Part 4: Transformational Influence

Well, we are in a series called We are family and not like the song but like what Jesus describes in his word about who we are as God's people and we looked at a handful of things were looking at the nature and mission of the church. And then we seen the church's first and foremost about God's glory and it's become a part of Jesus family of the church. It doesn't mean that you attend church. It means that you repent of your sin turn to Jesus Christ in faith, and then you're called out of this world to Jesus and sent back into this world for Jesus. It's not just coming to church. It's trusting Jesus of being a part of his church of his family as a family we mention Dimensions part of America.

Transformational churches among all people church. This series is really an unpacking of our extended families mission statement. And what does it mean to be a transformational church will it starts with being rooted in the word of God recognizing its Authority teaching it faithfully and applying it regularly. It's the word that the spirit of God uses to change a sin to transform us a man. He changes us as individuals. He changes us as a family. Self but among its community and by its very nature when it's healthy. And when the Holy Spirit is working in US. people around us are changed as well and impacted an influence. It's just the nature of a healthy transformational Church to impact its Community because remember the church called out of the world. You were called out of the world to Jesus, but then he turned around and sent you back not to just be in a little bubble butt in the world for him. We're going to talk about that this morning for the last three years. We've been kind of saying it like this as a church family that we are say it with me if you know what we are them to follow Jesus Jesus with us. We're going to start right there sound good father. Thanks for Jesus thinks that you've called us to him. And that is we trust him in Fay. Were made they were given a new identity and then we're sent back into the world with activity to do Jesus For Your Glory others good and our joy. Holy Spirit, would you use me this morning as I teach and as we explore your words together, I would you speak through me and even to me how we pray against the enemy Lord that he hates your guts your church and he would love nothing more than to destruct division or confusion or to steer us off course since Dad revealed to us. So you've made us to be and give us courage to go and live that out. We love you Lord. We thank you for Jesus. It's all because of him and it's all about And in his name we pray amen.

Door Central of people and invite them to follow Jesus with us. So let's start there as a transformational church, not just internally, but externally were sent to love our community. percent to love our community in terms of just like our corporate entity like they're building and we're not in a community. We're kind of not in Milford. We're kind of not in Syracuse for like right in the middle of them. And then we do Paris and North Webster Community impact multiple communities as a church here, like I'm not sure which one that is unity. What does it mean to love our community to love people? Sometimes it's just kindness. It's an action where I put their needs and their desires and their longings ahead of my own. Sometimes love can feel horse like tough love right where you speak the truth or you quit enabling somebody's destructive tendencies that can be loving as well. But her community begins individually were sent to love people everywhere.

Said the Great Commission that he said therefore Make Disciples of all nations in the grief the tents of that verbally, it's like this since the disciples and make disciples as you're going wherever you find yourself. It's very much the everyday commission and everywhere you go you're sent to love people. I wonder where you go and everywhere you were this week. Describe you as loving. In your home with your family the people you live with what they described you as love me. What about the people in your neighborhood? people you work next to are you a real person if we can stop there missing stay right? There were sent. Hello. There would be a whole lot and we have some really good stuff. In the Bible has much to say about us loving others 1st Corinthians 16:14 done in what? Love Now That We're tall how how many things does that encompass? All right, like that's what it means in all that you do whatever your hand finds to do that means whether you're working whether you're playing or there or whatever it is. You're doing it all that you do do it in love your scent a lot of Galatians 5:22 the Fruit of the Spirit.

mentioned Love in the middle of him talking about serving with our gifts and in the very middle. He has this whole chapter on love because he says love is the most excellent way you sent a lot of were sent to love our community. Someone lay down his life for his friends.

It's easy to love your friend, isn't it? Lay down your life for your friend. But seriously, Jesus doesn't stop there because he also says and Luke 6 I say to you who hear? Love your enemies do good to those who hate you bless those who curse you pray for those.

Just say love your friends. He says love your enemies. gets hard some people that are that are hard for me to love. Do you have that experience or maybe you hear about something or you run into somebody and you're just like it? I got to love that. Yeah, you're sent the love people. We maybe we should change that to say were sent to love all people and invite them to follow Jesus with us cuz that's the intent right to love everyone. Really what you're saying.

Because Jesus is praying this about us and John 17:18. It says his disciples and everyone who believe after them so I can close us since as you sent me into the world father. So I have sent them into the world.

Help me. Did Jesus love his enemies? Absolutely. That's what we're called to do the same. He loved everybody. In fact, Jesus was known what was one of the titles that people call them a friend of what? eating and drinking the people started to say would you I don't know if we should be listening to hanging out with him. Look at them. He's hanging out with those people. He must love his community. He loved people and worse than to love. Just as you said just as he was sent were sent in the same way. You know, what convicted for me? I think how many non-christians would call me a friend.

