Patrick, aged 10 says, "Never trust a dog to watch your food."

Michael, aged 14 says, "When your dad is mad and asks you, "Do I look stupid?" don't answer him." Michael also says, "Never tell your mom her diet's not working."

Taylia aged 11 learned that when your mum is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair.

Kyoyo aged 9 says, "Never hold a vacuum cleaner and a cat at the same time."

Armir aged 9 discovered you can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk. And Lauren, aged 9 discovered that felt markers are not good to use as lipstick.

Joel, aged 10 says that you shouldn't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat.

Alyesha, aged 13 reckons that when you get a bad grade in school, you should show it to your mom when she's on the phone.

And lastly, Eileen, aged 8 wisely advises pastors "never try to baptize a cat."

Well, all these kids give wise advice.

You know, if we truly want to be Kingdom people, that is, Christ's representatives, then we need to remember three pieces of wise advice.

1. Being kingdom people means being in right relationship with God
2. Being kingdom people means being available to serve, and
3. Being kingdom people means participating in his mission to the world.

First of all lets look at being in right relationship with God.

1. BEING KINGDOM PEOPLE MEANS BEING IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Now over the past several weeks we have been looking at this area of authentic Christianity - that is Christians who are not just Christian by name or who ritualistically come along to church but who genuinely allow God to search their hearts and desire to be God's best. An authentic Christian allows the Holy Spirit do His work in their lives. They are not perfect and don't pretend to be perfect. They are honest about their faults and repentant of those faults. They desire God to bring a work in their lives to make them the people He desires them to be.

Jesus gave His disciples some very sound advice in Matthew 5:13. He said,

You know, when Jesus said this, He provided people with an expression that has become a one of the greatest compliments we can give a person with the phrase, "People like that person are the salt of the earth."

Now, going back to Jesus' time salt was highly valued and was connected in people's minds with a number of valuable qualities, one of which was purity. I guess it was the glistening white color of the salt that brought purity to mind. However the connection of purity comes from salt, this was certainly one of the things Jesus was referring to. He said, "Be like salt and don't lose your saltiness. If you do then your worth for the Kingdom is diminished.

You know, one of the characteristics of the world in which we live today is that of lowering standards - we see it all the time. Standards of honesty have lowered, as have standards of morality, and standards of society's ethics. Sadly, many Christians in our churches today, and maybe even some of us here today, have been sucked into the lowering of our standards. If so, we have lost our saltiness and effectiveness for the Kingdom of God.

The Christian is called to rise above these decreasing standards and live by the principles God desires for us to live by. Here are some principles spoken about in the Bible we are to live by if we desire to maintain our saltiness.

1. Mat. 6:25-33 tells us not to worry about your life. Seek first the purposes of the Kingdom, and God will take care of our physical needs.
2. Matt. 18:1-4 tells us that if we desire greatness in the Kingdom of God, then we need to humble ourselves as a little children.
3. Matt. 20:25-27 tells us that leadership and greatness in the Kingdom are NOT based on power, influence, or position. A leader who wants to be great will serve the needs of others. The one who wants to be first must become like a slave to others.
4. Matt. 20:28 tells us that the purpose of a believer or a church is to serve others, not to be served.
5. Matt. 23:12 says, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted".

6. Luke 9:24 tells is that if an individual (or a church) tries to save his spiritual life and vitality by keeping things to themselves, they will lose it. If they are willing to give themselves away for the sake of others, they will find the fullness and abundance of life as God intended it to be.
7. Rom. 14:13-21 says, "Stop passing judgement on one another" over disputable matters. "Make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.... It is better not to ... do anything else that will cause your brother to fall".
8. Eph. 5:21 teaches that in the body of Christ, we are to submit ourselves to one another out of reverence to Christ, who is the Head of the body.

Kingdom principles by which we live! So, if we want o be kingdom people, then our lives need to be in right relationship with God - that means being 'salt of the earth people'.

PAUSE

For us to be Kingdom People, it also requires us being available to serve.

Earlier I read out a part of Matt. 5 where Jesus told us to be salt of the earth people - authentic Christians. It is of no coincidence that in the next 3 verses of that passage in Matt. 5 that Jesus tells us that authentic Christians are also the light of the world. In other words, authentic Christians are involved in God's mission to reach people for Jesus Christ. He says that authentic Christians don't hide their light, but display it to the world.

You see, when we respond to God's invitation to an intimate relationship with Him, he brings us into a partnership with Himself. God Himself adds us to a local body of believers, and together we are the Body of Christ in our community. That means, we are His ambassadors in the Burdekin community, along with every other Christian church in the area. He is the head of the church, that means, Christ Himself, is guiding and working through our churches - us - to accomplish the will of the Father.

