Come Into The Light

KiDZ Sermon

SLIDE - KiDZ Message

Props - Draw a pretend scrape on my shin, hidden by my pant leg. Also have a large band-aid and band-aids for the kids.

ONRAMP

Mention offhand that you hurt yourself before you got there — nothing dramatic, just "yeah, I scraped it earlier."

When kids ask to see it, brush it off: you didn't want to make a big deal, it's probably fine, you'll deal with it later.

Why someone might hide a boo-boo instead of showing it to someone.

(Embarrassed, didn't want a fuss, thought it'd just get better on its own.)

Lesson

Finally roll up the sleeve. Show the scrape.

Ask: has keeping it covered all this time made it better?

Ask a helper right there to actually put a real band-aid on it. Let the kids watch that happen.

hiding something doesn't make it go away — it just means nobody can help take care of it.

Read (paraphrased): "God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all" (1 John 1:5).

God already knows about the stuff we keep covered up — a mistake, a scared feeling, something that's actually bothering us — the same way that scrape was there under the sleeve the whole time whether anyone saw it or not.

God isn't waiting to catch us. He's like the helper with the bandaid — ready the moment we're ready to show him.

"If we live in the light... Jesus washes away everything we've done wrong" (1 John 1:7, 9).

Application

SLIDE - KiDZ Big Idea:

God already knows, and he wants you to show him so he can help.

This week, if something's bothering you — a mistake, a worry, something that made you sad or scared — that's your scrape.

Don't keep the sleeve down on it. Show it to somebody who can help: a parent, a KiDZ leader, or God, right in your prayers.

Ask them to help you show it to God.

Hand out real band-aids for kids to stick on their hand or arm as a reminder — every time they notice it today, it's a nudge that hiding doesn't heal anything, showing someone does.

Prayer

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Adult Sermon

SLIDE - Title

ONRAMP: Invisible in public

Opening Move: Name the Paradox

Think about someone you say hi to every week at church. They've sat in the same pew for a while now. You know a bit about their life — their health, how a family member's treatment is going.

But do you know what's happening in their spiritual life?

What sin are they struggling with? What doubts are they carrying? What are they learning about Jesus? What is God calling them to?

There's a good chance you have no idea.

Now remember — that person is you. You are likely only partly known.

The easy parts of us to share are the external facts:

how we're feeling, a trip we took, a rough day at work, a pretty sunrise.

What's fascinating — and a little concerning — is that we come every Sunday to worship God and grow as Christians, and yet we stay content leaving our emotional and spiritual lives the most invisible part of us.

Why This Happens

My theory: it's not because we're secretive or holding out. It's because this isn't what Sunday morning is designed to do.

The gathered church on Sunday does something powerful — it helps us step outside ourselves and worship God. But it's not designed to help you be seen.

A crowd creates anonymity even as it creates belonging. You can be surrounded by your people and still be deeply alone and invisible. And the larger the gathering, the easier it becomes to stay that way.

Our church has been growing this past year. That capacity for invisibility will only grow with it — unless we intentionally step into the light.

The Hypothesis (Big Idea)

God operates in complete light, where nothing is hidden.

And here's the hard part to swallow: claiming fellowship with him while concealing your truest self from his body is a fundamental contradiction (1 John 1:5–2:2).

SLIDE - Big Idea

You cannot truly be with God and stay invisible to his body

Before you worry this series is some hunt for your deepest, darkest secrets — it isn't. And I'll tell you right now: if someone is hunting for your secrets, they're not to be trusted with them.

This series isn't here to say the church needs you to become visible. It is here to invite you to look inward and ask: do I need to be seen?

Let's look at what Scripture teaches us.

EXPOSITION: Why come into the light

Turn with me to 1 John 1

First, a little context:

When John wrote this letter, some people who'd once belonged to this Christian community had adopted false teaching and left — then kept spreading it to the people who stayed.

Their claim was that they were beyond sin, where nothing they did counted as sin anymore.

In other words: they were hiding.

They'd found a way to claim that they belong to God while concealing the sin in their life from his people.

John writes this letter to expose that contradiction. And his words land on us for the same reason.

The temptation to appear spiritual yet stay hidden is still the same.

SLIDE - 3 points

Because God has no dark-side (Verse 5)

1 John 1:5 “5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

Light here isn’t comfort or warmth—it’s visibility. It’s illumination. There is no dark underbelly, no twisted or evil motives hiding behind a facade.

God doesn’t have a public self and a private self. He is the same everywhere and in everything.

You and I may not see God completely. He is too vast for us to fully know.

But what we do know of God, what he has revealed to us, is completely true of him. It is not a mask, with his true self hidden away.

God’s own nature is entirely without darkness—no corruption, no deception, no hidden motives.

God is pure light in the sense that God is morally perfect and completely trustworthy.

So we move into verse 6

Because staying invisible is costly (Verse 6)

1 John 1:6 “6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.”

Now here’s where it gets uncomfortable. The word “lie” isn’t gentle language.

You’re claiming one thing (I belong to God, I’m part of this community, I am walking with Jesus)

while reality is another (I’m hiding and performing).

Think about what this means in the context of Sunday morning. You walk in, you greet, you have some small talk, you sing, you nod along, you shake hands.

Yet, no-one in the community would know that you’re struggling with addiction, or that your marriage is crumbling, or that you’re wrestling with your faith.

You’ve created a version of yourself that fits the gathering, and you’ve left a part of you invisible. in the dark.

and the longer you keep it inside, the more it will erode your spiritual, emotional, AND physical health.

