Pass The Salt - Jesus Says Series

God has created us to be the salt of the world. In doing so, we are called to be different so that we can make a difference in our communities and the world at large. 

In this episode, we continue our series Jesus Says where we explore the power of God’s Word and why Scripture must be the primary voice guiding our lives.

We pray this message encourages your faith, deepens your prayer life, and helps you gain a greater vision for life in Christ. Share this episode with someone who wants to grow deeper in God’s Word.

To learn more about Vision Church or discover how you can partner with our ministry, visit www.ourvisionchurch.com.

Go with God and be blessed.

Transcript

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Matthew chapter 5. We've been in a series that we started last week called Jesus Says. And if you've ever played the game Simon says, you do whatever Simon says. But how many of y'all know we have somebody that's greater than Simon? His name is Jesus. He's the King of all Kings, the Lord of our Lords. He has the solution to life, death, eternity, and everything in between. And so we want to step into God's word and not just hear for what a pastor in a local church in Virginia has to say. We want to hear what the King of Kings has to say. And I believe as we step into more of what God wants for us to do, He's going to reveal to us some things. I want to tell you one quick thing before we do. If you serve on any team at Vision Church, or if you're interested in serving on any team at Vision Church, this Wednesday night is our team night. I want to make sure that you're there. It's going to be an opportunity for us to share a little bit of some updates, some changes that we're making, some policies that we're adding, as well as some amazing wins that God is doing in and through our church in this season. Everybody say, are you ready? If you're ready, say yes. Matthew chapter 5. Jesus is talking. He says this, You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under foot. Let's keep reading and then I'll go back and give some more context. 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, somebody say in the same way. Our Father who is in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, Jesus, not into temptation. Deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom in the power, in the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Y'all ever been to a place and you've eaten like somebody ever invited you to their house and you show up and the food looks good, it's properly baked together, it's cooked good, uh, and then you start biting into it and you realize the person must have gone broke because there ain't no seasoning on this thing. You're like, did you do you have like an allergy to salt and pepper and like like can I get you some adobo? Can I get you some tahin? Can I get you something? Can I get you some water? Like, can I get you something? Uh I man, there's nothing more frustrating for me. Kia, I'll tell you this. There's a restaurant that is my least favorite on the entire planet. I will not name it because this is gonna go on the internet and I don't want to get sued. But there's nothing more frustrating for me when I show up to a restaurant. Y'all ever show up to a restaurant and like it's like a$20 steak, like, which isn't expensive for a steak. Steaks are typically$20. But when the steak is this small, and when there's no salt or flavoring on it, oh, I get frustrated, y'all. Because if I'm gonna spend a lot of money, I better have a lot either a lot of food or some really good food. And if I could have made it at home better myself, that is when we fightin', y'all. Uh the truth is, just like we like our steaks flavored and our chicken flavored and our fish flavored, just like we like our vegetables, because I do eat vegetables every once in a while now, Nana. Uh my nana's in the house, she knows I don't eat vegetables as much as I should, but I'm getting along in age, and I need to start eating some green beans and some spinach and some all that stuff. How many of y'all know it tastes better? Everything tastes better with cheese on it, though, to be fair. Um but but today's sermon is not about cheese, today's sermon is about salt. Uh, how many of y'all know that just like sometimes our meal needs a little bit more flavor, our world around us needs a little bit more flavor? There are things that are happening in our families, things happening in our communities, things happening in this church, things happening in our schools that we need flavor for. And the reason why Jesus is saying this statement is because for hundreds of years, the Israelites have been waiting for somebody called the Messiah. Somebody say Messiah. And the Messiah was supposed to be the savior, this new king, this warrior giant that would come and he would elevate the people of Israel over all other people, and his job was to make them mighty again. And so they've been waiting for this guy to solve all their problems. They've been waiting for this guy to put them on top of the world. And Jesus comes and Jesus flips the script upside down. And Jesus doesn't tell them I'm the salt of the world. Jesus looks at them and says, You