How many non-christians would call you a friend? They called Jesus a friend of sinners. How many would call you a friend so we love our community were sent to love it begins individually, we express it corporately in the Old Testament people were sent into exile to Babylon Iraq to you because in its welfare is your welfare when it receives good you receive good whatever it's like your community love your City Community. When you really love someone you you seek their good right you seek their desires and their needs and their wants above your own. I'm not to the neglect of your responsibilities with your family or your spouse or anything like that. But but you're still you're being selfless in the way that you care for you seek their good. There's many ways to seek the good of our community by working hard. Providing income for a family providing tax dollars to our community by serving by getting involved by knowing your neighbors and I think I shared this with you a little over a year ago. One of the cool things that I give my wife all the credit for this. I just a desire to get to know some of our neighbors more every Tuesday night. We have Taco Tuesday. And that we took up a bunch of tires. I didn't fulfill for my church. A lot of times. It is not just people from our church that come but there's other people who are not from our church and in our community that in our neighborhood I should say that, we took up a bunch of taco meat everybody brings a topping and so it's a different different menu every night and we just eat tacos together we meet for about an hour.

And then we go home and we've gotten to know more people and in our neighborhood and we tried more people into our home over the last year that the first six years. We were married seven years. It's really cool and that so how are you being a good neighbor and knowing your neighbors seeking their good? Do we need to do this as a group of people we Proclaim it like with this blazing torch to the thousand people to drive our church every day you are.

When is it all the time? Like people are calling us that you are loved the church now to know that like I said we are but but what do people experience from the people of that you are Luxor? That's what we want to be at that we want to love our community not just with words, but with actions. You know James said that faith without works is dead. And so as God's people here were sent to love and to make Jesus known his love known what this is. This is being an influencer for Jesus Kingdom. And there's a church Jesus church of the hole and S is a local church. You might think of it that were an outpost of his kingdom an outpost of the Kingdom church is the kingdom but it's a part of it and the church has the responsibility to help Advance the kingdom in this age and desire was that through the church the manifold wisdom of God bite now be made known to the rulers and authorities even in the Heavenly places that it was through the church that God was going to bring good to the world. Where in Ephesians 6:20 process for this, I'm an ambassador and change it says in Chains. You said something very similar to the Corinthian Church. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God. Friends were an outpost of the kingdom in the military and Outpost in force. They're stationed away from it. They represent the main force and as a as a church as an outpost, not the main florist Jesus in your community. The church is in the world. It's like it's youth pause metaphor of an ambassador. It's like an embassy in the world that an embassy gets set up in a country. That's a good relationships with the country, right? Bassador it is stationed there in the Church of an initial point of contact for God's kingdom is being rooted in his important as ambassadors.

The develop those things not just a shout them from a long ways away. To be in relationship is not your own. If you're a Christian if you're a follower Jesus, you're an ambassador, and you're only here for a short while according to his pleasure. And then your call back home. Just sent into this Outpost of his kingdom to meet people in their home country on their Turf if we're going to be since we got to be out and involved in the community. That's why we don't have a hundred programs throughout the week. Sometimes people renewed our church in the last will why don't you have anything going on on? Involved in a small group and out serving in the community being Salt and Light in our community. Because we're sent right it's not about us. It's about Jesus and his mission. power

where's the Ambassador sent in humility? Ambassadors are sent not with power, but for the purpose of establishing friendship Goodwill working relationships and were sent to serve and build relationships with others on behalf of the king sharing his message.

Where is ambassadors? Do you know Rome send ambassadors? Rome established its relationships with other kingdoms. They sent in a conquering army. They came in kicked everybody's butt and then they set up their own probably read about a handful in the New Testament, but it went with the title of Herod right that that was somebody put in a thority by Roman and they would come in and set up for is on record one of them at at what time bragging about the fact that ambassadors from other countries would see far away is India. And they would come and they would please please show Mercy to let us live.

on the front line strong didn't send out ambassadors the week did. Ed stetzer wrote this to all powerful Roman Empire wouldn't send out ambassadors to those that didn't matter but the all-powerful lovinggood Sovereign perfect and merciful god says that we are ambassadors for Christ the King of a far greater Kingdom. So this is glorious all-powerful God sends ambassadors out on his behalf. It's a glorious Scandal that confounds the wisdom of the world. Ambassadors friends and seriously, we're sent in weakness on behalf of the most powerful Kingdom of all time. It totally slipped on its head the reality of that day. And it flips on the head on its head the reality of our day that were sent to love. And by the way, it's not in weakness, but in meekness with power under control. The meekness like Jesus Kingdom, it's different than all the other kingdoms. That's his church were not posted its powerful, but it comes in that meekness and Jesus summed up the the The subversive nature of the Kingdom with two really simple parables.

