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If you have your Bibles, we'll be in Matthew chapter five this morning.

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This is our second week of going through the Sermon on the Mount together.

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Last week, if you weren't here, we looked at the Beatitudes that Jesus shared and in

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those few verses, he described to us how we are to be happy.

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And it was completely opposite of what we think is going to make us happy.

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He never said that those who are happier, those who have a great family, those who are

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blessed or those that have a good job with steady benefits.

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This was Jesus telling His disciples in this moment that what they have seen so far looks

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like success in ministry.

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And he looked at these things and because of where they were and what was going on in

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this ministry, crowds were following him.

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In the previous chapter, it speaks of how he healed every disease and affliction.

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Matthew tells us that Jesus was famous.

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So Jesus pulls his disciples in and he says, what you have seen, what you have experienced,

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it might look like this is why I came, to draw crowds and to heal people, but I'm here

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to show you what it means to have happiness and joy.

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He says the reality is those who are pure in heart, those who are gentle, those who are

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persecuted for my names are the one who will experience a true state of blessedness.

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He was telling them it wasn't external things that are going to bring them joy, but it was

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an internal reality of how they were changed.

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So when I think about that and I think about my life and I think about our church, I want

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to challenge us all a little bit.

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Is success in ministry, how many people come?

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Is it how many events that we do?

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Is it because that people know who we are?

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I never want us to get to the point where we are content with drawing a crowd.

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Now people coming in and people visiting and people coming to our events is not a bad thing,

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but my question is what is the point if all we do is get people here, get people to come

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to our events and that's where our desire stops.

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Are we broken hearted when we come across somebody in our circle or somebody in our community

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and they come to one of our events but in the end they are rejecting Jesus?

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Paul wrote in Romans chapter 9.

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He says I speak the truth in Christ.

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I'm not lying.

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My conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit.

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I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for I could wish that I myself were

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cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people

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of Israel.

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And so I think some of us, I think we can feel that.

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If you don't, maybe it's because you don't know enough people or maybe you don't love

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enough people because when you get to know them and you begin to care for them, when

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you know that they reject Jesus it should make us sick.

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It should break our hearts.

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There's a story in Romans Revelation chapter 10 and in Revelation chapter 10 it speaks

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of the end times and there's this drama in the middle of that story of this unrolling

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of the scroll and breaking the seals and all those things, all those things we just sing

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about.

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It talks about how those things are going to happen and there's this scene in the middle

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of this story where the angel takes a scroll, he takes a little scroll and he hands it to

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John and he tells him to eat it.

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And at first the scroll tastes sweet but as it works its way through his digestive system

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and into his stomach it begins to make him sick.

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There is a sweet thought when it comes to thinking about Jesus returning.

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We'll raise our hands, we'll raise our heads, we'll welcome him, we're excited, we look

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forward to that day but at the same time there's also this bitterness that comes with all of

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that because of all those that have rejected him who didn't take him seriously, who are

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going to be punished eternally.

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So how do we as a church, how do we as Christians who are busy reach a culture where they're

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too busy for us and we are too busy for them?

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Well I think about Jesus.

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I mean think about his life, think about where he hung out.

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Jesus went to some pretty crazy parties where there's prostitutes and thieves, people are

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on him, are all drinking and getting crazy and whatever they did back then.

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And the church people, it was the religious people who were like why are you hanging out

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with them?

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Why are you going into those places and I love Jesus' response.

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He says because those are the people that need me.

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That's who I need.

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And so my question is are we doing that?

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Are we getting out there?

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Do your neighbors know who you are?

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Are you taking time to know people and love people?

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I mean the world thinks that Christians are just a bunch of people who just want to get

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them.

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Right?

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Want you to come to church, come to my Bible study, believe what we believe.

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That's what the world, how the world views Christians.

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We don't take time to get to know them or care for them.

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We just want them to come to our church so that we can get another notch in our spiritual

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belts.

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We don't really care for them.