are the salt of the world. You ever have something that you're dealing with and you're calling out to God and you're saying, God, I wish you would come in and finally fix my spouse. God, I wish you would come in and finally fix them kids. God, I wish you'd come in and finally fix that pastor that's always making jokes all the time. I wish he would get to God's word. Y'all better not be praying that. Like I just talk to Jesus all the time. He'll tell me on you. No, like we're all praying, and Jesus turns it around and he says, No, no, no, no, no. You can't ask, you can't pass the salt. You are the salt. See, there's a kingdom principle that God has been doing from the very beginning that he will do until the very end. And it's a kingdom principle of partnership. Somebody say partnership. See, there are things that God can do in the earth, things that miracles that he can make happen, ways that he could restore things. God could do anything he wants, but God chooses out of his wisdom to do this crazy thing called partnering with you and me. God doesn't just do the miracle, God finds a person to do the miracle through. And I want to tell you today, you might be thinking, man, I wish somebody else would come in and fix this. I wish somebody else would come in and shift this situation. I wish somebody else would come. Can I tell you? God isn't looking for somebody else. God is telling you today, you are the salt of the earth. And there's got to be this conviction, this confidence that comes over us as believers that we recognize, man, I am called by God to be the salt of the earth, the earth. See, salt back then wasn't just called to flavor. I got some nice salt right here, eye-dye salt. I'm originally from, I was born in, by the way, if you don't know this, I was born in Haiti, and then I lived in South Florida, and then I lived in South Carolina. Uh, and then I moved up to Virginia, and of course, in Virginia, it snows uh every like, it used to be every 10 years, but now it feels like every 10 minutes. Um and so I remember my first year here where it snowed like about 10 years ago, and it was it was nuts. And uh I was like, hey, guys, I've never been someplace where it snows, what do I do? And people were like, well, just go go get some bread and some milk. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna go get some bread and some milk. And then they said this crazy thing. They said, and go get some salt. I was like, okay. So then I showed up to the store and I bought me some salt. How many of y'all know this isn't the same kind of salt? See, uh, back in those days, salt wasn't just used to flavor food, salt would also be used to preserve food because back then they didn't have a refrigeration like we do now. So what you do is you would pour salt over everything and preserve it. Salt was used to keep things pure, salt was used to also give them flavor. Can I tell you, just like the world back in those days, Jesus isn't saying just to flavor your food, that's part of it, but Jesus is calling us in the world that is so often lacking of purity, and the world that is so lacking of flavor, and the world that is lacking of hope. Jesus is saying, my solution isn't just to come down from heaven with lightning bolts and thunder and anger. My solution is the salt of the earth. And that's you. God's solution to the school system having its issues is not just everybody else. It's the believer that's right here. Students that are in the room, can I tell you? You may be looking and thinking some of your cosmates are ratchet, some of your teachers got issues. Can I tell you? You are the salt of the earth. God is calling you, equipping you, encouraging you to make a difference. Business leaders, business workers, can I tell you? Sometimes we show up and we're like, man, I just wish Jesus would come and take out all these people. Some of y'all are praying for a snow day every single Sunday afternoon. You're like, Jesus, I want to come to church and it's snow in the afternoon so I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Can I tell you, you are the salt of the earth? Some of you are parents, mothers, fathers. Some of you are school teachers. Can I tell you, that next generation that is coming up, you are the salt of the earth to them. I want to encourage you to not think of yourself as small. Here's what's crazy about our culture, though. Our culture likes to pass the salt, our culture doesn't like to be the salt. Our culture likes to point at somebody else and go, you fix it. Our culture likes to point at somebody else and go, make it out your problem. Our culture likes to point at somebody else and go, you pay for that. But can I tell you, in the in the kingdom of God, we don't get to point fingers at anybody. I don't get to look at Kevin and go, hey, Kevin, uh, how about this? I don't feel like being my my kid's parents right now. So can I pass you the salt? Can I I drop my kid off today and you take care of them? No, like God is asking me to take care of that. Man, there are things that God is asking you to pray for, places God is asking you to serve, ways that God is asking you to give, ways that God is asking you to get involved, that only you can do. And I want to encourage