Let It Shine

Introduction

I have a memory from when I was about 7 years old that sticks out in my mind. As most of you know, I was born and raised in Mexico. There were other missionary families that we were very close to while we lived there, one of them being the Williams family. Bill Williams was, and still remains, one of my dad's closest missionary friends. That family also had three children who were very close to our ages, and we regularly spent time with them.

I remember around the age of 6 or 7 that my brother and I were invited to go spend a weekend at the Williams' house. They did not live in the city, but about a thirty minute drive outside of Monterrey. The city of Monterrey is huge and sits in a valley, surrounded by some beautiful mountains and hills, and to get to the Williams' house, you had to go up one of these hills and cross over. I had never been to the Williams' house at night, but for whatever reason, my dad did not take us to their house until pretty late that night. I remember as we we driving out of Monterrey and up that hillside that we made a turn that put the car on a horizontal path to the now distant city of Monterrey and its metropolitan area. This was the first time I remember seeing a city lit up at night from a distance. I was absolutely amazed by it, and that picture has stayed with me ever since.

I remember a few years later as I studied the era of World War 2 in history class that we began talking about blackout protocols. During World War 2, nations across Europe and Asia, and even some cities in the United States, adopted blackout protocols. Blackout protocols were put in place so that a city could remain hidden even in the darkest night. When put in place, these blackouts aimed at eliminating any light from being visible by planes flying overhead. The idea was that it would make it more difficult for an enemy to bomb cities effectively at night.

England, for example, practiced these very strict protocols throughout its major cities such as London, along with many rural areas implementing them as well. Citizens were to turn off any outdoor lights and blackout doors and windows by either hanging heavy black curtains in front of them or painting the windows with black paint. It was not necessary to turn off all lights within the house, just to block that light from leaving the house. Street lights were often extinguished completely or painted in a way that only a very thin beam of light pointed straight down. Traffic lights were also modified so that their lights pointed downward, and even vehicles had to mask their headlights and taillights so that they only emitted a very minimal amount of light.

Anytime these practices were mentioned in history class, I would think of that image stuck in my head of the view of Monterrey from a distant hillside. It seemed like an impossible challenge to blackout a whole city, and what a shame it would be to hide that wonderful view.

Last week we studied our series of The Sermon on the Mount: A Kingdom Manifesto that Christians are to be the salt of the earth. This is an individual calling for each disciple of Jesus. Salt adds flavor, prevents and slows down the decay of food, and helps tenderize meats. Likewise, the presence of Christians in our homes, schools, jobs, and even in our country should have the effect of slowing down and changing these environments spoiled by sin. We should bring out a good flavor in life in those with whom we come in contact, and we our very influence should help soften the hearts of people toward the message of the Gospel. The fact that salt is very different from whatever thing it is applied also teaches us that we as Christians, in whatever environment we find ourselves, should be very different.

It is the quality of salt being so different that makes it effective in its application. Salt is not susceptible to decay (in fact, it is toxic to many germs that produce decay) and when applied to something that is susceptible to decay, it helps it not spoil as fast.

Salt tastes salty, but when applied to some other food, will actually bring out the flavor of that food.

When salt, that helps raise the freezing temperature of water and prevent its molecules from bonding back together, is applied to ice, it melts the ice.

This teaches us that it is the very different qualities of a follower of Jesus in comparison to the rest of the world will be what helps slow down the decaying power of sin in the world around us. These notable differences are what will bring flavor to the lives of those around us, and will help soften even the hardest hearts to the truth of the Gospel.

However, we also saw last week that when salt loses its savor, it is not fit to be an agent that stops corruption, brings out flavor, or softens meat or melts ice. Its only use is to be thrown out into the street where it will not soften, but harden the top layer of the road as it gets repeatedly stepped on.

When Christians loose their saltiness and become permeated by the same impurities of the world, then we are no longer effective at doing what we were created for - to be salt. What happens is that we begin to harden the hearts of those around us instead of softening them to the Gospel.

