WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:08.080 Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:16.800 Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:25.519 Follow us on social media using the handle at Celebration ORL or visit our website, celebrationorl.org. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:32.719 Man, that's that's nine o'clock service energy. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:34.560 Let me let me I thought this was 10 30. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:35.200 Let me try this again. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:37.759 Celebration Church Orlando, are you guys doing good? 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:39.679 There we go. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:42.079 Vinny, why do you always make me do it twice, man? 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:43.520 I don't know why they always make me do that. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:44.240 Every now and then. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:46.159 I just want them to just come already ready. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:52.320 Um I am excited uh to stand before you and um and really expound on God's word. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:56.320 But before I do that, I do want to um highlight a couple of things that we just mentioned. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:57.600 Here's the first thing. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.200 One um for Vision Sunday next week. 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:17.760 If you are, if this is your church home, um, or maybe if you're just curious about what God is doing in our church and what our next steps look like, I would definitely want to include you and strongly encourage that you are here with us in the building um next Sunday for our 9 and 10:30 service. 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:18.560 In fact, let's do this. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:21.280 Can y'all show some love to our people that are joining us online? 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:23.760 Also, those who are in a family lounge. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:30.879 If you who are online or in the Orlando area, I want to personally invite you to come and join us for Vision Sunday. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:39.599 We'll be pausing from our current sermon series and taking some time to unpack what God has been doing, what he has done, and what we believe he's going to do in the seasons to come. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:42.239 And so it wouldn't be the same without every single one of you. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:46.719 Here's the second thing that I want to invite you to participate in. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:51.599 Um, over the past two Wednesdays, we've been having um nights of prayer. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:52.879 Do I have any prayer words? 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:55.519 Anyone that's been at our nights of prayer over the past couple of weeks? 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:05.519 Um, what we've been doing is as we've been in the Sermon Um on the Mount, um, and inside of the Sermon on the Mount, there's a spot in Matthew chapter six called the Lord's Prayer. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:14.800 So we kind of fast forwarded, and over the past couple of weeks, we've been unpacking the ideas inside of the Lord's Prayer, and then how do we practically implement them into our lives? 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:17.280 And so over the past two weeks, we've been unpacking it. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:21.680 Um, and then this upcoming Wednesday is going to be our last gathering around that. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:27.840 And here's why I want you guys to show up if if God wills it and if you have the space in your calendar for it. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.879 Um, the last lines of that powerful prayer, um, Jesus says these words. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:39.280 He says, Deliver us from the evil one and and help us to forgive as we forgive our debtors. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:46.159 And so ultimately, what we're gonna be talking about this upcoming Wednesday is we're gonna be talking about the concept of deliverance. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:51.280 What does it look like to be truly delivered or walking in the freedom that God has established for us? 00:02:51.360 --> 00:03:09.759 We're gonna be talking about strongholds, we're gonna be talking about demonic influences, but the victory that Christ gives us, and then we're gonna create space for us to pray and believe, not only for our church, but for us as individuals, areas where maybe the enemy has established um rigidness in our heart or calluses that are preventing us from living God's um vision of our lives. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.120 We're gonna be talking about that and praying about that this upcoming Wednesday. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:22.479 And so I would strongly encourage that if you're believing God for anything that you're just expecting to move with God, I want to encourage you to come and join us this upcoming Wednesday at 6 30. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:23.680 It's at our church offices. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.240 And if you're wondering how to get there, you know what? 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:27.120 It's on the app. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:30.159 Download the app and you'll clearly see what that looks like. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:37.599 If you have your Bibles, um I would love to invite you to join me in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter number five. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:43.280 Over the past couple of weeks, we have immersed ourselves in the words and ministry of Jesus. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:46.639 Um, that's commonly referred to as a sermon on the mount. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:55.840 And over the past two weeks, we've been basically going almost line by line and unpacking these truths that we could genuinely spend the entire year on it if we wanted to. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:03.039 But for us, we're gonna we're gonna immerse ourselves in this journey um up until about Easter, and then we'll kind of see what God has for us after that. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:09.759 Um, last week we talked about the concept of being blessed and examining the Beatitudes and what does that mean for us practically? 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:12.479 And again, I want to encourage you to go and check that out. 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:16.480 Um, but today we're gonna literally pick up on the line right after where we left off last week. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:26.000 Um so you're gonna see the words come up on the screen, and and and what we've been doing over the past few weeks is we've been reading God's word together out loud. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.920 And so last week we didn't do it, it was a longer passage of scripture, so I wanted to read it to you. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:36.639 But this week, um uh we only have three verses, so I want us to get back into that rhythm of us declaring God's word together. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:46.319 It's an ancient tradition called um the public reading of God's word, and it's a powerful moment because this moment that we have together, it's it's a dialogue, not a monologue. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:53.199 We're actually in this together, and so um I want us all to read Matthew 5, verses 13 through 16 um together. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:55.839 So on account of three, let's start at verse 13. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:02.480 Again, it's gonna come up on the screen, and let's read this all together with sober minds, but with conviction in our hearts. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.920 One, two, and three. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:12.800 You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:18.399 It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:20.319 You are the light of the world. 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:23.680 A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:31.680 No one lights the lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:41.360 In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to the Father that is in heaven. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:48.480 Today I want to talk to us on a topic that I've entitled A Life of Impact. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:52.720 Let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us today. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:00.800 Lord, we thank you so much for your word, which we believe is alive and active in all of our lives. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:18.480 God, I ask that we can decrease, that we can quiet our minds, instill our souls with an expectation that we are going to hear a word from the throne room of heaven that has been choreographed by your spirit to bring transformation to our lives. 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:28.959 So, Lord, I just pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes, give us vision, give us perspective to see things through your lens, a kingdom perspective. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:41.759 God, I pray that you give us open ears so that we can recognize your voice, discern the still small voice of the word of God as you're encouraging us, challenging us, nudging us, but ultimately developing us. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:46.959 And Father, I also pray for open hearts that we can receive everything that you have for us, God. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:52.959 Your word reminds us that we can be transformed by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:57.040 Allow it to take root deep in our hearts in Jesus' name. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:57.759 Amen. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:06:59.279 And amen. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:08.319 Several years ago, I had an amazing opportunity to go on a fishing expedition. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:13.040 Um, I've gone fishing before, but I've never gone on a fishing expedition. 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:17.199 And this fishing expedition, um, it required us to go to Louisiana. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:30.079 I've never been to Louisiana, so I was really filled with a lot of expectation having friends who have on multiple occasions gone and had these fishing expeditions and just coming back with tons of fish and amazing stories of connecting with one another. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.680 And so I was finally invited uh to come and participate. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:39.279 So we go to Louisiana and we're literally staying at what they call a fishing camp. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:41.360 Like it's literally trailers up on stilts. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:45.120 It didn't seem safe at all, but somehow it all held together, I don't know. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:48.560 But we were we were at this fishing camp, and there was about 12 of us. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:52.240 And and for the 12 of us that were there, they broke us up into three different groups. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:56.560 So for those of us who are trying to do the math, that's four of us in each group. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:57.680 Um I'm here to help. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:02.000 And so we had each each group had its own fishing guide. 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:11.680 These fishing guides were people who were experts in the area as well as an all-thing fishing, and so they were the ones that were gonna help us to make sure that we had an amazing time. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:16.240 So on the first day we go out and I get introduced to our fishing guide. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:19.680 Our fishing guide's name was Bubba. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:26.160 Bubba was a cool dude, and and and Bubba was a was a total vibe, he was a lot of fun. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:35.039 And and if you can envision what a guy named Bubba in the deep south of Louisiana looks like and sounded like, that's him. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:36.399 Bubba was that guy. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:43.360 And so I remember when he was talking about how he's there to help us and and how he's gonna like help us navigate the waters and all that type of stuff. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:47.440 He said, Man, I can also help you guys that let me do my best Bubba impression. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:51.519 I could also help you guys who who don't feel comfortable touching little worms and all that. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:55.679 I know y'all city people, you don't want to touch the worms and you want to get some help putting it on the hook. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:56.960 He said, So I'm here to help with that. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:59.759 So the other guy's like, nah, man, I don't need that, I don't need that, I don't need that. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:01.360 I'm like, Bubba, I do need that. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:03.679 Um thank you, sir, for your service. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:05.679 Um and so he's like, I got you, brother. 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:12.320 So we go out into the waters and we spend the entire day in this beautiful, serene water, and but we don't catch anything. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:15.120 There's not a nibble, there's not a single movement. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:24.399 Now we're out there, and and it's good with me because I'm just sitting out there hanging out with these guys, but but for the other guys that were on the on this vessel with us, like they're super competitive. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:29.039 Like there were a lot of wagers and things going on on who was gonna catch the biggest fish. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:30.720 I mean, we were betting, like big money. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:32.639 And here's the thing, we're all pastors, so it's okay. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:36.320 Um, but we were we were betting on who was gonna catch um the biggest fish. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:43.120 So the first day when we came back, you can only imagine for the guys that were on my boat, they were like, bro, we didn't catch anything. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:44.399 They're like, what do you mean? 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.200 The other two boats literally caught hundreds of fish. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:48.559 That's not hyperbole. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:50.559 Hundreds of fish, we caught none. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:52.960 So they're like, I don't know how we didn't catch anything. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:10:00.879 And so people were really perplexed because the place that we went to, like the amount of money that was being spent for us to be there, it was like you're guaranteed to catch something. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:01.440 I don't know why. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:08.159 I'm like, maybe they made the fish drunk, so it's like you you can't not, like you would almost have to be trying not to catch fish to not catch fish, apparently. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:10.159 So the first day they were a little perplexed at this. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:14.799 Second day we go out, once again, we go to another spot, we don't get anything. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:18.480 So now like everybody's getting flustered and frustrated. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:20.159 People are annoyed and agitated. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:26.320 Whereas for me, I'm like, man, it's it's cool, but yeah, I would love to like have that moment that everybody else was talking about. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:31.679 So now we get back to the fishing camp and we're talking, and people are like, okay, there's something off. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:34.399 So the guy who organized the whole thing, he's like, hey, let's do this. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:37.039 Let's switch the fishing guides. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:44.320 Let me put Bubba over here, and then we're gonna put this other guy who was with the other group and put him on your ship. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:44.960 Perfect. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.440 We go out, and and wouldn't you know it, man? 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:49.279 We caught tons of fish. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:58.399 Like we caught tons of fish, like probably over a hundred, and I'm here to confess to everyone that I indeed did catch the biggest fish that was there. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:02.240 Because at one point it was looking like maybe I was the problem. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:07.120 Because every year these guys went, they had no issue with catching fish. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.519 This year they go and they're not catching any fish. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:11.840 So at one point they were looking at me like, man, maybe it's you. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:13.919 I'm like, yeah, just blame the black guy, right? 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:17.360 So on day two, they were looking like, man, maybe it's you. 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:20.399 I'm like, man, listen, black people on water boats, it hasn't always worked out for us. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:22.000 I was about ready to fight. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:24.320 Listen, I'm just gonna tell y'all my experience. 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:25.600 We're in Louisiana too. 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:31.360 So I'm like, okay, let me, I I gotta be prepared to throw hands if I have to, but luckily the third day redeemed it. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:33.759 We catch amazing amounts of fish. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:39.759 So now, after doing a lot of calculations, they've been able to identify that maybe Bubba was the problem. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.240 So that fourth day we get up and I'm like, hey man, where's where's Bubba? 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:48.240 Like, even though he was no longer our guide, like Bubba was a he was a lot of fun. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:49.279 Where's Bubba at? 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:50.799 They're like, oh, he's he's gone. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:52.240 And nobody wanted to say anything. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:54.720 So I'm like, okay, like, gone like what? 00:11:55.840 --> 00:12:04.320 Like, gone like, okay, like he quit, gone like y'all fired him, and that's unfortunate, or gone like this is Louisiana, y'all throw him into the bayou and maybe. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.240 So what do you mean by gone? 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:07.440 So nobody wanted to say anything. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:09.440 I'm like, well, somebody tell me what happened to Bubba. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:10.240 I wouldn't let it go. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:17.200 They're like, okay, like we we didn't want to say anything, but but Bubba actually isn't a fishing guide at all. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:25.679 It turns out that Bubba was a wanted criminal. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:35.600 He got out of jail, did a string of robberies, and stole his previous cellmate's identity, which is how he was able to get the job. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:38.639 I wish it wasn't true. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:54.639 So for the past two days, we're out in the bayou with Bubba with the butt crack showing, and he had no skill whatsoever. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:59.919 When people started asking questions, he literally disappeared into the night, and no one has seen Bubba since. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:03.600 So I'm thinking to myself, while everybody's like, oh man, but it's all good. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:10.559 I'm thinking, like, my life was in the hands of Bubba the prisoner. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:29.759 My life was in the hands of this guy who talked all the right words, he wore the uniform, he had all these things that made everyone believe that he had the skills, but the reality of it is he didn't have the heart or the hands to do the task that was commissioned for him to do. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:33.120 That's not unlike what I see in the church today. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:38.159 There's a lot of people that say, I am a follower of Christ. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:45.200 I got the bumper sticker on my car, I even have a scripture in my bio on social media. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:47.759 I will occasionally come to church. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:59.519 I am a follower of Christ, but when you dig beneath the surface, what you find is a lot of people that have a form of godliness, but they have denied the power a long time ago. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:05.279 They don't have the heart for God's people, they don't have the mind of Christ, and they don't have the hands to serve. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:13.120 And sadly, this is the same reality that we experience today that the disciples were experiencing back in the times of Jesus. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:34.080 In the times of Jesus, there was a religious group of people that were literally commissioned to be the ambassadors that invited people into the hands of a loving God, but instead of them being vessels that were used to bring God glory, they were actually hindrances that were perfecting people from experiencing God's best for their lives. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:38.240 There were the Pharisees, these were the super legalistic people. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.120 They had every portion of scripture memorized. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:44.080 They could tell you what you should do, what you shouldn't do. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:45.600 Technically, that's a sin. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:47.919 You're wrong, you shouldn't be living like that. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:53.679 Meanwhile, they themselves were not capable of living up to the standards that they were putting on everybody else. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:15:02.639 They were what we call hypocrites, but they were quick to judge everyone around them, and they made following Jesus so much more difficult. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:04.799 Then you also had the Sadducees. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:11.600 And the Sadducees, they don't often get a lot of the attention that they should because the Pharisees were the ones who were the most vocal with Jesus. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:14.799 But the Sadducees were also a very unique group of people. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.159 These were the elite, ruling, rich class. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:23.120 And at the time, they were the ones who occupied the seat of being the high priest. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:30.399 When you read the Old Testament scripture, the high priest was a role that was like, man, this was a sacred role. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:37.679 These people were holy, they had to live their lives in a certain way to even be considered eligible for the job. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:48.240 But as Roman rule became a part of the reality of that day, they then began to prostitute the holiness of God so they could have proximity to political power. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:58.799 They stopped looking at the scriptures and in and challenging everyone, no matter what your designation is, on living according to God's standard. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:10.080 They made it harder for regular people while they cosied up with politicians because they'd much rather have the power of man instead of attaching themselves to the holiness of God. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:27.279 It grieves my heart when I look in God's word and I consider this reality that has been going on literally for centuries, that even in spite of all of the wisdom and all of the insight that we can pull from God's word, that there's nothing new under the sun. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:44.559 Because today we still have followers of Christ who proclaim Jesus but make things incredibly difficult for everyone else, but we also have followers of Christ who have somehow distanced themselves from the Jesus of the Bible, and now all of a sudden Jesus is a politician who only cares about America. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:48.720 We've prostituted the pulpit for political power. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.320 And Jesus is saying, I am done with you. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:17:00.000 I'm done with religion, and I'm gonna now begin to call people to myself without you being the people in the middle making it more complicated. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:08.160 Jesus is pulling aside people who have been told by these religious structures that they weren't good enough. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:18.880 And then he uses this as an opportunity to speak words of life into them and to also and to invite them into an incredible journey of what it means to be a disciple. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:27.119 Jesus starts off his statement to his followers and he says to them, You are salt and you are light. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:35.039 For this audience, when they would have heard that you are the salt of the earth, there's a couple of things that would have come to mind. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:40.799 First and foremost, salt was a form of currency back in the times of Jesus. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:45.279 That the truth of the matter is that that Roman soldiers often were paid with salt. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:54.319 So if you are a historian or maybe you've ever heard the phrase, oh, that person is worth their salt, that is all connected back to the times of Jesus, where it was literally a form of currency. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:59.599 So when someone said anything about salt, they were communicating something is valuable. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:04.480 It has it has it has value, it has the potential of having impact. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:06.160 But it doesn't stop there. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:09.920 Salt also serves a couple of other purposes. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.279 First and foremost, salt, it seasons. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:15.759 It adds flavors to food. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.880 It makes food a lot more enjoyable. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:27.599 As a man who was grown and built up in a home that loves to use seasoning on their food, I can speak very clearly about this. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.599 My mom would always have all types of herbs and spices and things going on. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:36.319 But if I could be real with you, man, I went to another level when I started dating my wife Megan. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:40.240 See, so she's Caribbean, she's Jamaican. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:52.480 So so I remember the first time she invited me over to her house, and I walked into the home and I smelled this aroma that was just what I can only imagine is what the gates of heaven will smell like. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:54.799 And I said, What is that smell? 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:58.880 And she said, Oh, um, my mom made curry chicken tonight. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:00.640 I said, My God. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:05.920 Taste and see that the Lord and curry are good. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:12.880 I remember sitting down to eat this home cooked curry chicken, and it literally changed my life. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:18.000 There have been a couple of moments, if I can be honest with you guys, where I didn't feel like me and Megan was gonna make it. 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:20.640 But the Lord brought to my remembrance. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:24.880 You're not gonna find no curry chicken like this anywhere else. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:26.640 So you need to get it together. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:28.640 I'll call it about hey, babe, I was wrong. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:30.160 That was 100% on me. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:30.640 I'm sorry. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:32.559 I'm on my way over, have my plate ready. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:41.839 Um here's the thing: salt has the ability to completely change the dish, it adds flavor. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:56.799 And one of the things that I learned about salt is that salt not only does it add its own dynamic because it's its own ingredient, but I didn't realize that salt has the ability of attaching itself to the ingredients that are there and pulling out the best of whatever flavor that already exists. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:01.279 So Jesus is saying to his disciples that you are salt. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:07.039 What that means is you are to bring the best out of every environment that you find yourself in. 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:12.640 That you have value, and everywhere you go, I want you to bring the best out of people. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:15.200 The love that's in you, I want you to bring love out. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.240 I want you to bring peace out, I want you to bring joy out. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:23.279 But sadly, it hasn't always been that way for followers of Christ. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:30.000 In the same way that if you don't have any salt, the dish is bland and it doesn't have any flavor or character. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:36.079 There's also moments when you can put too much salt in it and it becomes very overbearing and you can't even digest it. 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:51.680 As Christians, we have to manage the tension of making sure that we don't distance ourselves from environments that we need to bring the best out of, but we also gotta ensure that we're not so overbearing that it completely dilutes what God is trying to do in that experience. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:21:00.400 Sadly, what I've seen with Christians is we have a tendency to either distance ourselves, which is to undersalt environments that need us, or we over-salt. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:05.279 That means feeling like we have to dominate and take over everything and it has to be done our way. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:11.920 But Jesus saying the right amount of salt to every environment should bring the best out of everyone that you have an interaction with. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:16.000 But salt doesn't just add flavor, it also sustains. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:27.759 One of the things that we see in scripture and our understanding of how salt was utilized was that before the times of us having refrigerators, before we had freezers, that salt would preserve food. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:29.759 It would keep it from decaying. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:46.880 So when we put this all together and we understand the mandate that Jesus is giving us, he's saying that wherever you go, I need you to pull the best out of every person that's around you, but you also have to preserve the goodness of God and fight back the decay of the world. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:52.079 And when we look out into the world, there's a lot of decay that we see. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:22:02.160 We see the decay of racism, we see the decay of poverty, we see the decay of gossip, we see the decay of the defective degree of the Decay of relational dysfunction. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:05.519 On and on again, we look into a world that is broken. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:12.480 And this is the moment when the church, we as followers of Christ, are supposed to come in and fight back the decay. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:18.000 It's not good enough for us to see suffering and offer our thoughts and prayers. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:20.960 We are called to stop the decay. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:24.640 So it's not enough to not be racist, we have to be anti-racist. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:29.440 It's not enough to recognize that someone is poor and we pass by and say, I hope it works out. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:36.160 But because God has called us blessed, see last week's message, we are now called to be conduits to be a blessing to other people. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:45.839 We can't say that we are followers of Christ and be content with looking at people who are made in their image and completely be indifferent to their suffering. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:54.799 We are called to preserve God's goodness in this broken world and to stop the decay from spreading any further. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:58.720 These are the words of Jesus as he's speaking to his disciples. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:11.519 Every time Megan and I sit down with a couple that's going through a crisis, it's always this moment of us listening to the stories, the context, the suffering, the pain. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:18.240 And my initial response in those moments when we hear all of these things is I'm like, Lord, can you show me the good? 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.119 Can you can you show me one thing that is good? 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.319 Can you show me one area that can give a little bit of hope? 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:25.839 What is good in this environment? 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:29.279 Because we will leverage that to fight back the bad of what we see. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:31.200 Over and over and over again. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:36.720 We look for an opportunity to speak words of life, but but Jesus doesn't end it there. 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:40.640 He also says, You are the light of the world. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:46.160 For this audience, they would have understood what that statement meant. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:52.000 Because in scripture, particularly in Isaiah 49, verse number six, you can look this up. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:59.680 It speaks about how the children of God were going to be the light to all the nations, leading them to salvation. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.480 That was Israel's initial assignment. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:14.079 God then takes that statement and he places it on a group of people that the world has forgotten and says, No, that assignment is officially on you as followers, as disciples of me. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:15.920 You are the light of the world. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:22.480 Now Jesus already communicates to us in the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verse number 12, that he is the light of the world. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:27.839 So we don't have light on our own, but we are moons who are working the night shift. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:41.920 What that means, that as long as we don't allow our ego, our pride, or sin to eclipse our relationship with the sun, we will be able to reflect the glory of God in our life in such a way it will draw people to Jesus. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:47.200 That is what he's commissioning us to do is don't allow anything to interrupt your relationship with me. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:56.160 And as long as there's no disruption, I will use you in the midst of the deepest darkness, and all you have to do is reflect my light to a world that desperately needs it. 00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:59.920 See, light serves many purposes as well. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:04.480 One of the things that light does is that it scatters darkness. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:11.279 Wherever there is darkness, when light shows up, darkness has to flee. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:27.279 Imagine for a moment, if we literally believed and embodied the characteristic that Christ is speaking about here, that means in every environment that we go into, no matter how dim our light may be, it's enough that it should be able to make darkness scatter. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:38.160 But I also recognize that light can be used to scatter darkness, it can be used as a guide to help us to know the best way to find our face at the foot of the Father. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:42.079 But it also can be wielded in a way that brings harm. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:45.440 Because sometimes too much light can bring blindness. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:52.079 I remember many years ago when my family and I were living back up north and we had a substantially smaller house. 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:54.880 So Danira and my oldest son Keith Jr. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:56.559 they they shared a room. 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:00.480 And I remember there was a moment when we would have them go to bed. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:04.160 There was like uh at bedtime, like, hey guys, it's time for y'all to go to bed. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:06.079 We have church in the morning. 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:07.599 Church in the morning, y'all. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:08.799 Somebody say amen. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:10.400 We got we got church in the morning. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:15.519 And so they would go into the room, and then I remember this one night in particular that it was about 11:30. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:20.240 Everybody should have been asleep, but I could like see this light glowing from their bedroom. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:23.599 We were too broke for there to be a TV, so I didn't know what was going on in there. 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:27.359 So I remember waking up and I was like, okay, like, I know I see something. 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:32.799 Like, I know that we're not, our house isn't on an Indian burial ground, but I feel like we're in a poltergeist movie right now. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.119 Because I was just like light glowing from a room. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:37.920 I got up and I walked towards our room and then the light just goes out. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:41.680 So I'm like, okay, like I'm thinking, like, what, what, what is it? 