Illuminated: Moving from Darkness to Divine Perspective

• Jesus as the Light of the World [01:17:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the central theme using a middle school song and connects it to biblical theology in John 1.
• Creation and Light [01:18:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the theological significance of light existing before the sun in Genesis and John's Gospel.
• Persecution and Conversion (Saul/Paul) [01:21:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the story of Stephen's martyrdom and Saul's subsequent persecution of the church as a setup for the illustration of light revealing truth.
• Saul's Conversion and Perspective [01:23:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts Saul's persecution of Christians and his sudden conversion on the road to Damascus, using it to illustrate how human perspectives can be wrong until illuminated by Christ.
• The Light of Christ vs. Human Opinion [01:27:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that unless decisions are grounded in the 'light of Christ,' they are merely human opinions, which are not always right.
• The Nature of Light and Darkness [01:30:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses scientific analogies (waves and particles) and John 1:5 to explain that light and darkness cannot coexist, implying that where Christ's light is, darkness is expelled.
• Grace and 'Go and Sin No More' [01:31:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > Through the story of the woman caught in adultery, the pastor emphasizes that while grace is present, the invitation to the kingdom includes a call to move forward and stop sinning.
• Participation in the Kingdom [01:36:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights that God invites humans to participate in His work rather than doing everything alone, framing this as a key aspect of Christianity.
• Participation in the Kingdom [01:36:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that Christianity is defined by active participation, noting that God invites humans to join in His work rather than doing everything alone.
• Light vs. Darkness [01:36:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The sermon explores the metaphor of light and darkness, encouraging listeners to identify 'dark' spaces in their lives and invite Jesus to illuminate them.
• Works and Grace [01:42:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defends the value of 'works' when understood correctly—not as a means to earn salvation, but as the natural participation and response to God's grace.
• Biblical Illustrations ([John 9](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+9&version=KJV) & [Matthew 5](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5&version=KJV)/13) [01:37:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the story of the blind man in John 9 and the 'salt of the earth/light of the world' passages in Matthew to illustrate the call to action and visibility for believers.

• Sermon Illustration [01:13:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares personal anecdotes about traveling to national parks (Acadia and Mesa Verde) to observe sunrises and sunsets, using the physical phenomenon of light refraction and visibility as an analogy for spiritual insight.
• Sermon Illustration [01:21:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical narrative from Acts 6-9, detailing Stephen's speech, his stoning, and Saul's (Paul's) initial persecution of the early church before his conversion.
• Sermon Illustration [01:23:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The biblical narrative of Saul (Paul) traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians, encountering the light of Jesus, becoming blind, and then being restored and used by God.
• Sermon Illustration [01:28:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > A personal anecdote about the pastor's son, Owen, entering his junior year of high school and facing pressure about college and future choices, illustrating the need for divine perspective over human advice.
• Sermon Illustration [01:31:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The biblical story of the Pharisees bringing a woman caught in adultery to Jesus to trap Him, Jesus's response about casting the first stone, the accusers leaving, and Jesus telling the woman to 'go and sin no more.'
• Sermon Illustration [01:37:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > A paraphrased reference to the story in John 9 of a blind man, noting that the Pharisees were setting a trap by asking whose sin caused his blindness.
• Sermon Illustration [01:38:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor paraphrases the story of the blind man in John 9, highlighting how Jesus used the man's condition to display God's power, changing the narrative from punishment to opportunity for divine revelation.
• Sermon Illustration [01:40:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of salt losing its flavor and a lamp hidden under a basket to explain the necessity of believers being visible and active in the world.
• Sermon Illustration [01:43:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references a historical misconception about the Catholic Church (specifically mentioning 1777 and indulgences) to contrast the idea of 'buying' salvation with the Christian concept of participating in God's work through grace.

• Pastoral Charge [01:36:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages the congregation to pray for God to move them from darkness into His light.
• Pastoral Charge [01:50:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites congregation members who feel they need intentional prayer or have unresolved issues to come forward to meet with the ministry team.
• Pastoral Charge [01:50:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come forward to meet someone and ask them to pray with you.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:06:51] Good morning. You guys awake in this rainy, rainy, dark weather? It makes you want to go back to bed. But we're here. You know, so you're the few brave ones that decided to show up. So if you hear me, stand to your feet and we're going to pray and bless and enjoy the Lord this morning. Amen. You know, we do want to enjoy the Lord this morning. So if there's any heaviness on you, just shake it off this morning. Just shake that off because you don't need

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:07:33] that this morning you know it's the joy of the lord it's the joy of the lord it's the joy of the

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:07:38] lord it's the joy of the lord that's it come on lord the banner of jesus savior is here and then

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:08:38] he shall be praised he shall be praised in heaven at the same he shall be praised he shall be pray, exalted for endless days, the light of Jesus, the rock I stand, mountains and valleys, my joy will
[00:09:42] I've got a hope, oh I've got a hope, cause he shall be praised, he shall be praised, heaven and earth the same he shall be praised, he shall be praised, exalted for endless days, and with all you have, isn't he worthy

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:11:20] everybody clap your hands everybody move your feet isn't he worthy

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:11:28] give it all don't hold back praise him with all you have isn't he worthy everybody clap your hands isn't he worth never stop call that we should be looking at

[00:41:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:41:02] pray that's with jesus we have redemption story that's full of his grace and we're not just walking to that grace. We're running to it and it's running towards us. We're people who are made for more. We're not meant to be tending graves, graves of the past, graves of shame.
[00:41:39] We're redemption people. Amen. Are you a redemption person? Are you a grace person this morning? Sing this again, but let's sing it. Looking at our story with Jesus, our story that's looking ahead with grace running down that
[00:42:09] road toward us.

