Are you slowing the decay in the name of Jesus
is a challenging idea, is to be salt and to be effective.
Salt.
Right.
Think about that.
You're grilling thrown steak on the grill or whatever, right?
You eat it without a flavored blend is still pretty good,
but you put a good salt blend.
It's very good. Right?
So you your call to add flavor or to enhance the world around you
in the name of Jesus.
Rare. Precious. Helpful.
Sacrifice.
Sacrificial. Slow the decay, add value.
Flavor.
Enhance in the name of Jesus.
But then Jesus also has a warning to us.
He says, but if salt loses its saltiness, it's
not good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Right?
So we're processing that a little bit this week.
And I was processing the idea
that I think salt loses its saltiness when it's diluted.
When we are a believer, we are walking with him.
But maybe we allow culture to influence us
to just as much as Scripture, just as much as Jesus, where
we're diluting ourselves.
We're watering down our morals, our values, who we are as believers.
This new creation might get called, pulled back.
That old creation right when we get watered down where the saltiness is gone.
So don't let culture and the world and the virtues and the values
influence who you are, right?
We're in the world, but not of the world.
That's the challenge for you and me.
If you want to be effective, salt is to not lose sight of
of of kind of our compass.
And who gives us what we need
the strength, the wisdom, the discernment as we live our lives.
So be salt that then Jesus says, what?
You're the light of the world.
Light is mentioned.
I did some research over 250 times in Scripture
Genesis let there be light, right?
First book of the Bible.
Revelation talks about God, how God gives light.
So kind of book in Scripture.
First on God's God is light.
It says Jesus.
In John it says, I am the light of the world.
I mean God in light, God and light. Right?
We need you to lean into that a little bit because what is light?
Do light exposes darkness?
A lot of darkness in our world, and we're called in Jesus name
to get rid of as much darkness as we can.
Right.
And that can be overwhelming and that can be difficult
and that can be messy.
But you are the light of the world.
So our call in life,
I'd also illuminate our path, our steps.
Scripture talks about this, right?
That we would not stumble and we would not lose focus.
We would not. We would not veer off left and right.
We would.
It would illuminate our path, but also the path of those around us.
Let it help those who are walking shoulder to shoulder with us, right?
Our spouse, our extended family, our friends, our neighbors, students,
whoever.
I love this idea.
To that light can't be hidden by darkness.
Light.
Darkness cannot overcome light.
It just can't. It physically can't.
I had a flashlight here, but you can't cover it with darkness.
So in that way we should be confident.
As believers, we're light of the world.
Then go into these dark spaces and live for Jesus and proclaim his name.
Because darkness cannot overcome
the light.
Pascale shared this cool quote, and if it is or we found it.
But this idea that light doesn't apologize for being bright,
light does not apologize for being bright.
So lean in and embrace this call
of being a light in this world.
So start where you sleep.
Sorry.
We go to school and where you work again.
I already asked that, already said this morning. But.
But how can you be salt and light in these places?
Just start here.
You know, I heard one friend
talking about man that, you know, you hear this conversation a lot.
There's so much darkness and evil in this world.
How can a good God be in control?
And, you know, you hear this, this rhetoric a lot.
And why is our brokenness and why is our pain
and why is there suffering? I think the reality is,
even as believers, we can fall into the trap of God.
Where are you at?
Look at what's happening. Where are you at?
And here's our challenge. Here's our posture.
It should be at least I think God saying, well, like I said, I'm sending you.
I given you my spirit. Go. Right.
Why are you asking me to do it? I already died for you.
I went to the cross. I answer to myself in humanity.
And then I'm giving you my spirit.
Go, go.
Alleviate the hurt, the pain, the suffering, the brokenness
you have my spirit, your soul and your light.
Go and do stop looking at me.
Right? All right. God is saying, go, go, go.
You have the power of of of the resurrection living in you.
You're meek.
Your strength with control.
You're a precious commodity.
Add value to this world in the name of Jesus.
And as I was processing this week, it was interesting
as we're leaning into who we are as believers and what we're supposed to do.
I think we also have to acknowledge
what we're in, what what's not true, right where Scripture speaks
that the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, guaranteeing
like the forever, the amazingness of of eternity with God.
But we can't stop there.
It can't only be a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.
The Holy Spirit is saying like, I want to use you here
and I want to use you now.
And here's kind of the reality I had this week
is that both salt and light, they don't go unnoticed.
You can taste it.
You can see the light. They don't go unnoticed.
And so as believers, we're not supposed to be silent.
I'm not supposed to be passive.
We're not supposed to be embarrassed for our faith or
or unsure of how to share it.
Let God go and speak and do.
A lot of the battle is just just the front and saying yes.
And then God working it out on the back end.
Believers who are salt and light, we and you have to engage the culture,
speak truth, share Jesus,
serve those around you well, right this grace and truth lifestyle.
Because here's the reality, right?
I think this is why I just use these metaphors, is that both salt and light
sustain life.
And I like asking a lot of questions when I teach.
And and so one that I just kept coming to my mind all week was,
am I sustaining life around me and start with my spouse.
Start with my kids, my neighbors, cousins, whoever
is like the close in laws, my mom, my brother, right?
How am I sustaining life around me?
How am I leading?
Because both salt and light result in change, right?
As we've talked about, darkness is gone.
Meat is flavored right?
So how are you changing
the environment around you?
How are you living for others?
How are you saying yes to what?
Are you saying yes to
when it comes to sacrificing for our Lord?
I mean, our charge is to not be apathetic in our faith.
Scripture says, don't lose your first love.
