SPEAKER_00: This morning is a starting point for a life that we just celebrated both singing songs of celebration of life.
SPEAKER_01: And in the same paragraph, we celebrate his death.
SPEAKER_01: Because those two things matter.
SPEAKER_01: He died for us so that all of us could be born again into new life.
SPEAKER_01: This dark and dying world was so dim in such destruction, he tried for generations, hundreds of years, trying to get give them a way where they could do it themselves and follow his commandments and follow his rules and follow the traditions of what they had to do as the Israelites to purify themselves, to be forgiven of the sins.
SPEAKER_01: But yet, even though they had all of that time to try to get it right, they could not do it in and of themselves.
SPEAKER_01: So let me start the message off today by telling you you can spend your entire life trying to do it right.
SPEAKER_01: You can spend your entire life depending on your power, depending on your knowledge, depending on your understanding.
SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, you cannot save yourself.
SPEAKER_01: You must have the light of Christ in you to shine in the darkest of places so that we can be repaired, restored, regenerated, and brought back into God as He originally planned for us.
SPEAKER_01: Every person in here, if you have said yes to Jesus, you have an obligation to shine the light.
SPEAKER_01: So let's read our key text today.
SPEAKER_01: Look over in John chapter 1, starting at verse 4.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 1, starting at verse 4, verse 4 and 5.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to read those two.
SPEAKER_01: Highlight them in your Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Mark it down, make a note.
SPEAKER_01: It says, the word gave life to everything that was created.
SPEAKER_01: And his life brought light to everyone.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 5: the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we thank you so much for your mercy and your grace.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Lord, for the season of celebration of the birth of your son.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, God, for the for the space to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01: The people that made this morning happen.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for not coming as a king, but you came as a servant.
SPEAKER_01: Let us reflect that today.
SPEAKER_01: The light that you brought into this dark world.
SPEAKER_01: Help us, Lord, to represent that well today in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: In your name we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen and amen.
SPEAKER_01: So the title of today's message is The Light Has Come.
SPEAKER_01: The Light Has Come.
SPEAKER_01: I think it's no koinky dink that the wise men were led by a star.
SPEAKER_01: A star gives off light.
SPEAKER_01: A small light was leading them to a much larger light that would eventually change their world.
SPEAKER_01: Do you understand what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: The point of you shining a light is not to bring them unto yourself, but the point of you shining a light, a small light in the darkness, so that we can bring them into the light of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Our reason for shining is not for ourselves, our reason for shining is to bring others into the light.
SPEAKER_01: Into the light.
SPEAKER_01: So why does light matter?
SPEAKER_01: Darkness is not only something we see, darkness is actually something that we can feel.
SPEAKER_01: You ever met somebody and shook their hand, or you were just around them?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe I got some Christmas parties coming up, and you got that relative.
SPEAKER_01: You dodged them at Thanksgiving, but Christmas is coming.
SPEAKER_01: You might have sidestepped, but you might meet them face to face.
SPEAKER_01: But there's some people that you get around them and you're just like, ugh.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Why is there something coming off of them?
SPEAKER_01: It's darkness.
SPEAKER_01: The light inside of you, the spirit inside of you is recognizing when somebody is not living in the light.
SPEAKER_01: Darkness is not something you can just see.
SPEAKER_01: I know sometimes you can tell by the countenance on someone's face that they have a darkness inside of them.
SPEAKER_01: Well, you can smile your way through the church doors and sit in your seat.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody got a seat this morning.
SPEAKER_01: You can shine, you can you can try to hide and pretend like you're shining the light, but eventually, eventually, you're gonna go into a place that is darkness where the lights are off, and you will either shine the light or it will be evident that you cannot.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have been in this church, and I grew up in a church.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: That means that I got super quick at when I turned out the lights in the church to get out to light somewhere quick.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you've ever been in a dark church with no windows in the middle of the night, or you're by yourself doing something, and you hear an ice machine in the kitchen pop, and all of a sudden you think the devil got you.
SPEAKER_01: It's not something that I saw happen, but it's something that I felt overcome me.
SPEAKER_01: It changes when you're by yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you can feel like you're by yourself, you feel secluded, you feel worn out, you feel at the end of your rope, and you're like, Lord, I don't know where you are.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you feel the darkness trying to overcome you.
SPEAKER_01: But let me tell you something: the light that God gives cannot be extinguished by the darkness.
SPEAKER_01: And let me explain something to you.
SPEAKER_01: Very basic, very simple.
SPEAKER_01: Go home, test it out anywhere you want.
SPEAKER_01: The light and the darkness can literally never mix.
SPEAKER_01: But we want to live Christian lives.
SPEAKER_01: We want to live like we're living in the light, but yet there is darkness, and where there is darkness, the light is gone.
SPEAKER_01: So when we have the light inside of us, what happens?
SPEAKER_01: We begin to push back the darkness.