you, don't pass the salt. I love what Jesus is teaching though, because he says you are the salt of the earth. And then Jesus gives a warning. He says, But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? And so here's what Jesus is really saying here. You can't make a difference unless you are different. You can't change somebody unless you have been changed into somebody. Man, some of us uh can I can can we've all met that person that's like that have you ever met somebody that's giving you financial advice? And then you look outside of their car and you're like, bro, you as broke as I am. Like they take you out and they're like, Man, I just want you to get out of debt, but they're paying like on their 17th credit card, and you're like, I don't think you understand what out of debt means. One of my favorite things is having like my single friends that are giving me advice on like how to be married to my wife, like, you should just do this. And I'm like, I don't know if you like I love you, thank you, but keep praying. Keep praying. Man, you need to, you need to, you need to be different. And the enemy will try to take what he's doing inside of you and cause you to walk in compromise, cause you to walk small, cause you to think to yourself, man, like, can I tell you this is salt? If I put this over my steak, it'll make it delicious. But how many know if I take a bot a pound of sugar and put it on my steak, it's not gonna taste as good. You need to recognize that God has called you to be who you are, where you are. Some of you are ashamed about your background, some of you are ashamed about what you look like, some of you are ashamed about the gifts that God's given you. And can I tell you, God created you on purpose for a purpose? Your story is his story in the making. Your what God is asking you to do, calling you to do, is to be salt in light to the world. So you can't make a difference unless you are different. You can't get help somebody get sober if you're still walking in an addiction. You can't help somebody have a healthy marriage if you're still walking in dysfunction. You can't help somebody else grow in their faith if you're not growing in your faith. Man, I I was uh before I did this, I was a kids' pastor for like six years. I served in student ministries, and parents would uh come to me and say, uh, here's my teenager, fix them. I was young and I didn't know what I was doing, so I was like, okay, I guess I'll try. Like with the hour and a half you gave them to me a week, like, we'll try. Can I tell you nothing is more powerful than your voice as a parent? And you may feel like, John, I don't even know how to pray. I don't even know what to pray, I don't know what to say. I feel like I'm yelling at them half the time. Can I tell y'all? First of all, please don't understand. I'm on this platform, I was thinking this week, I was like, I'm raising my voice too much on my kids, and I need to do better. Can I just encourage you? Just be salt. Just be salt. You can't make a difference unless you're different. So here's the here's another way to say it is don't let your salt get watered down. Don't let your salt get watered down. See, some of us have something that God's put inside of us, and what we do is we put so much other stuff around the salt that by the time the salt is ready to be used, we're not able to use it. Can I tell you, uh, there's uh there's a there's a well in the back of my house. If I poured all this salt in it, praise God, I don't have to do this analogy for real. But if I poured all this salt, and how many of y'all know that the salt would never not be useful anymore? Um and so I want to encourage us to not let your salt get watered down. Because why? Because you are called to make a difference. Somebody say I'm called. I'm called to make here's here's why. Here's a mistake that I feel like a lot of believers make because they they hear that. Gee, I'm supposed to be the salt of the earth, I'm supposed to walk around and make a difference. But can I tell you, as a Christian, the longer you're saved, some of you are new believers and you're walking in faith for the first time, and you're gonna get baptized and do all those things. I had a conversation yesterday with a gentleman that's been coming to our church, and he walked up to me because he was on the setup team and he said, John, I really feel like God is asking me to be baptized, and I want to do it for me. I want to step into what God's called me to. Can we celebrate that God is making that kind of a difference and then through our church? But but you know the temptation he's gonna face and you're gonna face? Uh the temptation we are gonna face is instead of being salt, we we can often and easily choose to just get salty. Because how many of y'all know that if I'm salt, it's super comfortable, it's super easy to stay right here in my little bubble in my little comfort zone. Like, I meet some Christians that all their friends, everybody they're interacting with are other Christians. Like this past week, my wife and I hung out with some of our friends that are very, very, very not Christian. Like, like you know, you know somebody's not Christian when they're sitting at your kitchen table, and like you