Don't live for yourself.
Five, six, and seven in Matthew.
It is a roadmap to a fulfilled life and it's right here in front of us.
It's not a mystery how are
supposed to live our lives.
Who can you share the gospel with this week?
Who can you pray for? Who can you serve?
Who can you forgive?
Who can you extend mercy to?
I think Paul,
as you know, right, God, use him in a mighty way.
Ton of the New Testament and just his testimony alone,
and how he lived for God in such a radical way.
I think he was he was on to something because Paul recognized
this reality that sin still lives in us.
There's this warning we still have a sin nature.
It's still there.
We also have the spirit. Right?
And so they're at war as they should be.
And so Paul recognizes that sin still dwells and where it lives.
Sometimes it bubbles up and it comes out.
And we live in a very selfish way.
And that's why
Paul, I think in his from his perspective, he's going to be salt and light.
He said, I got to die to self daily.
I have to die to self daily.
I have to crucify my flesh daily.
When he wakes up, it's
more of you, Jesus and less of me that we have to start there.
Otherwise we won't do it on our own accord,
our own strength, our own understanding.
We got to die daily.
Our prayer should be God, make me just as alive today as you made me yesterday.
Show me where I can be salt.
Show me where I can be light.
Show me where I can I can speak truth.
Where I can blot out the darkness.
So process that for your life.
What does
it mean to die daily to self for you?
It's going to be different for all of us.
We all have different,
different responsibilities, different, different burdens in life, if you will.
Different challenges from, you know, a junior high or a high school student
to grandparents and aunts and uncles or parents in the thick of it, like,
what does it mean to die daily for you?
And here's just where it really hits me, is
your kids need to see you being salt and light.
Your kids need to see that.
Your kids need to see parents sacrificing.
Your kids need to see aunts and uncles sacrificing.
Your kids need to see grandparents sacrificing.
And it's not always fair.
It's not always easy.
Needle on the cross right?
And so die to self.
Daily process what it means for more of Jesus and less of you.
I love what Psalm 1123 says.
It says this.
It says, blessed is the one
who does not walk in this in step with the wicked, or stand
in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditate on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water
which yielded fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever they do prospers.
We are called to meditate on God's Word day and night.
Know his voice, know the flavor of ice cream
that he likes to know how he views.
You know what he's done for you.
And know that
not only is God saying we should do it, but it will.
It will make you a better person.
It will make you more patient and more graceful than we understand him.
The more we realize the depths at which God has.
He went to save me.
He went to save you.
It just gives us this greater appreciation for God, his heart, his desires,
his motivation for, for, for seeking us,
for saving us, for pursuing us.
We are to meditate on God's Word.
We're going to die to self daily, because if we don't,
we're not going to be effective.
Saul. We're not going to be effective light.
Here's my hope for for my life, for my wife,
for my kids, for you and and your families is three things, right?
That you would have a heart for a God,
right?
And just like a God, what do you have for me?
A heart for who God is.
Two the you would have a submission to his word
and know that this is priority one
and three that you would blame blameless and testimony.
Right?
Because so often, I mean, you'd hate this to be the reality, right?
Where you're sharing the good news, sharing the gospel.
God's really working through someone's heart.
But then like, but Michael, you talk like that, or Michael,
you act like automatically you pursue those things, right?
You're not blameless in testimony.
You almost like getting in the way of the gospel.
And that's really challenging, right?
And how am I walking the walk?
How am I walking in purity
when friend want to go do this or they want to go indulge in that?
That's the challenge.
Heart for God, submission to His word and blameless in testimony.
And then I think just this umbrella over this whole conversation is
and have grace for yourself and seek
God's face when you do mess up and repent,
because you're going to mess up and you're going to need to repent.
That's a huge part of this.
I said my hopes were two, you'd value Scripture
and you'd know kind of the start of this roadmap for what it means
to live a fulfilled life, to walk in the ways of Jesus.
So my challenge to you is a couple things one.
Read chapter five this week
said in Matthew five.
The rest of this week process it a couple of times two.
Read chapter six next week and three read chapter seven the following week.
Just just sit in Matthew five, sit in Matthew six, sit in Matthew
seven and come back to this at minimum annually.
Every you like, put on your calendar.
I'm going to read the sermon on the Mount because here's the reality, right?
We Scripture says this that God's Word is good
in all situations, in all occasions, for teaching and rebuking and correcting.
And just because you've read it once doesn't
mean God's done using that in your life, right?
How many times we read something at 20 and it hits different at 25 or 28
or 30 or 35, because now you're not the same person you were.
You're married with kids as opposed to when you were a young man on your own.
And so come back to this every single July.
Make this a priority, this red letter text of what it means to live a fulfilled.
And I think blessed life
sound good.
Sweet. Here, I'm going to pray for us.
We're going to sing one more song together this morning.
Father, I thank you for your grace and your mercy and your love.
The truth of your word for Matthew chapter five.
For what it means to be blessed.
I am grateful that you pursue us and that you
forgive us.
I'm grateful that you challenge us to be salt and light.
Lord,
father, please convict our hearts
and show us the ways in which we can serve this world.
Show us the ways in which we can sacrifice for this world.
I pray for a deep conviction
that we die to self daily and that we live for you. Lord
God, I do pray for everyone in this room.
That and we could support each other well
and that we could
honor the commitment to sacrifice for each other
and to pick each other up, and to forgive each other
and to have grace and to serve this community well.
Lord,
please help us to take the steps we need to take
to live for you.
Got to be an effective, salt and effective light.
We thank you Jesus.
We pray this all in your name. Amen.