Illuminate Week 3- Carry The Light

Big Idea: We must carry the light with us.

Primary Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Supporting Scripture: Isaiah 9:2; 1 John 1:5; John 8:12; John 1:9; John 1:5

CAPTURE (Why should students pay attention to and care about your message?)

Have any of you ever been to a concert in a large stadium or arena?

[Teacher note: give a few seconds for students to raise their hands, and feel free to ask students to share which concert(s) they’ve attended.]

Each concert is unique, but there tends to be a common flow to the experience. To start things off, you get to see an artist who is usually not the one you came to see. It’s called the opening act.

Next, it’s time for the main artist to take to the stage. The lights go out. A beat starts, the lights flicker a little, and at just the right moment, a giant crash hits, lights flood the stage, and a spotlight hits the headlining artist, who kicks in with a jaw-dropping performance that honestly almost makes you forget that the opening act even happened in the first place.

This scenario is kind of similar to what we covered in the first two weeks of our “Illuminate” series. Over the last two weeks, we’ve been focusing on the Christmas story. The opening act is the Old Testament prophets, where individuals like Isaiah step on stage to share God’s truth with the people of Israel. And as great as prophets like Isaiah are, their true purpose is to lay the ground for the Savior that was to come.

And don’t get me wrong, the prophets are great, but they weren’t even close to offering what Jesus was going to bring. And we can tell that Jesus is special because as soon as he stepped on the stage a little over 2000 years ago, the dark night sky exploded with the sound and brightness of a choir of angels. Plus, even a star served as a spotlight shining on Jesus as the crowd of shepherds and wise men looked on in amazement.

There is another common moment that happens during some of the best live performances. The artist might start out loud and bright, but at some point during the show, they might move to a less flashy part of the stage, maybe with just some acoustic instruments. The stage and the house lights come down a bit to set the atmosphere. This is where the crowd pulls out their phones, turns on their flashlights, and holds them up in the air while singing along to the familiar song being performed. In this moment, the artist is still the centerpiece, but suddenly the entire crowd actually becomes part of the show.

Today, we are at the full crowd participation moment in the Christmas story. The prophets have done their thing, setting the stage for Jesus to enter the scene. The light of Jesus has taken the stage and now He’s inviting us to join in by letting our light shine.

SCRIPTURE (What does God’s Word say?)

Let’s look at the Bible where we’ll focus on the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16. These verses come from what is often called the Sermon on the Mount. It’s a collection of incredible teachings that lay out what it means to live as His followers.

Right in the middle of this sermon, Jesus gives us this metaphor:

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14 "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:14-16 – NLT)

Jesus compares us to light—and a powerful light at that. For the past two weeks, we have seen the Bible using light as a metaphor for God.

Isaiah chapter 9 talks about a great light that will shine.

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2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. (Isaiah 9:2 – NLT)

God is that light, which we see clearly in 1 John 1:5.

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5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. (1 John 1:5 – NLT)

And Jesus Himself proclaimed that He is the light in John 8:12.

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12 “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

(John 8:12 – NLT)

Now, this statement from Jesus in John and His statement in Matthew 5:14 might cause some confusion. Let’s look at these two verses side by side.

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12 “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

(John 8:12 – NLT)

14 "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14 – NLT)

In John 8, Jesus says that He is the light of the world, But in Matthew 5, He tells us that we are the light of the world. It’s like He makes two different claims. So, He or we… which one is it? Is this a contradiction or is there an explanation?

We find our answer in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. In this chapter, John wrote about Jesus’ arrival into our world and how big of a deal it was. Check out what he wrote:

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9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1:9 – NLT)

John is saying Jesus is the true light. And He’s not just bringing His light into the world…

He’s bringing His light so He can share it with everyone.

Anyone who embraces Jesus and follows Him has the opportunity to also become the light of this world, displaying Jesus for all to see.

INSIGHTS (What might this Scripture mean?)

One of the challenges with passages like this is that they rely so heavily on metaphor, which can sometimes make it easy to overlook important truths. So, let’s take a moment to really dig in and unpack a few key ideas, ensuring we aren’t missing crucial insights that could help us better understand what Jesus is saying.

The first idea is…

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1. Our light is meant to be seen.

In these verses, immediately after saying, “You are the light of the world,” Jesus makes it clear that there is a very specific purpose for that light. Let’s take another look at what Jesus said…

[show slide]

14 "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:14-16 – NLT)

Jesus wants us to know this light is not meant to be hidden. The whole point of lighting a lamp is for it to be used in a way that the light can be seen. In the same way, our faith isn’t meant to be hidden. Our relationship with Jesus should influence every part of our lives, and when it does, I absolutely believe that others will notice.

But what does shining that light look like? What a great question, let’s answer this with our second big idea from the passage…

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2. Our light shines through our actions.