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We just want them to be a part of our church.

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That's not how Jesus lived.

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Jesus by his lifestyle attracted a following.

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He lived a life amongst the culture that everyone wanted to follow him.

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He loved people.

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He gave to people.

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He healed people so they liked hanging around with him.

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But when he spoke his message, that's when the crowds scattered.

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Now as Christians we are really good at the second part.

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We're good at sharing the message.

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We're good at those kinds of things.

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But are you attracting people with your lifestyle?

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Jesus is going to tell us today what our lives should look like.

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We're going to invite Obi up here to read our passage this morning.

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He's going to read verses 13 through 16 of Matthew chapter 5.

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If you're able, we'd love for you to stand as we honor the Lord's word together.

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Tell you Obi.

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You are the salt of the earth.

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But if salt has lost its taste, how shall saltiness be restored?

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It is no longer good for anything except be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

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You are the light of the world.

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A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a

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basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

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In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works

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and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

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Amen.

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Let's pray.

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Amen.

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Father, thank you for Obi.

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Again, thank you for just what you're doing in his life and how he's leading and how he's

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growing.

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I pray that you continue to give him a strong desire to know you and your word.

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I pray, Father, that as we look at Jesus' words, that we will be convicted by them.

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I pray that you will speak through your texts.

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I pray that you will speak to our hearts.

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We ask all these things in your name.

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Amen.

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Thanks, bud.

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All right.

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So right out of the gate, we need to understand that as disciples of Jesus, which is if you've

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professed faith in him, you are his disciple, that we are the salt of the earth.

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Once Jesus saves us, we are salt.

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This is not a process of becoming salt.

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If you are a believer in Jesus right now, you are salt.

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And Jesus is telling those in his day, he's telling us today that as believers, we are

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salt whether we like it or not.

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It's not a matter of whether or not we are influencing others.

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That's not the question.

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But it's a matter of how are we influencing them?

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And as salt, we have an awesome opportunity to make an eternal impact in the lives of

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those around us.

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So there's a few things we need to be aware of.

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In order for us to have an impact on the world around us, the first thing is we need to be

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visible.

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That's pretty obvious.

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Our ministry is to a lost and dying world.

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We are to win lost souls and help them establish a relationship with Jesus.

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The only way that we can accomplish our mission is to be visible in our society.

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We don't do any good if we just stay locked up here in the church and this is the only

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time we talk about it.

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It's not going to have any impact.

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We cannot be isolated from the rest of the world.

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Do you know what never gets used in my house?

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These things that are out of sight, out of mind.

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I can't tell you how many times I've been doing a project at the house and it's been

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difficult and I thought I had a tool for it or I thought I had this for it but I can't

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find it.

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And so I hunkered through to get through the project.

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Guess what happens a few weeks later, a few months later?

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I find that thing I was looking for.

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It was hidden away somewhere.

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It didn't get used because it wasn't visible.

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And when I find those things that I've been looking for, I always say, man, that would

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have been nice to have.

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That would have made it a lot easier.

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We need to be visible.

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We also need to understand that as salt we are valuable.

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Now in today's society, we miss the impact of what Jesus was saying in this verse.

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However, those that lived in the ancient societies understood the value of salt far better than

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we.

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Romans believed, for instance, that there was nothing more as valuable as salt except

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for the sun.

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Many Roman soldiers received their pay in salt.

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Now I'm well aware, I was confirmed after first service.

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Some of you all are pulling out your phones and googling things and fact checking me like

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your Zuckerberg.

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I get it, whatever.

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I try to do my best to make sure I'm being truthful.

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And so somebody was fact checking me after first service and I was right.

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Thank you.

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But we both learned something new.

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We get our word salary from the word salt.

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How cool was that?

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So Roman soldiers were paid in salt.

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It's where the phrase comes from.

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That guy's not worth his salt.

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That's where that comes from.

