Sunday July 16th 11am (Traditional) Service with Guest Speaker Brad Yates

In one paragraph

Brad Yates, one of our elders, preached from Matthew 5:13-16, the familiar words of Jesus about salt and light. He traced what those images meant to the people who first heard them, and then pressed the question of what they mean for how we live together as a church right now in Jackson. The central claim of the message was this: God's glory is the point of everything, and that shapes what we are...

Read together

1. Psalm 40 verse cited to lead into opening worship song
2. Philippians 4:7 cited before singing Peace Like a River
3. Matthew 5:13-16 main sermon text on salt, light, and God's glory
4. 1 Peter 2:13 cited to show Peter addressed submission to Nero
5. John 8 Jesus says I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness
6. Ephesians 3:10 cited to show God's big-picture purpose through the church
7. 1 Corinthians 10 Paul says whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God
8. Romans 8:28 all things work for the good of those called according to His purpose
9. Romans 8:1 no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
10. Philippians 1 to live is Christ, to die is gain
11. Matthew 5:16 closing benediction, let your light shine before others to glorify the Father

Talk about it

1. Brad said that when people insult us, we need to make sure it is because of our Christ and not because we are being jerks. Can you think of a time when you received pushback for something you believed, and how did you handle telling the difference between those two?
2. Brad described salt's preservative role in relationships as pouring yourself out without getting the salt back, being the first to own your part of a conflict and the first to overlook an offense. Where in your relationships right now does that feel hardest to do, and why?
3. Brad warned against what he called an insidious disease of individuality in the Western American church, and said the Bible knows nothing of the just Jesus and me thing. How has being part of a community here actually changed something in your faith that you could not have managed on your own?
4. Brad used the Westminster Shorter Catechism's question, what is the chief end of man, and set it against what he called the Jackson Hole shorter catechism, attending church when convenient and maximizing enjoyment of this beautiful place. Where do you see that tension showing up most honestly in your own week?
5. Brad closed by asking us not to say what did you think on the way to the car, but instead to ask what did God show you today and what are you going to do about it. So, what did God show you today, and what is one concrete thing you want to do about it this week?