in Matthew 13, Jesus rattles off a handful of Parables to teach but a couple in particular we're going to look at this morning as it relates to his kingdom look at verse 31 First he tells the parable of the Mustard Seed another Parable before them saying the Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed. Set a man took and sewed in his field. The smallest of all the seats I remember Jesus at some of Jesus hears here are I thinking that Jesus if he's the Messiah is going to come up instead of powerful Kingdom not unlike Rome's it's small actually like a mustard seed. It's the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown its larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air can come and make nests and its branches. And it actually serves those around it. He also Compares it he goes on in verse 33 comparing it to yeasty told them another pair of boy said the Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour and tell it was leavened. The idea of these two Parables is that the kingdom begin small and in many ways even in perceivable. And its power and totally contrary to what the world would do. In a couple applications worth their first, even though we might be in any location and we are the Christian Community the church might be tiny and even persecuted like it is in many places and like maybe we will we will be someday the reality is that the kingdom and Jesus power and authority still works through us and will not be thwarted. So we can trust them and continue to love people even if it seems like we're getting beat up for it. On the flip side of this truth. It's that whole piece that we just said the kingdom doesn't then a bachelor doesn't go with power. But in humility sometimes in the church, we we've looked at Jesus power and his power of his kingdom and maybe we've taken on this kind of triumphal list mentality to kind of win the culture and go after things in a harsh way. But it's not helpful. We'll talk more about that here in a moment. Ultimately the way of the Cross is what we're to emulate.

Some friends were sent a lot of people and in Jesus Lover Community. Jesus gives us at two other metaphors to explain what this looks like for us in terms of in our community were sent into the world and salt. Has salt the counters evil. Chapter 5 now whatever is 13 of The Sermon on the Mount Jesus most famous sermon. He says some of these things he says his followers to us. You are the salt of the earth, you know, salt had two main purposes in the Ancient World season. And preserving that's what salt was used for. Sometimes it was also used for fertilizing but the two primary things were

The preserving and in likely the intended meaning that Jesus had the air as you have a context is that idea of preserving like salt was put on meat to preserve it to slow the decay of it come in contact with it and keep rotting. He says as the church where the salt of the earth. You're sent into the world to come in contact with the world that the counter evil to keep culture from rotting away. Like it naturally does Naturally Wood. Unless to itself unless to ourselves apart from Jesus Christ.

Percent of salt the counter is evil daughter that little lady goes on to say says but if salted lost its taste. How shall its saltiness be restored it's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and Trampled Under people's feet. A kind of disturbing isn't it? And it's always that doesn't make much sense to us today because we get a thing of salt and I'll with the little girl in the umbrella on it and you poured out and it is it like it just never goes bad. You can leave it in your cupboard for years and it still is salty. Like what are you talking about Jesus? Do you know what you're talking about? But in the first century salt wasn't refined like the salt you and I buy at the store. It was usually derived from salty marshes and add all kinds of impurities in it than the sodium chloride the salt be more soluble would dissolve and just kind of get leads without overtime. An overtime salt would lose its taste. And then it's no good. Then throw it out in the backyard cuz he wants to put this on her food anymore.

today

Let the church needs to be salt in the world in our culture in our community countering Evil coming in contact to preserve the K and we can do this we come in contact with our world in so many different ways Intentionally addressing certain human needs like addiction treatment Refugee relocation assimilation of people confronting human trafficking serving the disabled providing education and opportunity economically.

There's so many advocating in the Public Square. There's so many things we can do to come in contact with our community. And you need to know if you will.

Look at the context right immediately before this verse before Jesus says you are the salt of the earth. He says he says blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and other all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you and by the way, you're the salt of the earth. I'm sending you into that world. where you will face opposition Jesus doesn't say about others revile you they revile you.

the nature of the Beast it's not if but when Jesus sends us into it, I think about that. Jesus willingly sends us into a world that will reject us.

Kind of a crazy thought, isn't it?

Insulting light cuz that's the next metaphor it will sometimes means speaking out against the values and norms and Lifestyles that our culture and braces.

I mean you don't have to go far.

Facing opposition for speaking the truth to you.

issue of homosexuality of marriage abortion things that that are world I just kind of Gone Crazy saying that those things are good. But you know, it was really happened. Is basically this but for the grace of God go all of us because we all are sinful and messed up and we all devolve down to those things and what's happened. I believe is the church has lost its saltiness overtime.