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So those listening to Jesus may not have understood all that he was saying, but they knew that

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to be called the salt of the earth was to be something very special and valuable.

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We should know we are valuable because our salvation was costly.

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Jesus died for us.

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He laid down his life for us.

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He chose us.

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So not only are we valuable to the Lord, we're valuable to the world.

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I want you to think about this.

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How did you hear about the gospel?

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Where would your life be right now if somebody didn't share the hope that they found in Jesus?

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Your life has tremendous value because God will use your life to be a witness to the

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lost and dying world.

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He's going to use you.

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The salt is vital.

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Among its many uses, salt is essential to the health of both humans and animals.

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In ancient days, it's vital part of the economy in terms of sources of revenue.

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Our existence as believers and our influence as salt of the earth is vital to the preservation

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of our society.

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Right now, it is the existence of believers in this world that is staying the awful punishment

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of a holy and righteous God.

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That is who you are as the salt of the earth.

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You are here for a purpose.

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Your purpose is so much more than just going to work and earning a paycheck.

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Your purpose is so much more than driving your kids from activity to activity.

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God has placed you on this earth in this time in human history.

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You live in the neighborhood in which you live.

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You work at the job in which you work.

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He saved you when he did so that he could use you for his kingdom purposes.

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There are no accidents when it comes to your life.

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Because of that, we have some responsibilities.

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This is salt has different jobs to do so do we as disciples of Jesus.

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The first responsibility we have is to be pure.

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Salt symbolizes purity.

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Now there's so many verses in the Word of God that tell us that as his followers, we

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are to be pure.

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Second Corinthians chapter seven reads that we are to pure ourselves from everything that

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contaminates our spirit.

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God tells Timothy to keep himself pure.

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A few years ago, my wife, Sina, tried to kill me.

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It's a true story.

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She's going to deny it but it's true.

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She had cooked this batch of sweet potatoes.

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Now I like sweet potatoes as much as the next guy so that wasn't the issue.

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The issue was that once she cooked the sweet potatoes, she left them on the stove overnight

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and then served them to me like that's a normal thing to do.

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Like nothing had happened.

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Well, let me tell you, something happened.

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I've never been so sick a day in my life.

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As they sat on the stove that night, after they had been cooked, they became a breeding

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ground for all kinds of bacteria that has made me unable to look at a sweet potato the

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same way again.

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Now as believers, when we fail to remain pure, we cease to be what God created us to be.

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We need to not give the enemy opportunity, avaricunity to make the world sick when we

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are around.

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We need to be careful with what we watch.

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We need to be careful with what we listen to, with what we say.

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We need to be careful with how we spend our time so that we can be used appropriately.

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We are also called to preserve.

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Now to the people of Jesus' day, salt was a preservative vital to their way of life.

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The only way the fishermen could safely get their fish to the market in good condition

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was to salt it and pack it in different layers of salt.

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It kept the fish fresh.

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It kept it edible.

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You are the salt of the earth.

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It implies that there's a rottenness going on on the earth.

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It implies a tendency of pollution and to become foul and offensive.

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The world's tendency is to do evil.

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It's like meat.

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It has a tendency to putrify and become defiled.

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Ever since man was in the garden, the world has become more and more corrupt.

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It is the purpose of believers to be a preserving influence to stop the moral and spiritual decay

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in the world.

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Now I've worked at a lot of different places.

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I've had many jobs throughout my life, but it always seems like the people that are there,

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they all have the same characteristics for the most part.

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Maybe some of you will relate to this.

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It's hard to work around a big group of men, a large group of men in the workplace and not

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hear them constantly complaining about their wife.

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She does this wrong and she tried to kill me with sweet potatoes and she nags me all

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the time and she doesn't like whatever it was.

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Men are always complaining about their wives and then they feed off one another.

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Now I don't think that's what they hoped for when they got married.

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I don't think that as she was walking down the aisle, she was sitting there thinking,

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man, I can't wait to marry this girl and then complain about her the rest of my life.