SPEAKER_01: You could be in the darkest room with no windows.
SPEAKER_01: We could test it out here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all saw a little bit of darkness earlier when we were doing some worship.
SPEAKER_01: When it got dark, the light started about right here, and I couldn't see none of y'all anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know if y'all left or if y'all were still here.
SPEAKER_01: I had no clue.
SPEAKER_01: Because darkness and light cannot mix, one always pushes back the other.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you have darkness today, I want to invite you into the fullness, the fullness of the transforming light of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Darkness shows up in fear, it can show up in uncertainty.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but if I get fearful enough and I'm consistent in my fear, and I'm consistent in uncertainty, I'm consistent in my grief, I'm consistent in regret, I'm consistent in my shame, I'm consistent in my unanswered questions that I feel go unanswered, the darkness can creep in and the light that I once had inside of me shining bright will become dimmer until it fades and is extinguished.
SPEAKER_01: Because I chose I chose to allow the darkness to take over.
SPEAKER_01: The darkness can convince people that nothing will change and that hope is out of reach.
SPEAKER_01: Christmas does not offer advice or religion.
SPEAKER_01: Christmas offers a person.
SPEAKER_01: What's one of the things we do in our houses, on our trees?
SPEAKER_01: We even do it up here.
SPEAKER_01: We put lights.
SPEAKER_01: It means something to have light around.
SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, Tristan, our teenager, he did something funny, and I guess because he bought them and he just didn't want to have to struggle and take it back.
SPEAKER_01: If you come to our house during this holiday season, we have these colored lights, and then we have is it red and this, and it switches off on the house, trimming it out.
SPEAKER_01: Tristan did it all.
SPEAKER_01: On the bushes, we have these colors.
SPEAKER_01: But on the big bush in front, next to the street, airplanes can see it.
SPEAKER_01: It is as white as these pages and bottle tops and candles.
SPEAKER_01: The boy brought the wrong color, but it lit up the street.
SPEAKER_01: And we don't have a strong presence on the front of our house.
SPEAKER_01: We don't have a bunch of floodlights, we have some on the side, but kind of in the front area.
SPEAKER_01: So now, through everyone else's trees, as soon as I turn onto our road, I know exactly where our house is.
SPEAKER_01: We should do this in our Christian walk.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody should have to be looking for our light.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody should have to question whether we got saved or not.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody should question whether we've been filled with the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody should question whether we believe in healing.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody should question if we lay hands on the sick and we believe that they will recover because we put into action what we know is true.
SPEAKER_01: And when you put things into action, light begins to push back the darkness.
SPEAKER_01: If you have hidden sin today, let the light in.
SPEAKER_01: Let the light in.
SPEAKER_01: I love the song.
SPEAKER_01: This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, put some grid on it.
SPEAKER_01: It's only a little light.
SPEAKER_01: I I've drove by, I think it was on 31 yesterday, coming back from Tyler working, and there was about five big old fire trucks on the side of the road.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what is going on?
SPEAKER_01: And I looked, and in the field, now I don't know if it was control, it didn't look too controlled.
SPEAKER_01: It looked like they just put it out, but fire got away from them and it leveled a field in a little hillside.
SPEAKER_01: It only takes a little spark to light up everything around you.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna make some people mad.
SPEAKER_01: They're not gonna want to be around you.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you know this or not, but fire's hot.
SPEAKER_01: Fire will burn you.
SPEAKER_01: But when we take what usually will hurt us and let God do it, let the Holy Spirit do it, it purifies us.
SPEAKER_01: The same fire that will hurt and make people run is the same fire that'll keep you warm and make sure you can have food that will cook and it will bring you warmth and keep you safe.
SPEAKER_01: We must have the light.
SPEAKER_01: Christmas offers a person, it does not offer a philosophy, it does not offer a system, it's not a self-help plan, it is a person that will shine the light.
SPEAKER_01: Now, first we have the promise of the light.
SPEAKER_01: If you go over to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 9.
SPEAKER_01: Now we I was gonna do verse 2, but we're gonna we're gonna read some more.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah chapter 9.
SPEAKER_01: Let's start at 2 and go all the way to 6.
SPEAKER_01: Why not?
SPEAKER_01: I like this whole section right here.
SPEAKER_01: This is good.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 2 it says, The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you understand, it's prophesying about Jesus, it's calling him the light.
SPEAKER_01: People in darkness and the light will come, it will change the world.
SPEAKER_01: Those in the darkness, when we walk into the room, the light should walk with us.
SPEAKER_01: When we walk in the darkness as believers, the atmosphere should shift when we step on the scene because we carry the light of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It is not the light that comes from us, but it is his light that passes through us.
SPEAKER_01: Do you understand what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: It's not from you, it ain't about you.
SPEAKER_01: Just serve and love God and just do what he tells you to do and shine the light.
