Light in the darkness
Sermon John 1:1-14
23rd feb 2003 st augustines
Ever been complete dark?
Kind of darkness when you open your eyes it’s just the same as having your eyes closed.
Chiselhurst caves
South London – man made tunnels. air raid shelters.
paraffin lantern
towards the end. complete darkness.
TORCH Light is important. See where we are. the way ahead
Light and darkness common images for good and evil: Lord of the Rings / Star Wars
common themes in Bible and especially in John’s gospel.
In this passage John says something staggering
Jesus is the true light. (v9)–
light –
- dispels fear
- reveals true nature about people
- lights the way ahead
true light.
other lights that people follow, however good they seem to be, are not the true light. They are either partial light, flickers of the truth, or they are false lights which lead us astray.
true light for everyone.
“That’s not my thing” – missing out
If Jesus is the true light then
You can’t sit on the fence.
Light and Darkness- there’s no in between ground.
You’ve got to make a decision, you’re either following the light or you’re not.
Jesus came into his own world, “But some people did not welcome him” v11.
“yet some people accepted him and put their faith in him”. v12
Children of God.
That’s a real encouragement to us – if we’ve decided to follow the light, no matter how much we make mistakes, feel like we’re getting nowhere, we are children of God.
Reminds us of the amazing thing that we have to offer. Sharing our faith with other people is not about a dry series of rules and truths. It is about the amazing lifechanging opportunity to become a child of God!
! CONCLUSION
Jn 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Follow me, and you won’t be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.”
Why are we doing easter2003?
- Not so we can “get more people in church” – good though that is. There’s something more.
- Not so we can force our views down other people.
- BUT because we have a light that shines. We know and love Jesus, the only true light in the world. But if we’re not careful we can keep that light trapped. It’s as if we light a beacon in church, and when we gather on Sunday we are all inspired by that light. But it only gets as far as these walls. Easter 2003 is about knocking down those walls, helping people out there to see the true light. Some of them won’t want the light, that’s there decision. But some people will catch a glimpse of the light and want to find out more.