The Salt of the Earth

Matthew 5:9-16

Jesus describes the church’s posture to the world. (Matthew 5:9-16)

Call
1. Make peace
2. Rejoice in persecution
3. Be holy (salt)
4. Do good works (light)

vs.

Temptation
1. Making war
2. Reject persecution
3. Compromise
4. Withdraw

Salt was primarily used to prevent decay and corruption, and to add flavoring to food.

The temptation is for the Church to lose its saltiness and become like the world. (Malachi 3:13-18)

The church and the world are not the same. (1 John 2:15-17, Romans 8:19-22)

In attempting to reach people, it’s easy for Christians to apologize for the hard parts of Christianity, therefore diluting the power and punch of the Christian faith.

We have two temptations:
1. To be too rigid, too hardened
2. To be too flabby, too flexible

God calls us to be holy as He is holy. (1 Peter 1:13-21)

The more we rejoice in Christ’s death on our behalf, the more we will realize that the pressure is not on us, that God loves us without conditions, because He is just that good, the more we will be set free to tevere His Name, cling to His Word, and to be holy, because our Savior is holy.

T.A.G Questions (try these with new friends you meet after our service is done)

1. Icebreaker: What is an essential “spice” for you? Why?
2. How do you positively flavor your surroundings? Share an example of this.
3. How does our church positively flavor our community?

Discussion Questions

1. Leader: Have someone open your group discussion with prayer.
2. Icebreaker: (Choose one.) What spice recalls strong memories for you? Why?
3. Read Matthew 5:13 aloud as a group. What word(s) stand(s) out to you? Ask God why and then share His response with the group.
4. Salt flavors, preserves, and purifies. How have you experienced Christians influencing their environments in these ways? How have you?
5. What factors interfere with your calling to be salt?
6. What person or situation do you know of which needs God’s salt today? Pray together for this influence to be expressed.
7. (optional): If you are a follower of Christ, share the Lord’s Supper together, reading aloud from 1 Cor. 11:23-26.

Community Group Leadership Tips

• Pray for your group before and after you meet. Prayerfully work through the questions and bible passage yourself before you meet.
• At the beginning of your first time together, explain that these groups are meant to be discussions not lectures. Encourage the members of the group to participate. However, do not put pressure on those who may be hesitant to speak during the first few sessions.
• Avoid answering your own questions. However, leaders may set the tone by occasionally sharing their own answers without dominating the time or the discussion.
• Learn to accept silence in the group while they process your questions.
• Appropriately call upon quieter members when they seem to have something to share.
• Acknowledge and thank group members for their sharing. Redirect the group if they get off-topic too much.
• Don’t be afraid of controversy. It can be very stimulating. If you don’t resolve an issue completely, don’t be frustrated. Move on and keep it in mind for later. A subsequent study may solve the problem.
• You may need to divide the group into smaller subsets (men, women, pairs, etc.) to help the time and participation to flow.
• If possible, the group host should not also be the group shepherd/facilitator. This helps the group to eventually multiply as it grows larger.
• Look for ways to share the tasks in the group to help build a healthy discipleship culture. Look for the persons God may be leading to serve as apprentice hosts or shepherds.