Longest Night

Me

In great times there can be issues to worry about

In times everyone else is celebrating you may be going through a difficult time no one realizes

I know I am not alone in this

We

There may be a time that you were waiting for a test result. It may be waiting to hear about a job. It can be something small or great but it makes you feel alone never the less.

However, we must remember we are never alone

In the dark, we must seek the light!

God

Before we open the Scriptures to seek God’s truth, let us seek him in prayer.

Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, o Lord our Rock and our Redeemer

In October I preached on finding joy in Lament. In this message, we looked at the Psalms of Lament. We see this again. As we may be struggling we seek God in his word. During pain, one of the greatest places I believe is in the Psalms. This is a book of poetry. It is a place that speaks the deepest truths of our souls we may not be able to other wise express.

In the dark, we must seek the light!

We see this in the psalm we read earlier.

Psalm 43 ESV

1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! 2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! 4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

This is a wonderful reminder. We seek comfort in God, and while we struggle we praise God.

Now in the New Covenant we have even greater promises.

In the beatitudes Christ has shown us who he is and what we will find in the kingdom. He brings comfort.

Matthew 5:4 ESV

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

In the dark, we must seek the light!

In this life we will mourn. There will be no avoiding this. However, we need not be afraid. We can come before God and bring these difficulties to him.

We are told several times in the NT to bring our anxieties to God. To bring our needs to Him in prayer and lay our needs before him.

When we trust in God he will be with us.

-Christ Calming the storm

In the dark, we must seek the light!

While we have talked about issues during Christ’s life, we must remember what we celebrate this season. In the Old Testament, mankind was lost to sin and must live perfectly by the law. They were in the dark. But Christ change that. On Friday night we will again light this wreath for the last time this year. In doing this, when we light the white candle at the center of the wreth, the Christ candle we are reminded of Christ coming into the world bringing light to the darkness. He is the light of the world.

There is no darkness that will consume the light. Even in the darkest times, when we hold to the light of Christ, while it may seem dark, it will light the way to Him.

In the dark, we must seek the light!

You

Remember to Seek God in His word

Remember the promised comfort

Remember that Christ is Emmanuel, God with us

Job - Though you slay me, yet I will praise you.

Now in Christ we have the fulfillment we sought.

Remember the boats.

Read Psalms 22-24

We

In a few minutes we are going to go into a time of prayer. It will be a time to bring your concerns before the father. If you have not known him, this is a time to accept his grace. If you have it is a time we can lay our struggles before the father. When we leave here tonight, the problem may not disappear and it may not feel completely better, but may we remember that God is with us in all of our struggle.

In the dark, we must seek the light!