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I can't wait to be miserable all the days of my life.

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No, no, they started off with good intentions.

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They were in love, they liked each other, all those things, but because the enemy loves

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to see the breakdown of the family unit, he makes sure to drive them to misery.

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So one of the ways I felt the Lord calling me to preserve my culture, my small little

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culture of my workplace was to commit to never talking bad about my wife.

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Even when I was a senator, even when she tried to kill me the day before.

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I would make sure that everyone around me knew how awesome she was, how much I love

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having a partner to do life with, how I'm so much more thankful for her today than I

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was when I married her.

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Just little things like it changed my workplace.

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The complaint slowly stopped and believe it or not, I started hearing positive things

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and that started feeding one another.

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We're called to preserve.

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We're also called to irritate.

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We're called to irritate.

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Salt can have a stinging quality.

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Now in our own unique way, as believers, as followers of Jesus, we are to be somewhat

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irritating to the world.

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Just as salt and a wound stings, but believers are to prick the conscience of the world and

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to be an irritant to ungodly behavior.

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Salt can heal wounds.

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It's painful for a moment, but it's great at preventing infection.

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It kills bacterial cells by pulling them out and dehydrating them where they eventually

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die.

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Sometimes we need to be that irritant that reminds people that their lifestyle and the

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words are dishonoring to God.

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We should take pride when people apologize for their behavior around us.

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You ever been there?

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Oh, I'm sorry.

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I didn't mean to say that.

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We don't take pride in it because we're better than them.

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We don't take pride in it because we're happy that they feel bad.

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We take pride because it's a reminder where our lifestyle is reminding them that God has

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a higher standard for their life.

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Everybody is salt, we are to penetrate.

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Now once salt has been applied to food, it penetrates the food and it changes the way

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it is.

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If you have enough salt on it, it will make you thirsty.

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The apostles penetrated the society in which they live to such a high degree that Acts

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chapter 17 says they turned the world upside down.

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If a Christian, if as a Christian, you are not making the world around you a better place

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by your presence, we are not fulfilling our function as salt.

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Once salt penetrates a food, it will cause thirst.

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As we penetrate the world around us, our hope should be that our lives, our actions, our

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efforts, everything about us would create a thirst for God.

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If we were to stop and I were to ask you, what about your life would cause someone to

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pursue God?

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What would it be?

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Is it the way you interact with your spouse?

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Is it the way you handle your money?

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Is it how you have peace in difficult situations?

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Is it how you are running away from sin?

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Have you allowed the word of God?

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Have you allowed the presence of God to penetrate you enough to the point where you are equipped

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to turn the world upside down?

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Peter has a great word of encouragement for us in 1 Peter chapter 2.

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He says, live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong,

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they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

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Live your lives in such a way, even though they might be mocking you, even though they

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might disagree with you, live your life in such a way they give God praise.

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Now, in Israel, there is this body of water called the Dead Sea.

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I'm sure you've heard about it.

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If you ever get a chance to go to Israel, I'd really encourage you to go visit the Dead

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Sea because it's a pretty remarkable place.

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The water is so salty that it makes the water so dense that you can't sink down into it.

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You just kind of float on top of it.

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You're just kind of floating on the water there in the Middle East.

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Because of the amount of salt that's in the Dead Sea, sea life cannot be sustained.

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Everything's dead.

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Now, the Dead Sea is fed by the Jordan River.

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So the Dead Sea has fresh water flowing into it, but the problem is the Dead Sea has no

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outlet.

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And so all that flows into it dies because once it gets to the sea, the fresh water evaporates

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and only the minerals are left behind.

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That's why it's dead.

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If it had an outlet, life would be able to be sustained in it and we would no longer call

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it the Dead Sea.

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So it is with us.

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We have an inlet of fresh water when we come to church, when we read our Bible, when we

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have a relationship with the Lord.

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But if all we have is an inlet, we might be salt, but there isn't any life.