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:42:11] I wasn't made to be tinned in a grave.
[00:42:16] I was called by that to lie. Why would I make my bed in shame?

[00:42:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:42:30] I would again. Why would I? We thank you, Father,

[00:54:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:54:14] for the breath that you gave us, Lord. The breath of your Spirit, Lord. The breath of your Holy Spirit, Lord. The breath that gave us new life.
[00:54:47] And I'll be feeling this morning that we return that same breath with thanksgiving and declaring that you're great lord you are great lord let's just declare that one more time how great it is i think your name is great it's great

[00:55:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:55:28] that's right no other name that's good amy that's good and i feel it's very befitting this morning

[00:58:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:58:08] that we do communion so grab your cups just hold the bread up that represents his broken body This morning Jesus with thanksgiving We say thank you As we do this remembrance of what you've done
[00:58:48] Your broken body That has made us whole And as we partake it this morning Touch our minds Souls and bodies We're going to hold up the cup That represents the cup of his suffering Where by his blood
[00:59:37] All our sins are wiped away And we want to say thank you Jesus For the blood that you shed on the cross for your blood that cries a better covenant for your blood that is
[00:59:59] forever sprinkled on the mercy seat known by your blood we can enter into the holy of holies thank you for your blood Jesus

[01:00:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:00:13] and as

[01:00:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:00:36] they're playing that can we have the ashes come up and I felt like it's a good time just to stay engaged in the presence and as we give it's still another act of worship of thankfulness
[01:00:56] so father as we give this morning we thank you for your provision we thank you you're a good father we thank you that you always take care of us father so as we give this
[01:01:12] offering we give you thanksgiving and joy lord amen just allow the holy spirit to touch you this morning

[01:01:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[01:01:36] that's good

[01:01:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:01:47] that's really good

[01:01:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:01:49] thank you lord for this morning

[01:03:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:03:10] thank you for your presence and thank you for your holy spirit and we also thank you for the worship team leading us into your presence amen and amen all right kids may be dismissed and don't forget to sign in parents and pick up your keys afterwards
[01:03:41] and as they're doing that part we do have a video of mongolia and joy you know the missionary that the mission that joy went to and he and we're about to show that video here in a little bit

[01:04:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:04:03] Everyone, let's enjoy the game.
[01:04:05] For several weeks, God led us through South Korea and Mongolia.
[01:04:09] We had the privilege of serving Seoul, Daejeon, Ulaanbaatar, Zahang, Oshoff, and other regions, especially in Western Mongolia near the Russian and the Chinese borders.
[01:04:20] By God's grace, we opened a new GSM center in Zahang province and launched a new prayer house in Ulaanbaatar.
[01:04:28] We also held our very first two-day GSM camp.
[01:04:32] released two new audiobooks, and launched the Season 2 John and Joyce Christian Podcast.
[01:04:39] We are deeply grateful to everyone who welcomed us and partnered with us in sharing the gospel and hosting the revival meetings across the country.
[01:04:50] A very meaningful moment for me was laying my father's ashes in his hometown in Oaks Province, which brought me needed healing and peace to my heart.
[01:05:01] I prayed for several of my family members who were sick, and all of them were healed.
[01:05:06] Later, some of them gave their lives to Jesus Christ.
[01:05:09] Seeing God walk first in my own family was one of the greatest blessings on this trip.
[01:05:15] Throughout our journey, we witnessed God's faithfulness again and again.
[01:05:20] Many people experienced healing, freedom, miracles, and salvation, and we saw His provision every step of the way.
[01:05:26] One experience that deeply impacted me took place was in the Home Promise, where we felt God had especially called us to minister.
[01:05:34] During the time of prayer, God showed me the vision of David defeating Goliath.
[01:05:39] I clearly heard these words, we won.
[01:05:43] My teammates did not see the vision, but sensed the powerful presence of God.
[01:05:48] Starting ministry in the home was not easy.
[01:05:50] Some churches were hesitant to welcome us, so we simply shared the gospel wherever God opened the door, on the streets, in hotel meeting rooms, and even with the hotel staff. Despite the challenges, several people surrendered their
[01:06:04] lives to Christ, reminding us that God's work is never limited by the circumstances.
[01:06:10] Another unforgettable testimony took place in ours. A man accepted Jesus Christ and then asked us to pray for his brother who had been in a devastating car accident. He was completely paralyzed, unable to speak, unable to breathe on his own. Doctors had little hope and encouraged
[01:06:29] the family to prepare for divorce. We visited him for three consecutive days. On the first day, while we prayed, his arm began to move. On the second day, he started breathing on his own and was transferred out of the intensive care unit. On the third day, before he left the
[01:06:47] promise, who would return to his legs as well. As we minister to the family, many of the relatives also placed their faith in Jesus Christ. So one of the greatest joys of returning to us was seeing
[01:06:59] prophecies of God gave three years ago come to pass. Two churches now have new church buildings and one of them planted two more new branches. During the GSM camp, many people encountered Jesus in a fresh way. Receive prayer, ministry, counseling, experience lasting life transformation.
[01:07:18] We are excited to see how God will continue to use this ministry in years ahead. Returning home after such an incredible journey is always bittersweet. I miss my family and children very much, yet my heart is overflowing with the gratitude for all that God has done. Everywhere
[01:07:36] we traveled we were reminded that god loves people deeply and continues to transform lives many say goodbye with tears and we left them with the hearts of full thanksgiving for his faithfulness thank you to everyone who traveled with us served alongside us prayed fasted gave
[01:07:55] generously and supported this ministry your partnership makes this mission possible and and you are part of every life that has been touched.
[01:08:06] Please continue praying for us.
[01:08:07] This is a year-round ministry as we disciple believers, train leaders, plant new churches, and continue sharing the gospel wherever God opens the door.
[01:08:16] Thank you for standing with us.
[01:08:18] All glory belongs to God.