Blackaby and King, the authors of Experiencing God say, "The Spirit that bonds you to other believers in a local church also bonds you to ALL believers. God's people from every local body of Christ are part of God's Kingdom. Christians are kingdom people, and Christ Himself is the eternal King over His Kingdom." This is God's truth, John tells us in Rev. 1:6 that we were made to be a kingdom and priests to serve (there's that word again) our God and Father. And a part of our serving Him is in our personal participation in His mission to reconcile a lost world to Christ. Being in relationship with Christ and being involved in His mission goes hand in hand. In Matt. 28 Jesus told the disciples, and subsequently us, to see people won to the Lord, and then baptize them and teach them that they would then grow and mature to serve.

John 3:16 says "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." Jesus provided for our salvation through His death and resurrection. Once He returned to heaven, God fashioned a new body of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Jesus' function is now as head of His body - the local church - to guide it in carrying out the will of the Father. We are established as the Body of Christ so that Christ could continue His redemptive work in the world - that is, bringing people to that point of confessing their sin, turning to God, and inviting Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. We are that body, are our commission is to be Christ's redemptive agents in the Burdekin district.

The beautiful thing about the Body of Christ is that any time God has access to His people, he can touch the world through a local congregation. Put another way, every congregation is a world mission strategy centre. God can touch the world through you and me, He can touch the Burdekin community through the Burdekin Baptist Church. All we need to do is adjust our lives to God's activity where we are.

This is exactly what Philip did in Acts 8:26-39. Rather than reading out the passage let me sum it up for you. We find first of all that an angel of the Lord guided Philip - Philip's relationship with God was on track and he was available to God in any way to serve, as well as service in mission. All Philip knew was that He was to travel south on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza - he had no other information or sense of leading at that time except to travel on that road. He then saw a God-fearing man who had been to Jerusalem to worship. Philip saw that the man was reading from the book of Isaiah realizing He was seeking after God. Philip knew that only God could draw a person to Himself like that. The Spirit then told Philip to get near the chariot. He then asked probing questions. From that point the Lord then used Philip to explain the gospel of Jesus Christ, with the Ethiopian then responding by believing the gospel, being saved, and being baptized. You see, God had a plan, the plan was revealed to a servant who he could entrust. That servant responded, shared the good news of Christ, which then saw the Ethiopian saved.

You see, God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. He reveals to us Himself, His purposes and His ways. Our function is to accomplish God's purposes in Kingdom ways, not human ways. We are told in Isaiah 55:8-9 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

So, if this is the case, we need to have our lives right with God in order that we hear Him. That way, like Philip, we will know the Lord's leading and see where God is touching a life.

Now, I want to ask you some questions.

Once God invites you to join Him in His work, how will you be able to accomplish His Kingdom purposes? By:

1. Any way I choose.
2. Following human reason, human principles, and human tradition.
3. Using my best thinking and working in my own way.
4. Following God's way.

How do we know God's way? By prayer, reflection and obediently living as available authentic Christians.

The Lord has directed us as a church to participate in the distribution of the Jesus video through our local communities right across the Burdekin. Last week we commenced prayer walking the streets on Tuesday and Thursday nights. On the 6^th of October our mayor will be officiating in the launch of this distribution. In late October or the first week of November we will start distributing the videos. Like Philip, we will not know the outcome of this ministry - we are just stepping out in faith allowing God to use us to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. I have no doubt, that like Philip, the Lord will bring across our paths people who are searching spiritually. I hope everyone in the church will participate in this in some way. By joining the praying team, by making yourself available to distribute the videos and follow-up later, or by donating money to purchase the videos for distribution. Personally though, I would want people involved in the prayer and distribution side. I encourage and urge you to ask the Lord if He wants you to be a part of this important outreach to our local area. This will most likely be the widest reaching outreach program this church has been involved in in the local area.

Now, there is a second thing as we reach out into the local area that I encourage everyone to involve themselves in. That is committing yourself to praying for your unsaved friends, family members, and work mates, people who you associate with most, every day. I have a card here to help out.

On the card it has 1-1-1 which serves as a reminder to pray for one person, for one minute once a day. Then there is a blank spot where you can write in the person's name.

So in summary, as the Burdekin Baptist church, if we truly desire to be more than the little church down on Beach Road, and instead being Kingdom People, then we need to ensure three things.

1. That our lives are right with God - as salt of the earth,
2. Ensure we are all available to serve, and
3. Ensure we are participating in God's mission to the world - being the light of the earth.

This sermon has been created and adapted from the book 'Experiencing God' by H.T.Blackaby and C.V.King by Pastor Scott Douglas for teaching in the Burdekin Baptist Church on 22^nd August, 1999.