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
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