Sermon

A Pinch of Salt

Theme

Jesus calls us to be salt in our world.

Object

A cookbook and a batch of cookies to share.

Scripture

"Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other." Mark 9:50 (NLT)

I decided to bake a batch of cookies to share with you today. The first thing I did was get out a cookbook. I looked through a lot of recipes before I decided which one to use and one thing I noticed about all of the cookie recipes was that they all used at least a cup or two of sugar, but they also used a pinch of salt. It makes sense that cookies would have a lot of sugar because cookies are a sweet treat, but why the pinch of salt? The reason is that salt makes sweet food taste sweeter by reducing bitterness. But it only takes a pinch because you don't want your cookies to be salty tasting, do you?

Some of you may be saying, "Wait a minute, I didn't come to church for a cooking class. What does this have to do with our Bible lesson today?" Well, you may remember that Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount said, "You are the salt of the earth." In our lesson today, Jesus talked about salt again. In today's memory verse, Jesus said, "Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other."

You may be thinking, "I am just a child, how much good can I do in the world?" Remember, most recipes call for just a "pinch of salt." That isn't very much salt, but it changes the taste of an entire batch of cookies. If you don't have that little bit of salt, you will definitely notice that there is something missing in your cookies!

There is a lot of hatred and bitterness in our world today. If you and I will show the love of Jesus in all that we do, we can be the salt of the earth like Jesus called us to be. Just a pinch of salt can do much to reduce bitterness and bring peace to our world.

Heavenly Father, we are only children, but we ask you to help to be that "pinch of salt" that will flavor our world with your love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.