Refuge Church Byhalia is a new nondenominational evangelical church located in Byhalia, MS that exists to share the hope of Jesus, grow together, & love our neighbors in Byhalia, Marshall County, Lewisburg, & surrounding areas. Below is a sermon outline from our Launch Training on 3/23/25. From Matthew 5 titled, ‘A Well Seasoned Life’ that was part of our ‘Preparing to Launch’ series where we are learning what the church should be & do.
Intro
- Good Morning
- Welcome again to Refuge Church Byhalia
- My name is Michael & I serve as the Planting Pastor here at Refuge Church.
- And we are 1 week away from our Grand Opening Celebration!
- I hope y’all are excited
- I am so looking forward to what God has in store for us next week and beyond.
- So many wonderful things are happening
- But I wanted to celebrate how everyone has been executing our outreach efforts & preparing to welcome many guests & visitors to the Refuge in the coming weeks.
- There’s an energy and enthusiasm building.
- And My hope and belief is.
- God will bring many through our doors next Sunday and beyond
- And they will see that we are a family that is growing
- Numerically & in closeness
- And the many will see that we really do love our neighbors & want their good today, but more importantly for eternity
- And they will know that we love our neighbors enough to share the hope of Jesus with them
- And God will move
- And God will build HIs church
- And God will sustain us
- And God will hold us tightly in His hand
- Next Sunday is a celebratory day
- But it is not the end
- You see all these efforts
- ‘Preparing to Launch’ is what we’ve been saying every Sunday
- All of these efforts aren’t just for March 30th
- They are for every day until Christ Returns or Calls Us Home
- And today, we will wrap up our Preparing to Launch Series with a short few verses
- That will challenge us in that daily living – as believers
- So open your Bibles to Matthew Chapter 5:13-16 Page ___
- If you don’t have a Bible with you today that you normally use, I would like to invite you to use one of those Blue Bibles around the room.
- We want you to see the Words we are speaking & teaching from.
- Page numbers for all of the Bible Verses I reference will be on the screen for easy navigating, whether its your first time or millionth time using the Bible.
- Growing Up – Mom Denver – Staying in the Rural Mountains – Bright Stars
- A Well Seasoned Life – A Bright SHining Life
- Let’s Read
Matthew 5:13-16 ‘13 “You are the salt of the earth, kbut if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 l“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 mNor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so nthat2 they may see your good works and ogive glory to your Father who is in heaven.’
Let’s Pray – A Church Built on the SOlid Rock of JEsus Christ & A Church longing for the Word & A Church of beleivers becoming more like Jesus & less like the world as they kill sin. Let us Keep our Saltiness & Shine Bright – not for ourselves – but for the good of our neighbors & for the Glory of God.
Point 1
- We have to start with some presuppositions
- Which just means, there are some things we know & are true that Jesus doesn’t say out loud at the beginning.
- Just like you all know I’m a big basketball fan & love the Memphis Tigers & Grizzlies
- Hard week for me in my fandom…
- I don’t have to say that I like those basketball teams every time we talk
- You know this before
- The reality of me cheering for those teams is understood without saying them out loud
- Similarly as Jesus is preaching this section of His sermon
- There are some understood things that will help us understand.
- The world around us is decaying & dark. Jesus says we, believers, called out ones, the church, are the preserving salt & illuminating light.
- This is another plural you all
- Or as us southerners like to say
- Y’all
- Y’all are the salt
- Y’all are the light
- And the verbiage is somewhat exclusive
- Y’all are the only salt
- Y’all are the only light
- The only salt & light to a decaying and dark world.
- Theologian Matthew Henry from hundreds of years ago phrases it like this.
- ‘Mankind, lying in ignorance and wickedness, were as a vast heap, ready to putrify; but Christ sent forth his disciples, by their lives and doctrines to season it with knowledge and grace.’
- And in this we must see
- Our existence isn’t the answer
- Just by being a Christian
- We won’t be effective salt or light
- We won’t stop decay just by being alive & calling ourselves a Christian
- We won’t just be illuminating light by being alive and calling ourselves a Christian
- Matthew Henry commented that it is by our lives & doctrines
- You see if we want to see Refuge Church grow & become a healthy, vibrant, & life giving church.