[01:08:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:08:26] Isn't that incredible?
[01:08:28] Is Joy here today?
[01:08:29] Is she with us?
[01:08:30] Is she still overseas?
[01:08:31] She's out of town.
[01:08:32] Maybe that was a silly question considering that was a recent update.
[01:08:35] um anyway it's incredible that we get to be encouraged by what the lord is doing through our brothers and sisters here in this body so thank you lord how's everybody good i just have a couple quick announcements um first and foremost the baptism has been postponed so it's going to
[01:08:53] happen at the end of august now the new date is august 30th and you have until the um 23rd to sign up. And if you haven't been baptized, it's a really beautiful thing. Also, it's one
[01:09:07] of my favorite things as a believer to get to witness is new Christians come and be baptized in the water. And it's just, oh, it's such a sweet reminder of the presence of the Lord and
[01:09:19] what he does in our lives. You know, the old being gone and the new coming and just the transference of spirits there. So spirit there, the Lord's spirit. Thank you, God.
[01:09:29] anyway so he um so we have the opportunity and we're going to do it here in the sanctuary if all goes well which is really encouraging because it is really fun to watch so thank you god all
[01:09:39] right also this one's for the ladies um the woman's retreat is coming up october 16th through 18th registration opens august 2nd is it already on everybody's calendar it's on mine i have a little reminder set so remember to sign up um we're gonna slip away for a few days and come
[01:09:58] back, recharged, restored, renewed. It's a beautiful thing. And it's in Sophia, North Carolina.
[01:10:07] The registration information is up there. It's also in your emails. And listen, if you're a lady and you're like, you know, this really isn't really my thing, I would encourage you to prayerfully consider it because I kind of used to feel that way. I'd been to a lot of ladies events and was
[01:10:22] like, I just don't want to keep doing this. But the River Life one is different. And I was blown away. I've gone the past two years and it's been such a beautiful thing and just a really nice
[01:10:32] rhythm of restoration, of going away and being ministered to. And it's not a fluffy thing. It really is just deep. The Lord is already there, you know, and he's got things for you. He's got
[01:10:41] good things for you and he wants to move in your life and in just a really tangible way. So I would encourage you to sign up August 2nd at 4 p.m. when registration opens. Also, lastly, the River Life
[01:10:54] School of Ministry is taking applications for their fall semester. You can sign up through the email again. The application deadline is Saturday, August 15th. And now the School of Ministry, it is a place where you can discover your calling, dive into God's Word, get equipped
[01:11:12] for ministry, and bring the power of God to your generation. So space is limited. So the class will fill up quickly. So go ahead and apply. Pray about it. See if that's where you're supposed to be. And
[01:11:22] And if it is, go ahead and start that registration.
[01:11:26] It's a really cool thing.
[01:11:27] I've got to witness people that have gone through it and just the amazing things that they've said about it.
[01:11:31] And, yeah, another place where God is really moving.
[01:11:34] So I'm going to invite Corey up.
[01:11:38] We have Corey preaching today.
[01:11:41] How are you?
[01:11:43] Are you good?
[01:11:43] Great.
[01:11:45] I'm going to pray for him, and then he's going to take the stage.
[01:11:48] Hope you're all okay.
[01:11:49] We're good.
[01:11:50] I think we're good.
[01:11:51] So Lord, we just thank you for who you are and what you've done already this morning.
[01:11:56] Father, thank you for the worship.
[01:11:57] And your presence is so thick and tangible here, Father.
[01:12:01] And I thank you for that.
[01:12:02] I bless Corey now as he prepares to speak the words that you have given him.
[01:12:06] Thank you for the preparation in advance that he's done, Father.
[01:12:12] I just hear the Lord saying that he's seen all the work that you're putting in, all the things that no one else sees that he sees.
[01:12:18] and he just, he's delighted by your faithfulness.
[01:12:22] Thank you, God.
[01:12:24] And Father, we just pray for our hearts that we are ready to receive whatever it is that you have for us, God, because we know that he has spent time at your feet asking for these, for what it is
[01:12:34] that you want us to hear, Father.
[01:12:36] He's the vessel poured out, so prepare our hearts to receive what you have for us, God.
[01:12:40] We love you, we thank you, we bless this morning in Jesus's name, amen.

