We are the Salt and the Light of the World

1/27/2023 

Text: Mathew 5:13-20

Our Role as followers of Christ – directed at the Disciples: Salt and Light

¹³ “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.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

The Fulfillment of the Law

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Prayer: Open our heart Lord as we share Your scripture today. Let it be the Salt and the Light our lives. In your name, Amen

Sermon

 

First part

1.      We take in the Salt: change inside, clean up inside us

2.      We take God’s light: outward reflection of what inside

 

Second Part: The Law & Jesus Purposes: The Fulfillment of the Law. The Fulfillment is Christ became the Redemption

First: We are the Light and our purpose is to turn darkness into light. We are the Salt and we preserve and flavor our food.

Salt - The intake of salt is to preserve meat and other purposes such as cleaning. Salt is a natural antibacterial and has been used for cleaning since the medieval times! Clean the kitchen drain: Pour a mixture of salt and hot water down the kitchen sink to deodorize and prevent grease buildup. Salt preserve by killing bacteria that make the meet go back—it de-rottened our food, Imagine that, Chris in our hear removing spiritual bacteria that makes a rotten heart. Christ de-rotten our hearts or appropriately, Christ renew our hearts. Salt is an antibacterial as Christ is anti-Satan

Flavored: its our purpose: flavored the taste of our food. So sometimes when there is a meal that does not taste so well, salt is added. Salt from it’s nature pull out the goodness in our food. Pull the best out of others. That is what Jesus is saying today: We are the salt of the earth because we seasoned others to be Christlike. Now we have been preserved and our presence influence others to be preserved and

The main points of the first part: is that we are the Salt (work on our inside) and We are the light is to be the shining example

 

Light - Today we understand how important the power supply for electronic devices, lights, vehicles, among other things which requires power. Our Text aims to capitalize on our blessings, the first part of chapter 5, and we are all filled with blessings and now Christ turned to the Disciples and commanded them to be Salt and Light of this world.   

 

We are called to shine God’s light onto others in the world, but that light does not come from our own power or ability. We do not give out of our own importance. We shed the light of Christ by first being filled with it ourselves. Because of Christ’s love, life, and death, we have the opportunity to serve Him by loving and serving one another.

Do you know what this is? (Hold up light or flashlight). Yes, this is a flashlight!

Turn on and off – worldly light, battery runs out but Christ Light Stays on at all the time because it is plugged into to eternity

 

Our Christian lives can be this way sometimes? Sometimes the light is on sometimes it is off. God calls us to be the light of the world. Do you know what that means? It means that God wants us to tell others about Him, And to demonstrate His love to people. In our text today, Jesus tells us to let our light shine so that others can now have something special. This means we walk into a room; we are the reason as to why that room is brighter. It means when folks around us have a bad day, we have the ability to lighten it up. 

 

This lamp (or flashlight or light) only shines if it is plugged in (or charged, powered, etc.). So our light can only shine if we are connected to the light of Jesus.

 

We have to be “plugged in” to Him constantly. We have to stay charged by our power source. How do we do that? We can be faithful to read God’s word, the Bible. We can pray and pray continually. We don’t just pray or read the Bible once in a while or when we are at church; we can do this all the time! We must stay charged up and the only way to od this is to continuously plug into Christ.  

 

The usefulness of the light is only be recognized when it shines in all direction. But if that light is hidden, it is no longer useful

 

Here's the practical process:

 

1.      Salt is to internalize the scripture

a.      Add to your daily bread

2.      Light

a.      Let the internalization of the scripture Shine through you  

b.      Be the sample of Christ

3.      Compartmentalized

a.      Let Jesus be the guard of our compartments

b.      Let Jesus open the appropriate compartments

c.       Take that burden off from you

 

Story: Young man dies and went up to meet St. Peter

This young person died early at a young age. He ascended to the pearly gate and St. Peter met him at the Gate. St Pete flip through his list looking for this young man name and could not find it. St. Pete told the young man, “You are here too early, it is not your time yet. Therefore, what I am going to do is not send you back but will give you a choice.” “You will choose where you want to spend eternity at, between Heaven and Hell.” They took the elevator down to Hell and the young man notice all this beautiful people parting and the music going on, everyone is having fun and a good time. The young man eyes revived, “uhhmmm, this is Hell?” so they went back up in the elevator to Heaven and he notice people up there just worshipping and singing.