ever have a friend that knows you're safe, so they're trying to act right around you, and they're almost cussing every 30 seconds. And what I could have done is I could have been like, we're never hanging out with them again. These are terrible people, we don't want them around. But I need to remember that I am the salt of the earth. I am the solution. When God was looking at their life and saying, I need somebody to make a difference, I need somebody to love them, I need somebody to show them who Jesus is. I don't get to point the finger at some other people because Jesus asked me to be the salt. Now, what's easier is I can stick around with all y'all because y'all are super saved and love Jesus, and I like all of y'all, and we can have fun together and lift our hands. But here's what I've learned about Christians: if all we do is hang out with each other, we stop being salt and we just get salty. We just get judgmental, we get selfish, we get all about us, we get all about what's our comfortable little bubble. Us four and no more. Can I tell you, Jesus didn't just call us to be salt for the sake of our saltiness. Jesus didn't call us for the pure for just for the sake of our purity. Jesus called us salt and pure so that our purity can make an impact on an impure world. That we would be a people that God can anchor some people to to make a difference. And a lot of times when we talk about making a difference, I love what Jesus says uh that you are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Uh, here's here's the mistake that we make when God calls us and he gifts us and he anoints us. A problem that sometimes Christians do is we will keep the soul and the gift to ourselves because we believe we might not. John, I'll I'll talk to them about Jesus after I've come to vision for like another two or three years, and you've put a lot of Bible in me, then I'll invite them to church. Then I'll tell them about what God's teaching me. Then I'll like some of us are looking around and we we we're parents and we're raising kids and we're thinking to ourselves, man, I just don't know enough to even start the conversation. What if they ask me a question that I don't know the answer to? Some of us have co-workers that we know need the Lord and we're trying to impact them. And most of us are walking around feeling like, man, like I just don't have enough. My salt isn't high quality. Like, if I could preach like you could preach, or if I could sing like Kia sings, can I tell you God isn't asking me to do what He's asked me to do? My job is to be faithful with the salt that He's given me. Your job is to be faithful with the salt that He's given you. My job is to pour my salt on the people He's given me, your job is to pour the salt that He's given you on the people that He's given you. And here's the great thing about salt: a little goes a long way. A little bit of encouragement can change somebody's day. One of my favorite things to do, uh, as a believer, I'm trying to reach our community. I'm trying to, this is a Christian thing, not a pastor thing. Uh, but I try to go to the same grocery store at the exact same time. John, why do you do that? Uh, I'd go to the same Dollar General at about the same time. Why do I do that? Because the cashier, his name is Sincere, he's uh 17, he goes to the local high school. He he always works the Saturday night shift. And every single week when I walk around, hey Sincere, how you doing, man? It's good to catch you up. Can I, can I, and what I do is I encourage him. I don't preach a whole sermon, I don't give him half the Bible, I don't, I just encourage him a little bit. Can I tell you how amazing would it be someday for Sincere to walk in the back of that room and go, dude, he's the pastor? Can I tell you, just like he would do that for he's the pastor, he'll do that for you and go, I can't believe you go to church here. I can't believe you're a follower of Jesus. Oh, that's why you've been so nice. That's why you've been so kind, that's why you've been so encouraging. Can I tell you one of the best witnesses I ever got is how Christians respond to people that give them poor customer service. A few years ago, a friend of mine, another pastor friend of mine, we're working at another church and uh we stopped to have lunch someplace. And I don't know if you've ever had lunch, and it was just a bad can we just be real? It was just a bad experience. Like they definitely did not put any salt on their food. The food showed up late, the fries were undercooked, the steak was overcooked, uh, the flavoring was off, like everything was just off. And like we're like, man, we're just not having a good time. And and we decide, you know what, we could be salty, but instead let's be salt. And so we're we're encouraging, we're blessing, we're doing all those things. And uh, at the end of the day, the the hostess walks over uh and she says, Hey, it's good to see you again. What do you mean it's good to see me again? She goes, Well, I go to your church. I know that you're the pastors there. And I just want to tell you, I'm so grateful for how kind you've been to the whole staff today. We've been a little understaffed and it's been a tough day. Can I tell you I had every right