[01:12:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:12:46] Thank you so much.
[01:12:49] It's good to see y'all.
[01:12:53] Should I ask if everybody's okay?
[01:12:55] If we miss Byron too much?
[01:12:59] You're all right?
[01:13:00] Missed y'all last week.
[01:13:02] Christy and I were down helping out at Wilmington.
[01:13:05] You know, we still go down once a month and do the message down there.
[01:13:07] That way Ryan and Mary get a little break.
[01:13:09] So we were down there and miss you guys, but it's good to be back.
[01:13:13] Just by way of introduction, one of the things that I was talking about last week with the Wilmington group was how cool God is as creator.
[01:13:25] I'm just thinking that he's really, really good at that job.
[01:13:29] Do you know what I mean?
[01:13:31] And then for me, the mental picture, the tie-in, or how I was, for whatever reason, contemplating that was through the sunrise.
[01:13:42] Sunsets, too, a little bit, but let's be honest.
[01:13:46] In my current schedule in life, I don't make sunsets. As often as I make the sunrise, it's usually an easier ask. So I love sunrises. Chrissy and I have been fortunate enough over the past little over a year to do some
[01:14:02] traveling. We've been hitting the national parks. We've checked off four. There's 63. I don't know that we'll get that high, but we're at four. We've made a good start. But we've seen some awesome sunrises and sunsets on our trips. Last year, we were in Acadia National Park, and there's this
[01:14:22] tour you can do. You drive up Mount Cadillac, and it's supposedly the first place in America that you see the sunrise. And just as the sun comes over the water and the ocean and the islands,
[01:14:34] it's just absolutely gorgeous. And then recently, we went to Mesa Verde, which is a national park in Southwest Colorado.
[01:14:45] And just, I didn't know anything about it.
[01:14:49] They have these cliff dwellings that are like a thousand years old that the Pueblo people built.
[01:14:53] If you haven't heard about that, you should Google that.
[01:14:56] Crazy, but I didn't know anything else.
[01:14:58] So it's a mesa, which it's not just a clever name.
[01:15:01] Like it's actually a mesa, which is like a flat rise of land.
[01:15:06] And so like, if you're looking out, there's the mountains in the distance and then these plains down below.
[01:15:11] and then very suddenly there's this steep incline and then just flat for miles and miles and miles.
[01:15:18] And we just sat on the edge of this mesa overlooking the plains and the mountains as the sun went down and Mercury and Venus were right in line with the moon or with the sun as it was going.
[01:15:29] It was just gorgeous. It was just breathtaking.
[01:15:32] And we saw the sunrise the next morning and just really, really blessed.
[01:15:36] But I started doing some research on light, sunlight and light. And one of the things that I learned is that light generally just travels in one direction and that something causes it to move. And so like when the light from the sun
[01:15:52] hits our atmosphere, it refracts and it changes direction and it changes color. And I'm super thankful for that, that phenomenon of light, because it's real cute. I mean, that's one of my favorite things. I just, I think it's just, it's gorgeous. I was doing this research and
[01:16:11] light's super complicated. I think I did not know that before I started looking into it. I was thinking like you flip a switch and there's light, but that's electricity. Like I, that's some math I can handle. Circuits, I feel like I can wrap my mind around that a little bit more, but light
[01:16:32] is super complicated.
[01:16:34] Like several of these different things that I read about, like you're into the second paragraph, just the second paragraph, and they're using words like quantum and referencing Einstein.
[01:16:45] I'm not kidding.
[01:16:46] And that like very, very quickly goes above my capacity to understand math.
[01:16:53] They show some of the formulas and it looks like alien stuff, like code, like from another planet.
[01:17:01] It's, I don't, there's letters I've never seen before.
[01:17:03] in this math. And I just don't get it. But thinking about sunrises and thinking about light, here's the next thing that happened in my progression this week, is I thought about this song that we used to sing in middle school. And sorry, kids, but I'm going to sing it.
[01:17:27] Christy's not here, so sorry, Christy, for when you podcast this later. But it goes like this.

[01:17:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:17:31] It goes, Jesus is the light. He's the light of the world. Boom, boom, boom. Jesus is the light. He's the light of the world. Boom, boom, boom. Jesus is the light. He's the light of the world. And he's ever shining in my soul.

