Salt - N - Light Witnessing

Salt~N~Light Witnessing

Pastor Glenn Newton July 7, 2002

"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 by

men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that

they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

(NIV) Matt 5:13-16

This week I heard someone ask this question about the church, it asked, “If your church

was removed tomorrow from your neighborhood, from the community, would anybody

notice?” I know you would notice, but what about the people in our community?

I thought about it, and realized that we would have some Parents who would

notice when they tried to drop off their kids at Next Generation and we were gone, that’s

an important need in our community that we as a church are trying to meet.

Then I asked myself, and I ask you this morning. “If you were removed from your

neighborhood, from the community, would anybody notice?” What would people miss the

most about you? What would they miss the least?

This week our Nation lost one of our best Baseball players of all time; Ted William’s was

said to be the best hitter of all time, and most people agree that he was. Ted William’s left

a mark because he could hit a little white ball with a stick better than anyone else, and he

also served his country in two wars, and he raised millions of dollars for children with

cancer. It was said of Ted William’s that he never stopped talking about hitting the

baseball, he had a passion for the game that was unmatched, and the current superstars

would love to just sit down and listen to what he had to say about baseball.

As I thought about the amount of Influence that Ted William’s had throughout baseball, I

thought wouldn’t it be great to have that kind of influence for Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus

Christ has called us to a life of being a witness, being an influence for the Kingdom.

Jesus gives us two examples. We are to be Salt & Light to our world. Salt and Light.

One is hardly seen. Yet too little of it you can taste the difference and too much of it can

ruin your food.

The other is visible it is needed during the night or when it is dark. Yet too much of it in

the morning well make you say, “Turn it off” yet too little of it can make you feel unsafe.

What is it? It is salt and light. One works as it comes into contact with the food and the

other one as turned on.

Jesus said you are the Salt and the light. Today I want to share with you an ancient

formula that can turn this world upside down.

First, Let’s talk about our Christian Influence, as being a Salty Witness.

"You are the salt of the earth.”

You know that Jesus was a master Teacher, he used illustrations that the people would be

able to relate too, and be able to understand. Salt was a very important element in Jesus

day, just as it is today. Do any of you use Salt?

In many societies it was so highly valued that it was used for money. The English word

salary is derived from the Latin word Salarium which refers to the payments made to a

Roman soldier with salt.

3. Herod’s temple had a chamber of salt for ceremonial use of salt. (Mish. Midodoth, v.3)

4. Whenever a city was defeated the custom was to throw salt through out the city. This

mean that the city had been separated from its past. Elisha used salt to purify the water of

Jericho (2 Kings 2:20)

5. The normal procedures when a child was born was to be rubbed with salt (Ez. 16:4)

Salt Makes A Difference.

B. The use of Salt

Salt was gathered in Palestine from along the seashore or inland lakes.

1. SALT MAKES YOU THIRSTY.

2. SEASONING: In Bible times and till today salt is used for seasoning our food. Who

likes to eat food without salt? Even though salt is so small and yet hardly noticeable it

makes a difference when applied to the substance.

b) In order for our lives to be a living sacrifice for God they must be preserved and

seasoned with righteousness of Christ.

3. Preservative: But it was also used to preserve food. They did not have the refrigeration