This week, we take a look at the next few verses there in Matthew 5, but before we do that, lets go to our theme verse: 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Christians are a people that God has chosen for himself, holy (separated), so that we could show forth the praise of Jesus Christ. He has called us out of darkness and into light, and because of that, we are become the light of the world.

Matthew 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Let's Pray

"YOU Are the Light of the World"

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus says an very profound thing to his disciples, to his followers. Jesus looks at this band of misfits - fishermen, students of Scripture, a tax collector (a Jew who worked for the Roman government collecting taxes from fellow Jews), a zealot (who aggressively opposed Roman rule and would have a natural hate toward tax collectors), and businessmen, all accompanied by others who were following Jesus, all from different walks of life. Jesus looks at them and says "YOU are the light of the world."

Few, if any in that group, would have considered themselves the light of the world. These people, entirely unimportant from the standpoint of the world, have just been declared to be the light of the whole world.

But as we know, Jesus isn't just talking about this particular group of followers. There is a danger when when we read verses like Matthew 5:13-14 and we see this word "YE." The danger is that we may tend to think that Jesus is talking about those people that were gathered around and listening right then, those early followers of Jesus. But remember, Jesus is giving out a lesson on Christianity 101, so that means we are part of that "ye."

We should read this as "We are the light of the world."

This statement has some very big implications. It means that out of every class of person, every profession, every education level, every type of school of philosophy, that Christians, followers of Christ, are the light of the world. The light of the world are not the rich, nor are they the scientists, nor the philosophers. The light of the world are not the educators, nor are they the politicians. The light of the world are not the strong or the social media influencers. The light of the world are Christians. If you are sitting in this room right now and you know Jesus as your savior, you are the light of the world, and you only. There is no other light for the world. You and I are the light of the world.

For all the so called "enlightenment" in the world, the world remains hopelessly in darkness. There was the enlightenment that was spoken of during the Renaissance period. Greek philosophy was rediscovered and it began to control the outlook of many people. A couple centuries later came the period of time that we know as the Enlightenment Era. Funny thing is, this was the beginning of an attack upon the authority of the Bible. This so called period of enlightenment elevated human thought and philosophy above God's declaration of truth to man. This attack on the authority of the Scripture has continued to our present day.

"Knowledge brings light," they say, and in a way it certainly does, but think of everything that has been learned in the last 5 centuries. We have more knowledge now about the workings of the cosmos, the nature of physical illnesses and diseases, and we have great understanding about mechanical and scientific things. In spite of all the new discoveries and new understandings, man's knowledge still cannot reveal the intricacies of what makes life life. For all our knowledge, we have failed to discover what to do with that knowledge. This vast quantity of knowledge still does not solve the basic and fundamental problems of life and living.

There are still wars; man still operates with hatred in his heart; there is still rampant selfishness; there is still corruption; there are still murders, and thefts, and assault. Man is no less petty now than we were 500 years ago. The divorce rate is still sky high and ever increasing. Mankind's personal behavior and conduct are still rotten to the core, regardless of station, ethnicity, or political affiliation. Mankind still has a deep sense of drifting through life now as they did 500, 5,000 years ago. Why? Because, Jesus said, "You, Christians, my disciples, are the light of the world in a way that knowledge could never even hope to be. You, and you alone, are the light of the world."

Since the introduction of sin, man has believed that as knowledge increased, mankind would then apply it to the solution of all of our problems, and yet, that has not ever been the truth when it comes to character and moral flaws. We have solved the problem of heating homes; we have solved the problem of infections, we have learned to deal with sickness, we have learned to even travel outside this globe, but we have learned to deal with the basest of sins - pride, greed, and selfishness.

The same as He did when Jesus pronounce that the world was in decay and cold and flavorless when He declared, "You are the salt of the earth" in verse 13, our Lord declares that the world is in utter darkness as he says, "You are the light of the world."