[01:17:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:17:51] is that, so that song has been on my heart like all week long in relation to the sunrise and light. And that's what we're talking about this morning. So let's lay some groundwork, okay?
[01:18:06] Let's start with the Bible. In John 1, yes, that's right. That's a good place to start.
[01:18:12] This is how John starts his gospel. He says, in the beginning, the word already existed.
[01:18:20] The word was with God and the word was God.
[01:18:24] He existed in the beginning with God.
[01:18:27] God created everything through him and nothing was created except through him.
[01:18:31] The word gave life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone.
[01:18:39] The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.
[01:18:44] So John parallels his gospel with Genesis, with the beginning. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And even before in that creation story, even before God creates the things that bring light, like prior to the sun,
[01:19:05] light exists from the beginning, right? So that's just a really cool thing that we learn about Jesus being the light of the world. Boom, boom, boom. So I'm going to talk about three things this
[01:19:20] morning, okay? Three things that I feel like the Lord put on my heart with this being the central theme, Jesus being the light of the world. So the first one is that if Jesus is the light of the
[01:19:30] world, then that's the light by which we see. So thinking about that morning in Mesa Verde where we woke up, we stayed in the park on the mesa, like at the front of the mesa, like there's some
[01:19:48] kind of mountainy kind of things. And then it flattens out. And we stayed right there where you just look out and it's just forever. Miles and miles of just Mesa, just absolutely gorgeous.
[01:20:00] And the next morning we get up and we go watch the sunrise. And we kind of walk out from our little hotel a little bit. So we're standing in the middle of a pasture, watching the sun come up.
[01:20:11] And you know, the light starts first, right? Before the sun, that's part of that refraction and the way that light works, as you can kind of see.
[01:20:19] So we're not stumbling around in the dark.
[01:20:22] It's pretty light.
[01:20:22] But you know that moment then when the sun peaks.
[01:20:27] That's the part that you really love.
[01:20:29] And you can just see that crescent of bright, bright yellow start coming.
[01:20:33] So for us, it was over these three mountains in the distance.
[01:20:36] And then the sun popped up.
[01:20:38] And it was absolutely gorgeous.
[01:20:40] But you know that shortly after that, you stop looking.
[01:20:45] Because you're no longer looking at the sunrise.
[01:20:47] the sun showed up and you can't stare at that thing too long. Otherwise you burn your eyes.
[01:20:54] So we watched as long as we could. We were sipping our coffee, enjoying it, enjoying it. And then, you know, at the point where you can't really see anymore, we turned around with the mesa behind us
[01:21:04] and this really cool thing happened where before where everything was just flat as far as I could see, all of a sudden, because of the light of the sun, we could now see all of the details
[01:21:16] and the topography. All of the canyons, all of the ridges were now highlighted because the sun was right on top of it. So that may be a heavy-handed analogy, but when the sun shows up,
[01:21:28] we can see details. So let me tell you a biblical story of this happening. In Acts, it starts in chapter six, maybe chapter seven. There's this guy named Stephen who's given this soliloquy to the Jewish court, to the Pharisees. And he works this whole thing about, hey, let me tell
[01:21:51] you the history of the Jews. Let me explain to you through the history of the Jews why Jesus is the Messiah. And they were so infuriated that what they did is they took off their coats.
[01:22:04] They walked over to this guy. His name was Saul. They put the coats down on the ground.
[01:22:10] they picked up rocks and they threw them at Stephen until he died from it.
[01:22:16] And the first verse in the next chapter is about Saul, and it says, Saul approved of this.
[01:22:21] And then this Saul guy goes on a manhunt. He starts terrorizing the church. So we got to think, like at this point in Acts chapter seven or whatever we're in, maybe chapter eight by this
[01:22:35] point. The church is super baby church. The church just started. Years, maybe. So like when we're talking about like church spreading, these are the first people, like probably the people who Jesus appeared to, you know, the 500, the disciples have been spreading the word. These are the first
[01:22:55] Christians ever. And Paul's like, uh-uh. Or Saul at that point is like, uh-uh, I'm not having it.
[01:23:01] So he starts hunting them down, busting in their doors and dragging them out and taking them to places where they can lock them up. That's his job. So as the church is spreading, we know in
[01:23:14] Acts that they say, you know, you'll have power when the Holy Spirit comes on you in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. They're just working out concentric circles farther and farther away.
[01:23:25] So the church is spreading. It's spreading super fast because, again, we're not talking very long after Jesus goes to heaven that the church is spreading. And there's some baby Christians in Damascus. So not even Judea, Samaria, Galilee, beyond that to Syria. And Paul's like, I'm going.
[01:23:44] If there's a baby church there, I'm going to go shut that thing down. So he gets the council to write him like a letter so that he can take it with him to the Jewish council there. And he
[01:23:56] probably travels down the trade road or whatever that goes over the coast and then goes up to Syria into Damascus. And he's going to show that letter to the church there to get help to arrest
[01:24:07] these Christians and bring them back. He's putting a stop to this. And what happens on the road?
[01:24:14] You all know this story? So this is in Acts 9. Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord's followers. So he went to the high priest.
[01:24:30] He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking them for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the way that he found there.
[01:24:39] He wanted to bring them, both men and women, back to Jerusalem in chains.
[01:24:44] As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly showed down around him.
[01:24:52] He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
[01:24:59] Who are you, Lord? Saul asks.
[01:25:03] And the voice replied, here's my guess.
[01:25:04] Christi asked me this question, unrelated to knowing that I was preaching about this.
[01:25:07] Do you think they met Saul and Jesus?
[01:25:11] And I was thinking, for sure, Saul knew who Jesus was.
[01:25:15] Like the circles that they were in in Jerusalem leading up to Jesus's death and Saul like being on the forefront.
[01:25:21] So when I think, I think when he hears this voice, Saul, Saul, he's like, don't, this guy's dead.
[01:25:33] Maybe he was right.
[01:25:36] And Jesus says, I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
[01:25:38] Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.
