Image: “THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM“
WELCOME
Sunday, January 23, 2022
A Study in Matthew
Series: THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM
LIVE Message: Salt and Light
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16 ESV
Podcast: Living The Message ~ Episode 15
Pastor Philip Miller
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“This Is My Father’s World” late 1800’s by Maltbie D. Babcock
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LIVE 11:00 AM EST
Series: THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM
Message: Salt and Light
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16 ESV
Sunday, January 23, 2022
^Videos by Inspirational>1…
Message: Salt and Light
Sunday, January 23, 2022
A Study in Matthew ~ The Sermon on the Mount
Series: THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM
Message: Salt and Light
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16 ESV
Pastor Philip Miller
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16 ESV
Matthew 5 and Audio
Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Image; Sermon on the Mount” 1481-82 by Cosimo Rosselli
SERMON NOTES
Sunday, January 23, 2022
A Study in Matthew ~ The Sermon on the Mount
Series: THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM
LIVE Message: Salt and Light
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16 ESV
Pastor Philip Miller
“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” Some of you will recognize that line from the 2014 commencement address Admiral William McRaven gave at the University of Texas which went viral a few years back and was later made into a book. Admiral McRaven was reminding those graduates of the power of the little things: our choices, our habits, and our influence.
Every one of us is entrusted with a sphere of influence. And the choices we make, the habits we form, and the influence we wield help shape and mold our little corner of the world for better or worse. It’s the little things that end up changing our world.
Jesus makes much the same point in his Sermon on the Mount: “If you want to change the world, start off by being Salt and Light.”
In this sermon from Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus is teaching us how to change our world. To do that, we need to understand three things:
1) The Overlap of the Kingdoms
2) The Dynamics of Salt and Light
3) The Calling of Holy Presence
1) The Overlap of the Kingdom: Every moment of every day is an opportunity to be with Jesus and live in the reality and resources of the Kingdom of Heaven.
2) The Dynamics of Salt and Light: Salt is a preservative and a seasoning. Jesus is saying that his followers, when they live in the reality and resources of the Kingdom of Heaven, have a preservative influence on a decaying world around them. Light is a deterrent and a beacon. Jesus is saying that his followers, when they live in the reality and resources of the Kingdom of Heaven, are like light that drives the darkness away. So, Jesus is telling us that if you want to change the world, start off by being salt and light. But, in order to be both salt and light, we must avoid two errors: syncretism (when we try to fit in with the world) and separatism (when we try to hide from the world around us). The correct balance is to embrace holy presence.
3) The Calling of Holy Presence: Jesus calls us to be a people holy unto the Lord who are also fully present in this lost world. We are called to be fully engaged residents of the kingdom of earth, while maintaining a holy life of citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven. But living in this way requires tension. We all tend to lean either towards syncretism or separatism. As you consider which way you lean, ask yourself: Where is God calling me to radical holiness? Where is God calling me to radical presence?
Takeaway: “Go and be the Church!”
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Episode 15: Embracing Holy Presence
Podcast: “Living The Message”
Episode 15: Embracing Holy Presence
Pastor Philip and Pastor Eric
Podcast Updated Weekly
What is Jesus calling us to when He says to be salt and light?
In this episode, Pastors Philip and Eric discuss how everyone can fulfill the call of Jesus to change our world by focusing on the little things every day. The choices we make, the habits we form, and the influence we wield help shape and mold our corner of the world for better or worse.
Questions for Living the Message can be submitted to 312-682-1888 or by email to livingthemessage@moodychurch.org.
PASTOR TO PEOPLE
Our family has recently been enjoying The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis on audiobook. In the first book Lewis wrote, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the land of Narnia is trapped under the curse of a forever winter. As Mr. Tumnus the fawn puts it, “It is winter in Narnia, and has been for ever so long…always winter, but never Christmas.” Until Aslan comes, that is. Aslan the Lion is the Christ figure in the book, and his coming is the undoing of the eternal winter. As the old Narnian prophecy foretells,
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
In many ways, this is a beautiful picture, albeit fantastic, of what it means to live in the hope of the fullness of Jesus’ Upside-Down Kingdom. We live in a broken, fallen, sorrowful, and cursed world. It’s “always winter, but never Christmas.” And yet, if the gospel is true—and it is!—then Christ will return in glory and the world will be made new. Spring will come. Life will flourish. The creation will be green and bright and warm and whole again. The Kingdom of Heaven will come in fullness one day. And even now it is breaking in. As they say in Narnia: “Aslan is on the move!”
In Jesus Christ, the great thaw has begun. Winter has met its death. We shall have spring again! And it’s even now “at hand” in the person of Jesus. To live in the Upside-Down Kingdom is to live in winter, knowing that spring is already on its way. The winter will not last forever. The great undoing has begun. And the world will never be the same. Jesus is on the move!
For we are loved, more than we know!
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