to get salty, I had every right to get self-righteous, I had every right to be like this was bad customer service. But when I made a decision to show up and be salt and not just salty, God was able to make a decision to use me to make a difference. Can I encourage you today? That's not a pastor thing, that is a Christian thing. God is asking you to step into places where there is lacking in flavor, lacking in purity, lacking in excellence, lacking in love. And God is sending you because there is something missing in those places that you are the answer to. You gotta look and go, man, I may not have, can I tell you, you may not have a sermon, but you have you can have a word of encouragement. You may not have a, let me pull out a chapter or verse and pull out the hermeneutic, but you can walk up to somebody and say, hey, I just want you to know you're doing a good job. You know what you can do? You can, when you're at the grocery store and you see that parent, that mom or that dad, and they got four kids and they're struggling, and you can tell they're frustrated, it costs you zero dollars to walk up to somebody and say, Hey, I just felt like I was supposed to come over and tell you that you're a great parent and that God is so proud of you. That was it. I just want to encourage you. Can I tell you? God can do more with that word of encouragement than you might ever think, feel, or believe. God will position you to do those things. Man, some of us might go, John, I like I don't have a lot of encouragement, but I got a little bit of time. Can I tell you? If you have time, give time. If you have finances, give finances. If you have encouragement, give encouragement. If you ain't got none of that, please give some prayers. Man, don't just be like, I'm gonna pray for you, and then don't pray for that. Like, pray for somebody. Because a little goes a long way. Here's what I know about the church. This is the reason why we come together, because you could have watched the message like this on YouTube or on our podcast, available at all platforms near you. Oh, you could have done any of those things. But there's a power when we come together. Man, your worship in your car all by yourself is powerful, but there's a power when our worship comes together. There's there's something that happens when we're struggling, and a moment like this happens, and we do come to the altar, and even if you stayed in your seat and you look and you recognize I'm not the only one struggling. Can I tell you you can struggle by yourself, but when we struggle together, the struggle gets lighter. Can I tell you sometimes you need to be encouraged, you need to you need to step into a place where other people are working with you and for you. And it doesn't take much, but it little goes a long way. Uh but here's the here's the truth of it. It doesn't do anything. The salt that God has asked you to do doesn't do anything if it stays in the jar. It doesn't do anything if it stays in jar. Jesus says, You are the light of the world. This is the most powerful flashlight on the face of the earth. Like, I feel like when I I feel like I'm battering right now. Like I just could do a little spat signal on it. I'm not gonna shine any other. Eyes because half of y'all would like this is what I'm gonna start doing at the end of our altar calls when I'm like every head bowed and every eye closed, and some of y'all are sinning and keep your eyes open, I'm just gonna pull one of these out, shine them right in your eye, and then you leave prayer for blind eyes to be open. The flashlight doesn't do anything if I never turn it on. And here's the crazy thing, I think, is there's some places and situations that you're experiencing and you're going, man, John, this place is dark. There's a lot of hurt, issues, anger, but like whatever that space is, can I tell you? It doesn't take a lot of light to fill up the room. But the room will never experience the light of Jesus through you if you're not willing to turn on. If you're not willing to step into that place and pray and courage and love and do those things, don't underestimate the light that God would shine in and through you. The light that God is putting on you is greater than the darkness that is in the world. And God's solution for the darkness in your home, the darkness in our schools, the darkness in our churches, and the darkness in our community centers, God's answer. Jesus is saying the answer isn't somebody else. You don't get to pass the salt. The answer is you. And it doesn't do anything if the salt stays in the jar, if the light stays in your pocket, you have to be willing to step into saying where God is. So then what do you do? Here's my encouragement for you. Like that homegirl is organized of the water. Like she is organized. There's no flip side. I'm not gonna make fun of you this morning. Like how many of y'all know I'm not? How many of you are grateful that when you come in, things are organized in the church? One of our serve team members, uh she's sick today, but she comes in and she makes sure that all the chairs have just enough leg room for everybody to do. Somebody said amen to that. Some of us might be thinking, dude, that's not a spiritual deal. A couple of