[01:25:43] So some people who are on the same caravan road help Saul, who's now blind, into the city, to the house of the baby Christians there.
[01:25:54] Maybe the very house that he was gonna go bust the door in, right?
[01:25:58] And so Jesus goes to that guy.
[01:26:02] he's like, hey, heads up, Saul's on his way. And the guy's like, what? What are you talking about?
[01:26:10] He is bad news. Like, I wonder if he started packing his stuff. Like if he's on the way and Lord's like, no, check this out. We're going to use him too. And so Saul shows up and Saul can
[01:26:22] see. And then with that same vehemency, that same like passion and urgency, Paul goes after the Jews or Saul goes after the Jews. Y'all know it's the same person. I'm using those words interchangeably.
[01:26:33] I hope that's okay. He starts going after the Jews and saying, no, no, this is the Messiah.
[01:26:39] And so very quickly, they're like, we got to kill him now. But Paul had this perspective that he was so, so passionate about. He was so dead set on this is the right thing until Jesus showed up with his light. And by that light, Paul was like, I had it all wrong.
[01:27:04] I'm not suggesting that anybody in this room is maybe as leaning this far to the murdery side like Saul was, but there's a chance that our perspectives aren't always right, that they're not always really grounded
[01:27:23] in the light of Christ because we have these things called opinions and we think we know everything lots of times.
[01:27:33] And so we make choices and we make decisions and we say, no, no, this is the right thing.
[01:27:38] But unless it's the light of Christ, illuminating that, whatever it is, pick anything, literally anything in your life.
[01:27:47] Unless it's the light of Christ, it's you. And I think that's not so good as the light of Christ.
[01:27:56] My son Owen is over there. He's got to go to college one day, we think is the plan. He's entering his junior year. And so it's like, that's when you start doing stuff. And so it's
[01:28:10] like, we got to start having this conversation. And I don't know that you've thought about it much. Not much. You know, there's not a whole lot. It's like, all right, buddy, let's go. Let's get
[01:28:20] this. Let's get this conversation started. And Owen said to me, he's like, I just want to do the best thing. It's like, man, I don't, how do you, how do you manage that? And I can't imagine like
[01:28:33] the pressure of being a young person in that age range where every person you meet for the next two years is going to be like, oh, where are you going to college? Oh, what are you going to do
[01:28:43] when you graduate? What are you going to be when you grow up? It's like, I don't know. How many of us know what we're going to be when we grow up? Right? That's right. And so I was like, you know,
[01:28:58] all you can do is hold it before the Lord. And just thinking his perspective is going to be the best perspective because I could give you advice like, oh, in my rational mind, this is the best
[01:29:10] choice for your future. But I'd rather have him have God's mind. I'd want him to have Christ's perspective on what's best. So I'm hoping maybe if I say that in front of the full group, like,
[01:29:21] that'll help me later get the right thing going. So number one is we have to have the right perspective. We have to have the light of Christ illuminating whatever decision we're making, wherever we're at, if we want what's best. Because I think his is best all the time,
[01:29:42] and ours is not best. Here's number two. Um, there's this principle of light. Um, and we, we know this in John. So let me go back to John first. We know this scientifically. So that was
[01:30:00] in that second paragraph, learned about light that I didn't really understand. I learned a couple of things. Okay. I did enough research that I learned a couple of things. So light and darkness don't exist in the same space. So John 1.5, the light shines in the darkness and the
[01:30:17] darkness can never extinguish it. So where the light is, there's not darkness. I think that's good news for us, especially if we're pursuing the light of Christ already, that the Lord shows up.
[01:30:37] See, light is funny in that it's a wave. So that's how light travels. And we know that because, I can see a very clear demonstration of light traveling in a wave as I look at the shadows of the light above on the floor,
[01:30:53] and there's a hard line.
[01:30:55] The light was stopped by something, like a wave.
[01:30:59] That's a wave, and there's a line.
[01:31:01] But we also know that light doesn't travel like a wave, right?
[01:31:06] It travels like a particle, too, Larry.
[01:31:08] That's right.
[01:31:09] So if we turn off all the lights in here, and the lights were still on in the foyer, we could still see some light.
[01:31:16] Even the folks in the corner, you know, Jay, you would still be able to see some light in here.
[01:31:20] You know what I mean?
[01:31:21] Because it still creeps in.
[01:31:22] It creeps around the corners.
[01:31:24] It gets into those spaces.
[01:31:27] And where it gets into, do you know what leaves?
[01:31:31] Darkness.
[01:31:33] Jesus makes this claim about himself in John 8.
[01:31:37] He says, I am the light of the world.
[01:31:41] If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads to life.
[01:31:50] Is that good news?
[01:31:52] Let me tell you another biblical story.
[01:31:54] Before that, what's preceding that is Jesus is in the temple and he's teaching.
[01:32:00] He's trying to teach.
[01:32:02] He's going through a lesson with some folks who are there when the Pharisees show up again, as they want to do.
[01:32:10] And they're dragging a lady with them.
[01:32:13] And in the middle of Jesus' lesson, they come in and they push this lady down to the ground and they say, hey, this lady was caught in adultery. The law of Moses says she must be
[01:32:25] executed. What do you say? And it's a trap. It's a setup. Like they're really trying to work like the law code so that Jesus will say something that's against the Torah. And then they can be
[01:32:36] like, oh, see, he's a liar. He doesn't know. And they're trying to set him up. Jesus doesn't get set up too easily. First of all, I don't understand the cultural aspect of them grabbing the lady. I know that my research, I don't understand the alien math, but the research
[01:32:58] does dictate that there's two people involved in that transgression, right? And they didn't drag his hide in. Rude. But this is where Jesus says to him, he says, well, hey, if you don't have sin,
[01:33:14] why don't you cast the first stone? I think that we have this thing that we do. I don't have a good theological basis for this. I'm just going to kind of spitball. As part of our nature, like
[01:33:26] our human nature, and maybe just like a little bit of our American culture, I think that we rank sin. There's easy sin. That's not that big of a sin. There's some big sin, like, oh,
[01:33:42] you did a big sin. Oh, now we got to get people involved. That's a big sin. But just a little sin's okay. You know how we do that? That's not the kingdom model though. There's light and there's