Jesus not only pronounces that the world is a dark place, but that Christians are the only ones in a position to give any kind of helpful advice. And not only some Christians, all Christians. You may be the newest Christian here. You may have only received Christ as your savior weeks or days ago, but because of the quality of having God's Holy Spirit within you, you are more capable of shedding light on the world's sin problem than the most thoughtful philosopher who does not know Christ.

You may view this as daunting or overwhelming, yet this is one of the most empowering statements the Lord ever pronounced over Christianity. The ordinary Christian holds within them the light that shines in a dark world.

To the world, it is foolish to think that unstudied men and women would have this kind of wisdom, but look what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-21 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish [to those that are not saved] foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. [We have discussed how all the wisdom of the world and the understanding of unbelieving men has not helped the condition of the world one iota.]

20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God [in all their wisdom and understanding and philosophies, the world was still blind to God so], it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

How can it be that faith in Jesus could be the answer to everything? But we that know Him know that this is true.

We, therefore, are called to preach that foolishness. We are to be salt and to be light. Everyone, by the "foolish" act of preaching the Good News of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ are to illuminate the dark world in which we live.

I Am The Light of the World

In John 8:12 Jesus makes an important declaration that helps us understand how we as His followers become the light of the world.

12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Again, in John 9:5 Jesus makes a similar statement: As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

We are not the light of the world because we have willed it to be so. We are not the light of the world because of anything that we have done. We are the light of the world because upon becoming sons and daughters of God, we receive the nature of Jesus Christ. It was his nature to be the light of the world while he was here, therefore, it is our nature to be the light of the world. Jesus makes us light.

Remember our theme verse for this section of the Sermon on the Mount. 1 Peter 2:9 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

But Jesus did more than just call us out of darkness to walk in his light, Ephesians 5:8 says For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

We were not only in darkness, we were darkness before being saved. Now those that are saved not only walk in Jesus' light, we are light.

So why do too few of us walk in this light? I think it stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of our identity in Jesus Christ. This relationship that the Christian has with Jesus is one that changes our very nature, not just our destination.

I think too many Christians think that salvation works like a car wash - you go in one side dirty and come out clean on the other side, but nothing could be farther from the truth. How many of y'all know what the "Little Tikes" Cozy Coupe Car is? You may not know it by name, but most of you have probably seen one. They are little red and yellow cars for toddlers. There is no motor or even pedals on these cars. They are powered like the Flintstones vehicles. There is a hole in the floorboard that allow the toddler to put his feet directly on the ground and push around the toy car.

Little Tikes has been making these for 45 years (1979). They have various colors and models now, but the classic one is the little red and yellow 2 door coupe. These little cars are really cool for little kids. They have a steering wheel on the inside, which ,by the way, does not control any of the wheels. They have stickers on the inside to replicate a dashboard radio and such. They have stickers on the outside where the headlights and taillights would be. These "lights" of course do not work either. The wheels do turn and spin and allow for the little tyke driving it to "drive" around. In some of these cars there is also a squeaker where the horn would be, allowing the kids to honk at their family members that are in the way of them traversing the interior of their home.

Salvation is NOT like a car wash where you would take a dirty car through and see it cleaned on the other side. No. Salvation is like if you were to take that Little Tikes Cozy Coupe through a car wash and watch an actual Rolls Royce come out on the other side. That would be a fundamental change in the nature of these two vehicles, because in reality, the first one is a toy and not a vehicle at all, and the latter is a luxury vehicle of the highest quality with features one could only dream of.

But the thing is, too many Christians fail to realize that they have been fundamentally changed. You have not just been washed of your sins, you are a whole new item! And part of that change is that you ARE the light of the world because you are now a partaker of Jesus' divine nature.

The Bible tells us that "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." Jesus then said, "I am the light of the world," only to declare that each and everyone of his followers were also the light of the world by virtue of their changed nature.

Salt and Light

This is the second result of the Christian that is described by the Beatitudes. We previously saw that Jesus says "Ye are the salt of the earth." But why did he say salt before he said light?

It is important to realize that Jesus ordered his words on purpose and chose carefully what to say and how to say it.

