Beyond the Nativity: The Light

Christmas is a time for lights. You may remember in your childhood, One Lie up in the car and going to look at Christmas lights. So time-worn tradition that that many people do and enjoy. It's a real sweet lady. That was fun at carries Terry's caretakers. And I've talked to her the other day and she now works at a nursing home. Every evening she goes and picks up like two people from the nursing home, and take some to see lights. And what a, what a gift that is to do that. And is actually Authorized to drive the people that live there. She can do that. Many people can, but there was a couple she took the last week or so and they got back to their ship, the little man said, they could you take us on the date until Last night was the date and I just got a text from her late last night. She said everybody in the restaurant, got involved. So I'm interested to hear the rest of the story to be concerned enough to do that the second light picture. If you haven't seen this on YouTube, it's interesting. It's Dueling Banjos to two houses that do the lights based on Dueling Banjos but in this particular adaptation, they've also woven in there a Jingle Bells with the guitar and banjo as well. So it's it's it's really kind of fun. I think, yeah, I couldn't prove this but I think it's at the core of the light. Appreciation is a connection back to God and God's power through light. I think it reminds us of the power of the God had, as certainly as God sent Jesus, to be a son, Jesus, his son to this earth, to be our sacrifice. Light is ailment that really comes reflect Jesus. Last week we started looking at John chapter 1 and John theological approach to the birth of Jesus, and the fact that in the early part, it parallels very strongly, the beginning of the world. In Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. Now the Earth was formless and void, Darkness was over the surface of the deep. In the spirit, of God was hanging over the waters. And God said, let there be light, and with his voice, he eliminated the world and established light for us, separated the light from the dark and John looks back at that and then he goes to the introduction of his gospel and he follows a very similar pattern their beginning. In verse one of John chapter 1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he was with God in the beginning through him, all things were made without him. Nothing that was made was made and then we're looking today and him was to life. And that life was the light of all mankind, the light shines in the darkness and the Darkness has not overcome it. Sometimes it feels like the darkness has winning. Certainly, it feels like the darkness is getting a head hurt. Really feels like the darkness is greater, but the Pelt that the promise that's delivered, here is a darkness is not going to overcome a through Jesus. We are not going to be overcome no matter how dark it gets. Jesus didn't, just bring the light. We know he is the light of the seven. I am from the Gospel of John 7 * Jesus as I am and in John 8:12. Do you spoke again to the people? That said, I am the light of the world who wear follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of Life. Are you noticing that light of Life popping up over and over again? How much of life is dependent on light? A critical is that in the process that creates food and illuminate our way and just they're still just a number of things, you could look at light is a good critical importance. Jesus says, I am the light of the world.

What's the theme of the Old Testament? Someone is coming the New Testament. Someone has come and right there in the middle. Jon is describing for us. This might It's the light not that illuminates the sky but illuminates the spirit and illuminates, the spiritual part of all of us and he caused that life is nothing will ever be the same again. It would be impossible to enumerate. All of the historical changes. That were ushered in by Jesus as the light when he came to this earth. There are things like schools and hospitals and other things that I'll go back to the tradition of what the people of Jesus thought needed to be in the world. Now, many of those have been taking over we now called them secular but in their early stages in the early motivation it was trying to be the light of the world trying to follow the light of Jesus. When people were trying to help others and trying to educate others and trying to give to others so that they could share in that end of Western, culture impact is dramatic. Some time ago, I told you about my maternal. Grandparents When I mentioned, the fact that it was very late in life before a lot of the rural areas in Oklahoma electricity and my grandparents measured life in Pre electricity and post electricity. Their lives were radically different after the light came on and I was thinking about that all my

I'm so sick. Descendants, the people that came first. My ancestors, somebody here to talk to you. So I just went back in my own research and it looks like my grandparents area didn't get electricity to still somewhere around 1938 to 1940. That's a long time. My sister, my sister, my mother's like 7 or 8 she got a sister 13 to Brother 15. Can you imagine not having electricity till that came along? Now, my grandmother had three sisters all of whom lived in Oklahoma City. I don't know what city was wired for electricity and the first decade of the 1900 OU came to your sister's house and went home to the dark and for almost 30 years, maybe those people who were on the farms and sometimes people look up at obviously. And so, it's hard to measure a lot of things but people look up. It's a why do people leave the farm? While that might have been one of them? You can see in the city. So you can see if they recognize the light and my grandparents didn't worship, but they were awfully proud of what they refer to as the ERC. No, the re-see, the rural electric cooperatives, who brought electricity, who brought live a light, who changed the whole way of life. 4 whirl Oklahoma's and other states as well.

There's no going back.