[01:33:59] dark. And where there's light, there is not dark. So I think that's the principle that Jesus responds with when he says, well, hey, if you don't, if you're not sin, if you're without sin, why don't
[01:34:11] you throw the first stone. And what do they do? Yeah, you know in what order too, which I think is really interesting. The old guys leave first. They're like, oh yeah, okay, fair enough. And then
[01:34:26] the young guys catch up eventually and they're like, oh, oh yeah, okay, I forgot about that.
[01:34:30] Oh yeah, okay, all right. But then Jesus turns to her, he's like, where'd your condemners go?
[01:34:37] There's no trial now. We can't have a trial. There's nobody to try you. But what's he say then?
[01:34:45] and maybe one of the most important things I think that we need to hear is this go and sin no more.
[01:34:55] I don't, doesn't, like the conversation's not, there's no trial.
[01:35:00] It doesn't even seem judgy.
[01:35:02] It's that full of grace thing that we talked about or that Jacob was singing about this morning.
[01:35:06] But now don't remember that story.
[01:35:10] Now there's a go forward story.
[01:35:13] Now there's a go and sin no more.
[01:35:15] I think we as the American church struggle with this place and trying to figure out how do we say, hey, I love you, I love you so much.
[01:35:29] I care about you, I'm invested in you, go and sin no more.
[01:35:34] I think that we're working through that as a church, I think.
[01:35:38] Because there's a movement that really loves the, Jesus went and sat with the sinners.
[01:35:46] He gets me.
[01:35:48] Yeah, awesome, he gets you.
[01:35:51] But what did he say about that experience?
[01:35:53] He said, well, I'm sitting with them because they're sick.
[01:35:54] Well, he said, the healthy don't need a doctor.
[01:35:57] So I'm sitting with these folks because they need a doctor.
[01:36:01] And then we see here where he's with this woman.
[01:36:04] He's like, okay, now, now there's something new.
[01:36:07] Now you have a new story.
[01:36:09] Go and sin no more.
[01:36:12] And I think that's just invitation into the kingdom.
[01:36:17] As we want to be in the kingdom, we want to be in the light.
[01:36:21] in the options, light or dark. So what are the spaces where, you know, we're just moving closer and closer? And I don't know today if like something's highlighted, like, oh yeah, I had this darkness or this dark thing. And I don't want that to sound creepy or bad. That's just our life,
[01:36:42] humans being humans. But we have opportunity to find that and move forward and say, okay, Lord, let's do a light thing. Move me into the light. Is that okay? All right, here's number three.
[01:36:56] it's the participation component. I really, I think I beat that one to death, maybe a little bit too much. But I think my favorite thing about Christianity is participation. I think God, the God who created light refracting through the atmosphere and the beautiful oranges and yellows
[01:37:21] doesn't need me, but he asked for me. He invites me. I get to. Oh, y'all, that's good.
[01:37:35] Pick the situation.
[01:37:37] God could just do it.
[01:37:39] But what's that do for us?
[01:37:42] In the kingdom of heaven that's here on earth, we are participants.
[01:37:49] That's really good.
[01:37:50] Let's read a story.
[01:37:51] Another one about light.
[01:37:52] This is in John 9.
[01:37:58] I'm going to paraphrase it.
[01:38:01] I'm going to paraphrase the first part.
[01:38:03] There's this blind guy.
[01:38:05] And so people come up to Jesus and they're like, hey, again, it's the trap.
[01:38:09] It's the setup.
[01:38:09] Why is he blind?
[01:38:11] Who sinned in his life? Whose bad deeds caused this thing to happen? Oh, what did I do? Why do I deserve it? Oh. But Jesus says this. He says, this happened so the power of God could be seen
[01:38:29] in him. He sets them up. Oh, let me show you something. And this is that old spit in the mud routine. Like, let me put some mud in your eyes. And then you'll be able to see. And the guy can
[01:38:50] suddenly see. Well, not suddenly. There's a process. But miraculous. And Jesus' glory is being shown. And this guy who was in darkness is now in light. But Jesus says this really interesting thing to me. He says, we must quickly carry out the tasks assigned to us by the one who
[01:39:11] sent us. So there's this language change for me and I am the light of the world to we've got a job to do. The night is coming and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the
[01:39:27] light of the world. Jesus is like, I have, and he knew, he knew the days that he had. I had these days and I got to work to do. I got some stuff I got to do. But the language that he talks about
[01:39:42] is we. We have a work to do while we're here because we're participants. So we get to participate in furthering the kingdom of God here on earth. We get to. That's cool. Here is Matthew 13,
[01:40:01] Matthew 5, 13 through 16. He says to the crowd around him, you are the salt of the earth, But what good is salt if it's lost its flavor?
[01:40:15] Can you make it salty again?
[01:40:17] It'll be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
[01:40:21] You are the light of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
[01:40:26] No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.
[01:40:29] Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand where it gives light to everyone in the house.
[01:40:33] In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly father.
[01:40:41] It's the change in the language, the invitation to participation.
[01:40:47] You are the light of the world, he says to the crowd.
[01:40:50] A city on a hill cannot be hidden and you're that city.
[01:40:52] When you go out from this place, that's why the early church was growing so fast, all the way to Samaria and then to Damascus and then on to Turkey and then into Greece and then into Rome.
[01:41:04] I think they had this like, I don't know, I can't imagine a situation where Jesus looks at you and says, your salt tastes good.
[01:41:12] Your light shine bright.
[01:41:14] I'd be like, yeah, heck yeah.
[01:41:17] And they're going out and the church is spreading.
[01:41:23] So we get to be the light of the world.
[01:41:27] Isn't that cool?
[01:41:28] So we get to see things through the light of who Jesus is.
[01:41:33] As Jesus being the light of the world, he gets to illuminate all that I see.
[01:41:39] That's really awesome.
[01:41:42] And where that light is, there's not darkness.
[01:41:45] So I get to work on those spaces in my heart and in my choices that are not light currently.
[01:41:56] I get to be more like him, bringing those things into the light.
[01:42:03] And then I get to take that to the world and I get to be the light of the world.
[01:42:09] And that's in my job, that's in school.
[01:42:14] That's pretty good.
[01:42:17] I have this hard thing with works.
[01:42:27] I'm gonna be honest with y'all.
[01:42:29] I really like works.
[01:42:31] I know that's not in vogue.
[01:42:36] But if you have the right mindset, works are real good.
[01:42:44] Because every verse in the Bible, all the biggins at least, that talk about our salvation through grace, invite us to do works then.
[01:42:55] It's just the participation.