They went back to the Gate and St. Pete asked: “Well, have you made up your mind?” the young man  said well, “looks like folks in Hell was having a whole lot of fun, I want to go there and join the party.” So they took the elevator down, when they got down there, door open, dead heat, terrible odor, awful sound of crying coming out and Satan came to the door to meet the young man, young man asked, “what happen to the party and the beautiful people having fun and good times?” Satan said, “when you first came out, I was campaigning!”

Let’s not be distracted by the things of this world. We have to internalize the scripture and let God’s light shine through us so we can see the distractions and be the change agent that God have designated us to be.

 

God always wants to hear from us, and we can ask Him for help in letting the light of Christ shine for all to see. Let’s pray

Closing Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for always answering our prayers, give us the strength and the wisdom to accept your answer in Your way when it comes. Help us to pray with faith consistently and repeatedly, to believe, wait, and then move forward in Your timing. Help us to be patient in prayer, not give up, and trust You even during the time of our most difficulty, we want to turn it over to you and live by faith. Help us not to take matters in our own hands for you have blessed us eternally. 

Today, you’ve reminded us how you have blessed us:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And you also reminded us of our responsibilities is to be the Salt and the Light of this world. Helps us shine your light through us. We are to influence others throughout our journeys. Influence others not with those things of this world but with the eternal light of your Love.

With your help Lord, deepen our understanding, and give us greater knowledge of how to become the eternal light that not only shine now but also guide us to eternity. We thank You Lord. You have all the wisdom and will answer our prayers in Your ways. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Move Forward

Through the twisted rope attached to my belly button, generational myth passed on to the building block of my DNA. Parted I was, independently I thought, the world is mine and I am of the world. The sound resembling floating tubs moisturized as cotton mothball gaining weight while sinking into the deep. I am awakened to the revolving door of another season, yes, it is another new year. A transitional experience that repeats every 12 months. It is time to pause, it is time to ponder, it is a time of reflection, it is time for contemplation, it is time for gratitude, overall, it is time to move forward.

I am reminded of a story that was told to me by one of my elders: “Young man went to the Circus, and he just happen to pass by the area they kept the Elephants; he noticed that one of the elephants is tied on one of his feet with a skinny rope onto a single chair. “This is a 1200 LBS elephant that is tied onto a chair?” He thought to himself, this is very unsafe, as the elephant, with no effort, can easily pull on the rope and get away and it could be very devastatingly dangerous to the crowd.

As he was wondering this, one of the trainers passed by, so the young man asked, “trainer, isn’t it dangerous to just tie the elephant with a skinny rope to a simple chair? He can easily get away?” The trainer explained: “see young man, when this elephant was just a toddler, he was tied with the same rope to the same chair. Back then, he did not have the physical strength to get away.” So, the elephants have been mentally trained and conditioned that he could not get away. Although he is physically capable, he is mentally incapable.

Yes, the revolving door of the new year happened two weeks ago, but the constant reminder continues: it is time to move forward. We may had had some conditions or situations in 2022 that we thought we could not get away from, this is the time to move forward. It is time to breakaway independently from the myths of our pasts. Lets not continue to be mentally enslaved to those conditions that hold us back. Free ourselves and move forward!

Wait on the Lord @ Union Gospel 12/31/2022 New Year Service

Psalm 27:14, Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

 

A man standing by the bench at the bus stop and notice a butterfly that was starting to hatch from its cocoon. He sat down and watched the butterfly for hours as it struggled to force itself through a tiny hole. Then, it suddenly stopped making progress and looked like it was stuck. This is a process called metamorphosis

Therefore, the man decided to help the butterfly out. He took a pair of scissors and cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, although it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man thought nothing of it, and he sat there waiting for the wings to enlarge to support the butterfly. However, that never happened. The butterfly spent the rest of its life unable to fly, crawling around with small wings and a swollen body.