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The fresh water that comes into our life needs to flow through us and out into the world

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around us.

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There are too many Dead Sea Christians walking around this earth.

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There are too many Dead Sea churches right now.

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We're all full of salt, but because we only have an inlet and not an outlet, people don't

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look to us as the carriers of living water.

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We're just, we're just said they just, they just see us.

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They see different aspects of us and they just see dead religion.

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We need to be better at not letting all the minerals that flow into our life through the

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Word of God, through prayer, through worship, through our relationship and just letting all

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those minerals just terminate on us.

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We need to stop being Dead Sea Christians.

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Jesus says not only are we salt, but we're also light.

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Whether you like it or not, you are light and we are light for a purpose.

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Now we know from the scriptures that there's different types of light.

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The first light being we are a guiding light.

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Luke writes in Acts chapter 13, says in Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly saying, it was

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necessary that the Word of God be spoken first to you, since you thrust it aside and judge

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yourselves unworthy of eternal life.

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Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

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For so the Lord has commanded us saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that

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you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

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Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2, says do all things without grumbling or disputing,

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that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked

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and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the

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Word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain

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or labor in vain.

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As light in the world, we are to lead others to the light of God.

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How will they know if nobody preaches to them?

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How will they know if nobody tells them?

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How will they know?

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We are to be the light that illuminates the path to abundant life, that's our responsibility.

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We are able to do that because God has filled us with His Holy Spirit to speak into a dark

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and destructive world.

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Tell your story.

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Tell somebody your story about how God brought light into your life.

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We're also to be a correcting light.

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In Ephesians chapter 5 Paul writes, but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes

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visible.

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For anything that becomes visible is light.

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The light of Christ made it uncomfortable for those around Him because it exposed the

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sinfulness of their deeds.

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But by the same token our lives ought to have the same effect upon those around us who choose

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to continue to live and sin.

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Our righteous deeds ought to be a rebuke to the unrighteousness of others.

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How we love our kids, how we take a stand against the evil that we see around us, how

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we worship God in this place is showing others something.

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00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:04,440
It's showing them something.

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00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:09,800
Are we showing them the correct way to do things or are we just doing our best to fit

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into the crowd and what we think is easier?

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We're exposing them to something.

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What are you exposing them to?

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Finally, we are to be a reflecting light.

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00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:29,920
Now, when Sinai and I were in our 20s, which seems a long time ago, we liked to vacation

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00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,760
like we were retired.

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00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:38,960
We didn't know it at the time, but we decided to fly up to New England.

401
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:43,720
We stayed at air, not airbnbs, but bed and breakfast.

402
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:48,720
We drove around to see the colors of the trees and things like that.

403
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,760
We didn't realize when we booked the trip, but we soon realized that we were the youngest

404
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:56,080
people there by a good 25 years or so.

405
00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:57,080
We didn't mind it.

406
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:58,080
We had a good time.

407
00:27:58,080 --> 00:27:59,080
We enjoyed it.

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00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:03,960
Now, as you've never been to New England, apparently there is a task that you have to

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00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:09,160
do when you go there or the whole trip is a waste.

410
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,880
We had to go and look at lighthouses.

411
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If you go to New England and don't look at lighthouses, you wasted your time.

412
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,240
This is what I learned when I got there.

413
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:21,640
Why do you have to go look at lighthouses?

414
00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:25,400
I don't know, but we did.

415
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:30,680
We have many pictures of us standing in front of lighthouses.

416
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,080
We didn't go into them.

417
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:33,640
We know nothing about them.

418
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,640
We would stand and get our picture taken in front of these lighthouses and we'd go from

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00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,360
lighthouse to lighthouse and be like, oh, that's a good one.

420
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:41,360
We didn't know.

421
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,400
We didn't know.

422
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:45,120
We didn't know what we were talking about.

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00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:50,280
My life did not change at all except for the fact that I can now stand before you and say,

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00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:51,360
I have seen a lighthouse.

