Worship
Service for February 8, 2026
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: The Lord has called you here this day.
P: Lord, reveal to us Your purposes for us.
L: Open your hearts to receive God’s good
news.
P: Lord, make us ready to serve You.
L: Come, let us worship God!
P: Let us sing our praises to the Almighty
One.
Opening Hymn – Near to the Heart of God #527/617
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, You have called us
to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, yet we confess that our
witness is often dim and our discipleship weak.
You have set us in the world to preserve what is good, to shine with
truth and mercy, and to live in such a way that others glorify Your name. Too often, however, we have blended into the
world rather than standing apart from it in holiness. We have hidden our light through silence when
we should have spoken, through fear when we should have trusted, and through
compromise when we should have obeyed. Gracious
God, have mercy on us for the sake of Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit renew us so
that our lives may truly reflect Your kingdom.
Set or lamps again upon their stands so that Your light may shine
through us. Form in us a righteousness
that exceeds mere outward performance, but one shaped by humility, obedience,
and grateful love. (Silent prayers
are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Friends, to you the light of love and
ministry has been revealed. Rejoice!
P: We have been blessed by God to be
witnesses; proclaiming God’s love to all.
AMEN
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the
resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s
Prayer
Lord, we give you thanks for giving us the opportunity to worship You
this morning. May this time of prayer
refresh our spirits and help us to regain perspective in our lives. Lord, you know that we keep falling short of
our good intentions. Even though we have
heard over and over that love is the answer, we keep falling back into ruts of
selfishness. And yes, even though we
know it is best to live one day at a time, we keep worrying about tomorrow and
what it may bring.
We pray that you will come among us and minister to our needs. Through our worship, teach us again how to
forgive and to be forgiven; teach us again how to love and how to be loved;
teach us again how to need and how to be needed; teach us again how to help and
how to be helped.
There are so many needs in the world, Lord. So many people that hunger for something, yet
find life bland and pointless. So many
people searching for kindness, gentleness, compassion and all they find is
frustration and harshness. Allow us to
be your ministers of peace on earth.
Allow us to be your hands and feet – where there is hatred, let us prove
that there is love. Where there is
doubt, let us show great faith. Where
there is despair, let us provide hope.
Where there is darkness, let us shine brightly to light someone’s
way. Where there is bitterness, let us
provide pardon, solace and the true taste of life.
We pray for our loved ones, especially we pray for….
In this time of silence, we also ask that you look deep into our souls
and hear our inner prayers.
We pray all these things through your Son who taught us to pray
together…Our
Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Hymn – A
Mighty Fortress #151/260
Scripture Reading(s):
First Scripture Reading – Isaiah
58:1-9a
Second Scripture Reading – Matthew
5:13-20
Sermon – “Shining with Substance: Living the
Fulfilled Life in Christ”
(based
on Matthew 5:13–20)
Jesus, fresh from proclaiming
blessings in the Beatitudes, pivots to responsibility. He moves from “Blessed are you” to “You
are...” — no longer describing the world’s expectations, but our identity
as Kingdom people.
“You are the salt of the earth.”
“You are the light of the world.”
He’s not talking about what we might
be someday. He's declaring what we already
are in Him. In the earlier passages
called The Beatitudes, Jesus describe what the inner life of His disciples
should be; today’s passage describes their outward impact.
Imagine walking through a bakery
early in the morning. Long before you see the bread, you smell it. The aroma fills the air and draws people in. That’s what Jesus describes: the presence of God’s
people, being who they were created to be giving flavor, freshness, and
appetite for God in a bland world. We
are created to withdraw from the world, but rather we are created to season it,
to bring light to it. In the progression
of his Beatitudes sermon, Jesus doesn’t ask us to become salt and light; He
tells us we are salt and light, already. The challenge for us isn’t creating the impact
that we must have on the planet, but instead maintaining it. Christianity and the Christian movement
already made an impact 2,000 years ago.
Our failure has been to maintain that impact.
In Christ’s day, salt had two
primary functions. The first as a
preservative. Preventing mold and
decay. The second was for enhancing the
flavor of food. In the same way, we are
expected to preserve what is good and true in society and also to point to and draw
out God’s grace wherever we go.
Before refrigeration, meat would
spoil unless salted. Salt got in deep
and slowed down the rot. Similarly,
believers are the moral and spiritual preservative of the world, slowing down
moral decay through integrity and holiness.
But Jesus adds a warning: “If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it
be made salty again?” In Palestine,
where Jesus lived and did most of his ministry, “salt” often came mixed with
minerals. When that salt got exposed to
moisture, the real sodium chloride could dissolve, leaving behind only a useless
mineral tasting residue. So, in this
parable or teaching, Jesus is saying, if the world can’t taste Christ through
His people, what good are we offering?
The label on the package might still say salt, but we need to be true to
our label, true to our calling as Christ’s disciples.