And salt that's left in the Shaker and not applied to the meat. Does no good in the meat just rots and decays.

Do you salt will rarely when you friends?

Once he loads inside this where the salt not the honey of the world. assault bites

face opposition but that brings us to our next Point here that is salt the counter is evil you need to do that you will face opposition, but but Be sure to recognize this point that how you go about that how you go about being salt is equally as important as what you say and what you bring to the table. The method absolutely matters because you can be totally right and be an incredible jerk and turn people farther and farther away from the tree.

Look on God's word says. Infusions for Paul rights rather speaking the truth in love or to grow up in every way into him. Who's the head into Christ? Micah told told us the prophet Micah said basically that all our sacrifice even in being Salt and Light it's it's really useless unless we prioritize the things that God calls us to prioritize. He's told you a man what's good at what the lord requires of you but to do justice to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God you're equally as important as the what

1st Peter 3, you know in your hearts honor Christ the Lord Is Holy always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the whole thing you but do it with all gentleness and respect.

In a loving way you're sent to love. Your central of art were sent to love our community a salt that counters evil that that stops the K and also as light that advances good looks like the flip side of this a more positive psyche keep reading and Matthew 5 verse 14, you are the light of the world and a city set on a hill cannot be hidden people light a lamp and put it under a basket that on a stand and it gives light to all in the house 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.

You know if it's soft is to hinder something from the King light is really to shine forth. What's good? You're the light of the world. Do the light of the world is more positive. It has many functions it it gives clarity. It points to the direction. We should go it. It it advances. What's good. You know Jesus even when he comes in Matthews is declared to be the light of the world.

Isaiah writes about that as well and he says you're a city on a hill a city on a hill cannot be hidden of limestone. Limestone is kind of a whitish lightest Stone. And so when the sun would shine upon these cities they be quite bright. Middle of the afternoon especially you can imagine especially a city that's on a hill and even at night when when there were when they were lamps and flames and things like that to light the city at night. You can imagine a city on a hill at night that's made of limestone. That's why it would have been like if you can't hide that.

world Hide it under a bushel.

Don't quench the spirit. Don't don't see yourself primarily only assault that all you're doing is you're coming in to counter this world. And I'm going to win this is going to win a picture of what people would be drawn towards now you also do and you say what's good. You say what's true and Truth.

See if we're Central of our community of salt that count is evil in his light that advances good and I would end with these three thoughts. We do this for three reasons one for God's glory. Jesus says at the end of that. He doesn't verse 16 let your light shine before others. Like I said, let your light shine so that people may see your good works. He speaking of you being Salt and Light in the communities. They would see your good works and then do what? Glorify your father who is in heaven? So the first reason we're Salt and Light is for God's glory. It's not about us. It's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus and so 96th Street. Among the nation's His Marvelous Works among all the peoples. Not only is it for God's glory? But it's for others good.

Fair of the city to which God has sent us to let your good works. So shine before men that they will give glory to God like they would receive such good they would go home and that that's so good. It's got to be because of Jesus. it's for God's glory for others good and then finally for our joy It's for a joy. There's joy in doing these things. There's joy in serving Jesus and loving him and doing what's right and living the way that were called to live. The church is just full of these rules that God has put on us to like squish are fun. Put the fun back in fundamentalism write like a pretty good line is there for our good?

It's for a good when he says don't he sang? Don't hurt yourself. When he gives us things to do is listen, that's the best way to live.

To do it for his glory for Jesus chords for the good of our community and for our joy. Do you know that serving Jesus? Receiving joy in that and loving him for the joy that he gives enjoying him is a really good thing. The really good thing. He loves a cheerful Giver. He loves a cheerful server.

God's glory others good are joy and then? Hey, let me pray and we're going to call it and we're going to sing and call it a morning father. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that he was sent into the world you sent us into the war. That you sent us to love people like Jesus loves people, but he loved us. And then you sent us to love our community another for sure but also to love our community. Help us to be salt that comes into contact with our culture and with our community give us opportunity. a lot of people to be involved

and then that is we come in contact with them help us to speak. What's true so that it would counter the decay in our world and help us to shine forth is life. That our good works with so shine before others Jesus that they would have no other response than but to praise to glorify.

What are free for any who are hearing this today to who never trusted you never moved from being your creation to being your child that that even today they might hear some of these things will be drawn to them because they know of your goodness and if that's you if you would simply turn in faith, the Jesus recognizing that that you need a savior someone to make you new to forgive you of your sin if you turn to him by faith. That believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead confess him with your lips. The God's word says you will be saved at the simple Act of Faith. Father we love you and thank you for Jesus. It's through him. We pray all these things. amen