Bethel Mennonite Church - Gladys VA Bethel Mennonite Church

Jesus is the light of the world. The opposite of darkness is light. You can hide in the darkest closet, light a candle, and the darkness is gone. Many people live in darkness because they are afraid of light. Light exposes sinful deeds. Things that we are trying to hide will eventually be made known. Light also shows us the way along a dark path so we do not stumble.

We are also lights of Jesus. We are able to shine because He lives in us. We should be like the city on a hill that cannot be hidden or like a lamp on a lampstand giving light to all who are in the house. Our light is revealed by the things we do and the things we say. God is glorified by the things we do. Our light points to the source of our light.

What is the significance of our light? It may bring people to feel guilty and change their behaviors or it may inspire others to want to follow Jesus. Our light is also revealed through our good works as we follow the instructions in the Sermon on the Mount. People are living in darkness today and they need to see our lights shining. Our light needs to be on display. To many people in the world, we are their only exposure to light. We should live like we are full of light. Do we look sad or joyful?

What are some obstacles to our lights shining? 1) We need to recognize that we have no light on our own; we are only reflecting Jesus. 2) Maybe we are not investing our time in prayer and Bible reading. The more time we spend in His Word the more we are able to hear His voice speaking to us. 3) The desire for approval from others. 4) Fear of which the antidote is love. 5) We think someone else’s light is shining brighter than ours.

We may feel like a little light but our light should shine bright enough that the people around us can see it. If we are the only gospel that our neighbors read, what are they seeing? Do we feel like our lights make a difference? There are people who are lost around us and we can be that light that points to Jesus.

In the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 5 we see that the Corinthians had a poor response to sin in the church. A man, who “has his father’s wife,” is being allowed to continue to participate in the life of the church (v. 1). Rather than mourning the sin of this man, the Corinthian believers are puffed up and arrogant (v. 2).

Paul provides instruction for handling the unrepentant sinner by delivering a man such as this to Satan for the “destruction of the flesh,” (v. 5). Here, “destruction of the flesh” could refer to destroying sinful nature and desires rather than a physical destruction of the body. There are two reasons given for this approach to unrepentant sin in the church. First, that this man’s spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord (v. 5). Perhaps his separation from the church may help him to recognize his separation from God. Secondly, the spiritual health of the church was at risk because they were tolerating sin (v. 6). In providing instruction, Paul clarifies his meaning in a previous letter which we do not have access to. He exhorts the Corinthians to be more concerned with their association with a brother living in sin than with ungodly people outside of the church (v. 9-12).

Although a difficult chapter of Scripture to study, there are some practical lessons for us. We know from this passage and others throughout the New Testament that God cares about the purity of His Church. Ephesians 5:3-7 reminds believers to not have fornication, uncleanness, or covetous named among them and to not have fellowship with unfruitful workers because the wrath of God will come to such people. Also in Ephesians, Paul tells the church that God desires to a “glorious church” without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish (v. 25-27).

In one sense, it is important to sacrifice the individual for the good of the whole. However, if that is all we get from a study of 1 Corinthians 5, we are only seeing one side of the issue. Because Paul was addressing a specific issue in the Corinthian church, he primarily emphasized one side in his letter. A balanced approach will seek to be both truthful and loving, to discipline and forgive. In a healthy, balanced church, the good of the group and the good of the individual are both important and necessary.

So, while we are called to deal with unrepentant sin in the church, we are also called to work toward the restoration of the one who sinned. Attitudes that help to maintain a path to repentance while correcting or disciplining include: Godly sorrow, patience (Matt. 18:15-17), and humility (2 Tim. 2:24-25, Gal. 6:1). May God help us to be a church that cares about personal holiness and cares enough about each other to do the unpleasant work of dealing with sin when one of us falls. May we also have the heart of Jesus and lovingly work for the repentance of one who falls that none may perish.

Steve began his sermon with the story of Robert Reid, who, though afflicted with cerebral palsy, graduated from Abilene Christian University and then, though severely handicapped, traveled to Portugal where he found someone to feed him, someone to wheel him to a park, and spoke to people for hours every day! He learned fluid Portuguese and, over the years, led many folks to the Lord! He chose an attitude of thankfulness instead of wallowing in despair, and the Lord blessed his efforts with over 70 converts over the years. He famously said, “I have everything I need for Joy!”

Our attitude is our way of thinking about life. An adjustment is making a change. We can’t choose many of the things in life that happen, but we can choose our attitudes about them!

We tend to think of an Attitude Adjustment as a negative thing, but it can actually be a positive thing if we are turning towards God! And also positive if we can choose a better attitude towards others!

Does God care about our attitudes? Yes! We tend to excuse our own attitudes sometimes because of pride and selfishness, but if we can take responsibility for them, with God’s help, we can improve!

In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron had a disrespectful attitude towards Moses. It was wrong! They needed to repent!

