New Video Study Series to Help Equip Churches to Impact Their World for Christ
Jesus instructs His followers to be both “salt and light” in the world (Matthew 5:13-16), but this command typically gets overshadowed by “The Great Commandments” (to love God and to love others) and “The Great Commission” (to make disciples of all people).
While these assignments given to Christ’s Church are called “great” for a reason and should be important to all followers of Christ, we also believe that the often “forgotten command” of Jesus to be “salt and light,” is great in its own right. We could even designate it as “The Great Calling.”
This video series is designed to help Christ’s followers discover how to become “salt and light” and make a difference in today’s culture. The Forgotten Command series works well for a six-week study or in a one-time retreat setting and can be used by individuals, churches and other faith-based groups for free.
The four-minute introductory video pairs well with the Session 1 video, and while all six of the 20- to 30-minute videos are important, the first three videos form the core of the study and can stand alone if needed.
View the videos and answer the suggested discussion questions with a group or alone. You will also find a guide to help organize a Salt & Light Ministry Team at your church or association of churches in your area.
The videos can be used in a virtual online meeting. However, the quality of the streaming may vary and be somewhat diminished. In that situation, a group might want to have members watch each video independently and then meet virtually for a time of discussion.
If you would like to schedule an in-person event (a conference or revival series) with Joe Godfrey teaching these lessons, feel free to contact the ALCAP office to discuss that possibility.
THE FORGOTTEN COMMAND – Introductory Video
The 4-minute introductory video can be used as a way to announce the video series to your congregation and encourage people to participate in the study, It may also be used in conjunction with the “Session 1” video the first time the group meets to begin the six-week series.
THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS – Session 1
In this part of the presentation, four images of a loveless society are described. What does a society and a culture look like when God’s people fail to love God, love each other and love the people around them? What will it take to get churches to fall in love with Jesus again and how will this change that church’s circle of influence (their community and the world) for the better?
THE GREAT COMMISSION – Session 2
A careful exposition of the Great Commission passages in Scripture reveals four obstacles that often keep churches from fulfilling Christ’s “prime directive” to His people following His resurrection. This message (or part of the presentation) will look at these obstacles and God’s solution to overcoming them.
Click Here for DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – “THE GREAT COMMISSION”
THE GREAT CALLING – Session 3
This is the often “forgotten command” of Jesus to His Church. Pastors and their churches sometimes forget that Christ not only commanded us to love Him and others, and He not only commissioned us to lead others to Him and help them become His disciples, but Jesus also called us to BE “salt and light,” making a difference in our culture. This part of the presentation (message) focuses on the nature and purposes for salt and light and how Christ’s analogy can help individual followers of Christ change the world around them. Within this message, one element that is both a part of the nature and the purpose of both salt and light will be revealed. Then, what needs to happen in the hearts and souls of God’s people for them to fulfill God’s “Great Calling” will be identified.
Click Here for DISCUSSION QUESTIONS “THE GREAT CALLING”
Click Here for HOW TO ORGANIZE A “SALT AND LIGHT” MINISTRY TEAM
A CITY ON A HILL – Session 4
In the fourth video, we focus on the phrase, “a city . . . on a hill” in Christ’s Great Calling to be salt and light. What does it mean to be a city (or a community) and how can Christians show the rest of the world what a community operating under the authority of Christ really looks like?
Click Here for DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – “A CITY ON A HILL”
LET FREEDOM RING – Session 5
This video digs into the meaning of Romans 13:1-7 and in it, we try to reconcile the conflict between obeying the laws of the land and God’s Law on those occasions when the two seem to contradict one another. Through the years, many have misused Romans 13, resulting in the Church’s failure to be Christ’s salt and light in the world.
Click Here for DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – “LET FREEDOM RING”
FREEDOM UNDER FIRE – Session 6
How can churches and followers of Christ be salt and light when living under the rule of an oppressive government? This is the topic of the final video in this series. While in America, we have had great freedom to express and live out our biblical beliefs, that freedom is not guaranteed to continue and we must be prepared to be Christ’s salt and light even if our freedoms end.