Light Of The World

“Light of the World” Candle Lighting Service Sermon

Isaiah 9: 2-7

This is the season of Light! Light is a wonderful gift to us. The light on our Christmas trees represent God giving us the perfect light, Jesus Christ. Just think how our lives would change without it. Light drives out Darkness.

Tonight, we come together to worship God and to observe his giving us the greatest gift ever given. Salvation……. and forgiveness in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. He is our light. He came for us, when we were dying in darkness of our sins. He paid the price that we did not have the capacity to pay. He died the death that we deserved. His life has become a light to us and a light to the whole world. Where there is light, there is no darkness.

The prophet Isaiah states. “ The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

The Apostle John tells us, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Have you ever experienced total darkness? I remember when I was a small boy, my parents took me to Carter Caves and we took the tour into the Cascade Cave. I remember that the guide, at one point in the tour, turned all the lights off for a few seconds. It was the first time I experienced total darkness. You could not see your hand in front of your face and it was a very scary place to be. I was afraid to move for fear of stumbling. I felt lost and prayed that the light would come back on. Total darkness has that effect on people. It was truly an eerie, frightening, un-nerving experience.

Many people live in a different kind of darkness, spiritual darkness. Now why would any one want to live in darkness? They want to live in the darkness…. because they don’t want their evil acts exposed. They seem to have no direction to their lives because they cannot see in their darkness, just bouncing off one wall to another. Because they have no light in their lives, they have no enlightenment, no direction, no sense of the bigger world, and their whole existence becomes one of self-centered pleasure seeking.

They live in the darkness and make fun of those who live in the light. Why, because they don’t understand. As it says in

1 Corinthians. “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

You and I , WE HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT and our lives have been changed and now it is our duty to carry that light to A WORLD STILL LIVING IN DARKNESS. We carry the search light of God, the light of Jesus Christ. This is the light of the shepherd…. who leaves the ninety-nine and goes out on the hillside to find the one sheep who is lost. It is the light a woman shines looking for a precious coin. It is the light of a loving God who will not let us go.

Matthew 5:16King James Version (KJV)

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

I declare to us all here at Christmas Eve, to let your light shine so that God may be revealed to those who are living in darkness. Let you light shine in your family, let you light shine at your school, let your light shine at your workplace, and to everyone you meet. Be God’s servant here and now, while you still can. Open your eyes, see the people around you who are suffering in darkness. Let God’s light shine through you!

We will never fully know how much it meant for God to send his light to our world. We cannot imagine how dramatic a change it was, nor can we realize its full effect.

At this Christmas, as we look at the Christmas tree lights and all the decorations, let us be taken back to that little town, to that animal shelter, where Christ was born. And let us feel the warmth of that tiny flickering light. A light that would change the world.

Matthew 5:14-16 English Standard Version When our Savior preached the Sermon on the Mount, He said this to us:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:

A light that brings purpose and hope to us all. Merry Christmas!