Jesus cares about our attitude. A true disciple has good attitudes towards his fellow disciples and will align with Jesus’ attitude. We need to put our attitudes on the altar and ask if they will bless others and build His kingdom.

Job humbly aligned himself into surrendering to God’s will. Noah, Zaccheus, fishermen James and John all made major changes in what they were doing. Paul, on the road to Damascus, had a major attitude adjustment!

Paul said later, “Let this mind be in you that was also in Jesus.” Change is the process of yielding to Christ, then the love of Christ compels me to help others! What happens in us affects what can happen through us!

We need to see and hear the people around us. Paying attention is rare in our world! What would happen if we took the time to hear others and would seek to understand before we demand to be understood?

A Christ-like attitude will speak positive words… and mean them!

Steve closed with three suggestions for positive attitude adjustment: fix your thoughts on good things; filter what comes into our minds; feed on what is good.

Our attitude is our choice! Let’s let Jesus sort through our attitudes and show us where adjustment is needed. Phil. 4:9: “…do these things and the God of Peace will be with you!”

Proverbs 14:1 – A wise mom is a builder, and creates something that will bless a lot of people for a long time.

II Timothy 1:5 – Timothy’s mom and grandmother played a major role in his spiritual development. Faith isn’t passed on to the next generation unintentionally. See II Timothy 3:15.

Luke 1:28-38 – Jesus needed a good mom, and Mary was one because of her “maidservant of the Lord” attitude. If the angel had told her God wanted her to just be a typical good mom, she would’ve responded the same way.

Grandmama’s (Lovina’s) example: she didn’t have a lot of education or a lot of resources, but Grandmama cared a lot about people, and the ripple effect of her faithfulness isn’t over yet.

Proverbs 31:28 – We should honor moms by being grateful and helpful.

Mark 6:31 – Reminds us that all servants need a break now and then. Moms shouldn’t have to always play the Martha role.

Even if the rest of us often overlook it or take it for granted, God sees the everyday faithfulness of moms, and He is not going to forget it (Hebrews 6:10).

There is a difference between knowing and believing truth with the mind, and feeling and believing truth with the heart. People cannot be changed into the likeness of Christ, cannot grow and change, by believing falsehood. According to Scripture, Christ, Scripture, and the Holy Spirit are the sources of spiritual truth. You cannot interpret and apply Scripture in a way that violates the person and character of Christ as revealed in Scripture.

“It feels true to me” beliefs of the heart are learned amid life experiences. “It feels true to me beliefs” are any thought that completes the sentence “it feels true to me that”. Beliefs in our hearts will usually override the ideas and beliefs in our minds. An example of this happening is found in Ex. 2 when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses at the burning bush and tried to enlist Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. It felt true to Moses that he would get into trouble, that he was unqualified, that the people would not listen to him, and that he was not eloquent. Every excuse Moses gave was an “it feels true to me belief” produced by fear.

“It feels true to me” beliefs of the heart do not change by commanding people to stop feeling and believing the way they do. The factors that make it possible for “it feels true to me” beliefs to change are: talking and praying about the events in which the “it feels true to me” beliefs developed, knowing what is true according to Scripture, giving Christ permission to speak into one’s beliefs, giving oneself permission to let go of the “it feels true to me belief,” and by allowing the Holy Spirit and others to teach us something different than we already believe.

Genesis 27 begins with Isaac who is sure he is dying, although he did live for 50 more years. But he was feeble and blind. Isaac decided that now was the time to give his blessing to his favorite son Esau. He called Esau to him and gave him instructions to bring him savory food. But Rebekah overheard this and wanted Jacob to get the blessing. So Rebekah had a plan and Jacob and her carried it out. Jacob deceived and lied to his father. Rebekah deceived her husband.

Isaac and Rebekah each had a favorite son. There was dishonesty and a lack of communication between them. Isaac did not tell Rebekah his plan. Neither did Rebekah tell Isaac how she felt about his decision.

Communication is very important in a marriage. Communication between couples often involves husbands and wives telling each other what they already planned to do rather than having a discussion so they can plan together. Bad communication is a symptom of a bad relationship – it is not the cause of it. Both husbands and wives also need love and respect from each other. They need to be honest with each other about their concerns and feelings.

Some short term consequences of Jacob’s actions:



* His brother Esau hated him

* He had to flee his home

* He had literally nothing to take with him.

* He said goodbye to his mother and never saw her again. Rebekah had told him to go to her brother Laban and stay for a few days until Esau’s fury had lessened. But the few days turned into 20 years and she had died before he moved back to Canaan.



God was planning to bless Jacob and his descendants in a mighty way. Jacob’s deception did not change that fact. Esau’s blessing would have been the same even if he would have received it first. God looked at Jacob and saw the potential there.

God wants repentance for sin. God blessed Jacob in spite of his flaws not because of them. When God looks at us He sees what we can be, not what we are.

Satan loves to drive wedges in families. We need to focus on healing differences and communicating better. We can not stand on the premise that we are right and the people we live with are wrong. God is always faithful, every single time.