Sermons
On Being While Doing
ON BEING WHILE DOING
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / May 21, 2017
My message this morning is a follow-up to our recent Church Growth Think Tank.
I want to offer some food for thought and then invite all who can to return tonight for additional study and discussion.
Lots of good ideas were offered during our recent think tank.
Many of these were focused on things that we can DO to help grow the church.
Engaging our faith is essential.
As James, the brother of the Lord, wrote (Js.2:26) - -
Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
These are not meritorious works that we perform in order to earn our salvation.
Rather, they are extensions of our faith and expressions of our gratitude to God for His grace and mercy.
One cannot rightly read and meditate on the word of God and not be moved into action.
What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works. Can that faith save him? (Js.2:14).
Read from Js.2:15f and note vs.20 - - faith without works is useless.
Earlier in his epistle, James exhorted his readers to (Js.1:22) - -
Prove yourselves DOERS of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
When Peter preached to the household of Cornelius, listen to how he characterized Jesus (Acts 10:38) - -
You know about Jesus of Nazereth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power,
And how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.
We are honored to call ourselves the church of Christ.
Let us then aim to be His body in our own neighborhood.
He went about doing good and so must we if we are truly the body of Christ.
When I say neighborhood, I am not just talking 2330 Hoagland Blackstub Road.
We are not talking about just Bazetta Township, Cortland, or the outskirts of Warren.
We are a church that is spread out. Members of our church family come from a dozen or more various neighborhoods.
Burton…Champion…Conneaut…Cortland…Hiram…Howland…Hubbard…Leavittsburg…Niles…Southington…Vienna…Warren…Windham.
Our church neighborhood is where we all live; where we sleep; where we eat; where we work; where we play.
The orbit of our influence for God is really quite large.
Sometimes we will work as a church collaboratively - - in unison together.
Seldom will every single member be involved in the same project, but often we will have multiple members uniting.
Our work day at Blue Rock was an example of this: our crew of about twenty included workers from:
Burton…Champion…Leavittsburg…Hiram…Hubbard…Vienna…Warren…and Windham.
Jesus spoke in the sermon on the mount (Mt.5, 6 & 7) about being LIGHT.
A single candle can dispel darkness.
During Camp 2:52 At The Rock this summer we will surely sing, “It Only Takes A Spark”.
Let’s sing this song together.
When Christians work united our influence is magnified to the point where we become like a city set on a hill.
Jesus said (Mt.5:14 & 16) - - You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before men
in such a way, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
We do not let our lights shine so that men can applaud us. Our goal is that God would be glorified.
Paul employed this same image in Eph.5:8 - -
you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as child of light (for the fruit of the
light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
In Rom.13:2 Paul speaks of laying aside the deeds of darkness and putting on the armor of light.
In Phlip.2:13-15f Paul writes - - For it is God who is at work in you,
both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in
the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world….
In the sermon on the mount Jesus used another image (Mt.5:13) - - SALT.
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again?
It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
We all know that salt has a preserving quality - - as with preserving meat and other edibles.
A key point to remember here is that the salt must make contact in order to do its saving work.
And, of course, we all know that salt has a savoring aspect - - it enhances the flavor of foods that we eat.
It’s here that I want to camp out for the close of this message.
Thus far we have spoken briefly about the need for DOING.
However, if you have been paying close attention, you surely noticed that our doing must be accompanied by BEING.
Eph.5:8 speaks of goodness & righteousness & truth.
Rom.13:12 charges us to lay aside the deeds of darkness.
Philp.2:14f warns against grumbling & disputing, emphasizing the need to be blameless & innocent & above reproach.
Growing the church requires lots of DOING. But, first and foremost, it necessitates BEING.
As SALT, we can attempt to persevere in the important work of preserving, but if we have lost our saltiness, we will fail.
I often find myself curious about the etymology and evolution of words.
We’re talking primarily about salt and how it is an element that adds flavor and zest.
It is sad to me that this superb word, salt, has taken on some negative meanings.
We sometimes hear, you can take that with a grain of salt, which implies words spoken which are not reliable.
The expression to salt out also implies deceit. It was a tactic used to give a mine the appearance of being rich.
A sailor is often referred to as a “salt”, especially those who are older and experienced. No doubt this derives
from being afloat in the briny seas. But it is also often the case that old salts are known for their coarse language.
Salty sometimes refers to someone who is mentally sharp and especially witty.
But salty can also describe someone who is metaphorically pungent: bitter, biting and caustic - - acrid or harsh.
If we could set aside all of these unfortunate negative connotations and just focus on being the good salt.
Jesus went about doing good.
We want to do the same thing, but we must be careful to do it in THE JESUS WAY.
This means that we must be REAL.
Our imitation of Christ cannot be an imitation - - it must be genuine and authentic.
If I could return to an image we spoke of two weeks ago - - we must be the aroma of Christ (2Cor.2:14-15).
And that aroma must be a sweet fragrance.
Whatever we do, in word or deed, we must do it in the name of the Lord (Col.3:17).
Doing things “in the name of the Lord” includes doing things “in the manner of the Lord.”
As Christians, we live, move and breathe before a watching world.
Let us do good deeds in the name of the Lord and with the spirit and mind of Christ Jesus.
Years ago we had a sizable group of guys who played basketball weekly during the winter at a Lordstown union hall gym.
When the adrenalin and testosterone began pumping, we did not always behave as we should have.
Some became testy and even salty (not vulgar speech, but harsh behavior). Sometimes games became a bit combative.
We were doing a good thing (fellowship), but we were not always being what we should.
As we embark upon various projects, we must go with Christ enthroned.
We must go with the meekness of Christ. With His graciousness…humility…servant-mindedness…etc.
If we do not, the world will surely sense a foul odor.
If we lose our saltiness, we will become good for nothing.
Our good saltiness must become engrained within us.
Jeannie asked me the other day, “Do you think I’m sweet?”
My wife is the epitome of sweetness.
She said to me, “Everybody says ‘I’m sweet’, but I don’t think I’m sweet.”
I am happy to declare that the sweetness of Christ is a centerpiece in the make-up of my wife.
I do not think she can be otherwise (except maybe when she puts on that “drill sergeant mask”).
One of the most disgraceful verses is all of Scripture is found in Mt.23:1f - -
Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples saying, ‘The scribes and Pharisees have
seated themselves in the chair of Moses; Therefore all that they tell you, do and observe,
BUT DO NOT DO ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS, for they say things, and do not do them.
How very sad that the religious leaders among the Jews in the days of Jesus were such self-righteous hypocrites.
The very ones who should have shined brightly; who should have been the salt of the earth, were odious and repulsive.
If I could mix two metaphors, let us go forth as the salt of the earth girded in the armor of light.
Let us proceed with goodness, righteousness, truth.
Let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and go forth blameless and above reproach.
May no one say of us: they do good deeds but I would never want to be like them.
If we lose our good saltiness, we will become good for nothing except to be trampled upon.
