Transitional Pastor, Bro. Shep Johnson
click on the link below to view
Bro Shep Johnson message
June 21, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orXsJfWvjn0
June 28, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYv2BC431VE
July 5, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiuZ_fq4whs
Wednesday Bible Study and Prayer
Reedy Branch Baptist Church
August 12, 2020
Dear Reedy Branch Family:
Join us for worship this Sunday at 10 AM. Please remember to follow all proper precautions regarding the Coronavirus. Let’s be sure we take care of one another.
Also, if you know of someone who might benefit from receiving this email Bible Study each Wednesday, please send me their email address.
I look forward to seeing each of you. Please, invite a friend.
Here’s today’s Wednesday Bible Study ...
“Being Salt”
Matthew 5:13 (NASB95)
Jesus said in Matthew 5 that we are to be “the salt of the earth.”
Specifically, that He said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” Matthew 5:13 (NASB95)
Salt is a remarkable substance. Chemically it is sodium chloride. It is an essential nutrient for human life. Without salt we would die. Salt is also used in chemical production, water conditioning, agriculture, drilling operations, manufacturing, deicing agents, cooking, and food preservation.
So what did Jesus mean when He said that we are to be the “salt of the earth”? The context makes it clear that in the passage “salt” is symbolic of influence. I have always liked Chuck Swindoll’s definition of leadership. Swindoll has said that, “Leadership is inspiring influence.”
In Matthew 5:13 Jesus is encouraging us to be spiritually influential in the lives of others. He is asking us to be spiritual leaders. He is challenging us to exert inspiring spiritual influence on other people.
Now notice with me that salt does at least three things:
1) Salt penetrates. Salt penetrates and permeates whatever it is placed around. When we use salt to preserve meat or fish, we don’t have to force the salt into the meat. It penetrates and permeates what is being preserved as the salt dissolves in water into sodium and chlorine ions.
Christian influence penetrates deeply into the fabric of a society and culture. We see that when we look at the history of the United States.
Your life and testimony affect other people. That’s why socialists and atheists work so hard to silence Christians and to remove them from places of leadership.
As a Christian, your influence helps spread the Gospel. Notice that in the Great Commission Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB95).
“Go” in the Greek is an aorist participle. A seminary professor once told me the idea of a Greek participle functions something like this, “as you are going throughout life, make disciples.” In other words, penetrate the world and wherever you find yourself, seek to make disciples of Christ.
As Christians we are to penetrate and permeate our society and culture with the Gospel message.
2) Salt purifies. Salt also disinfects and preserves. It inhibits microbial growth. It helps prevent decay. Salt purifies.
Now as Christians we cannot purify or cleanse in our own power. But we can direct people to Jesus who does indeed purify and cleanse. When John the Baptist saw Jesus he told his followers, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 (NASB95).
We can use our influence to do the same thing.
We can tell everyone the promise of 1 John 1:9 (NASB95) assures us that, “If we confess our sins, [Jesus Christ] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
3) Finally, salt persuades. Salt enhances the flavor of food. Salt makes things taste better. Afterall, who wants an unsalted potato chip?
The Bible says in Psalm 34:8 (NASB95), “O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
No one on earth is happier than the Christian who loves Jesus and knows he has salvation in His name and a home in Heaven.
Let the world see your joy in Christ. Let them have a taste of the life that truly satisfies, a life of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As B.B. McKinney wrote so many years ago:
“While passing through this world of sin,
And others your life shall view,
Be clean and pure without, within,
Let others see Jesus in you.”
“Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you;
Keep telling the story, be faithful and true,
Let others see Jesus in you.”
Does your presence among your family and friends penetrate, purify, and persuade for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Are you adding a Christian flavor to the world in which you live? Are you a positive influence for the cause of Christ?
Let’s be the “salt of the earth” that the Lord Jesus has called us to be.
Brother Shep
Weekly Prayer List (August 12, 2020)
Our Church, Community, Nation, and World as we battle the Coronavirus.
Unity and Love among our fellow Americans
Teachers and Students
Carolyn Wright and the Family of Ronnie Wright
Family of Agnes Jones
Roy Jones
Family of Anita Gorusso
Family of Edsel Carver
Family of Trish Payton
Family of Clint Nettles (nephew of Nell Green)
Carolyn Ricketson and the Family of Buddy Ricketson
Wanda Smith
George Carroll Paulk
Rodney Hope and family
Eugene Tate
Danny Tuten
Buddy Phillips
Mary Veazey
Bug McCarty
Alison Woodward
Robert Wigley
Debra and Darrell Smith
Andrea Strong
Tony Howard
Buddy Stevens
Darrell Wooten
Jason McCollum
Barbara and Raymond Lane
Elaine Mathis
Marc Reed
Deborah and Marvin Wooten
Grady and Margaret Mimbs
David Barnes
Mickey Jower
Melanie Marshall
Jamie Kight
Betty Ann Ford
Shirley Trowell
Shirley Simmons
Amber Morris
Bobbie Stewart
Lonnie and Addie Mae Myers
Nell Green and her sister, Sharon
David Green
Michelle and Johnny Cecil Newell
Clarence and Sandra Dockery
Ellen Deen
Freddie Lewis
Barbara Rish
Marilyn Rish
Geneva Mobley
Helen Jones
Selena Merritt
Jean Corbitt
Chris Kinnet
Bruce Veasey
Conner Courson
George Myers
Ellen West
Roy Trowell
Roger Trowell
Bob Colton
Don Elridge
Bill Whiddon
John Anthony Taylor (son of Helen Jones)
Pastor Search Committee
Grocery Store Employees
Farmers
Businesses
All medical and healthcare personnel
All first responders
All law enforcement
All those who are sick with the Coronavirus or have family members and friends who are sick with the Coronavirus.
Military
Missionaries
Our President and Governmental Leaders
Those who need Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior
Many UNSPOKEN prayer concerns
If you know of names that should be added or removed from our prayer list please call me at (912) 381-4896 or email me at shepfbc2@gmail.com
