Seek Change

Introduction

It’s the last session of camp!

Who’s the best team etc.

How many people have seen God move at this camp?

Pray

The end of the beatitudes

You know we’ve been seeing a lot of the beatitudes in this camp actually - have you noticed? Nick used one yesterday, Yewon and the team actually have a full song on the beatitudes, and this morning I felt prompted to use one as well.

I think it’s great, the beatitudes are everything that we are meant to be, they are beautiful attitudes that the Christian is meant to hold. It’s great stuff.

But not many people know how the beatitudes END. We kind of just memorise the beatitudes and that’s it. But do you know the passage that comes right after the beatitudes? It’s a very common passage - I’m sure you’ve heard of it.

Matthew 5:13–16 “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.”

See the beatitudes are all well and good - but what Jesus is saying in this passage is really, what’s the point of seeking change on the inside, if it doesn’t effect change on the outside?

What’s the point of transforming your life - if there is no transformation of the lives around you?

You have been CHANGED to CHANGE, you have been FREED to FREE, you have been DELIVERED to DELIVER. You have been made different to make a difference.

In fact even the last beatitude - blessed are those who are persecuted - gives a glimpse into what happens when we properly live out the beatitudes properly.

Note that Jesus isn’t saying go out of your way to get persecuted - but simply that persecution comes from simply BEING a Christian.

And I think that it begs an important question: Do we have a faith that is worth persecuting?

Do we have a faith that captures the attention of the enemy because of how much transformation we’re bringing, how much light we’re shining?

Or do our friends not even know that we’re Christian because we’re so hidden and timid in our faith?

Salt and Light

You know this passage talks about salt and light. And those two elements have been picked intentionally.

Salt is a preservative (the enemy of decay). Salt to society means that It keeps and enhances what is good in society, it opposes what is corrupt. Without its preservative or flavour adding function - it is LITERALLY useless.

Light is directional - we are light to the world so people may know the PATH to walk. Light can’t be concealed or it becomes pointless - because it is in the nature of light to shine.

ILLUSTRATION: Where is the church

The famous theologian John Stott put it this way:

I know something about the growing dishonesty, corruption, immorality, violence, pornography, the diminishing respect for human life, and the increase in abortion in the world.

Whose fault is it? Let me put it like this: if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, "Where is the light?"

If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, "Where is the preservative?"

If society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is "Where is the church?"

YOU are the church - YOU are called to STAND OUT. YOU are called to preserve what is good, YOU are called to stand against corruption and evil in this world.

YOU have been called to change your school - to bring Christ INTO your schools

Some of you come from non-Christian families, YOU have been called to bring Christ back into your homes

YOU have been called to bring the love and light of Christ into your group of friends

We don’t want a church that will move WITH the world. We want a church that will MOVE the world.

Power to Witness

Many people here received the blessing of the Holy Spirit last night - do you know why you receive the Holy Spirit? Because it actually tells us why you received it in the word

Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

The Holy Spirit is with us to help us WITNESS

This has been a good camp - we had a really good time here, we saw God move, we saw the Holy Spirit fill people, we saw people getting set free, delivered, healed, forgiven. But you know what? This camp can still be a failure - if you walk out of here and don’t change the world around you.

The state of the church

Can I challenge us on something? My heart breaks when the church is only known as a place of judgment, hypocrisy and meanness.

Because that’s such a far cry from the church that God wants us to build - SALT AND LIGHT to the world.

But we get that way when we build churches that are focused on keeping people IN, instead of sending people OUT.

That’s when the church starts to lose its mission, it starts to lose its focus, it’s calling. That’s when the church starts to rot and become stagnant.

We forget the great commission, we forget the mandate that we have to be salt and light.

The church loses its power when it tries to contain the presence of God within its four walls - that was never what we were created to do.

The church’s real power is not when we CONTAIN Christ - but when we PROCLAIM HIM.

ILLUSTRATION: Jeff and his parents

When people ask what my favourite story from my time as a youth pastor is - I have so many good ones, but there’s this weird one that always comes to mind. We had this kid from a non-Christian family called Jeff. Strong buddhist family - to the point that they barely let him come to youth. But Jeff loved the youth group - and despite his low and irregular attendance he decided to accept Christ (much to his parents’ annoyance). He kept attending youth group on and off until one day my Senior Pastor (ps Benny) got a knock on his door really late at night, like 10PM. It was quite an aggressive knock.