God sent Jesus at the light. The light is down. Here we have this new opportunity. We have this new expression. We have this new assimilation. We're not going back to what it was before. we're going to move forward, because we have Does Light of Life. So why did God put the light in this helpless? Sure. But he also wanted us to be illuminated to the point where we illuminate others as well. The goal is to defeat Darkness. The promised here is that Darkness will not overcome, the only way that happens is if you and I are our own illuminations of the Light of Christ. I'm here with you before then when Jack and Joyce lives in Houston, they had in that didn't have any draperies that closed and so Terry and joyfully go off in the afternoon Jack and I would watch football and Jack could drag out some comforters off the bed and hang them up over the rod so that the route to get real dark. You know we always meant to get them down before the ladies got home. But Joyce went down charging into the bandits. You always did Darkness.

Evil does love Darkness. Evil grows in darkness expand. It takes over. And God says I don't want evil in my world, my world, it's so his son, brings it and represents it. To all of us. What do you do when you have a life? Matthew 5:14 Jesus says to the people that are listening to The Sermon on the Mount. You are the light of the world, a town built on a hill, cannot be hid in. These are the people light a lamp and put it into a bowl and so they put it on its stand and he just lied to everyone in the house in the same way. Let your light shine before others will see your good deeds. And praise, you know, and glorify your father in Heaven. Jesus doesn't make any sense to light, a light, cover it up. And sometimes we say, well, I'm glad that I have the light of God. I'm glad that Jesus has brought me the lightning and if somebody wants to help and Jesus is like, Let the light glow. Spread the light.

The dangerous world, the world. It, I've just mentioned already is continually darkening. In Philippians 2:15 going on in 2 verse 16. also, so that you may become blameless and pure Children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation, then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. As you hold firmly to the word of life that same phrase over and over again. So dark blue darker. It is the more illumination we have told you before that back when the comet kohoutek was going to pass over by your parents brought by bought my two sons a telescope so they can see the comet 150 miles north of Houston to get to place dark enough to see that, it was lots of fun in the last 3 weeks. My grandchildren have chased around spell trying to see the Northern Lights. You know I think like anything you was more of a excuse but the light draws and drive has power and it's our task. To stay in the light. Rory use this last week as part of the communion presentation, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with Jesus. Yes. But we have fellowship with one another. We're all there in the like we all need to see the way we all need to have an illumination that allows us to stay in the safe places until we were together in that. And then we're blessed by the fact that the blood of Jesus his son purify, this white lies, our pathway that life protects us. And washes us.

Voices call from the darkness.

I asked a couple people this morning here familiar with with songs time we fit in western Canada. They have a song called walk walk. Walk in the light of God and I don't know if you've ever heard that song Or sung it but it's a wonderful. Wonderful song. I looked in our book and it's not in this current book that we have but they really do like it and you can see why when I was a little kid, my mother used to turn on the gospel Jubilee on TV. While you're getting dressed to go to church and they would frequently sing that song. I want to walk like Jesus wants me to walk. I want to talk, like Jesus wants me to talk. I want to live like Jesus wants me to live. I want to walk talk and live the way he wants me to.

But I was just finishing up and he's going to Street, we were at the place where we were able to have a summer camp for kids and it should go into it can't we just leave the camp and had to put on our own camp, but that was really, really fun to be able to do that the first year that we did that. We had a devotional and I just had a little candle and we given everybody in the crowd, a little candle and at one point in time as we talked about the light, I used my until like somebody else's and then you know where it gets really like doing. It was kind of fun something and I was like what we did that last year we're not going to do that this year and they said a hundred candles in my pocket so you know we do. And each of them had brought two dozen candles, because they wanted to do this again. And the director, we had a little over $100 and I said, well, it's not enough to go around. We don't want to be involved in the door, she came over, and he said, I got some more you, and the girls went to him and said, can we get some paper plates and they made little holders and they let them out on the road? Scriptures on them and people came by and decorated. There's for the devotional and so we did the same thing again. Exactly. Except the four girls sat right in front of me. And when I lit, the first candle eyelid each of their four. And the year before they just kind of passed it through everybody and said the four girls got up. And they went to the outside edges. And I started it on the edges, and it all came toward the center. and I can remember thinking in my heart,

I did it. Take any of the lumination for Jesus? He understand. I bought a brake special thing. It was for them.

How's Heaven going to be lit? So I will be gone, there won't be any man-made systems to provide light. In Revelations, chapter 21, verse 23. It says the city does not need the Sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light. And the lamb is its lamp. Jesus is the light of Heaven. I hope as you drive by a light display, I hope it's you. Maybe take somebody to look at the Christmas lights, you'll remember of that illumination, the darkness is the analogy of Christ in the world. Would you go with me?

Dear God. We thank you so much for the gift of your son. We thank you so much for the plan to redeem Mankind. And father we celebrate today that we have the opportunity, we have the way we have the passageway to go home and be with you. if we find the light, if we stay in the light that you will bring us to you, And that's just wonderful blessing, father in this holiday season help us as we see light to make the connection to our Savior and to make the commitment that we two will be lights. He asked you to watch her worst guide us protect us and forgive us. We pray this. So your son and me. This morning for youth in the, we extend the invitation of Jesus Christ. You need to respond to that, we invite you to do that, I'll be staying in scenes to song together.