Introduction
We are going to light up August!
Light is a reoccurring theme in the bible, and for good reason.
Light is something we all need in our lives, right?
But also light is something our friends and community need.
I believe that, through Christ, we can offer that light, that will lift and bring colour to those around us.
We can be light in the dark
So for 3 weeks, I will be speaking about light and shining.
In order to do that I feel the need to firstly talk about dark.
[Turn off some lights on stage]
Obviously – this does not make it dark in the room, but I thought I’d set the tone….
What sort of things do we experience when we are in the dark?
• Lost
• Darkness robs us of our usual control over our environment, leaving us feeling helpless.
• Alone / left out Imagine being alone in a vast, silent space with no visible landmarks.
• Darkness can make us feel isolated.
• Fear
Our minds start playing tricks on us in the dark.
When we can’t see clearly, we feel vulnerable.
Our survival instincts kick in—we become hyper-aware of potential threats.
To be mentally in darkness brings feelings of being overwhelmed, despair, hopelessness.
In the dark we can over-think.
As we lie in bed at night,
o memories resurface.
o Regrets, mistakes, missed opportunities
—they all seem more emotional in the quiet of the dark night.
It’s like our conscience turns up the volume.
We can think of the world in darkness if we look too much at the news, because 95% of the news portrayed is negative
Darkness can bring
Shadows into our life
Or Gloom
Or total blackness at its worst.
😉 You might think that this is not a good start to a summer series!!
But I wanted to get the darkness out of the way.
Because many “see” so much darkness around them.
To be honest – you can’t see darkness;
because the dark doesn’t exist.
Light exists!
And the dark is nothing – darkness is not a physical substance.
You cannot bring dark into a room, but you can bring light into a room.
Darkness is just an absence of light.
Therefore, ……. the less light there is, the darker it gets.
There really is a lot of dark around . . . and . . . even within us.
I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.
What is needed in a dark world, and a dark life?
LIGHT!
Ok - [Turn on stage lighting]
We need light -
Positive
Bright
Hope
Direction
warmth
to see colours
I said that the bible is littered with light –
from the opening words of Genesis – through the Old and New Testaments, LIGHT is mentioned –
some 235 times in 46 of the 66 books!
Throughout the Bible, light serves as a powerful metaphor.
In Genesis,
God speaks light into existence, separating it from darkness.
The psalmist declares,
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1).
And in the Gospel of John, Jesus proclaims,
“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
The issue:
We are in a tension:
Mostly we like the idea of living in the light for all of the reasons I’ve spoken about.
So we want light!
- All the positive benefits that light brings.
BUT…. Some might be hesitant of too much light.
Why?
Because light will
show up the cracks
reveal the dirt
highlight the problems.
Some hold back from being in the spotlight, because it will mean dealing with the dirt and cracks in their life.
Jesus said that He is – The Light Of the World!!!
That’s a huge light!
And you would think that people would welcome the Light of the world –
Take away the gloom,
the sense of being lost, and
bring vision and hope and direction to life!!!
But, you know, a lot steer clear of such a bright light – Jesus Christ – because
? they fear that the darkness in their life will be revealed.
? They are afraid the mess of their life will be exposed.
? That they will have to deal with the cracks and dirt and black stains will show up.
They reason:
? God’s light will condemn them
? It will make them feel guilty and bad and shamed.
And with that thought, many think of Christians as self-righteous people who do good and live as near to perfect lives;
- and they can’t face that!
They don’t want to have a finger pointed at them, like a condemned prisoner; so they stay in the shadows.
Is that you?
• You have secrets to want to stay secret
• You have a past that you’d rather keep in the past
• You have dark areas of your life that you cringe at the thought of being revealed –
especially to those good Christians!
TRUTH:
Every Christian is not Good, perfect or without sin right now.
We ALL need to expose our sin to God’s light – why?!!!
To . . . be . . . . healed and helped.
This loving Jesus Christ, who is called the “Light of the World” is also the LOVING God who died – NOT for His darkness, but for yours and mine.
The bible is clear –
God knows your darkness – you can’t hide it.
But
God loves you more than any other person on Earth loves you, and
His incredible light and love can cover over YOUR DARKNESS
Our title today is “Let there be light”
Let the Light shine!
Let’s deal with the darkness in our life and the shadows
There is NOTHING to fear in God’s Love and Light.
While we are talking about dark and sin, can I also clarify something about our “SIN”.
In John 8 a woman is brought to Jesus – a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.
Men were ready to stone her to death for her sin.
But Jesus looks around at these men and says, “Ok let the man who has NOT sinned throw the first rock”.
There was a long pause.
The atmosphere could have been cut with a knife.
The men slowly turned around and walked away.
Not one of them men could condemn her.
None of them had the right to point the finger to her, because, as human beings, they all had their own Sin in their lives.
You know the only person there that COULD point the finger?
You know the only person who COULD have thrown a rock at the woman?
JESUS, because he was the only One who WAS without Sin.
But he didn’t.
He didn’t condemn her.
In fact, some months later, Jesus – the “Light of the world” suffered on the Cross to take away the very sins His light exposed.
Just in case you are now thinking, oh well, she could walk away and carry on as before – NO!
Before parting, He said to her, “go now and leave your life of sin behind.”
Jesus, the “Light of the World” will show up our mess and sin – sin each and every one of us has.
But He LOVES every one of us.
He wants us to support and encourage each other to turn from our sin, that we might get close and closer to living life to the FULL.
I say time and time again, as imperfect people
we do not point finger at others.
We point others to Jesus Christ –
the Light AND Love of the World.
So, LET THERE BE LIGHT!”
Let Christ shine on us and through us, that HIS Light may be seen and felt by those around us.
Prayer:
Loving Father God.
I believe you have spoken this morning. Your loving light has shone, exposing parts of our life to your Light.
We bow before you.
By your Holy Spirit, speak to us . . . .
Show to each of us the areas of darkness you know needs dealing with. . . . .
The stains, the habits, the dark thoughts…….
No human here is qualified to throw a stone at us – we all have stains, dirt, sin.
So we come to You; and whilst we know You could condemn, we know you won’t.
You will love us,
forgive us, and
lead us away from those sins – because you delight to offer us LIFE – Life in ALL it’s Fulness.
So right now, minister to us . . . .
Lift us out of the sin, and into your light.
And we pray this in confidence in the name of Jesus – the Light of the World. The Light of my life.
Amen
And we are only just beginning!
There is so much more to share in this series!
Are you ready for it?
See you next week!
