5 Biblical Principles For Shining The Light Of Christ
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“You are the light of the world. A town built 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 others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
#1: ALL CHRISTIANS HAVE THE LIGHT - NOT JUST SOME!
"You are the light ..."
Having the Light of Christ isn't for just a few special people. Every single person who has given their life over to Christ by faith has the light!
#2: CHRISTIANS ARE TO SHINE THE LIGHT IN THE WORLD - NOT CHURCH BUILDINGS!
"You are the light of the world ..."
To much of what we do to shine the Light of Christ happens in building tucked away from the real world. The people who need to see the Light of Christ are not coming into our church buildings. Christ told us to go shine His light in the world.
#3: CHRISTIANS ARE TO DISPLAY THE LIGHT - NOT HIDE IT!
"A town built 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."
We are not to hide the light away so nobody knows that you follow Christ. Instead, we are to shine His light in a way that lots of people can see it and benefit from it.
#4: GOOD DEEDS IS THE ILLUMINATION OF THE LIGHT - NOT JUST WORDS!
"let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds"
Doing good deeds or loving actions is a way to illuminate people's lives so they can see Christ and God's love.
#5: THE GOAL IS TO GLORIFY GOD - NOT OUSELVES!
"glorify your Father in heaven"
The goal of shining the Light of Christ is for people to glorify God the Father. It should never be our aim to get the glory for ourselves. The glory always belongs to God and God alone!
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6 Bible Verses Describing God's Mission
/1. MATTHEW 24:14
This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.
2. MATTHEW 28:18-20
Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
3. MARK 16:15
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
4. LUKE 24:46-48
"This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high."
5. JOHN 20:21
"Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
6. 1 PETER 2:9-10
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy."
Missional Living Is Kind
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Jesus said that the world would know that we are His disciples by our love for one another and the Apostle Paul said that love in kind, so one of the ways the world will know about Jesus is through our kindness. Watch this video to learn more and then take some time to evaluate your own missional living to see if kindness is part of it.
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5 Things To Be Clear About For Powerful Missional Living
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When it comes to living a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ there are some things one needs to be absolutely clear about! Today we are going to look at 5 of them. We will be looking at Joshua 1:1-9 with the call of Joshua to join God on His mission and the 5 things God made perfectly clear for him so that he would be able to accomplish the task he was being assigned.
I. You Need A Clear Word From God! (v. 1-2)
"After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 'Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites."
Here we see God coming to Joshua explaining to him the situation about the death of Moses, about how He was appointing Joshua to become the new leader and commanding him to get the people ready to cross over into the Promised Land! Basically God is telling Joshua to GET READY - GET THE PEOPLE READY - YOU'RE HEADING OUT!
In this passage there is no indication that Joshua was confused about who it was that was talking to him. Joshua knew it was God!
There is also know indication that Joshua was confused about what God was telling him to do. Joshua knew exactly what God was telling him to do!
To be effective in missional living we need to tune our heart, mind and spirit to be able to recognize when God is speaking to us and to understand what God is telling us to do. There can't be any confusion on either point. We are following Jesus on His mission and as such we need to be able to understand when God is shifting gears or making course correction. WE NEED TO HAVE A CLEAR WORD FROM GOD!
II. You Need To Claim God's Clear Promises! (v. 3)
"I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses."
Did you catch the fact that God was giving Joshua a "Clear Promise"! God used the phrase, "I will"! It didn't say, "I might" or "It's more than likely" but it was a very definite, " I will". He gave the same promise to Joshua that He gave to Moses.
The Bible tells us in 2 Cor 1:20 that all the promises of God are "Yes" for those that are in Christ. When we know and by faith hold onto God and His promises we can claim those promises for living a powerful missional life. Knowing God's promises and knowing that God has said "yes" to those promises for us who are in Christ is powerful when shining the Light of Christ.
III. You Need To Receive A Clear Vision From God! (v. 4)
"Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west."
