February 8, 2026 | "Let Your Light Shine!" | Asbury St. James UMC, Charleston, SC

Описание: Living your faith today is a lot like having a phone flashlight in your pocket—you don’t create the light, but you decide whether or not to turn it on.

In this week’s message, Pastor Tim Shaw took us into Gospel of Matthew 5:13–20, right in the heart of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus looks at an ordinary crowd—farmers, fishermen, families, kids, grandparents—and says something bold:

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Not try to be. Not one day you might be. You already are.

Salt doesn’t exist for itself. It exists to bring out flavor. Light doesn’t admire itself. It shows the way. Jesus wasn’t calling people to perform or pretend—He was naming what God had already placed inside them. Like a paint-by-number kit, most of the picture is already there. Faith isn’t about earning something new; it’s about receiving what God has already given and choosing to live it out.

Pastor Tim reminded us that the world tries to motivate people in all the wrong ways—through guilt, fear, shame, or empty promises. Jesus never did that. He led with hope, encouragement, and trust. When Jesus told that crowd they were the light of the world, it probably sounded absurd. These were not powerful, wealthy, or influential people.

Yet Jesus saw their potential clearly—and through them, God changed history.

That same truth applies now. Being “light” doesn’t mean being loud, perfect, or religiously impressive. It means showing up with generosity, compassion, and presence. It means opening your life so others feel safe opening theirs. Light spreads best through simple faithfulness.

Pastor Tim illustrated this through real, local examples—people advocating for children, checking on neighbors, carrying the cross down the aisle, fixing broken boilers, setting mailbox posts, and having unexpected conversations that turn into holy moments. Light shows up in courtrooms, hospitals, hardware stores, front yards, and quiet acts no one applauds.

Darkness, Pastor Tim said, isn’t some dramatic force—it’s simply the absence of light. And that means every act of kindness, service, and courage pushes back darkness more than we realize. You don’t have to fix the whole world. You just have to shine where you are.

The message ended with a challenge: there are three kinds of people in the world—those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. Jesus believes you can be the first kind. You have that power. You always have.

Jesus didn’t hide His people under a bucket. He put them on a stand. The question is simple: will we let our light shine?