Talk

Be the Church

Brad Jones
July, 14, 2024

Brad Jones challenges us to think about what God calls us to do as the Church—to be light in a dark and broken world and proclaim His name to the ends of the earth.

Key Takeaway

The world needs to see the Church looking more and more like Jesus.

God wants to use you and me to enter the world to be salt + light.

We aren't meant to make much of ourselves but to give glory to our Father in heaven. We have the opportunity to be the Church.

What if we actually lived as if we were saved by Jesus? We should live in a way that is evidence that we're saved. The process is sanctification. He wants to work in us to shape and mold us.

Encouragements

1. Be changed by the grace of God.

  • It isn't willpower, discipline, or habits. The motivation can't be us fixing ourselves, but God working in us both to will internally and to act for His good pleasure.

  • Check your power source. Are you relying on yourself or the power of the Holy Spirit?

2. Hold firm to this Word of Life

  • Hold onto the source.

  • Where do you look for the source?

  • We will face opposition, but with the Word, we can be sturdy.

  • Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil. Evil is attacking us, so we must hold firm to His Word.

  • If we hold firm, there will be peace, joy, and satisfaction in our souls.

3. Declare the hope we have in Jesus.

  • There is a day coming, so we should have hope.

  • We have this hope—not in ourselves or in this world, but in what God is doing.

  • Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope we have.

  • We are called to go out as messengers, ambassadors, translators, and spokesmen/women, carrying the hope of Jesus to a world that desperately needs it.

Godliness allows us to be transformed into the image of Jesus, and this deserves full acceptance. Godliness has value in the present life and the one to come.

The Church isn't a building; it's people purchased by God for God. He wants us to embrace our calling, becoming a radiant people.

“
"Be changed by the grace of God; quit trying to change yourself. Let God, the Holy Spirit, change you."
”
Brad Jones

Discussion Questions

  1. Think about how the world lived in complete darkness before there was electricity. How does that change your understanding of the need for light?

  2. Read Matthew 5:13-16. What does it mean to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world?

  3. How have you made things about you instead of about God recently?

  4. Is your life evidence of your salvation? How are you living in your flesh currently?

  5. You cannot be sanctified without the Holy Spirit. How have you tried fixing yourself?

  6. How have you been relying on your own power and strength vs. God's power?

  7. Are you actively clinging to the Word of God? How or how not?

  8. Do you hold onto the hope that Jesus is coming? Why or why not?

  9. Scripture tells us that we will face trials of many kinds but that our battle is not against flesh and blood. How does that give you solace in the sufferings you may be currently facing?

  10. How are you carrying the message of Jesus to others in your life?

Scripture References

20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
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 town built 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.
1Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
13for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
14Do everything without grumbling or arguing,
15so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
16as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
9not by works, so that no one can boast.
31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
9This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Brad Jones
Brad Jones
Passion City Church Atlanta is pastored by Brad Jones. Together, he and his wife Brittany have been a part of the Passion Movement for over a decade helping carry the heartbeat of Passion Conference and Passion City Church. They live in Atlanta with their two children, Caleb and Addy.