What kind of mark are you leaving?

Matthew 5:13-16
13 "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 underfoot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Sorry that I'm a little behind on getting the blog up. I'm actually not going to be preaching this week and wanted to wait until I got the information from our guest minister. His name is Shane VanderHart and he works with Serve Our Youth, which is a mentoring program commissioned by the Polk County juvenile justice system, DHS and other agencies to reach out to high-risk youth and have a postive impact in their lives. Knowing that, here is the title of his message, "Making a Kingdom Impact." I imagine that his work will provide a lot of the inspiration for his words on Sunday and that they'll be worth hearing. Thinking of the passage he chose, one where Jesus is challenging his followers to affect the world the same way salt gives flavor and light gives clarity, I wonder if this is a good opportunity for you to take stock of the impact you are having in the world. I'm not asking you to be Bill Gates or Mother Teresa, but as you reflect on it, how would you say that you are salt and light in people's lives? Do you think that the things you do of your own volition might make people thank God for you? If you have a hard time answering these questions, would you like to do anything differently?

I hope these words of Jesus and guiding questions are good for you and if you make it to worship at Community Reformed and hear Shane, I hope it is fruitful for you. I'll be playing in the surf on Lake Michigan and strolling through the pine and hemlock groves and the house of our friends and mentors, Mark & Mimi and we'll be worshipping at the church that helped train me during seminary. Be well. -Pastor Eric