- We cannot just say that out loud
- And expect it to happen
- No – if we are to accomplish & live out our vision
- We must be Preserving Salt & Illuminating Light
- There is no other plan
- The Local Church is God’s plan to preserve a decaying world & the Local Church is God’s Plan to illuminate a dark world with the hope of Christ
- Pastor & Theologian John MacArthur says ‘God has changed us from being part of the corrupting, stinking, foul meat of the world to be the salt that can preserve it, and from being in the gloomy mist of darkness to being light that can expose it.’
- Well how do we effectively do that?
- That’s the question of the day.
- How do we be good salt & good light
- How do we be preserving salt?
Point 2
- To be preserving salt, we must live in purity as called-out ones.
- If we don’t we will lose our saltiness and be useless Jesus says
- If we don’t live a life different than the world around us
- Now it is important to note
- To live in purity as called out ones
- It doesn’t mean to never be out and about in the world.
- We cannot just be a pile of salt here at 3964 Hwy 309 N.
- When meat is salted to be preserved, the entire outside of the meat is salted
- Not just one spot with a big pile of salt
- To be preserving salt we must live in purity throughout the World as we go, wherever we go.
- Pastor Charles Spurgeon says “When the salt is scattered, it exercises a healthful influence. And when the church is scattered throughout the world, its influence is most healthful.”
- Sunday after Sunday we spend time equipping the saints for the work of the ministry
- Meaning everything we do is to equip the believers & help them grow
- Along with sharing the hope of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit may save many!
- But this isn’t the only thing that happens
- You see you have your job
- And your house
- And your paths throughout this week
- And that means you have divine appointments
- That I don’t have
- Where you are to be living as pure clean holy salt – to preserve & influence those around you
- & therefore – How you live, matters
- To live as though nothing has changed – is unacceptable
- When God saves someone – their wants change
- Their desires change
- Have yours?
- When God moves through the Gospel
- And helps someone to know & believe the truth that
- The God who created and sustains everyone & everything
- God created us to be with him.
- But we, mankind, willingly choose to disobey God & His commands
- His commands that would help us have the best life ever
- And that willing disobedience
- That Sin separates us from God
- And we cannot fix this sin issue
- We cannot clean ourselves up
- Sins cannot be removed by good deeds
- But Jesus, the very SOn of the living God
- The long promised MEssiah
- Paying the price for sin Jesus died & rose again.
- So that everyone who trusts in Him alone, will have eternal life
- And life with Jesus starts from that moment of faith & lasts forever.
- And when you have life with Jesus
- When you re saved by Jesus
- Your life changes!
- Your wants & desires change
- Have yours?
- If yes – we want to celebrate God moving in your life
- If even the smallest amount of faith in Jesus & evidence of a changed life are there
- It’s worth celebrating.
- And we want to talk to you about celebrating that change
- You can mark on yoru care card, membership/baptism & we will set up a time, as quickly as possible to discuss the things of God & how Jesus Changed Everything for you.
- And if you’ve never gone public with how God has rescued, redeemed, & restored you through water baptism
- We will set aside a time to do that with the church
- We’ve got one scheduled next Sunday.
- And then we will labor to come alongside you and disciple you
- To help you follow Jesus better
- Til Christ returns or calls you home.
- And as a follower of Jesus – your life will be different
- And that difference from the world around you
- And the ways you used to live
- And your old wants and desires
- Is you being pure & effective Salt
- Beyond our personal holiness though
- There is also a truth that ‘To be preserving salt, we must know God & truth about Him.’
- We must know God & about God as He is revealed in scripture
- We must get rid of our own ideas about God
- And we must not ignore things about God or things in the Bible, that we don’t like.
- Remember we say, when the Bible says jump, we jump. And when the Bible says sit, we sit.
- And part of that means – the way we think about God, the way we talk about God, must be in accordance to the Bible.
- Not our own thoughts.
- Charles Spurgeon again ‘When a church maintains the doctrines of the gospel in all their purity, then it is like salt that has not lost its savor. But when it departs from the truth, it becomes utterly useless.’