things that it does. One, it's an encouragement to wife and I worship. But when you're sitting in those chairs and the AC and working a little bit, aren't you glad that you have the freedom to do one of these? And not smack the person that's in front of you. It feels small. But there are people that are stepping into the presence of God because somebody was willing to put a C down. Some of you are underestimating the gift that God put inside. Some of you think, man, John, I'm just I'm nice to people. What would happen if you put the Holy Spirit on that nice thing? You started thinking, hey, like if I'm nice to somebody and I just point them to Jesus, that's all that's all it takes. When you walk into a room and you go, hey, I just want to tell you, God loves you. I hope you have a great day. I've heard so many stories over the years in ministry of people saying, Man, you know, I was giving God one last chance. I was really having a day of struggle, and I was like, God, I just want to know that you're there, and I want to know that there's somebody, and then somebody, and we would say randomly, but can I tell you, with the anointing of God on their life, just walked up and said, Hey, I just want you to know, God had it, I just put you on my heart that you, I just want you to know God loves you. Every once in a while, God will put somebody from our church on my mind, and I'll send them a text message. And it's it's crazy to think, you know the number of times that I've send that text message, and the person will reach back out and said, Pastor, I'm so glad you called. And you don't know the day I'm having, you don't know the struggle I'm experiencing. I want to remind you, that's not a pastor thing, that's a Christian thing. And if somebody's on your mind, on your heart, on your spirit, use so that's and use what you have to bless who you have. You are more gifted than you know. You are more able than you would believe. Every single Sunday you come in and you experience the gifts of other people. Ian, I love Ian. Um I love Ian for a number of reasons. Um Ian and I are like nerd buddies, we talk about video games all the time. And Ian started playing the piano probably like what, two, three years ago? Um and Ian was playing, because there was a piano at his house. I don't know if his parents were hoping he'd play the piano. He starts playing the piano. Ian started playing the piano before our church ever had a need. He was using what he had, and then God said, Okay, I'm gonna take what you have. I'm gonna put it in a place where you can bless who you have. Chelsea and Monique are in the room today. Uh uh, they're part of our kids' team, they're leading our kids team, actually. Uh, y'all give them a hand because they're a question over. Like, we'll get a text message in the middle of the week. Uh, Monique, you know, from Chelsea. She's like, I'm at Hobby Lobby and I'm buying half the store because the kids need crafts. Use what you have to bless who you have. You know how many times my kids have come home and they've been like, here's the craft I worked on, here's the song I'm singing. They just use what they have to bless who God put in front of them. Here's what I want to encourage you in. Some of us think the word calling, somebody said calling. We talk about a lot about calling when it comes to church, and we think calling is about a platform. Calling is not about a platform. Calling is not about people knowing your name. Calling is not about how many followers you can get on Instagram. Calling is about who God is calling you to. I want to encourage you to just use what you have to bless who you have. Matthew 20 and 28 says this. And to give his life as a ransom for many. Here's my encouragement for you. Here's some things that I think God can use you to make a difference in the lives of other people. Here's some things that you all of us have, all of us have. You have your story. John, my story ain't special. Every time I've heard some, I've talked to one of y'all, and you're like, my story ain't special. And then you start telling me your story, and halfway through I'm like, Because when you look back at what God has brought you through, when you look back about how he's carried you through, when you look at the valleys he's walked you through, the mountaintops he's brought you through, when you look at what God has done for you, when you look back at the cross, when you look back at the resurrection, when you look back at when you look at what you used to be and who you used to be, that you're not anymore. And you're walking around because you're walking around with a bunch of us like Saul, and you're thinking my story isn't as cool as their story, my story isn't as good as their story. Can I tell you it doesn't matter if your story is as good as their story? Your story is tall to the earth, your story is evidence of God's goodness, your story is proof that God still moves, God still heals, God's to provide, God's to protect, God is still doing something, and your story is evidence of God. Your story is evidence that because God did, God can and God can again. And there is somebody in this room that is in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death, and they need you to