The very first effect of a Christian in the world is to stop the decay caused by sin by simple being who he is in the nature God created him to be.

For example: here is a man who has become a Christian. He lives in his society, in his work, among his family. By simple virtue of being a follower of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit develops in him the different Beatitudes, and those in his circles are affected by it. There is a controlling over the spread of the corruption of sin, there is a savor to life when he is around. This is due to who he is and the nature of salt. One must be before one does. The Bible always deals with what a Christian is before it deals with what a Christian does.

And now, because of the presence of this individual who is being salt within his spheres of influence, comes the effect of being light. Light shows forth, as we say in 1 Peter. It declares. It is the essential quality of light. It is only after being salt that the Christian can effectively speak with his words.

"So often the tragedy has been that people proclaim the gospel in words, but their whole life and demeanor has been a denial of it." - D. Martin Lloyd-Jones

These two things should always go together, but the order and sequence should be the one that Jesus sets forth here: Be salt, then be light.

What Does Light Do?

Light Exposes Darkness and the Things That Are in Darkness.

People are usually not truly aware of darkness until light arrives. Have you ever been in a room reading, unaware that it is rather dark, when all of a sudden someone comes and flips on the light switch? Wow! What a difference, and yet, we were unaware of the need to have a light on until the light came on. This is the sense in which we speak of the those in the world. The effect of Jesus coming to this earth is how Matthew describes it when he says, "The people which sat in darkness saw great light." The first effect of light is that it exposes that there is darkness and exposes the things in that darkness.

The speech and conduct of every Christian follower of Jesus should do exactly the same thing.

This sometimes has an effect that is not appreciated by all. There are regions in the world where it does not matter how clean you are, some disgusting insects called cockroaches will enter into your home. Throughout the day, you may not see them, but I remember that in certain times of the year, in one of our homes in Mexico, roaches would infiltrate the house. We would come home at night from somewhere and as we walked through the house, we would turn on lights, and a few roaches that had been in that room would scatter and disappear into cracks in the wall or uncaulked crevices.

Those roaches did not belong to the light, they belonged to the darkness. Darkness was where they found comfort and ease of existence. When the lights came on, it exposed them as creatures of darkness, and they did not like it.

This is exactly what Jesus did. His arrival, his preaching, his conduct, his pure heart, all of it exposed the darkness of the world around it, and it became obvious very quickly who loved the darkness, who was uncomfortable in the light. It exposed the dark interior of the Pharisees and the Scribes.

Jesus says it best himself when he is talking to Nicodemus in John 3:19-20 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

The Pharisees hated Jesus because he exposed their hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Every time they came near him, something else was brought to light that they preferred be hidden.

But light not only exposes darkness and the things that belong to darkness...

Light Explains the Cause of Darkness.

This is where it becomes so practical today. The greatest academic thinkers of our day and generations past have, at best, been able to explain only that there are problems in our world and within mankind, but have never been able to reveal the cause of these problems. This is where we Christians have the light. We alone know that the cause of all problems, the source of all selfishness, the start of every war and conflict the world has ever known is rooted in sin and the wall it creates between the Creator and His creation.

Man is made so that he cannot truly live unless he is in a right relationship with God. God made us in this way, and He has placed certain rules and laws within creation that unless man joins with God in a relationship with him, everything will go wrong. Every difficulty and problem can be traced back to sin.

So we are the light of the world, exposing the darkness of sin, but also explaining the consequence of living in sin. "This is the condemnation, that light, that Jesus, came into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light." This is the problem with the world today. Plain and simple, and it takes a Christian to be able to explain it.

Light Shows the Way out of Darkness

In the same conversation with Nicodemus where Jesus tells Nicodemus the consequence, the condemnation that darkness brings with it, Jesus, the light of the world, also shows Nicodemus how to escape the darkness - "You must be born again."