Did you notice how clear and specific God's explanation of what the Promised Land consists of? God gave Joshua the exact boundaries that the Promised Land would reside in.
When God assigns a mission He imparts a vision that is very specific! When God told Noah to build an ark, God was specific in the exact way he wanted it to be built. God's vision is always clear and specific.
What has God clearly called you to do? What does it look like? What things need to happen and take place for it to be done?
IV. You Need To Rest On God's Clear Assurances (v. 5)
"No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."
In this passage God give two assurances that Joshua could hold on to:
No one will able to stand against you all the days of your life;
God presence would never leave him.
In Matthew 28:18-20 we have what has come to be known as Christ's Great Commission. In it Jesus gives us, who are on mission with Him, 2 assurances. These two assurances are:
That Jesus has the authority to assign us this mission. We are on a mission under the authority of God himself.
And that His presence would be with us always!
Once you clearly internalize the reality that you are on a mission under the authority of Christ himself, who has all authority in both Heaven and earth, and that Christ himself, through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit goes with us that's the makings of a powerful missional life!
V. You Need To Hold On To God's Clear Guarantee For Success (v. 6-9)
"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid;do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
3 different times we hear God telling Joshua to be strong and courageous. These 3 reminders was to emphasize God's guaranteed success!
Verse 6: tells Joshua to be strong and courageous because "He will lead them to inherit the land". There's no if's, and's or but's - Joshua would accomplish this mission.
Verses 7-8: tells Joshua to be strong and very courageous because obedience to the Law of Moses guarantees success.
Verse 9: Reminds Joshua to be strong and courageous - don't tremble or be dismayed because God is with him wherever he goes and because of God's presence success is guaranteed.
We too can be confident of our success to the mission that Christ has called us to because Christ is the Sovereign Lord of all creation. HIs will must be done!
HOW TO HELP THOSE UNSURE ABOUT GIVING THEIR LIFE TO CHRIST!
/How do you help those people whom you share the Gospel to but aren't ready to surrender their life over to the care and control of Christ? It's not that they are opposed to it but they are just unsure and need more information.
In this short training video we are going to ask and answer that question. I pray you find it to be helpful as you go out and shine the Light of Christ to your part of this dark world!
Please share your thoughts as a comment below! I'd love to hear from you!
2 Important Things To Do To Make Disciples For Jesus
/Let's take a look at two important things that Jesus did to call out his first disciples. Then let's begin to join Christ on His mission by calling others to become disciples for Jesus also.
I love to hear your thoughts about this topic! Please share your thoughts as a comment!
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Remembering What It's Like To Live In Spiritual Darkness
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To effectively live a powerful missional life Christians need to remember that those who are without Christ live in spiritual darkness. This video is intended to remind us that people are still lost in darkness and to help look at people with new eyes!
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1 Powerful Way To Join God On A Missional Living Movement
/Do you want to be part of a powerful movement of God that allows the Light of Christ to shine brightly in this dark world? Then check out this video and learn about one thing that Jesus commanded His disciples to do that would create a powerful movement of God!
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8 Bible Verse To Empower You For Missional Living
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These 8 verses have been particularly meaningful to me as I have been on this journey into a more missional life! They have been the fuel of empowerment that the Holy Spirit has given me to more boldly share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those I am around. I pray, as you read them, you too find them to be of help as you travel this journey!
#1: Luke 24:46-47
"He told them, 'This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem."
#2: Matthew 28:18-20
"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
#3: Luke 24:46-47
"He told them, 'This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
#4: Matthew 9:37-38
"Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
#5: John 20:21
"Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
#6: Acts 1:8
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
#7: Isaiah 6:8
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, 'Here I am send me."
#8: Mark 16:15
"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
WE HAVE:
- The Mission
- The Message
- The Calling
- The Power
- The Presence
- The Scope
So what are we waiting for? Let's go shine the Light of Christ into our part of this spiritual dark world brightly!
