“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure.'” (Psalm 122:6)

As you read this, thousands of rockets have been fired upon Israel. There have been dozens of bombings and missile strikes in the Gaza Strip. There are Jews dying. There are Palestinians dying. Hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis have been injured by the conflict.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

The Old City of Jerusalem is divided into four sections: The Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter.

When we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we are praying for all the residents in Jerusalem: the Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Armenians.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

Pray for wisdom for the leaders of both Israel and the Palestinian people. As long as they both react to one another, tit for tat, many more will die and all of Israel and Palestine will suffer.

Pray for restraint. Pray that both sides will refrain from violence and seek peaceful means for moving forward.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

The word for peace in our text is shalom. This means so much more than peace or the absence of conflict. Shalom means completeness, soundness, fullness, peace. Shalom means having all that one needs to be complete, sound, full, and at peace.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

“Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region” (Matthew 8:34).

“Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus…”

So far so good.

“Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him…”

Yup. This is typically how things go. They see Jesus and ask him to heal the sick and cast out demons. This is when Jesus preaches about the kingdom of God to the gathered people.

“And when they saw him, THEY PLEADED WITH HIM TO LEAVE THEIR REGION!!!”

Say what?!?!?! What just happened? How could they ask Jesus to leave them? How could anyone not want to be with Jesus, hear his teaching, and receive healing from Jesus?

When you get a chance read Matthew 8:28-34 on your own.

Here’s the context of this verse. You see, Jesus was preaching around the towns in the Galilee region. In an area called the Gadarenes Jesus cast out demons from two demon-possessed men. The demons begged Jesus to be sent into the herd of pigs. And when the demons entered the pigs, they rushed into the water and drowned.

When the townspeople heard what Jesus did and what happened to their pigs, they begged Jesus to leave them because the cost of Jesus was more than they were willing to pay.

You see, there is a cost associated with following Jesus. The cost of following Jesus is sometimes too much for some.

What is the cost?

You may not be ready to hear the cost.

You really want to know?

ALL your life.

Not just parts. Not just Sundays. Not just a tithe. ALL.

Following Jesus costs ALL of you.

As it was with the people in the Gadarenes, some today find the cost of following Jesus to be too costly. Because they are unwilling to part with their existing hopes, dreams, treasures, life-styles, when Jesus starts meddling with our most treasured areas of our lives, some beg Jesus to leave them alone.

Little Church and Lakewoodgrace people!!! Wake up!!! May this never be us.

Jesus wants ALL of you, ALL of me. That’s what it means to follow Jesus.

“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” (Matthew 5:13).

For the past three days we have been studying what Jesus meant when he called his disciples and his church the salt of the earth.

Salt has many uses: salt flavors, preserves, melts ice, causes thirst, and disinfects.

We studied the chemical makeup of salt: sodium chloride.

Finally, we will look at what makes salt salty.

In order for salt to be salty to flavor the world around it, preserve the truth, melt the hearts of men and women, cause people to thirst for God, and disinfect, salt must dissolve. It must change shape. It must die.

If the grains of salt refuse to change its shape, if the grains of salt refuse to melt away and die, “if the salt loses its saltiness…it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

Do you know what we call salt that doesn’t dissolve? Dirt. When you salt your food and as you’re eating, you bite into an undissolved grain of salt, what do you do? You spit it out!

The only way for salt to be salty is for it to change shape and form. The only way for salt to be salty is to dissolve.

The only way for disciples to be salty is for the disciples to dissolve and die. We die to our old self, to our old hopes and dreams, to our old ways. Only when we are willing to change, can we function as salt.

Are you ready to be salty today?

Allow God to change you and renew you so that God can use you to be the salt of the earth.