Matthew 5: A Visible Faith, Like a City on a Hill

Introduction

Tim Hughes, pastor of Gas Street Church in Birmingham, continues with this message a two-week series on the vision of the Church. His theme comes down to two words: visible faith.

He starts from an observation that excites him. Week after week, people are giving their lives to Jesus Christ, just as in the book of Acts, where "the Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved." Yet he believes God is calling his Church to go further: to step out of the shadows and carry the light of Christ wherever it goes.

Drawing on Matthew 5:14-16, he shows why a private faith does not exist in the Bible, then names three places where this faith must become visible: planting churches, sharing faith with friends, and giving.

Outline of the Message

1. God Adds to His Church Every Day

The week before, an evening of worship and prayer brought together men and women mostly from Iran, but also from Afghanistan. At the end, ten people chose to follow Jesus Christ.
The same week, a youth evening organized with other churches in a cinema in Solihull gathered 150 young people. Ten of them gave their lives to Christ.
A woman from the church shares her story in a video. Raised in Hinduism and calling herself an atheist, she felt trapped at work with no way out. A client she had known for five years asked her, at the end of an appointment, whether she could pray for her.
"Nobody in my life had ever spoken to me with as much kindness as the way she described how Jesus sees me." She wept, ordered a Bible that same day, then joined an Alpha course. Today she helps lead Alpha: "For the first time in my adult life, I don't feel alone anymore."

2. Time to Put On the High-Vis Vest of Faith

During a leaders' retreat, Nick Herbert, a member of the leadership team, was reading his Bible in a cafe. A man in a high-visibility vest came over: "I've been coming here for 13 years and I've never seen anyone read the Bible. That's so encouraging."
Nick Herbert drew a word for the Church from this: it is time to be more visible in our faith, to put on the high-vis vest of faith and wear it proudly. Those vests are ugly, Tim Hughes says with a smile, "but people notice them."
He sees a shift in the culture. Boxer Katie Taylor walked into the ring for her latest fight, in Dublin, to the song "All Hail King Jesus." Footballers pray together on the pitch, and the press talks about the rise of the Christian footballer.
For Gas Street, whose vision has always been to be a light for the city and beyond, it is time to have a faith that is visible, bold and courageous.

3. A City Set on a Hill

The key text for the Church is Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden." Tim Hughes also reads Eugene Peterson's paraphrase: "God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill."
In Jesus' day, the cities of the Middle East were built of sand and white limestone. By day, they shone in the sun. At night, oil lamps made them visible from far away.
Jesus says, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). Here, he says: you are the light. When we let his presence live in us through the Spirit, we begin to shine, and people notice that something is different.
"The idea of a private faith is not a concept we see in the Word of God." In Genesis 12, God blesses Abraham so that he will be a source of blessing to all nations. "Every time God acts, he acts on behalf of others."

4. Planting Churches to Relight the Light

In ten years, Gas Street has opened several sites and planted seven churches. In the United Kingdom, many church buildings are becoming empty and run down.
Tim Hughes quotes Nicky Gumbel, pastor of HTB, under whom he served for ten years: "An empty church is like the empty palace of a king long forgotten." By contrast, a living church tells the world that Jesus is alive.
In Stechford, a team led by Jerome is moving into All Saints church, which had fallen almost silent. An old man whose grandfather had been its pastor wept on hearing about the project: "I'll be there for the launch."
A few days later, a Muslim man who had attended this church's youth group asked: "I noticed the bells no longer ring. Are you still praying?" Jerome was deeply moved. The bell, which had fallen from the roof fifteen years earlier, was lying in a garden. He found it and wants to restore it so that it rings again every Sunday: "It's time to ring the bell."
In a difficult neighborhood, a social worker advised a mother fleeing domestic violence to go to Christ Church Summerfield: "They'll be kind to you there." In Coventry, an atheist friend, invited to Alpha by a student, came back the following week with a Muslim friend. Elsewhere, a 14-year-old girl, then her mother, who was wary at first, found their place in a church plant.
In Belfast, a new church already gathers between 100 and 150 people before it has even launched. Next year, Gas Street will plant Holy Cross, in Billesley Common, with Matt Blair. A local resident told him: "That's good news, because Billesley needs faith."