He goes to open the door and it turns out it’s Jeff’s Dad, standing angrily at the door. He immediately starts demanding “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON?” Ps Benny told me later at this point he thought I had done something really stupid. But Jeff’s dad continued - “He’s cleaning the house, he’s washing the dishes, his room is clean, he’s listening to his mum, he’s being such a good son - WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?” Pastor Benny just explained that Jeff had accepted Jesus Christ into his life - and being a disciple of Jesus Christ leads to a changed life.

Jeff’s Dad then immediately demanded to know the service times before storming off in a hurry. That week Jeff’s family attended Sunday service, and in the coming months BOTH of his parents came to accept Christ - Jeff was allowed to come to youth every week. All because Jeff had decided to be salt and light to his family. He wasn’t afraid to stand out, to be different.

Isaiah’s Commission

I want to finish this camp with Isaiah’s commissioning, one of my favourite passages in the bible.

Isaiah 6:1–8 ESV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

This is a vision that Isaiah receives of the Lord. He sees a vision of the Lord in all His glory in the temple, it’s a magnificent, terrifying image.

But what I want you to pay attention to is the three phases of this vision - what happens when Isaiah encounters the Lord.

1) Seeks: The first thing that happens is Isaiah Seeks of the Lord, and the Lord reveals Himself in a vision. An encounter with Him, a vision, a decision to follow Him - many of you had this at camp on the first night, you chose to Seek God, and many of you found Him.

2) Sanctified: After Isaiah Seeks the Lord - he is sanctified “woe is me, I am lost, I am a man of unclean lips”. After we seek God, we have an awareness of our sin and our brokenness and we submit it to the Lord. This is what happened yesterday during Nick’s morning session and the last night session. This prepares us for what comes next:

3) Sent: Isaiah’s Sanctification prepared him to respond to the Lord’s question: Who will I send, who will go for me? Isaiah was SENT. And that’s what we’re going to do tonight.

God is looking for sanctified people that He can send to do His work. People who are empowered by the Holy Spirit, people who are broken, people who are submitted.

People who will stand for what is right, people who will stand against injustice, people who will stand for Christ in the world. People who will stand as HIS church.

You may be thinking right now: but what can I do? I’m only one person - what if I’m not enough, what if I don’t make a difference?

Let me tell you a story:

ILLUSTRATION:

On the 1st December 1955, on a busy street in the capital of Alabama, a 42-year-old African American seamstress boarded a segregated city bus to return home after a long day of work, taking a seat near the middle, just behind the front "white" section. At the next stop, more passengers got on. When every seat in the white section was taken, the bus driver ordered the black passengers in the middle row to stand so a white man could sit. The seamstress refused.

The bus driver (Blake) said, "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats." Three of the four sitting in that row complied. The lady moved, but toward the window seat; she did not get up to move to the redesignated colored section. The driver again said, "Why don't you stand up?" To which the lady responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up."

This lady’s name was Rosa Parks - otherwise known as the First Lady of the Civil Rights movement. She was arrested on that bus that day, but this event would go on to START what is known as the Montgomery Improvement Association - a significant group in the American Civil Rights Movement. On the 5th of December, only 4 days later this group elected its first president. It was a young minister from the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church - his name was Martin Luther King Jr. And the rest is history. And if you don’t know who he is then you really need to get out more.

This all began because one woman quite literally refused to stand for what was wrong. But in doing so - she stood for what was right.

Altar Call

Tonight our response is about being SENT. It’s about the mission that God is placing in your hearts. The people that God has empowered YOU to reach. The spheres that God has empowered YOU to change. The places that God has empowered YOU to take.

Write what mission you believe God is calling you to:

eg. Want to be a doctor - help people for Christ

Want to become a teacher, bring Christ back into the education sphere

Want to become a leader at youth

Want to become a pastor in church

Want to reach out to my parents to get them back to church

Want to become a Christian scientist to discover more about how God works

Want to bring my best friend to Christ

I want to start a school prayer ministry

I want to bring faith back into the media and film industry

I want to become a Christian pro athlete that gives glory back to God

I want to start a business so I can give heavily to the kingdom

And if you REALLY Don’t know then just write: I want to be salt and light WHEREVER I am.

Maybe it will change, I’m not saying this is it. But the power is in the declaration - I WILL be used by God, I will seek to be salt and light WHEREVER I go.

Some of you will achieve these dreams, I have many youth who have, and still many on the way to achieving it. And some who changed completely but are still salt and light where God calls them.

But let’s believe for big things - let’s ask for big things tonight.

THEN - Go in to connect groups and share mission (if you want) and leaders pray and empower them.