Once the light of a Christ is exposed, what a man needs is not more light. What he needs is a nature that loves light instead of loving darkness. This is only attained by being born again. It is taking that Little Tike Cozy Coupe to Jesus and letting him remake our lives into something that is completely new and different. It is by faith that men and women and teens and children are born again. Faith in the person of Jesus Christ and in the power that he has as God to forgive sins when one repents and confesses them. Faith that He came to this world to save men from perishing in order to give them an eternal life, free from sin and with a restored relationship with God.

When this faith drives a person to confess he is a sinner, unable to remedy his own dark condition, and drives this person to call out to Jesus to save them, this person is born again. That new birth gives them a new nature, a nature that loves light and hates darkness. A nature that is light and shows forth the praise of Jesus Christ.

This Little Light of Mine, I'm Gonna Let It Shine

Before we finish verse 14, I actually want to move onto verse 15 and 16 of Matthew 5. Remember, we are still talking about individual Christians, and by the end of this sermon I hope to have given an application for us as a church as well. But let us continue to speak individually of Christians as individual lights.

We are the light of the world. Just like the business of salt is to be salt, and its characteristic is to be salty, the business of light is to be light. The function of light is to shine in darkness.

Matthew 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

It is the common sense thing that when a candle, a lamp, or a light is lit in a room, to put it in a prominent place where it will then light up the maximum amount of space. That is common sense and of the highest practical value. It is so natural that it takes training soldiers in something called "light discipline" in order to minimize the effect of the use of flashlights and lamps so as not to be seen by the enemy.

Likewise, our Lord makes an observation that is logical and understandable. When light is needed, it is set in an ideal place to give light to a whole room. The application for us is that the fundamental nature of each Christian is to shine brightly in the environment in which we find ourselves.

It is completely illogical to light a lamp only to cover up the rays of light it produces. So Jesus continues to say to us in the next verse 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Let your light so shine. Let it shine in such a manner that all men can see it. How does our light shine? By our words and deeds. But that is not the end. The light of our words and the light of our actions is to shine in such a way that it men that see these things give glory to God. This is directly related to how Jesus lived. Jesus performed miracles in such astonishing manner, that it was clear to the audience that these were works of God. Remember when Jesus healed the paralyzed man that was let down through the roof of a house. Jesus healed this man in front of a multitude of people.

These people then said, "We have seen strange things today," and when they had said that, they glorified God.

When people saw Jesus and the things he did and heard the words he spoke, they realized it could only be the power of God in him.

Likewise, when people see our works and hear the words which we speak, there should be no doubt that it is the power of God with which we live out the Beatitudes. It is the power of God by which we speak gracefully and live a life of love to God and love for others. When others see it and ask about it, our light should not shine on how hard we try to 'get things right,' but on how the power of God is transforming our previous nature into the image of Jesus Christ.

The true Christian cannot hide his light. The true disciple of Christ cannot hide under a bushel. What does that mean anyway? It is simple, really. A bushel that hides a Christians light is anything that covers that light.

Though it is completely contradictory and illogical to place a lit candle under or behind something that would then block its light, Jesus understood that there would be temptations for Christians to behave in this completely ridiculous manner, so he gave the warning, "Don't hide your light under a bushel, let it shine." Let it shine in your home, let it shine in your community, let it shine at school, let it shine at work, and let it shine at church.

This brings us to our last point.

A City Set on a Hill Cannot Be Hid

We are the Good News Baptist Church of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is usually a pretty easy thing to let your light shine here among the rest of the church. But at noon, when we dismiss, we do not cease to be Good News Baptist Church. If you are a member of this church, you are still a member when you drive off this parking lot. We are not a city set on a hill when we are all located in this building. This is a gathering of lights in one place. This is more like a bonfire. But you know what? When I was a kid driving up a hill on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico, I did not see one giant light. I saw a bunch of little lights scattered throughout the city limits. Some were skyscrapers, others were street lights, even others were lights withing homes. All these individual lights made up the city that could be seen from miles away.

When we leave here, don't hide your light. Shine where you are. Shine in an otherwise dark world. When we scatter from here around noon today, will others be able to see our light in the darkness?

