Let your light shine before others

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Preacher: Gordon Hay

Verses: Psalm 112:1-10 and Matthew 5:13-20

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Jesus said that we are to be the salt. Reading from the Message[1]:

 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God- flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

 If you were here last Sunday, you would have heard Lincon’s sermon on Micah 6:8. It was a very powerful message.

If you weren’t here please visit the Trinity website[2] and you will find a written summary of the sermon as well as a sound file that you can download.

If you were here I would ask you to find the time to read or listen to that message again.

Verse eight ends with these words: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

And this against the background of the prophecy in Jeremiah.[3] , “I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel …” “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”

In the passage read for us this morning from Matthew, Jesus instructs us how we are to live if we are to reflect the new covenant written on our hearts.

[1] In Matthew 5:13

[2] www.trinity.org.za

[3] Jeremiah 31:31-34

The Revealing of Jesus

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Preacher: Gordon Hay

Verses: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 and John 1:29-42

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What is the gospel message? Mark Dever has summarised it like this[1]:

        God is our holy Creator and righteous Judge;

        we have all sinned against Him, offending His holy character, alienating ourselves from Him, and exposing ourselves to His righteous anger;

        He has sent Christ to die the death that we deserved for our sins;

        that Christ’s death and resurrection is the only way to be reconciled to the one true God;

        we must respond to this Good News by repenting of our sins and believing in the Gospel if we would be forgiven by God, reconciled to Him, and saved from the wrath to come.

Last Sunday Lincon preached a powerful sermon on God’s amazing grace, drawing on Ephesians 3. How the mystery of Christ had been revealed by the Spirit and how, in Christ and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. How God’s grace is revealed in the Scriptures.


[1] “So how do we begin positively? For starters, put yourself in the background, and preach Christ crucified. Clarify what the true Gospel; is, what the required response is, and what it means to be a Christian. Make sure people know that God is our holy Creator and righteous Judge; that we have all sinned against Him, offending His holy character, alienating ourselves from Him, and exposing ourselves to His righteous anger; that He has sent Christ to die the death that we deserved for our sins; that Christ’s death and resurrection is the only way to be reconciled to the one true God; and that we must respond to this Good News by repenting of our sins and believing in the Gospel if we would be forgiven by God, reconciled to Him, and saved from the wrath to come. Make sure people know that they must persevere in a lifestyle of repentance and belief, displaying an increasingly loving and holy lifestyle that proves that we are His disciples. (John 15:8; cf. Matt 7:15-23; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13; 1 John 3:14; 4:8)” Extract from: The Deliberate Church: Mark Dever and Paul Alexander. P44, middle paragraph. 

Be still and know that I am God

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Preacher: Gordon Hay

Verses: Psalm 46:10 (NIV) and Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

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Psalm 46:10 New International Version (NIV)

10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

 Matthew 11:28-30 The Message (MSG)

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

 How many times have you been driving around looking for an address you have never visited and found yourself turning down the radio? I find myself doing this quite often, even with my GPS giving me turn-by-turn directions. Why do we do this? We are not looking for our destination with our ears. Or are we?

 In 2002 I contracted cerebral malaria. I spent some seven nights in hospital. The effect of the malaria and the medication caused my mind to travel to strange places, sometimes I was conscious, and sometimes unconscious, but experiencing hallucinations that were so real that I struggled to recognise reality. I would hear Sue’s footsteps coming down the passage. I knew what her footsteps sounded like. The door would open, she would pull up a chair and start talking. But when I opened my eyes to answer - there was no one in the room.

Who is my neighbour?

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Preacher: Gordon Hay

Verses: Isaiah 6:1-8, Luke 10:25-37 and Matthew 25:35-40

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The main point this morning: Your love for God and your love for other people cannot be separated.

Three aspects:

1.    Who is your neighbour?

2.    What does the Bible say?

3.    What is our challenge?

…oooOooo…

You are the one to show mercy.

“Here am I. Send me!”[1]

When I studied law I learnt of a case about a snail in a bottle of ginger beer. Mr Stevens the manufacturer was sued after a Mrs Donoghue of Paisley who drank the ginger beer became ill. It became known as the “Paisley snail” case.[2] The case was heard in 1932 and decided in favour of Mrs Donoghue by the House of Lords holding that the manufacturer owed a duty of care to her. They held this because they felt that it was reasonably foreseeable, that the failure to ensure the product’s safety could lead to harm to consumers.  

What interested me was the reasoning of Lord Atkin in deciding which group of persons might have a claim.

[1] Isaiah 6: 1-8

[2] Paisley Snail. Paisley was also the site of an incident that gave rise to a major legal precedent. In a Paisley cafe in 1928, a woman allegedly found a dead snail in a bottle of ginger beer, and became ill. She sued the manufacturer for negligence. At the time a manufacturer was considered liable only if there was a contract in place with the harmed party. However, after Donoghue v Stevenson wound through the courts, a precedent was established that manufacturers (and other "neighbours" or fellow citizens) owe a duty not to do foreseeable harm to others by negligence, regardless of contractual obligations, which paved the way for modern tort law. The case is often called the "Paisley snail."

Breaking the sacred and secular divide

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Preacher: Gordon Hay

Verses: Isaiah 6:1-8 and Romans 12:1-2

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When growing up I had the idea that my life in church, and my life outside of church, were two different worlds.

Going to church with my parents, I realised quickly that it was a time to be neatly dressed and to be on one’s best behaviour. It was a time when people seemed rather serious. It was clearly very special, but different to the everyday life that we lived on the other days of the week. I understood this to some extent. On Sundays we were in church to worship our mighty God. This required proper behaviour. There was after all, plenty of time to relax during the other six days of the week.

Looking back, I perhaps had the idea that it was only on Sundays that we worshiped God, prayed, sang hymns and practised our faith life.

It seemed to be okay to relax during the week and to play around, and do things with my friends that might not be appropriate for Sunday.