[01:42:58] But I think we had just bad church for centuries maybe that made works be the way that you got into heaven.
[01:43:05] you know, back in 1777, I don't know, whenever, when they were like, hey, we're building the big church. You know, if you donate some money, we'll free you of your sins. Whoever donates the most
[01:43:21] money gets out of their sins. I think the works thing, it was all that. But because of God's grace in my life, I can go out into the world and I can do stuff that people can see and be like, oh,
[01:43:35] what's that guy doing? Why is he doing that? You know what I mean? And it's not about salvation or it's not about my saving myself. That's the point, right? And I think that's where people
[01:43:45] get like, oh, you can't, it's not works well. Yeah, but we get to do good things. We're invited to participate in the furtherance of the kingdom by doing good things because we're the light of
[01:43:57] the world, which I think is cool. All right. I think I want to pray for some stuff as we're working our way towards doing some ministry time. And I know that that's a lot of buckets,
[01:44:15] but I'm praying for those buckets this morning. Okay. So just as Jacob and Amy are coming up, they're going to play for a minute. But I want you to be thinking like, is there something in
[01:44:28] one of those buckets that applies to me? How is the light, Jesus being the light of the world, play into your story this morning? What's going on in your life that you're like, oh yeah, that's
[01:44:41] the thing. And is it your perspective needs to shift on something? Because that could be the case. I think that's super easy. Lord, I think this is true. Is that really you? This is what
[01:44:52] I really want. Is that really you? Where are you in the midst of this? I think that's an easy one.
[01:44:58] Do you have something going on in your heart that you feel like is dark? And again, I don't want that sound like bad, but that's reality, right? Is it the not light? Do you have a not light thing
[01:45:10] in you? Is that easier to say? Does that feel nicer? Shadows? Yeah. And maybe you just need light on that space. That's easy. Maybe you have something big and you're like, oh, dang, I got one on the top end of the list. We can pray about that too. Lord, bring light to that space.
[01:45:36] And then, I don't know, who feels passionate about being light to the world?
[01:45:43] I think that's the other one is how do we do that?
[01:45:46] I'm not gonna put her on the spot, but I invited somebody to pray with me.
[01:45:49] And if somebody joins me up here, there's gonna be two of us praying for that one.
[01:45:54] If it's just me, then you all gotta put up with me, okay?
[01:45:58] All right, why don't we stand?
[01:46:09] Well, dear Lord, we just thank you for being the light of the world.
[01:46:13] So happy that you are and we're not.
[01:46:15] That our good, awesome creator who's running this thing is actually the light of the world.
[01:46:23] Hallelujah.
[01:46:24] That's why we sing about your goodness and your holiness and only you are worthy because only you are worthy, Lord.
[01:46:31] And we just want to esteem you and honor you and praise you.
[01:46:35] But some of us in this room have perspectives that we want to align with your light.
[01:46:40] We want you to shine light on our worldviews, on our education, on our politics, on the way that we raise our kids, on the way that we treat our spouses.
[01:46:57] Lord, where are you in the midst of that?
[01:46:59] Shine your light.
[01:47:00] Be the light in those spaces in my life.
[01:47:03] Be the light, Lord.
[01:47:04] I give you permission to be the light.
[01:47:08] I don't want to be the light.
[01:47:09] I don't want to try and fabricate a fake light or to illuminate a situation based on what I think or I want or I'm pursuing.
[01:47:18] I give it to you, Lord.
[01:47:21] And those spaces in my life that have a darkness in them, Lord, I'd ask you to turn the light on.
[01:47:29] And that part I understand.
[01:47:30] The electricity part I get, flick the switch.
[01:47:34] Because I know when you show up, darkness can't be there.
[01:47:39] So if it's something big or something small, if it's dark, Lord, take it.
[01:47:46] Illuminate it right now.
[01:47:48] Shine a light on it, Lord.
[01:47:54] And Lord, light me up.
[01:47:57] I want to be a lighthouse.
[01:47:59] Not just a light, but put me up high.
[01:48:05] Help me shine bright.
[01:48:08] as those things that I'm asking you to illuminate are shined or are shown and highlighted by your glory and by your light, Jesus, and as you're working the things inside of me to take the darkness into light places,
[01:48:20] Lord, I just pray that you would make me bright.
[01:48:25] Make me brighter on my coworkers.
[01:48:30] Make me brighter on my family.
[01:48:32] If you have a family member who needs brightness because they don't recognize it, could you raise your hand?
[01:48:40] So Lord, right now for these people who have a hand raised, Lord, I just pray that you would show up and illuminate them, the family member that they're thinking about right now, Lord, that the next time that they see this person, that they will be like,
[01:48:50] dang, you are so bright, I can't miss it. What is going on? That your brightness would shine through them as they go home or go to work or go to their family reunion or whatever that is, Lord.
[01:49:05] Help us shine bright. I recognize just the reality of that human part where some things are big deal and some things are not a big deal. I know sometimes us praying corporately as a group is
[01:49:35] pretty easy and we feel stirred and we can respond. Thank you, Lord. I love that. But I do recognize that sometimes like we need a little bit more. We do need to be intentional. So we're
[01:49:48] going to have a ministry team come up. Some folks who we know and love who are really gifted at praying with you. And just if you have an intentional space where you're like, oh, I just
[01:50:02] I need something just, I need to be purposeful. I think there's so much value in us being purposeful. When we have an opportunity, if you feel something, you're like, man, I kind of feel like I'm not done with whatever this issue is. And it could be any of those three things that
[01:50:21] we prayed about, or it might be something different. I would super, super encourage you to come forward and meet with somebody and say, hey, this is what I got going on. Will you pray with me. And these folks on here would love to do that with you. And we're going to hang for a
[01:50:37] second, just to allow some freedom for that to happen. So if you get bored too, you can come up.

[01:50:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:50:45] Well, Lord, we just thank you so much for being with us. Thank you so much for this church family.

[01:54:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:54:05] I'm so blessed to have you with us as we go from this place, Lord. Shine our path.
[01:54:13] Be the light on our path as we go. In your name we pray, Jesus. Amen. All right, y'all. If you're still praying or worshiping or talking, that's all good. Have space for that. If you are not,

[01:54:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:54:26] we love you and we'll see you next week. Be blessed.