Why is it that so many churches fail at being a light in the world? It is because of this: there are too many "formal" Christians within churches, and yes, even within our own church. Formal Christians are utterly useless, like a lamp that does not give light, like salt that has lost its savor. What do I mean by formal Christian?

The formal Christian is a person who knows enough about Christianity to spoil the world for him. He knows just enough to know that there are dangers in the world and to have a healthy fear of those dangers. He does not hang out in the world or close enough to worldly people to let them influence him. Other Christians around this formal Christian can see that he is trying to be different, but something is off.

See, the 'formal' Christian is one who is not whole-hearted in following Jesus, therefore he has no real fellowship with those that do follow Jesus with all their heart. Since he has not fully surrendered to following Jesus completely, he has no real and lasting joy or the happiness that is described in the Beatitudes, and no abundance of life.

He is one of the most miserable beings in the world, and the Lord says that he is one of the most useless people in the world. Why is this?

Because he cannot function as a worldly man, but neither can he function as a Christian. They are nothing. They are salt that has lost its savor and light that doesn't shine.

They cling to a shadow of Christianity, refusing to join the world, and yet they never truly enter into the life of the Church because they have built barriers between themselves and Christ. They feel out of place in the world, they feel out of place in the Church. They sense it and others sense it as well.

They are truly outsiders- outsiders of their own making.

Of all the people in the world, they are the most miserable. And churches are full of them. Lights hid under bushels; salts that have lost their savor. Rolls Royce cars pretending to be Cozy Coupes. Christians that fight their own nature given to them by Jesus Himself.

I will close with this illustration that I heard only two days ago:

I was privileged to hear Dr. Jeff Myers speak at a banquet for Isaac Newton Christian Academy (19APR2024). Dr. Myers is the president of Summit Ministries, an organization that is committed to equipping new generations to live out a Biblical worldview in a broken world.

This organization is located in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Dr. Myers described this town as an ultra left, hippie community. This may seem like an odd place for an organization that trains Christians in Biblical world views and produces Christian curriculums for schools and churches, and it is.

But Summit Ministries stands out in its community. It stands out not only because they are a Christian organization in a community that is consumed with New Age religions and paganism, but also because their offices are located in an antique hotel dating back to the 1800's. On top of this building stands a neon cross, deeply contrasting with its architecture.

Dr. Myers told a story about this cross that illustrates the message today very well. A couple of years before he arrived at Summit Ministries, a storm had blown off the neon cross that was on the building. The very next day, a man entered the building and told one of the secretaries, "I don't know if you're aware, but your cross got knocked down, and y'all need to get it back in place."

Surprised, the secretary responded, "Yes, we are aware that it was blown down by the storm, and we do have plans to put it back up. But I am curious, and I mean no disrespect, but why is it so important to you that we put the cross back up, seeing as you are a Buddhist?"

The man replied, "Dude, the whole vibe of the town is off if your cross is not on."

Think of that. Get past the humor that may be found in that statement and realize how truly profound that sentence is with me. "The whole vibe of the town is off if your cross isn't on..."

If we shut these doors today, if we shuttered the windows, moved out of 1203 3rd Ave SW, and never came back, would the neighbors notice? Would Cedar Rapids begin to feel "off"? Would our community be worse off because of it?

Church, we are that city set upon the hill, but if as individuals we are implementing blackout protocols, we have effectively hidden our light.

If you were to leave you job, would others notice the absence of light? If you were to move away, would your neighbors notice an absence of light?

Invitation

My first question is for Christians. Are you being salt, are you being light?

Good News Baptist Church should be like a city set on a hill that cannot be hid. Are you contributing to that? Or are you hiding your light?

Are you a miserable Christian? Are you fully committed to Christ and to His church? Or are you just a formal Christian?

My next question is for those that do not know Jesus. Are you tired of living in darkness? Is there any one here today that would say, "I would like to know the transforming power of the light of Jesus Christ in my life."

21APR2024@GNBC