point to them and say, There's a way out coming. There are people that are stuck in addiction that are saying, I'll never be free, I'll never walk out, I'll never have it together. And some of you have gotten free from addiction, and you need to point to Jesus and be the salt of the earth. Some of you walked in here and you said this is the last thing we're trying before a marriage is over, and now you're holding hands on your way out of church. You need to point to your sword. Second thing is your gifts and resources. John I don't have a lot. Like, I don't have a lot of gifts, I don't have a lot of resources. Can I tell you? There's a young man when we were starting the church, I we're raising money and doing all these things, and I sat down with him because he was working a big, wig job up in DC, and I was like, dude, like, what can you do? And he said, Well, I'm still working my way out of day. I can't do a lot, but but here's what here's what he provided for our church. He paid$25 a month he would give to our church. So you're all like, that doesn't sound like a lot of money. First of all, all generosity is a lot of money to God. But you know what the$25 did? That$25 was my meeting budget. So anytime I would have coffee with somebody, have lunch with somebody, if they were hurting, struggling, if they were raising, that$25 he provided allowed us to raise the rest of the money we needed for the church. It allowed us to meet with people and have coffee because$25 don't go a long way when you go to Starbucks. So they would have coffee and I would have water. But he thought it was a little bit, but there are some of you whose lives have been changed because of his small gift of$25. Ian was just playing because he likes Legend of Zelda and wanted to learn how to play the theme Legend of Zelda and play some cold play music on the side. Here's my question for you today. Who is God calling you to? I love Rick. Rick has a calling for men. They just came back from a big retreat, and uh, if you come up here on a Saturday morning, you'll see a bunch of guys running around flipping tires. Um that's who God called Rick to. That's powerful. Building community through that, man, that's such a great ministry. You have Jessica who's leading our ladies' group, and they just had their meeting, the first meeting in person a couple weeks ago. Jessica, Jessica, all she had, she's like, I just have an hour of my time. I don't know if God can do anything with that. I gotta tell you, God has been doing some amazing things. Who is God calling you to? And here's the last thing that you can always give people. You can always give people God. You ain't got nothing else. If you said, Man, I don't have any resources. I love in the New Testament in the book of Acts. There's a beggar at the edge of the temple, and he looks at the disciples and he says, Hey, y'all have something for me. And the disciples uh are broke as a joke, and so they look at him and they said, Silver and gold have I not, but what I have to you I give. Get up and walk. Some of you think, hey, John, I don't have any giftings to give, I don't have any finances to give, I don't have time to serve. Can I encourage you? You got prayers to give, you have praise to give, you have the power of the Holy Spirit on you to give. You can speak the word that God wants for you. So here's my question as we close out today. What is God asking you to do? You don't need to worry about. I hope Catherine does a lot of amazing things. My job is not to worry about what Catherine does with her salt. Sally's like crushing the homeschool mom game. She's awesome. I don't care what she does with her salt. Here's the question. What is God asking you to do with your salt? Any people I want you to think about when you're thinking about this? What is God? How is God asking you to pour salt into your family? I'll be salty. I'm not gonna do that. Like, I was gonna dump with all the ad stuff. I feel the seal, yeah, the seal. I should have freaked y'all out. That would have been so fun. Oh my gosh, yeah. Um, how can you be salt to your family? How can you be salt in this church? I had a text message last week from a young man who has recently connected to our church. He may be here for another six months to a year, and he texted me and he said, Man, I just I just feel like home when I come in here. Can I tell you? You feel that way before you hear you preach? And how can you be sold to a lost and dying world that needs Jesus? For your friends, family members that you know don't know God, and you know everything could change. Stay connected. Somebody say salt. I'm gonna read it one more time as we close. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people put a light lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand. Can you stand with me, Vision Church? Here's the cool thing. When you choose to be salt in light, it gives light to everyone in the house. How many of you know that there are people that are trying to find where they're supposed to go? What they're supposed to do. They're looking for hope in a hopeless world, they're looking for home in an isolated world, they're looking for healing, they're looking for respiration, they're looking for all those things.