Salt, Light and the City

Pastor Benjamin

Serving the kingdom of God is by being the distinctive influence to the world

Matthew 5:13-16

From Being to Doing
From Character to Influence

Our Identity
- As the salt of the earth
- Salt is use as preserving agent

Our Purpose :
- To preserve the moral standard of our society
- To add flavor to our relationship with others
- To penetrate and influence our culture
- To influence others
- To replace evil with good
- To offer solution

Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy of the Holy Spirit

The salt that Jesus talked about is the stinging, biting, cleansing, preserving, is anything but dull, tame. To be the kind of salt Christ spoke about is to be on the cutting edge, in the fray, at the forefront of the battle....."
- Bob Briner -

What's the number one problem in the church?
"IRRELEVANCE" - E Stanley Jones -

- Having problems
- Evangelising
- Criticising

In-Carnational Ministry
- Word became flesh
- Spiritual became physical

Because God is incarnational towards us, he calls us to be incarnational to the world

How can we do that?
- BE IN TOUCH with our culture

Micah 6:8
He has shown you O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God

- BE A VOICE in the public arena

Proverbs 3:27
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act

- BE DIFFERENT
bring God into our relationships

Although our identity is fixed, the salt can be diluted, corrupted...
- don't be good for nothing christians

Our Identity
- As the light of the world

John 8:12
- We are a reflector of His light
- We are the testimony of what God has done in our lives

Our Purpose
- Be a testimony by living morally pure lives

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen : not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
- CS Lewis -

If you are not able to see, how can you lead the lost out?

Our Purpose
- Is to make it shine and not hidden

Our Condition
We are the light but are hidden?
- We can hide the light but we cannot hide our identity

You are on display, like it or not!
- Believers are often the subject of scrutiny

You do not have to be good enough to share your testimony. You are not the source, you are basically the reflector of Jesus light

Shame & Fear
- Hide the light
- Fear of Persecution

Philippians 2:15
So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation, then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
- Hold on to the word of God, hold on to our belief

Our Identity
- As a city set on a hill

God has called us to be in a church, we are a community
- God, Son and Holy Spirit is a community

John 13:34-34
- Missions communities, not lone christian

Our Purpose
- To do good works for God's glory
- Be involved in the community

Feel The Love

by Tommy Coomes

Worship works together with evangelism
- God inhibits the praises of His people

If you are not purposeful to reach out to those who don't know about Jesus, then you tend to just get isolated among yourselves. Just like churches tends to get isolated among themselves only because they are not reaching out to the community.

Matthew 11:28-30
Philippians 2:3-5
John 17:20-25

That people may believe "our" words not Jesus words...
- we should continue to reach out

Be the "host" for the holy spirit to do the works of God for His glory!

God's Dream for your life

by Dr Steve Lim

Genesis 37:2-8
Genesis 50:20
Acts 2:17-18

Do you have a dream for your life?
Does your dream give you lasting satisfaction?
Does your dream face roadblocks and you gave up halfway?
Regardless, God has a dream for your life. It gives you purposes and challenges.

When parents show one child a favouritism, makes the other unhappy.

Genesis 47:25
"you have saved our lives!"

God does not give selfish dreams. He gives us dreams that will enable us to fulfill the purposes of God in our lives. Even a humble dream can produce great fruits!

II. God gives us a dream
Acts 2:17
"Young men will see vision...."

III. God shapes out lives through opportunities & trials
# Shaped Practically
- development of administrative & leadership abilities
Genesis 39:4-6

# Shaped Personally
- sensitive & empathy
Genesis 40:6-7

Asian culture emphasize academic and professional success. Therefore, emotional and moral values are less emphasized

# Shaped Spiritually
- dependence on God
Genesis 41:16

Joseph waited 20 years to see his dreams come to pass. God will accomplish purposes through the dreams He gives us if we allow Him to.

Righteousness does not only mean pursue virtuous but also pursue justice

IV. God accomplishes His purposes through us
Genesis 50:20
2 Peter 3:9

Meaningful relationship is the key to reaching out people for Christ.

Gold Coins

by Pastor Calvin Lee

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.
May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.
Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.
LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!

Parable of the bags of gold = Parable of the talent

Matthew 25:14-30

We must understand the importance and value of investing our lives into the kingdom of God :

1. Perspective (Matthew 25:14)
# We need to understand the principle of ownership
- I am not my own, I was bought at a price
- God is the rightful owner of all that I have
- Job said "the Lord gave and the Lord took it away."

# Understand stewardship (Matthew 25:15, 16)
a. Allocation
b. Assignment
c. Accountability
- God will ask you what did you do with what you have. He will not ask you what did you do with what you don't have

2. Power (Matthew 25:16-18)
- God has given us power to give to Him or not, power to serve Him or not, power to live for Him or not etc.
# The choice is yours
# Consequences (Colossians 3:23-24)

1st lesson
Individual Responsiblity

2nd lesson
God deals Righteously

3rd lesson
Ability grows if Used

4th lesson
Blessings bring Responsibility

Let us finish well and strong for the Lord

3. Purpose (Matthew 25:23)
- While waiting for our Master to return, we are to serve out our purposes
# Be mindful of Earthly Kingdom
# Be mindful of Eternal Kingdom

Are Miracles for me?

by Lisa Laizure

If the REQUEST is Wrong, God says "No"
If the TIMING is Wrong, God says "Slow"
If YOU ARE Wrong, God says "Grow"
But if the REQUEST is Right, the TIMING is Right, and YOU are Right, God says "Go"!


If you do not want satan to fill your heart, take care that God fills it first.
Satan filled Ananias' heart because it was empty.
When the devil finds an empty brain he fills it with false ideas, wicked plans;
When he finds empty hands, he fills them with mischief;
When he finds an empty heart, he fills it with vanities, burning passions, vicious sympathies and delights.
If you wish to be saved from temptation's power, keep your heart full of the love of God,
your hands full of noble works, your mind full of high thought and desire.