5. Talking About Jesus With Your Friends

The second place is sharing faith. The woman who prayed during her manicure appointment did not deliver a theology lecture. She simply asked: "Can I pray for you?"
Tim Hughes' brother, a pastor in London, welcomed a man who had never set foot in a church. In a dream, he was trying to shave his head, and an angelic being was shouting: "Ezekiel!" A friend's Christian mother offered to read that book with him. When he reached chapter 5, where the prophet shaves his head and beard, he cried out: "That was my dream!"
After prayer, this man said: "I'm angry. I've known oppression, darkness, night terrors. Why did nobody ever tell me about the light?"
All around us, many people live with anxiety, isolation and despair. "Don't think for a minute that you have to be a great theologian. Offer to pray for them, bring them to church, share what Jesus means to you."
According to a survey he cites, one person in three would go to church if invited. For Christmas, Gas Street is planning 4,500 seats across its various sites, and its prayer is that none will stay empty.

6. Giving, a Faith You Can See Right Down to the Bank Statement

The third place is giving, of money and of service. Church plants, Alpha, student ministry, youth and children's work: all of this exists only because people have given.
To open the church in an empty warehouse, 1.2 million pounds were needed. One person sold his business and made a major gift. Over ten years, he estimates that more than 2,000 people have made a first commitment to Jesus through Gas Street and its church plants.
Giving is first of all worship, a response to what Jesus has done: "God, thank you. Everything I have comes from you." It also breaks the grip of fear and greed around money, and it sets us free.
"If someone looked at your bank statements, could they see that you are a Christian?" Tim Hughes and his wife give on the first day of the month, so that their spending adjusts to their giving, and not the other way around.
To young people: "If you can do it with little, you will be able to do it with much." To those who already give, he asks them to review their giving, aiming for the tithe or a one-time gift. He goes as far as saying that giving reveals our love for Jesus more than almost anything else.

7. A Fight for the Soul of the City

In Birmingham, Tim Hughes sees a great deal of visible brokenness: addictions, men begging at intersections, anger and violence.
He believes this is a critical moment when God is asking his Church in the city, not only Gas Street, to give itself for the generations to come.
His vision: that people across the country and around the world would speak of Birmingham as a city God has seized, whose whole story he has changed for his glory.
"I believe he can do it. But it will take bold and courageous people, you and me, who become more and more visible in their faith."

Key Takeaways

Jesus calls us the light of the world: faith in Christ is always public, never a secret to be kept.
God blesses his people so that they may become a blessing to others.
Every church plant relights a light in a neighborhood and tells people that Jesus is alive.
To talk about Jesus, it is often enough to dare to offer a prayer or an invitation.
Giving is worship and makes faith visible: it frees us from the grip of money.

Personal Application

In which area of your life (work, neighborhood, friendships) has your faith stayed hidden under a basket?
For which friend could you offer to pray this week?
Whom could you invite to a Christmas celebration at your church?
If someone read your bank statements, would they see the mark of your faith in Jesus?
What next step is God asking of you in your giving: starting, increasing, or making a one-time gift?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to have a visible faith?

For Tim Hughes, the Bible knows no purely private faith. Jesus says: "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). When the presence of Christ lives in us through the Spirit, people notice something different. He suggests three ways to make faith visible: planting churches, talking about Jesus with friends, and giving.

How can you talk about Jesus with a friend without being a theologian?

Tim Hughes reassures us: you do not need to be a great theologian or an eloquent evangelist. Offer to pray for your friend, invite them to church, share what Jesus means to you. A woman at Gas Street simply asked her manicurist if she could pray for her, and that prayer changed a life.

Why does giving make faith visible?

According to Tim Hughes, church plants, the Alpha course, and the work with young people and students exist only thanks to generosity. Giving is worship, a response to what Jesus has done for us, and it breaks the grip of money. He asks the question: if someone read your bank statements, would they see that you follow Jesus?