Sermon Tone Analysis
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The Real/The Rub
Have you ever been lost in the dark before?
That’s a frightening experience!
I’m going to share one of my hunting secrets.
That isn’t really a secret.
The common though on public land hunting is that it’s no good because it’s over hunted and there’s too much pressure.
Just a bunch of does and small bucks.
This is completely true if you drive up, park the truck, and walk 50 yards to the nearest wheat field.
Those fields do get a lot of pressure and the big buck aren’t there.
But if you’re willing to walk I believe you can have a lot of success on public land because most people want to take the easy way out.
We had a public land in Woodward that was massive and it was right on the lake so there was an automatic draw to the water source.
So my rule on hunting public lands is walk at least a mile in and then start scouting.
You’ll probably be the only person that deep in the woods.
So that’s what I did, first I found the parking lot that was so far away most people didn’t know it existed, and then I walked way back in there.
I took a bunch of those reflective tack and put them in trees on the way back there.
Then I nestled up in a little cedar tree.
Another tip, good camouflage and good natural scent coverage.
I hunted until dark and then headed back.
Problem #1) It was cloudy so there was no light from the stars or moon.
Problem #2) My flashlight batteries died.
Luckily I had a cellphone.
Problem #2) My flashlight batteries died.
Luckily I had a cellphone.
Problem #3) I was so excited to hunt that I forgot to put the reflective tacks on the back side of the trees.
I’m well over a mile into some woods that I really didn’t know how to get out of and it was insanely dark.
I thought I was going to have to camp out until morning.
I was in desperate need for some light.
Luckily the clouds move out after about 30 minutes and I had light again.
I kept hitting the panic button on my truck remote when i got close enough.
It provide noise and light for me to get out.
Have you ever been so lost in the dark that you didn’t know what to do?
Do you know what a much bigger problem that physical darkness is?
What a much scarier situation than being lost in the woods is? Spiritual darkness.
And we’re living in a spiritually dark age.
Turn on the news for 5 minutes and you’ll see that.
Get on Social Media for 10 minutes and you’ll see that.
Read the most recent statistics on America’s outlook on faith and you’ll see that.
Look at the rise of teen depression and suicide and you’ll see that.
It doesn’t take much to see that we live in a spiritually dark place and in a spiritually dark time.
But the counter to darkness is light and I’m so thankful that even in the midst of this dark time, God’s got a counter attack and his name is Jesus.
Listen to what he said in John chapter 8.
The Rub
(ESV) 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
(ESV) 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
I Am the Light of the World
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Within this claim that Jesus made there are a couple of different statements that I want to unpack to try and figure out what Jesus was trying to say.
The first thing Jesus said was, “I am the light of the world.”
What did he mean when he said this?
In what context can Jesus say something like that without sounding like a lunatic?
Well let’s try to make some sense of it.
Just a few verses down in verse 20 it says Jesus spoke these words in the treasury.
The treasury in the temple would have been adjacent to what was known as the Court of Women.
That’s going to come up as important information in a moment.
Jesus was sitting here doing this teaching during the last day of the “Feast of Tabernacles.”
This was a time when the nation of Israel celebrated all that God had done for them and all that God had delivered them from.
They had this really weird way of celebrating where they would set up small tabernacles around the city of Jerusalem and would live in them.
They still celebrate this today and the Feast of Tabernacles is actually starting in a couple of weeks if any of you happen to be in Jerusalem and want to stop by.
During the Feast, they would basically have a big dance party every night in the Court of Women.
Which remember is right next to where Jesus was sitting.
Well what took place at this dance party?
I’m glad you asked!
They’d obviously have dancing.
Wouldn’t be a dance party without that would it?
There would be these two giant golden candle sticks that they would light to burn through the night.
There would be a certain group of men selected to do a dance with fire on the end of a big stick.
So what we have is a whole bunch of people, waiting until the son goes down, lighting up some giant tiki torches and having some fire dancers.
This sounds like the party of the year if you ask me.
But why were they doing this?
What were they celebrating?
Do you remember where light first originated?
(ESV) And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God is the source of light.
And do you remember how God showed up in the dessert to talk to Moses.
(ESV) 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.
He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.
He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
Do you remember how God helped the Israelite people escape from the Egyptian soldiers?
(ESV) 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
(ESV) 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
Do you remember how he protected the Israelites from those same Egyptian soldiers when it looked like they may have caught up to them?
(ESV) Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.
And there was the cloud and the darkness.
And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.
And there was the cloud and the darkness.
And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
Do you remember how Joshua and the Israelite army defeated the Amorites?
(ESV) At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?
The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.
12 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
These moments in the Israelite’s history all have one thing in common.
They were in trouble and then the source of light showed up in a form of light and rescued the them.
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