"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." — Matthew 5:16
There is something holy about preaching under an open sky.
No walls. No ceiling. No sound system trying to manufacture atmosphere. Just the sun, the wind, the dust, and hundreds of young hearts gathered on the grass to hear about Jesus.
Some people think ministry needs a building. I used to think that too. Then I remembered: Jesus preached on mountainsides. He taught from boats. He fed thousands on a hillside with nothing but a boy's lunch and heaven's mathematics.
The open air strips away pretense. You cannot hide behind stained glass when the sun is in your eyes. You cannot perform when the wind keeps stealing your notes. All you have left is the Word and the willingness to speak it.
And beloved, that is enough. That has always been enough.
I looked out at those students sitting on the ground, some in uniforms worn thin, some barefoot, all listening with an intensity that would shame a cathedral congregation. And I thought: this is the church. Not the building we meet in, but the people we become when the light shines through us.
Jesus did not say 'let your building shine.' He said let YOUR light shine. You are the lamp. Your life is the wick. Your good works are the flame.
What good works are you hiding? What light are you keeping under a basket because you are waiting for the perfect stage, the perfect moment, the perfect building?
The sky is your ceiling. The ground is your floor. Go shine.
I am the city on a hill.
You are the city on a hill.
We are the city on a hill.