Despite the man’s kind heart, he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the small hole, the purpose is to shed the reddish liquid that covered the body and anything that the body does not need. This final stage of the metamorphosis is to cleanse the body preparing it to fly

 

There’re many restricted cocoons in our lives but we must recognize their purposes. They maybe there to heal old wounds, to force out bad habits, to change behaviors. Therefore, it is important to wait and allow God to complete His work on us. We must wait on the Lord

Prayer

Lord, we thank you for always answering our prayers, give us the strength and the wisdom to accept your answer in your way when it comes. Help us to pray with faith consistently and repeatedly, to believe, wait, and then move forward in Your timing. Help us to be patient in prayer, not give up, and trust You even during the time of our most difficulty, even at time when we are filled with negative emotions. God, we don’t want to live by our feelings, instead, we want to turn it over to you and live by faith. Help us not to take matters in our own hands. Today as we move into the new year, we are committed to trust you Lord. As we move into the promise of the new beginning of the New year, we refuse to believe the lies of the enemy. We choose to be faithful in prayer. With your help Lord, deepen our understanding, and give us greater knowledge of what You are doing in our lives. We have chosen to hold unswervingly to the hope that we profess. Your scripture has taught us today: “be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” Strenght our faith amid our waiting, just as You did with Your disciples when encountering a storm at sea. We thank You that You have all the wisdom and will answer our prayers in the perfect way. Guide us as we move onto the New Year 2023, In the name of Jesus, amen.

Christmas Message at Union Gospel

Do we have room for Jesus?

12/25/2022

Luke 2:7 “And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn”

John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

Introduction:

A child asked: “Daddy, may I ask you a question?” “Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man. “Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?”

“That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

“I just want to know.  Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.

“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow ten dollars, please?”

The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish.  I work long, hard hours every day and don’t have time for such childish games.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning.  How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son.  May be there was something he really needed to buy with that ten dollars and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.  “Are you asleep son?” he asked. “No, daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy. “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man.  “It’s been long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that ten dollars you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he said. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled-up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man. “Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled.

“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. “Daddy, I have twenty dollars now.  Can I buy an hour of your time?”

Body

We arrived at our text today and we are told that Mary and Joseph arrived at the Inn, and was told that there is no room here for you.

This is nothing new for us:

We have been rejected before!

1.    The Inn keeper looked at us and told us that we are not the right demographic.

2.     The Inn keeper look at us, you don't have any money,

3.     Perhaps, the Inn keeper looked at us and said that you're too dirty for the Inn; therefore, we have no room for us.

4.     Maybe that is why we all are here today because there is no room for us.

5.     Gate Keeper throughout our lives has told us, you're not good enough, you are not smart enough, you can't sing, you are not strong enough, you are not pretty enough,  

In all aspect of life there is a Gate Keeper, there is an Inn Keeper, and they determine whether we fit in or not. 

And here we found Baby Jesus got rejected! that is the first message we announce to the Son of God:

1.    we have no room for you get out! 

2.    You are not good enough for us

3.    We don’t have time for you

4.    We too many important things to be bothered

How we might make room for the new born child today?

1                We have been bought, not with $20.00, not with anything material value, but with the priceless Prince of Peace.

2                Jesus have paid for a room for us!

3                No! Jesus has paid for a Mansion for us.

Didn't he promised, our text today promised us: "In my father house, there are many Mansion."

Lets not be like the Inn, in fact, we are the manger that makes room for the baby Christ

Today we will keep our eyes on the Baby Christ

Conclusion:

Young man was at the Circus, and he just happen to pass by where they kept the Elephants; he noticed that the elephant is tied with a rope onto a chair. This is a 1200 LBS elephant that is tied onto a chair. He thought, this is very dangerous as the elephant, with no effort, can easily pull on the rope and get away and it could be very dangerous to the crowd.