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00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:55,200
It's the only thing that changed.

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00:28:55,200 --> 00:29:00,320
Doesn't mean anything else, but you ask a captain of a boat in the middle of a storm

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00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:05,880
how important those lighthouses are and they will tell you how vital they are to their

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00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:07,920
survival.

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00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,840
They don't need the lighthouse when the sun's up and everything's going well.

430
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,120
They don't need the lighthouse when the sea is calm.

431
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,600
They need them in their moments of desperation.

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00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:24,920
Those you interact with every single day might not ever let you know that you were needed,

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00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:30,440
but in their moments of desperation, they are going to be looking for a light.

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00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,000
They are going to be looking for a direction in which they should go.

435
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:37,800
Do they know that they should be looking to you?

436
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,560
Do they know that they should be looking at you?

437
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:50,760
When the storms of life come into their life, have they seen enough evidence in you that

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00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:55,680
you are a lighthouse, that you will help lead them to safe shores?

439
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,840
Are you a reflecting light?

440
00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:05,840
We cannot be effective in reaching the lost if our light is not shining where they can

441
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,560
see it.

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00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:16,120
The candle on the candlestick represents the believer.

443
00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:20,280
It represents the believer letting his or her light shine through the ministry of a

444
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:27,200
local church, through the ministry of their family, through the ministry at a workplace.

445
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:28,920
And they can have some impact.

446
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:34,400
So I brought some things to kind of show you these different things.

447
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,960
We all have one of these, at least one probably in our house.

448
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:44,080
We probably have 25, never confined them when we need them, out of sight, out of mind.

449
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:51,040
But that's about the brightness of a candle, right?

450
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:55,280
And I tried this the other day and I can't get this room dark enough.

451
00:30:55,280 --> 00:31:01,840
But I want you to imagine, I want you to imagine we have an obstacle course here and it's my

452
00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:07,960
responsibility as a believer to get you through it without stubbing your toe, without you

453
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,720
falling down, without you getting hurt.

454
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,240
But all I have is this light.

455
00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,240
So I had to stick really, really close to you and illuminate as much as I can so you

456
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:18,920
can get the best picture you can.

457
00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,000
And I'm shining my light to lead you to abundant life.

458
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,360
And I might have to get on the ground with you and do all that.

459
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:26,840
I think we could do it together.

460
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:28,840
It might be a little difficult.

461
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,160
It might take a little more time, but I think we could do it together.

462
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,560
But what if as believers we all put our lights together?

463
00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:40,400
Well, then we have a better opportunity of not getting hurt, don't we?

464
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:44,840
And so we get these little floodlight type things and as we form together, we're not

465
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:50,960
just one light, we're many lights, some million candles, some 300 candle, whatever.

466
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:57,240
But it'd be a lot easier to shine and lead you through an obstacle course with this light,

467
00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:58,240
wouldn't it?

468
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,080
It's a lot brighter to do it together.

469
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:02,440
No guarantees we won't stub a toe.

470
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:07,200
I still stub my toe in my well-living room.

471
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,720
On the table that's been there for years, I still stub my toe on those stands.

472
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,840
We're not guaranteed we'll never be hurt, but it'd be a lot easier to make it through

473
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:18,520
life when we're working together and our lights are shining together, wouldn't it?

474
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,560
Jesus says we are the light of the world.

475
00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:24,160
Like it or not, you are the light of the world.

476
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:29,600
Now my family has done a lot of road trips.

477
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:33,440
The last couple years they mainly consisted of just driving back and forth to Texas, which

478
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:37,000
is about 1100 miles back to where we come from.

479
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,320
But we've been able to travel all over the country.

480
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:40,840
We've seen some really awesome things.

481
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:46,840
And as you do road trips more often, you quickly learn certain things and you quickly learn

482
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,240
the look of certain gas stations.

483
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:50,280
Like I'm not going to stop there because I'm going to get robbed.

