Elements City Church
The Sermon on the Mount is the most famous sermon Jesus ever preached. It derives its name from the place where Jesus preached it; a mountainside that acted as a natural amphitheater along the shores of Galilee. The Sermon on the Mount, preached to ordinary people, covers a wide range of topics like prayer, fasting, money, worry, forgiveness, anger, lust, judging others and more. But the theme that unites it all is Jesus explaining the heart of God behind his given law. It is one of the most challenging biblical texts to interpret properly because the Sermon goes far deeper than promoting external obedience to God’s moral imperatives or simple behavior modification. Every line of the Sermon on the Mount goes to the heart of discipleship. The Sermon on the Mount offers a clear understanding of what a blessed life that is pleasing to God looks like from the inside out. What Jesus taught often runs counter to mainstream thinking, but every lesson is brimming with heavenly wisdom and practical instruction that leads us into a flourishing life.
The Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7 — it’s here that King Jesus gives us a radical picture of what life in the Kingdom looks like. And It’s our hope that as we meditate on Jesus’ words that we might become people who more closely follow His Way and that we’ll experience a life that truly flourishes in the process…
The SOTM - declares that the pathway to human flourishing is best found in the following of the way of the person of Jesus.
Matthew 5:13-16
13 “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.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
“Theological Time-Out”
The gospel of Matthew was written for all people - but in particular the Jewish people to see Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. There are more references to the great book of Isaiah in this gospel account. Matthew is wanting his people to see the storyline of God and the completion of the covenant of God now anchored in Jesus…
Isaiah 42:6
“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.”
Matthew 5:14
14 “You are the light of the world.
Isaiah’s light for the nations becomes Matthew’s light of/for the world.
What follows in Isaiah 42 is an emphasis on God doing a NEW thing, the old passing away and a new era dawning (see verses 9-10)…
Taken together — the SALT AND LIGHT metaphors, with the flavors of Isaiah everywhere in Matthew, results in a clear and powerful statement about the eschatological new covenant coming in Jesus. This new covenant founded and anchored in Christ that he will not only announce, but he will be its arbitrator. He is now commissioning us to further herald it’s arrival… AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON THE WORLD
Jesus is the new great prophet and suffering servant spoken of in Isaiah, bringing light and grace to all the world. And by extension, then, Jesus’ disciples are likewise the heralds of this new message from God.
Matthew 5:13 and 14
13 “You are the salt of the earth.
14 “you are the light of the world.”
Distinction AND Influence
In both these metaphors of the salt and the light, Jesus teaches about the responsibility of Christians in a non-Christian or sub-Christian or post-Christian society.
Salt and light are not just a bit different from their environment.
They are to have a powerful influence on their environment.
the influence of prayer
James 5:16b
…The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
I believe that in our normal lives, we could take with increasing seriousness the seconds of intercession in which we can lift others up before God and ask him to intervene. Lifting up our city as we drive around…
I believe that we’re in a time of history where people are more open to the ‘help’ of prayer - praying over folks and seeking to speak life into people through valuing them enough to seek God’s help for them — and it forces me to circle back and check in, lean in on how I might be able to come alongside in other ways besides prayer.
Let’s practice prayer - intentionally, specifically…personally with someone.
GOAL: this week- be alert to 1 opt. and pray with 1 person this week! And then circle back and checkup/checkin — what if we just made this a weekly/ongoing practice…
Let’s be followers that harness the INFLUENCE OF PRAYER…and watch God work in the lives of our neighbors, friends, family, city and world…
the influence of our example
One Christian nurse in a hospital, one Christian teacher in a school, one Christian in a shop or in a factory or office.
Christians are marked people. The world is watching. And God's major way of changing the old society is to implant within it - his new society with its different values and different standards and different joys and different goals; so that, people see and are attracted.
v. 16 — And Jesus said, "They see your good works, and they give glory to your Father in heaven."
*never underestimate the power and influence of your life among the people around you as you live to follow Jesus and live with his kind of heart…living as an ‘active agent’ for Him and His good in your world!
the influence of a ‘godly group’
The church is meant to be an influence for God and His good in this world.
Quote:
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
“Christians become a light to the world to the degree that they stand out as different from the world.”
Jesus started with 12 and it changed the world...
QUOTE:
"We do not want a church that will move with the world.
We want a church that will move the world."
—G. K. Chesterton
Don’t underestimate the force 1 life lived for Jesus can leverage upon others, an organization, a city and the world…
Let’s reaffirm our confidence in the power of God, the influence of prayer and of our example and of a godly group living out the hope of Jesus…
Let's offer ourselves to him, as instruments in his hands, salt and light in our community - in our here and now moment of history!
Whether you joined us on-site or online, thanks for being with us tonight!
May you have a blessed week ahead friends.
Join us next week as we continue our new series in the Sermon on the Mount for the summer months. (read Matthew chapters 5-7)
Check out the Elements app for upcoming events, and we look forward to gathering again next weekend.