A city within a city that is striving to reveal and reflect Christ as we love and serve the city...

This week we are asking and answering the question “Should a church have a New Year’s resolution list? And if the answer is yes, then what should be on that list?” Fortunately for us, in an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew, Jesus provides for us a timeless goal that we should strive towards, both as individuals and as a church.

Yesterday we saw Jesus, as part of perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, which we know today as the Sermon on the Mount, paint a word picture for the crowds listening to Him what the world should see when they come into contact with His followers. Jesus explained to the crowds listening to Him that those who follow Him are the light of the world.

Jesus painted this word picture to explain that, as the light of the world, followers of Jesus are to reveal and reflect Jesus and help provide the guidance and direction necessary for people to be able to navigate life here on earth. After painting this word picture what the world should see when they encounter His followers, Jesus then provided two additional images to challenge the crowds listening. Let’s look at these images together, beginning in the second half of Matthew 5:14-15:

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Jesus continued to challenge the crowds by providing two additional word pictures. First, Jesus reminded the crowd listening of a timeless reality that they were all too familiar with: a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  A city that is located in an elevated location can be seen from miles away. In Jesus day, this would especially be the case after the sun set. In the pitch-black darkness of the desert of Israel, the light of an elevated city would be seen for miles and miles.

Jesus then provided a second word picture, this time of a lamp that would be used to provide light in a home. Jesus explained that a person does not take the time to light a lamp and then place that lamp under a basket. That would make absolutely no sense. It would make absolutely no sense to place a lamp under a basket because then the lamp would not be functioning as it was designed. The lamp would not be fulfilling the purpose that it was created to fulfill.

Instead, Jesus reminded the crowds that a person would take the lamp and place it on a lampstand, which would place the lamp in an elevated position so that the light of the lamp would provide the maximum coverage possible in the house. For the light to fulfill its purpose to reveal, display, and to provide the opportunity for those in the house to navigate an otherwise dark environment, the light needed to be in the right position.

After painting these two word pictures, Jesus made His challenge to the crowds who were listening unmistakably clear in Matthew 5:16:

"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.

Matthew tells us that Jesus challenged the crowd by stating that just like a city on a hill; just like a lamp that is placed on a lampstand, His followers were to live their day to day lives in a way that revealed and reflected Jesus to those around them. But, did you notice that Jesus does not only tell the crowds to reveal and reflect Him to the world around them: Jesus also tells the crowds how they will reveal and reflect Him to the world around them. Jesus explained that His followers will reveal and reflect Him to the world around them when they lived their lives in such a way that the world around them may see their good works and glorify God who is in Heaven.

Jesus here is calling the crowds listening, and His followers throughout history, to reveal and reflect Christ by how we love and serve the world around us. Jesus is calling His followers throughout history to engage the world by loving and serving those who God has placed around us.

Did you know that the church is the only organization that does not exist for the sake of its members? The church does not exist for the sake of it members but for the sake of the mission as the church has been divinely designed to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world. And God places the local church in distinctive environments to be distinctively different.

We believe that God has placed City Bible Church in Bullhead City to be a city within a city that loves and serves those around us.  And when we love and serve others in a way that reveals and reflects Christ, the result is that we glorify God in Heaven.

That is why we partner with Bullhead City to love and serve the city during our annual Saturday of Service project. That is why we partnered with the Boys and Girls club to sponsor over 42 children for their summer program. That is why we adopted Desert Valley Elementary School to paint five kindergarten classrooms. That is why we love and served 2,000 people from our community this Halloween during our Candyland Carnival. That is why we loved and served over 77 children this Christmas during angel tree.

And that is why we believe and are focused on the goal that God has given us as a church to be a city in a city that is striving to reveal and reflect Christ as we love and serve the city. We believe that as we live life together in community with a focus on engaging those in this city in a way that reveals and reflects Christ by loving and serving those in the city, we will be the vehicle that God uses to advance His kingdom mission and bring Him glory.

Now you might be wondering “well that’s great Dave, but how do we reach that goal as a church? And how do I get to a place in my life where I am following Jesus is a way that reveals and reflects Him to the world around me”?

If you are asking those questions, I just want you to know that they are great questions to be asking. And Friday we will look at the answer to those questions…