484
00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,000
I'm going to go to this other one.

485
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,440
You just kind of learn those things.

486
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:57,000
Sometimes the hard way, but we learn those things.

487
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:02,840
And so one of our favorite gas stations, our only favorite gas station is Buckeys.

488
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:07,960
If we are within 100 miles of a Buckeys, we will pass every other gas station before we

489
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:15,120
will pull into that thing on fumes if we need to, but we're going to stop at Buckeys.

490
00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:19,840
They have the best bathrooms.

491
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:22,480
They have the best snacks.

492
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:28,640
You can do all of your Christmas shopping if you decided to do that at Buckeys.

493
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:34,320
When we were moving up here, we mentioned that we had stopped at Buckeys and they'd

494
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,080
never heard of Buckeys, so we told them a little bit about Buckeys.

495
00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:41,000
And some of you who are in this church, I'm not going to call you by name, but some of

496
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:45,840
you in this church said, oh, we have Casies.

497
00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:46,840
No.

498
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:47,840
No.

499
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:53,640
It's not the same thing.

500
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,640
Not all gas stations are created equal.

501
00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,640
I'll never forget that.

502
00:33:58,640 --> 00:33:59,640
Explain Buckeys.

503
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:00,640
Oh, well, we have Casies.

504
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:01,640
No.

505
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:02,640
Yeah.

506
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:08,160
Here's the thing about Buckeys.

507
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:13,840
They've created a destination experience for the road tripper.

508
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:18,200
As far as I know, and I'm not the most intelligent person in the room, but as far as I know,

509
00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:21,880
they have the same gas as every other gas station that we passed on the way to get to

510
00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:22,880
that one.

511
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,640
But my family wants to go to Buckeys.

512
00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:30,320
We could have stopped at the Chevron that's right around the corner from there, but we

513
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,760
are going to get to Buckeys.

514
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:38,200
That gas that's at Chevron could have gotten us to our next destination just fine.

515
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:39,960
I wouldn't have worried about that.

516
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:45,240
I would have filled up my tank and got us to where we needed to go, but we're going

517
00:34:45,240 --> 00:34:49,680
to stop at Buckeys.

518
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:54,200
Church is a lot like a gas station.

519
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:58,640
We come in and we get filled up and we go about our week.

520
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:04,240
And hopefully by next week, you are so drained and running on empty that you need to be filled

521
00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:06,520
again.

522
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:11,400
Now the reason you come to this church is going to be different for all of us, but we

523
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:16,080
should strive to be the Buckeys of churches.

524
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:21,440
Not because we are the biggest, not because we have donuts, and not because we have the

525
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:26,680
best facilities, because people know when they get here.

526
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:31,400
This is not only a place to be filled up, but it's a place where they can experience

527
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:32,400
life.

528
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,720
It's a place where we can worship the Lord in spirit and truth.

529
00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:39,720
It's a place where we care for the orphan and widow.

530
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:42,600
It's a place where people can experience healing.

531
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:47,280
It's a place where there's acceptance and grace.

532
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:54,520
We should be a destination to the lost world because our light is shining so brightly.

533
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:59,600
And so people feel drained and empty and they come here and because the spirit of God dwells

534
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:04,480
here and because our people are filled with the light of who God is, they walk out of

535
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:06,640
here changed.

536
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:08,680
That should be our goal.

537
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:15,400
And as we send you out for the week, and as you pour out your life and you shine your

538
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:20,840
light and your salt, my hope is that you'll be so drained and poured out that you've got

539
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:23,440
to come and get filled up again.

540
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:26,880
And then we're going to send you out again.

541
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:30,320
And so this passage is very familiar.

542
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,040
We know where's the salt of the earth?

543
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:41,120
So we're the light of the world.

544
00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:45,120
My question is, are you a dead sea Christian?

545
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:54,600
Do you just come and get poured into, get poured into, get poured into.

546
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:58,200
Go to Bible study, the Bible study.