We need to remain distinct, not
diluted. Too often, Christians blend
in to avoid offense, but in doing so, we lose our preserving power. In order to preserve food, Salt has to touch
what it preserves. In the same way, we
need to engage with the world, with our neighbors and people down the street,
across town, over the bridge, through the tunnel, on the other side of the
world and not retreat. All, without,
losing our flavor.
Christ’s second short parable or teaching
was to remind us that we are the light of the world. Salt speaks to character while light speaks
to witness. Light doesn’t argue with the
darkness; it simply shines. It exposes
what’s hidden and guides the way. And
like a city on a hill, our lives should be visible for purpose. To lead the way out of darkness.
On the rocky shoreline stands a
lighthouse, its beam cutting through the fog as the storm rages and ships out
on the water are tossed about. The
keeper doesn’t save ships by waving hands in the dark, frantically calling out
the darkness, raging against the storm.
No, the lightkeeper simply keeps the light burning. A broken streetlight left an entire block
dark in one city neighborhood. Residents
reported that when the light was finally repaired, vandalism dropped
dramatically, not because police presence increased, but because light itself
changed behavior. That's our calling. People in confusion, fear, and moral storm
need steady light. When people around
you see calm in your crisis, forgiveness when treated unfairly, or love when
wronged, you shine Christ’s light and that alone dispels the darkness. Let me tell you, that’s not an easy thing to do. But it is our calling. It is our purpose. All to glorify God, not ourselves for being
so good in a crisis, or able to forgive when what was done to us seems unforgivable,
or to love when people show hate and rejection.
It is all for the glory of God. Our goal is transformation, not
attention. So, let your light shine, but
point it always toward God.
After these two short teachings, Jesus
anticipates misunderstanding among even his own disciples. Because the radical grace that He’s constantly
teaching everywhere He goes isn’t rebellion against God’s law, it’s the
realization of it. Everything in the Old
Testament, the law, the prophets, and the promises are now manifested,
culminated and illuminated in Christ. He
has fulfilled it. “Fulfill” means to
bring to completion or fullness. Think
of a flower, the blossom doesn’t cancel the seed; it completes its purpose. Christ doesn’t cancel the law, instead He
brings the Law to life, not as external rules, but as an internal
transformation. Jesus is the living
embodiment of righteousness the Law had always pointed to.
In his closing statement in the verses
we read this morning, Christ says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of
the Pharisees...” This statement alone must
have shocked the crowd. The Pharisees
were moral exemplars. They were outwardly
flawless, pious in all things, held up as the living examples of the law. But Jesus isn’t speaking of an outward appearance
of legality, but rather an inner righteousness that surpasses outward
appearance. The Pharisees had polished
an image of holiness but missed something crucial; a vibrant, joy-filled,
salty, light-shining life from within. To
illustrate this point further, a structural engineer once explained that
bridges fail not usually from dramatic explosions but rather from slow
corrosion in small joints that people rarely see. Maintenance crews are constantly inspecting
and repairing these hidden places to preserve the whole structure.
Jesus’ teaching about the law moving
from outward behavior to inward righteousness reminds us that spiritual
integrity begins in the “hidden joints” of the heart – our motives, desires,
and intentions. And that inner vibrancy
only comes from a relationship with God, not a reputation handed down from
generations.
In this chapter of Matthew, Jesus is
calling us to an integrity that penetrates the very heart of God’s love for us
and our love for the world. We aren’t
just to avoid killing others (as the law says in the Old Testament), but we are
supposed to extinguish anger that might lead to murder. We aren’t just to avoid adultery, but we are
supposed to cultivate our relationships to the extent that adultery is the furthest
thing from our minds. We aren’t just to
love our neighbors, but we are called upon to put down our spears and pruning
forks for our enemies and love them, as well.
Living that kind of life isn’t about
trying harder, it’s about being changed to the core of our being by the life
and witness of Christ’s love in our own lives.
And that comes through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives,
enabling us to do things we can’t do alone.
Our task is not to make the world
admire us for doing or being good, but to make the world hunger for God through
us. I’ll finish today’s message with
this story about a cracked pot. A humble
water carrier had two pots, one perfect and one cracked. Each day the cracked
pot leaked water along the path, ashamed of its weakness. But one day the carrier smiled and said, “Look,
don’t be ashamed of your flaws. It is
precisely because of your cracks that flowers have grown along your side of the
path.” The crack had a purpose. So it is with us: Christ shines best through
the cracks of humble hearts.
So, my friends, stay salty and keep
shining. The world needs more flavor and
light. And when the Church lives as salt
and light, the kingdom of heaven breaks in around us.
Thanks be to God. AMEN.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
Lord, we ask that you bless these gifts and
also the givers. Honor the gifts we give
by multiplying their usefulness in the world.
In your name we pray. AMEN.
Closing
Hymn – Precious Lord, Take My Hand #404/684
Benediction –
Friends, we
are being sent into a world in need of healing.
Go now into the world, rejoicing in God’s presence with You. Be the salt and light that this world needs. AMEN.
Postlude
