Sermon.980
“Reflectors Of Light”
From the pulpit of Bayview Baptist Church, Sunday, June 24, 2001
Text: John 1:6-9 (page # 1646)
These verses are written “So that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
John the Baptist was sent by God as a witness to testify to everyone he met concerning the Light; Jesus, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Before John the Baptist, there had not been a prophet for God’s chosen people for 400 years.
God had been silent for 400 years, then John emerged with a fresh message concerning Jesus as the Logos/Light.
Key verse 8 “He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the Light.”
John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, chosen and set apart by God to give us a glimpse of Chirst.
John the Baptist was not the Christ, he came only as a witness to the Christ.
How many of us have walked outside on a summer day and said, “I bear witness that today is a bright and sunny day!”
Without sunlight our world would quickly be in a mess.
I saw a documentary this past week that claimed if our sun should suddenly burn out, we would have approximately 8 minutes of light and heat left; then planet Earth as we know it would slip into a permanent deep freeze.
We cannot survive without sunlight.
Just like we need sunlight to survive, we need another kind of light too.
Our souls depend upon the Light of God.
Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
In our spiritually dark world, God uses us as his witnesses to point out the Light.
People who are living in sin or in their deepest despair cannot see the Light because they are too busy living in the darkness.
That’s where you and I come in.
Jesus told his followers, “You are the light of the world.”
When a nice lady bought some new clothes and some food for a poor family, a little girl in the poor family asked her, “Are you any kin to Jesus?”
The nice lady almost said “No” but instead she said “Yes. Jesus is my brother.”
The little girl said, “I knew you were kin to Jesus!”
Our task is to live so that others will see Jesus in us.
Jesus is the true Light, and we can learn to be reflectors of His Light.
To become a reflector of the Light of Christ, we have to first develop good listening skills.
Unlike two gentlemen who met on the sidewalk one afternoon.
One of them was the kind of person who dominated every conversation.
“Hey Mark,” he said, “you’ve grown taller.”
Then he went right on talking without giving the other man a chance to say anything.
He talked on for a little while and then the next thing out of his mouth was, “Hey Mark, you’ve put on a lot of weight.”
He kept right on talking, not allowing the other man to get in a word edgewise, and he said, “Hey Mark, you’re losing a lot of your hair aren’t you?”
That was about all the other fellow could take, so he immediately broke in and said, “I’m not Mark!”
The other man went right on talking and he said, “Oh, I see you’ve changed your name too!”
So, develop listening skills as you talk to others by allowing other people to talk to you while you witness.
You and I have seen enough courtroom movies on television to know that a witness is a very valuable person, because he or she has seen something so crucial to testify on the witness stand, that the person being charged with the crime could either be convicted or set free.
Our personal testimony of Jesus is critical too, because it means life or death for a soul hanging in the balance of eternity; so may I ask you this morning this very important question: “Have you seen Jesus?”
You can’t witness to what you have not personally seen!
You cannot be a witness to what you have not personally experienced!
In a court of law, a witness has a very important testimony to share.
I’ve seen witnesses go on the witness stand and swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, but the jury suspects otherwise.
The same is true of certain Christians.
They appear as if they are telling the truth about Jesus, but what they testify is far from the truth.
Some Christians think that they don’t need to talk about their faith, but those same people have no problem talking about their job, their favorite restaurant, sports, or the latest computer upgrade.
We need to share and be a true and faithful witness to our faith.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “…let your light shine before men, that they may se your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Jesus also said in Mark 8:38, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
It’s not enough for people to see our faith as an example, we must talk about Jesus and do something about Him.
Responsible witnesses come to court to eagerly share their testimony.
Now, I realize there are many different styles of witnessing.
A Seminary professor may use an intellectual style.
A Christian witnessing on the streets of a large city would almost certainly be confrontational.
A Christian housewife in rural South Carolina may be a person who reaches out to her neighbors with an interpersonal style.
Downtown at the Oliver Gospel Mission, or the Salvation Army, a Christian witness would use the service approach.
Our Columbia Metro Food Pantry uses the service approach, meeting the needs of the hungry.
Many different personality types, and many divergent styles of Christian witness, yet all witnesses have the unique ability to changes lives by the power of Jesus.
If you’re willing to be a witness, Jesus will use your own style, and help you to develop and mature your own style to be an effective witness so you will be able to testify concerning the Light.
A witness has a dangerous task.
Being a witness in a court of law can open you up to danger; that’s why in America we have a Witness Protection Program.
Being a witness for Christ is not an easy thing either.
It certainly brings out a certain about of fear because we’re afraid of being ridiculed and rejected.
So remember that being a witness for Christ has never been easy.
When you read the Bible you see that those who testified to the true Light were mocked, whipped, thrown into prison, beheaded, forced to hide in caves, sawed in two, or fed to the hungry lions.
John the Baptist, who our writer John is telling about in our text this morning, got his head chopped off by Herod for being a witness to the Light because Herodias nursed a grudge against John the Baptist and wanted to kill him.
Many Christians today want an easy life with no conflict and no cross-bearing, but Jesus didn’t promise that.
He told his followers to expect persecution and rejection.
Today we are commissioning 8 of our church fellowship to Tennessee for a one week summer Youth mission trip.
You are witnesses to Christ because you have seen something.
You have seen the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life and in the lives of others.
You have personally experienced a change in your life because Jesus now lives in the holy temple of your heart.
You are witnesses because you have a personal testimony of how Christ has changed your life.
A witness is not a person who testifies to something he or she thinks, but a witness is someone who testifies to something he or she knows to be true.
You will have to develop your own style of witness and Jesus will be with you to do that.
And you have been given a dangerous task because the world we live in would rather embrace darkness rather than embrace the Light.
While you are on your mission trip, chase as many chariots as you can.
Many will turn you down, but a lot of people out there are hungering for God.
God Himself said, “Let Light shine out of darkness,” made His Light shine in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6).
“God is Light; in Him there is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5b).
Commissioning Service:
At this time, I would like for our summer mission team to come forward.
Eric Locklear Emily Locklear
Cathy Locklear Amanda Locklear
Dewey Wright Ashley Bobo
Sara Wright Joseph Bradley
God Himself has chosen you to be missions volunteer to travel to the state of Tennessee, today, June 24-June 29.
This mission’s trip has been approved and is sanctioned by the Southern Baptist Convention, the Columbia Metro Baptist Association, and Bayview Baptist Church.
God teaches us that it’s our responsibility to faithfully minister and witness wherever we are.
Jesus said to them in Mark 16:15,16 “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…”
In your meeting and sharing the good news of Christ, I charge you as your pastor to have:
1. Daily communication with God in prayer, asking for His hand of guidance.
2. I charge to you discover effective ways of telling others what Christ means in your own personal life.
3. And I charge you to invite those you meet to accept Christ as his or her personal Savior and Lord.
To our fellowship that will not be attending this summer mission trip, there is also a charge:
1. We, as the fellowship of Bayview Baptist Church must be faithful to under gird our mission team with our interest in each one of them and lift them up to God with our prayers and support.
2 So, as a fellowship, in unity we pledge to you our continuing prayer support, asking God to protect, encourage, and keep you, as He gives you wisdom, strength, and courage to effectively witness for Him.
As our choir sings, "Hark The voice Of Jesus Calling", ask all our fellowship to come forward and send our mission team off with the right hand of fellowship.
Rev. Jimmy Davis
Bayview Baptist Church
5300 Two Notch Road
Columbia, SC 29204
Email: BayviewBaptist@aol.com
Telephone: 803-754-8690