547
00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:02,360
Come and worship and hear the word of God.

548
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:04,960
Wake up every morning and read your Bible.

549
00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:07,240
Seek after Him.

550
00:37:07,240 --> 00:37:09,200
Live your life right.

551
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:15,240
And all those nutrients are just terminating on yourself.

552
00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:21,920
If that's you, you need to plead with God that He digs you.

553
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:31,200
He digs out of your life a trench where the good war continues to flow to others.

554
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,840
Do you think of your life as light?

555
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:37,840
You're reflecting something.

556
00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:39,000
Jesus didn't give you.

557
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:40,640
You could be the light.

558
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:42,440
Somebody says, you're the light.

559
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:43,880
You're going to reflect something.

560
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:44,960
What are you reflecting?

561
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:46,960
What are you shining the light on?

562
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,960
Are you taking your sin seriously?

563
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:54,960
Are you correcting?

564
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:56,960
Are you guiding?

565
00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,960
Are you reflecting?

566
00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:07,360
When people look at your lives and how you live your life, what are they seeing?

567
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,960
They see somebody that is hypocritical.

568
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:14,760
We're all guilty of that, been there, do that, all those things.

569
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,360
But we shouldn't be content with that, should we?

570
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:24,880
And so I'm going to pray for us and I worship that He's going to lead us in another song.

571
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:29,400
My prayer is that whatever the Lord is telling you, however He's asking you to respond, however

572
00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:37,960
He's leading you to respond, that you'll just be obedient.

573
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:38,960
You'll be obedient.

574
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:39,960
You'll repent.

575
00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:43,280
You'll lay things before Him.

576
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:45,200
You'll trust Him.

577
00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:47,400
You'll call upon His name.

578
00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:50,320
People will realize that, hey, maybe I am a dead sea Christian.

579
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,920
I've consumed a lot of information over my life.

580
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:58,480
I can go back and forth with any one of you theologically for hours if you wanted to,

581
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:03,800
but that doesn't bring any, that doesn't change any lives, doesn't, if my life doesn't

582
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:07,200
reflect it.

583
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:14,440
So the challenge today is for you to understand your salt, your light, deal with it.

584
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,000
But how are you being used?

585
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:20,280
That's what we can have a voice in, right?

586
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:26,840
And so just as we pray, as we sing, just ask the Lord, what do you want?

587
00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:30,200
How can my life best reflect you?

588
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:32,760
How can my life penetrate the world around me?

589
00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:34,760
God lead me as I walk into my workplace.

590
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:36,720
How can I help preserve that?

591
00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:39,000
God, I'm not walking in purity right now.

592
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,000
I have an addiction to pornography.

593
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:43,160
I have an addiction to this.

594
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:45,560
God, how do I purify myself in that?

595
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:50,480
He will lead you.

596
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:54,240
So you are salt, you are light, like it or not.

597
00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:57,000
But let's do our best to honor the Lord and how we live.

598
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:58,000
Let's pray.

599
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:04,880
Father, I pray that as we close out our service, as we close out this weekend, God, I pray

600
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:08,800
that we will not be a dead sea church.

601
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:15,920
I pray that your spirit continues to fill this place just as it hovered over the waters,

602
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:17,320
just as we sang about earlier.

603
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:23,160
God, I pray that you will fill each and every one of us.

604
00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:26,760
I pray that you will bring conviction to our hearts when we have failed you.

605
00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:34,760
I pray, Father, that you give us the courage to repent and change and run away from sin.

606
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:40,720
We cannot do anything without your spirit guiding us.

607
00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:47,920
So I ask you to move and ask you to speak, ask you to heal, ask you to save.

608
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:52,560
There's nothing that I can do except stand up here and ask you to do these things.

609
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:59,000
So Father, we ask you to work in our lives, work in this place, help us walk in obedience.

610
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,000
We ask all of these things in Jesus' name.

611
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:05,000
Amen.