As he was wondering this, one of the trainers pass by, so the young man asked, “trainer, isn’t it dangerous to just ties the elephant with a skinny rope to a simple chair? He can easily get away?” The trainer explained: see young man, when this elephant was just a baby, he was tied with the same rope to the same chair. Back then, he could not get away. So the elephants have been mentally trained and conditioned that they could not get away.  

1.    We have no room because we have been carrying our past?

a.     Some of us are tied to some terrible situation from our past

2.    We have no room because we are too occupied with our problem?

a.     Some of us spent our times looking at our problems

                                               i.     Let Jesus in and give those problems to Him

3.    We have no room because we don't know it has been paid?

a.     Today we memorialized the beginning of washing away of our sins.

b.     It is time to free ourselves from the condition  

                                               i.     We have been mentally enslaved  

4.    Jesus has liberated us from the chains of our past. 

5.    Baby Jesus Christ is born today to free us and he had fully paid the price in Calvary

Our Text reminded us today: Although we he had no room, In his father’s house, there are many Mansions.

Together:

 O Lord empty me, fill me with Your Love instead, Cleanse my old ways and make me new

O Lord empty me, fill me with your light, Take away my sin and make me whole

O Lord empty me, strengthen my faith, cleanse me of my unfaithfulness

O Lord empty me, open my inner eyes, let your spirit be my guidance

O Lord empty me, fill this heart with gratefulness, let it be your sanctuary

O Lord empty me, Cultivate my soul, so I may take part in your harvest

O Lord empty me, Let my spirit be humbled, at your feet, my spirit shall be renewed

O Lord empty me, fill me with your blessing, Let the child Jesus reign in my life

O Lord empty me, Your Grace is sufficient, and your redemption is final

Closing prayer:

Dear God, fill us with all whom You are, the great I Am. Take over our family, thoughts, words, actions, relationships, social and professional deeds. Allow your spirit to pour on to us and out from us, so You can be magnified among us. Empty out our sinful thoughts and behaviors. Teach us Your ways Father. We love You! We need You! We are asking these things in the name of this Holy baby Jesus. Amen

Nuimeitolu

 Muimui Tupou (13^th. TK)

 

Namoa Tupou (TK) (Namoa Older brothers Tupouto'a TK & Tuku'aho 14^th. TK)

 

Tupouto’a gave up the tile and briefly held by Namoa but the stronger of all of them was Tuku’aho (TK) was the 14th Tu’i Kanokupolu of Tonga, reigning approximately from 1793 to 1799. He was considered the “strong man” of the Tupou family despite coming from a lower lineage from his mother Lepolo, and he used his power to depose the 12th Tu’i Kanokupolu, Tupoumoheofo, who was of the higher line.^[1] Tuku’aho placed instilled his own father, Mumui, as the 13th Tu’i Kanokupolu and then took the title for himself upon Mumui's death. Tuku’aho reigned Tonga as a tyrant, for which he was assassinated by a team of high chiefs. His death sparked a civil war that lasted for nearly a half century.

 

 

Fanau 'a Namoa (TK)

1. Finau       

2. Lausi'i

3. Vikamafile'o

4. Vavahe'a

5. Siaosi Tupou Niumeitolu 

6. Tangata'olakepa

7. Netane

8. Alilia Funakitoutai

 

Fanau 'a Siaosi Niumeitolu

1. Ana Sioeli

2. Salote

3. Viliami Tu'ihalangingie

4. Peni Tupou

 

Fanau 'a Peni Tupou

1.    Lesieli

2.    Saane

3.    Lolohea

4.    Siaosi Niumeitolu

5.    'Aisake Tupou

6.    Tangata'olakepa 

 