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:46.240 Because I know that they're probably up, but when I walk into the room, they look like they're dead asleep. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:48.000 I mean, knocked out cold. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:51.599 And I stand there, I look at them, I'm like, man, I feel like they're asleep. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:54.559 Because by all means, my kids wouldn't lie to me, would they? 00:26:57.599 --> 00:26:59.359 They wouldn't, they wouldn't fake sleep. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:01.920 So I'm like, okay, maybe maybe maybe it's just me. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:05.200 I go back into my room, five minutes later, I see this light blowing in. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:07.359 I go in there again, out. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:09.759 So I thought. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.480 So I'm like, okay, man, like I I watched enough movies. 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:13.519 Here's what I'm gonna do. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:19.359 I'm gonna I'm gonna close the door, but I'm gonna act like I'm gone, but I'm actually gonna wait in here to see what happens. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:22.000 So I close the door and I just stood in the corner. 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:22.559 It's dark. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:25.039 And next thing I know, zoop, light comes back on. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.839 And my kids, they had found these flashlights. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:30.640 And they were having like the Star Wars lightsaber battle. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:36.720 And so I'm standing there in the corner, just looking at them, playing and all these things, and I'm like, they still don't know that I'm here. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:47.359 I stand there for like three minutes, and then I finally like, hey! And like they, like my son, who should have been the older big brother, he lets out a scream. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:50.160 Just very like, ah, scream. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:58.240 But my daughter, using the force, she takes the light and shines it in my eyes. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:04.079 So I went from being in complete darkness to her shining the light in my eyes, and it literally disoriented me. 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:06.160 So I'm thinking to myself, like, oh my gosh, like so. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:14.240 I went from being this commanding, disciplined father to being curled up in a ball thinking that my retinas have been burned because my daughter tried to blind me. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:17.440 That's when I had to start wearing glasses, guys. 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:21.440 But but watch this. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:30.880 It was then that I've learned that while light is meant to be this beautiful thing that guides us, it can also be wielded in a way that actually can bring harm. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:49.519 And unfortunately, what we see a lot of times from Christians is that instead of us using the light of God's love in leading people to the grace that is found in the Jesus of the Bible, they feel it's their responsibility to shine a light on everyone's flaws. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.480 They they do a masterful job at showing people's bad behaviors. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:29:08.960 They do a masterful job at going on to social media and stringing together a bunch of Christians and scriptures out of context and proclaiming things about God's judgment and wrath when they're not understanding that we're in the dispensation of grace. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:17.759 Instead of them using the light to lead people to the goodness of God, they're using that light to be a spotlight that blinds and disorients people. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:20.160 We are in the gospel. 00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:22.400 The gospel is good news. 00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:24.960 That means that God is for you. 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:27.200 We're supposed to be shining a light on that. 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:29.759 We're supposed to be shining a light on God's love. 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.559 We're supposed to be shining a light on God's redemptive plan. 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:38.640 We're supposed to be shining a light on letting people know that no matter how broken you are, that you are welcome at the foot of the cross. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:41.759 That is what we're supposed to be shining our light on. 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:49.039 But somehow we've created our own job description and feel like it's our responsibility to condemn the world. 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:58.240 And there are people who are disconnected from the church, not because they lack love for Jesus, it's because they've been hurt by people who say that they're his followers. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:09.440 So Jesus is bringing it all back together and saying that you are the light of the world, but I need you to be responsible with how you shed your light. 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:12.240 He continues on and he says these words. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:14.319 It's like a city on a hill. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:16.000 It can't be hidden. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:22.319 Like that what I'm doing in your life, what I've called you to do with your life, this is not something that I want you to hide. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:24.400 This is not something I want you to shrink back from. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:26.480 This is something that can't be hidden. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:35.279 Saying a city on a hill may not make a lot of sense to us, but but when you get out into the eastern part of the world, you recognize that that is how a lot of cities were structured. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:45.200 When Megan and I went to Greece a few years ago, we were in Athens, and while we were there, it was beautiful, but you could see off in the distance the Mediterranean Sea. 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:51.279 And our guide told us that they intentionally built the city to be at the highest peak of this mountain. 00:30:51.440 --> 00:31:08.559 And that the idea was that as people were traveling from all parts of the world, they would see Athens off in the distance, and the city would be illuminated, and it would then serve as a beacon of hope that's guiding them on how they can make it into this safe and secure city. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:12.160 That description is what we're supposed to be in the world. 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:17.279 That description is what the church is supposed to be in the world that's hurting and dying. 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:32.880 That people who have been wandering and who are lost and are at a point where they're grown tired of being beat up by the world, they've grown tired by broken relationships, they've been they've grown tired by being misused and abused, and they're saying, I just need to go to a place where I can find hope. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:35.599 The church is supposed to be that city on the hill. 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:42.240 That place that they could come to to experience God's love, that place that they could come to experience God's grace and his invitation. 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:49.920 Now it's not easy because once we begin to walk in fellowship with Jesus, he'll begin to reveal things in our lives that he wants to tell us to prune. 00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:54.319 He will absolutely begin to convict us and to challenge us in areas of our lives. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:32:01.680 But the invitation is incredibly broad, where he's just saying, Come and see that I am for you. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:03.359 A city on a hill. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:08.000 But he also offers a little bit of a judgment with all of these things. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:15.920 In the same breath that he's saying, that you are salt and you are our light, he also offers a little bit of a warning. 00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:22.319 Here's what he says in verse number 13 If salt loses its taste, how can it still be salty? 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:27.440 It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under someone's feet. 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:36.799 For Jesus' audience, what he is saying to them is don't allow the distinction that I've put into your life to get watered down. 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:46.799 Don't allow the uniqueness that I've given you to get diluted by the world in such a way that you no longer stand out as a follower of me. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:54.000 Jesus is challenging all of us by proxy through these words of saying, you are called to stand out. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:56.160 You were called to add flavor. 00:32:56.319 --> 00:33:00.559 You are called to fight back any of the decay that the world is trying to bring. 00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:05.839 But the moment that you try to blend in with the world, you have lost your witness. 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:08.079 You've lost your effectiveness. 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:13.920 He's saying, Don't don't allow the uniqueness in you to get filtered into the world. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:16.640 But he also says, and don't dim your light. 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:18.240 Don't don't dim your light. 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:30.160 There's some things that I'm doing in you that are unique to you that I'm going to use to make a difference in your family, in your job, in your community, but don't let anyone dim your light. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:37.839 I remember many years ago when um I first got involved in full-time ministry in this capacity. 00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:41.920 This was vastly different than what I was raised with. 00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:46.640 When I got radically saved and gave my life to the Lord. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:51.359 I was attending an all-black Pentecostal holiness church. 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:55.680 The type of church where you went in and didn't know when you were leaving. 00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:59.519 The type of church where worship may go on for an hour and a half. 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:07.359 The type of church where the presence of God was powerful, but you simultaneously would see some things that you had a lot of questions about. 00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:12.079 People spoke in tongues, people got laid out in the spirit, someone would just get up and start running for no reason. 00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:16.239 Like all of these things would happen, and it was like amazing to witness. 00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:25.199 But then when I got into my other church context, I would say the mega church context at the church I was serving at, it was different. 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:31.840 God was very active in it, but because that church had a mindset of saying, hey, we have a very, very diverse audience. 00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:37.119 We don't have just one ethnicity, we don't have just one culture, we have people that are coming from all these backgrounds. 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:41.599 So let's make sure that our traditions don't become a stumbling block for people. 00:34:41.840 --> 00:34:44.639 So that's exactly how we function today. 00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:53.760 I'm very aware that the assignment that God has given Celebration Orlando is that we are a unique collection of people that come from all types of different backgrounds. 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:55.920 Do I still believe in the power of God? 00:34:56.079 --> 00:34:56.559 1000%. 00:34:57.119 --> 00:35:07.840 But there's environments where we can contextualize it because I don't want to lead us into experiencing things with God that people can't wrap their minds around and the enemy can use that to make them feel like they're not spiritual enough. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:21.920 So we have environments where we create space for us to be able to engage God, but I also know that our Sunday responsibility is to speak God's word with conviction, filled with the Spirit of God, but being mindful there may be someone who has never heard the gospel before in their lives. 00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:23.840 The tension that we need to manage. 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:40.320 But I remember when I preached there for the very first time, and I preached his word, I still remember the title, I still remember the moment, and and and I made the fatal mistake of reading my passage from the King James translation of the Bible. 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:41.599 That's what I was raised with. 00:35:41.679 --> 00:35:42.960