I’m not sure that this should be a huge surprise for any of us, as we’ve all heard it said that actions speak louder than words. Let’s look back at Matthew 5, where Jesus moves from object lessons and illustrations to very plain talk.

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14 "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:14-16 – NLT)

It's clear what Jesus is saying, His light shines through our actions. Our life as Jesus followers should be seen in what we do and what we don’t do. Now, hear me very clearly. I am not saying—and more importantly, Jesus is not saying—that the things we do will save us or that our actions somehow make us better than anyone else.

What I am saying is that our actions will show that we belong to Jesus and that the light of Jesus is in us.

But what is the ultimate goal of allowing the light of Jesus to shine through our actions? The third big idea that I want us to understand is…

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3. Our light will impact the world around us.

Let’s look back to our passage from Matthew 5, and let’s specifically look at the last part of these verses.

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14 "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:14-16 – NLT)

This is SO IMPORTANT for us to understand. The goal isn’t to draw attention to ourselves; the goal is to point others to God.

When people see the way we are living—our love, our kindness, our integrity—it’s going to cause us to stand out.

Do you remember how last week we talked about the power of our faith stories? Telling others about what Jesus has done in our lives is a great start, but it’s not the only step in sharing Jesus’ light with others. We also share our stories by how we live our lives, how we treat others, and how we impact the world around us. In fact, our words are made exponentially stronger when those hearing us have also seen the light of Jesus on display through our actions.

ACTION (How could we live this out?)

Understanding that we are called to be the light is just the beginning. Now, we need to consider what it actually looks like to shine that light in the real world.

So, this is the moment in the concert where we have been invited to pull our phones out, turn on the flashlight, hold them high, and sing along with Jesus. This is our opportunity to actually be part of the show. It’s our opportunity to carry his light with us.

I want to give you three practical ways to set yourself up well to let your light shine during Christmas break.

The first is…

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1. Memorize Matthew 5:16.

If you’re anything like me, there might be something within you that might cringe a little when you hear the word “memorize.” But I really want to challenge you to push through that.

It’s funny that we often think we are bad at memorizing, but then we sing every word of our favorite songs and quote lines from our favorite shows and movies without any trouble at all. The point is, we CAN memorize when we are determined.

Matthew 5:16 says…

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16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:16 – NLT)

Memorizing this verse will help you remember that you are the light of the world, which means you live in a way that shines Jesus into a world that desperately needs to know Him.

The second thing you can do to let your light shine is…

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2. Be the light in someone else’s life.

Every day, there are opportunities to be light to those around us. This week, I want you to be on the lookout for those opportunities, and as soon as you notice one, just go for it.

Maybe you’ll choose to sit by someone who often sits alone or speak kind words to a person who needs to hear them. It could be an encouraging text you send to someone who might not expect it, or it could even be something you do at home to make life a little easier for a sibling or parent.

Light is meant to shine, but for us, it requires intentionality. Ask God to give you eyes to see an opportunity to be light in someone’s life this week.

The last thing I want to challenge you to do this week is…

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3. Pray for your school.

Commit to praying for your school every day until you return to school in January.

If you’re homeschooled, pray for those in your homeschool group every day during the break.

Then in January, we will have an opportunity to start 2025 right as we pray together each morning in 21 Days of Prayer.

You can’t ever pray to much for your school, community, church, and the world.

As we think about how to share the light of Jesus with others, I want to challenge you to reflect on the places where you spend the most time—these might be the very places that need His light the most. For some of you, it might be home. For others, it might be where you work. But I’m guessing that for most of you, the place that probably comes to mind is your school.

As someone who carries the light of Jesus with you wherever you go, each day that you get up and go to school is an opportunity to share that light with others. So, what if we actually started asking God to make us more aware of those opportunities?

And what if we started asking God to help us be bold enough to respond to darkness in the same way that Jesus did? I think we’d stop seeing the darkness around us as something to fear and instead see it as an opportunity to offer hope to others who desperately need it. But that starts with purposefully asking God to open our eyes to the needs around us. So, whether you need to set an alarm to remind you each day or set up a group chat with your friends to remind each other, this week, make it a point to pray for your school every day.

Before we go, I want to share with you a passage from the Gospel of John, where John describes what happens when the light of Jesus meets the darkness…

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5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:5 – NLT)

Jesus is the Light, and because He loves us so much, He has shared that light with each of us. And now, we get to carry that same light each day, hoping others will see Jesus through us.

In just a moment, we’ll head out for our Amp Youth family breakfast. As you eat, talk about what it might look like to carry that light in such a way that others will see Jesus through us, but first, I want to pray and thank God for the gift that He’s given us through His Son, Jesus.

[close in prayer]