Psychologists have actually measured this. People who habitually conceal — regardless of how bad what they're concealing actually is — report more anxiety, more depression, more physical symptoms than people who don't. The hiding itself is costing us well being.

God is in the business of illuminating darkness, so that things that are broken can be healed and made right again.

You cannot claim to be in fellowship with the God of light while hiding in the dark.

Now verse 7

Because when we are visible, he heals us (Verse 7)

1 John 1:7 “7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Notice what happens when you stop hiding: two things occur simultaneously.

First, you have fellowship with one another—it’s not just private between God and I

Second, WE experience cleansing. Visibility and healing work together for the community.

When you’re honest about your darkness you step into the light where you can actually be known and actually be healed.

I mentioned how Psychological researchers have found that suppressing something distressing is a sustained physiological cost

Well, the same studies show that disclosing it produces measurable long-term health gains

Like I shared at the beginning…

SLIDE - Big Idea

You cannot truly be with God and stay invisible to his body

and staying invisible may not only be keeping you away from God, but also away from the healing he has offered you

But, Sunday morning can't do this for you. Because the Sunday worship gathering serves a different purpose. It is here to help you focus on God, and to notice what God wants to work on in your life.

But the work must happen in smaller, more intimate groups.

This is why small groups of trustworthy, and honest people matter.

A crowd can’t see you. But a small group can.

A circle of people who not only know your name, but know what your tempted to hide

People who are learning to bring their own lives into the light and are willing to see yours illuminated.

People who you can see and be seen by

But this is not just any group of people. You need to wisely discern whether they are seeking visibility.

And verse 8 shows us now to tell...

How Small Groups help us stay in the light

A trustworthy Small Group looks at sin together (Verse 8)

1 John 1:8 “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

John expands on this in his gospel account.

John 3:19–21 “19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

The trustworthiness of the people you are following Jesus with is not measured by their lack of sin, but by their willingness to confess and look at it.

This is why the true test of the quality of a small group is whether confession is regularly built in.

Whether the leaders confess, whether others confess with them, whether you are invited to participate

A Small Group brings sin to God together (Verses 9)

1 John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Confession isn’t penance. It’s not groveling or exposing ourselves to ridicule. It’s also not punishment.

Confession is the step we take to move toward God who is eager to forgive us and heal us.

And I believe God gave us one another as his body, the church, to be the physical representation of his presence.

To stand for God and graciously recieve confession and pursue healing.

At the core, a small group exists to help you stay in the light. And we all need that because...

SLIDE - Big Idea

You cannot truly be with God and stay invisible to his body

And you need a group of Christians to team up with in order to stay visible

People who are also following Jesus.

People who also see the need to stay visible.

So let’s take a minute and get down to what this means in practice.

APPLICATION: Are you Invisible?

SLIDE - Title

[Invite the band up]

Here is a core question for us all reflect on today.

Q: Is your spiritual life invisible?

Who are the Christians you regularly confess with?

The ones who you recently talked with about the sin you are still seeking freedom from?

The ones who have recently told you what they need to bring to Jesus?

If you cannot name anyone, then friend, you are invisible right now, even if you have a small group and come to worship every week

If your sin is hidden, then you are invisible. God can still see you, but the scriptures describe you as walking in the dark.

Up until now, you may have felt like being invisible is the only safe choice.

the reality is that there are untrustworthy people out there.

There are also possibly untrustworthy people here. We are a place that wants burdened people to show up.

But the risk of staying invisible is far greater.

The longer you stay invisible, the more you get used to it, the more your sense of self will erode away, and you will steadily drift away from your creator.

Eventually it will tear you apart.

And you may blame people, for being unreliable

You may blame the church for not being helpful

You may even blame God for not saving you

But, in the end this is your decision.

Even God will not force you into the light. He will not torture a confession out of you. That would do you no good.

He will only invite you. And when you accept that invitation, and step into the light that’s when the healing happens.

If you are invisible, then today is an invitation to step into the light.

To step into the light in the group you already meet with.

Say “I want to be a part of a group like Pastor Ryan described. Will you all go there with me?” And if they won’t, then grieve the disappointment and find another one.

If you can’t find one, start one. You do not need to be a scholar or an extrovert. You just need teachable and willing to make it a priority.

I will be holding a “how to lead a small group” training on October 18th if you want to learn how.

CONCLUSION

Whatever you do, don’t stay invisible. The cost of staying in the dark is far too great.

This worship gathering on Sunday can do many things. It can inspire you. It can teach you. it can help you worship God, It can remind you that you’re not alone. But what it cannot do is notice when you’ve become invisible.

Only a smaller circle can do that. Only fellow Jesus-followers who you meet with regularly, who ask follow-up questions, who sit with you in your darkness, who share their own

—only they can see you and in Jesus’ name say: “You’re still loved. You’re still forgiven. You still belong. let’s heal together.”

Will you pray with me?

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, you are calling us out of the darkness and into your light.

We confess that we have hidden parts of our Spiritual lives. Parts of us that feel tender, parts that we are ashamed of, parts that we are afraid of.

We have been hurt so many times, and it is scary to think about letting others see them

But, you tell us that if we walk in the light, as you is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, purifies us from all sin

We are choosing to trust you in this Lord

Show us your invitation today, what part do you want me to bring to the light?

Who do you want me to confess to.

Do you want me to join a group, change a group, start a group, so that we might be visible together?

I am ready to do whatever you command lord,

I trust you

Amen.