Fanau ‘a ‘Aisake

1.    Ofo

2.    Ana

3.    Vilo

4.    Vika

5.    Sione

6.    ‘Aisake

7.    Taliai

8. Louniutaha Tupou

What an Amazing Love

 

Union Gospel

7/29/2022

Romans 5:8

What an Amazing Love

Introduction:

Young man went to find the elder wise man of the village, seeking advice

for he is going through some problems. He found the wise man and this

young man was invited into the house. The Elder Wise man asked, do you

want a cup of tea, young man said yes, The Elder Wise man poured the

young man a cup of tea. Although the cup was filled, he continues to pour,

the young man pointed out that the cup is filled, and it is spilling out. The

Elder Wise man said, If you come here Full, I cannot give you any advice.

As we come here this afternoon, we must empty out ourselves and prepare

to take in His Grace & His Love. He cannot pour His love into us, if we a

filled - Christ redemption came just in the right time

 What an Amazing Love 

a.    God came to us at just the right time

a.     He is never late, we just impatience

b.    God’s time not our time

                                                             i.      God time’s eternal, we cannot conceptualize his time

                                                           ii.      God is not confined to time, He is omnipotence

                                                        iii.      Our struggle is within a tiny window of his Grand everlasting wholeness 

                                                        iv.      God’s acknowledge, I know you hurting, I know your struggle, I know you have been beaten the burden of this world, I know your pain

1.    God will lift you up just in time

2.    His timing is always sufficient

a.     What an Amazing Love! 

b.    We are at our deepest point of need    Luke 5:30 - 32

a.     30 But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

b.    He Loves those that are in needs – What an Amazing Love!

c.    Christ died for us when were powerless                    John 10:28

a.     John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.

b.    We do not have the power to change anything

                                                             i.      Our minds must be empowered from above

                                                           ii.      We must set our minds on the things of God

                                                        iii.      God has empowered us to be powerful

                                                        iv.      The Apostle said: He has given us eternal life and no one can snatch us from His hand – that is powerful

1.    What an Amazing Love!

c.     We don’t have the power to save ourselves, He saved Us

                                                             i.      What an Amazing Love

d.    He Love those that are weaken by the weight of these world

                                                             i.      What an Amazing Love

d.    Christ died for us when we were ungodly      Romans 1:21

a.     Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

b.    We had no desire to change – that’s ungodly

c.     There are people relegated faith to the “have not” these are the ungodliness as they think that they do not need God – that’s ungodly

d.    We continue to withhold those that belong to God from God – that’s ungodly

e.    Love those that those that chosen their ways over God’s ways – that’s ungodly

 

e.    Christ died for us when were sinners, Romans 3:23

a.     Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

                                                              i.      what do I have in common with the wealthiest person on earth? We both are sinner

b.    We have totally missed the mark

c.     We were desperately lost and in need of change without knowing it

d.    Forgive those who has sinned against you

f.     Christ died for us when were God’s enemies, John 15:15

a.     John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

                                                              i.      Amazing Love, what a Friend we have in Jesus!

b.    Because we are powerless, our ungodliness, and continue our sinning way, we are God’s enemies

c.     Love your enemies and pray for them

g.    This was the greatest demonstration of God’s love,  John 3:16

a.     For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

                                                              i.      What an Amazing Love

b.    We are redeemed through his Grace

                                                             i.      What an Amazing Love!

c.     The Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for many

                                                             i.      What an Amazing Love!

d.    How can I demonstrate God’s Amazing love in my life?

e.    Not only we have been redeemed and atoned, but he has also filled us with eternal destination.

                                                             i.      What an Amazing Love!

Conclusion:

A son asked his father: What do you think I am worth?

The father gave him a precious stone: Just hold up 2 fingers when asked how much: He went to the Market $2.00; Museum $200, the Jeweler $200,000.00  

Today, you decide if you want to be a $2.00 stone, $200.00 stone, or $200000.00 stone, or a Jesus life which it was given so that we may have everlasting life—priceless

Romans 5: 6 - 11

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 

⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 

¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 

¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.