- How we live & how we view God
- As we go in the world
- Matters – because we Christians are here as a preservative to a decaying world.
- If the church were gone, if Christians were gone
- The world would get worse
- If you weren’t at your place of work, would it get worse?
- If you’re being effective pure salt – it would.
- Would your friend group be darker & more sinful if you weren’t there?
- If you’re being effective pure salt – it would.
- Or is your work or friend group already full of decay – because you compromise when you walk out of this building…..
- Oh Refuge, let us be preserving salt by being pure & having right views of God.
Point 3
- Now we are not just preserving salt
- Jesus said y’all are the light of the World.
- The world is dark –
- Remember verses 14-16 that we read earlier 14 l“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 mNor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so nthat2 they may see your good works and ogive glory to your Father who is in heaven.’
- The World should see us believers
- To be illuminating light, we must not hide ourselves or our hope.
- And we should shine
- Shine because we are different
- Shine because we have love
- Shine because we have joy
- Shine because we have peace
- Shine because we are patient
- Shine because we are kind
- Shine because we are good
- Shine because we are faithful
- Shine because we are gentle
- Shine because we have self control
- Shine because we have at least some small fruit of the spirit growing
- And our fruit is obvious
- Because its growing
- And because its in front of other people
- How quickly the sunday school song may be in your mind
- Hide it under a bush oh no! I’m gonna let it shine
- Do you let your light shine before men
- Or do you hide it
- Or do you hide from the world around you
- Look door hangers are small step of boldness to share the hope of Jesus
- And its a small step to go hang them on Wednesday night this week.
- But it is a step
- If you are never out and about among the world to let them know about Jesus
- You’re hiding your light.
- And now the World
- Is left in darkness…
- Matthew Henry says ‘The disciples of Christ must not muffle themselves up in privacy and obscurity.’
- Refuge Church must shine bright throughout Byhalia, Barton, & beyond.
- We must be out and about
- Sharing the hope of Jesus
- & Loving Neighbors
- Or we will never grow.
- We can never get satisfied
- With who is here and how we do things
- To a point we close the curtains on the windows
- Hang out with each other only
- NOw we got to get out
- And shine bright
- Like those stars filling the night sky when I was staying in the mountains of rural colorado
- We must night hide
- We must get out and shien
- Shine with the hope we have in Christ
- Lots of chances to do this soon
- Tuesday we have our ribbon cutting at 10 AM
- Wednesday we are doing another round of door hangers & guest gift prep
- Sunday is our Grand Opening Celebration
- We’ve been preparing to launch
- But it’s time for Refuge Church to be here
- Be pure
- Be salty
- And shine bright
- It’s a beautiful balance & challenge from Jesus
Conclusion
- John MacArthur ‘Salt and light balance each other in this sense. Salt is hidden; you don’t see it at all. It just melts away into whatever it flavors or preserves. It works secretly to preserve from the inside. But light shines on the outside, and light is open, and light is working visibly.’
Grand Opening Notes
- Spend this week reaching out to your one(s)
- Next Sunday will be joyful and awesome day
- Highly evangelistic
- A great day for someone who is currently far from God to come
- So go knock on a door
- Send that text
- Call someone.
- We will spend the next 3 Sundays doing some celebrating and having special guests.
- Each Sunday we will go over one of our main pillars as a church
- March 30th – Grand opening Day – Sharing the HOpe of Jesus
- Closing our service with a joyful baptism
- April 6th – Loving Neighbors
- Special Guests 2 ministries we support and partner with
- Hearts & Hands
- & Life Choices of Memphis
- April 13th – Growing Together
- With special guest – A missionary group we support – Mike Curry of Light Ministries will be with us
- Light ministries is involved in church planting, pastor training, orphan care, & education in Africa
- Then we will have Easter on April 20th
- & then our Crawfish Festival is April 26th
- The next month is going to be exciting
- And intense
- And a great time to be bold bright lights
- As you go, wherever you go.
- So before you go today
- Pray for a brother or sister – that they may be salty salt – and bright lights
- Get pray from brother scott up front
- And let’s get ready to celebrate all that God has done & will do as He builds His church
- Let’s Pray.