SPEAKER_01: People don't want your opinions, they just want reality.
SPEAKER_01: They want real, true, authentic people.
SPEAKER_01: The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.
SPEAKER_01: For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.
SPEAKER_01: You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 4, it says, You will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
SPEAKER_01: You will break the oppressor's rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 5: The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned.
SPEAKER_01: They will be fuel on the fire.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna take what the enemy used to stick up on us and fight against us, and we're gonna use it as warmth.
SPEAKER_01: They will be fuel for the fire.
SPEAKER_01: For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.
SPEAKER_01: Man, if that don't light you up, nothing will.
SPEAKER_01: You're dead would.
SPEAKER_01: God promised light long before the night felt this dark.
SPEAKER_01: So this is in Isaiah, and you have years and years and years of God trying to give chance, trying to say, listen, just follow me, just cling to me.
SPEAKER_01: I will I desire an audience with you, but they would not stick with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: They always had their own agenda, they always had what they wanted to happen.
SPEAKER_01: Even when uh King David was brought in before him with Saul, they didn't want to have just a civilization, they wanted a king, and so God gave them exactly what they wanted, and it just bit them over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes just be quiet and don't try to get something you want and let God present the blessing to you.
SPEAKER_01: God promised light long before the night felt this dark.
SPEAKER_01: Christmas is not a reaction to darkness, it is the fulfillment of God's promise.
SPEAKER_01: So let's walk through the why.
SPEAKER_01: The very first point is the world.
SPEAKER_01: Why did Jesus come?
SPEAKER_01: Why did the light have to come?
SPEAKER_01: The world was dark.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to look very far, even in this own town, to find out that this world is evil.
SPEAKER_01: It's dark, it's evil, it's manipulative.
SPEAKER_01: It tries to take what God says is truth and makes it where it's all about what we want and our agenda and how we see things.
SPEAKER_01: God didn't write the Bible and ask my opinion.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't write yours, and he sure didn't write it, ask anybody else before he wrote it.
SPEAKER_01: He does not care because he is the ultimate source of actual truth.
SPEAKER_01: And if it is not of him or from him, it is lies.
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter how good it sounds or how great it makes you feel, if it's not from the word of God, if it goes against the word of God, it doesn't matter what culture says, it doesn't matter what the government says, it doesn't matter what the city says or what the mayor says or what the president says.
SPEAKER_01: If it goes against scripture, it is sin.
SPEAKER_01: And sin will not inherit the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Sin is darkness.
SPEAKER_01: Luke chapter one.
SPEAKER_01: Go all the way over to verse 78.
SPEAKER_01: Luke chapter 1, verse 78 and 79.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us.
SPEAKER_01: To give light to those who sit in the darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.
SPEAKER_01: You can't have true, authentic, real peace in your life until you receive the light.
SPEAKER_01: You can't.
SPEAKER_01: You can try to formulate synthetics to make you happy, to make you feel better about yourself.
SPEAKER_01: You can have all the accolades and all the, oh man, you're so amazing, you do this, you're so great, you do that.
SPEAKER_01: Man, you're just you got it all figured out.
SPEAKER_01: Well, guess what?
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have the light in you, it's all in vain.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible does not pretend darkness isn't real.
SPEAKER_01: So let's break this down.
SPEAKER_01: Before Christ, let's understand very clearly.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible is more cut and dry, I think, sometimes than we give it credit for.
SPEAKER_01: There's not a whole lot of fluff.
SPEAKER_01: If you're reading a fluff piece, you might not be reading the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Sin separated from humanity.
SPEAKER_01: Sin separated us, humanity, from God.
SPEAKER_01: Sin separated us.
SPEAKER_01: Truth was clouded, and truth has become diluted.
SPEAKER_01: When this happens, it's no longer actual truth, it becomes a false version of its former self.
SPEAKER_01: Death ruled.
SPEAKER_01: But death was introduced, decay was introduced when we brought sin into the picture.
SPEAKER_01: Now we are born into sin.
SPEAKER_01: Adam and Eve were never born, they were created.
SPEAKER_01: And so from their destruction, from their casting out, sin is now introduced.
SPEAKER_01: So every person born is born into sin, but made in the image of our Creator of God.
SPEAKER_01: So what does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: That means things inside of us that we want to do, that we desire to do, we have to examine it first and say, Lord, is this making you, is this bringing honor to you?
SPEAKER_01: Is it making you proud?
SPEAKER_01: Or is this a version of myself that I've made up to call me holy so I don't have to follow your rules?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we call these good tithepayers.
SPEAKER_01: If you give money, that means you get off scot-free, right?
SPEAKER_01: If you come to church, you get off scot-free, right?
SPEAKER_01: Everything's good.
SPEAKER_01: If you shake your pastor's hand at the end of service and give him a hug, you get off scot-free.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: This church and this pastor and this family and the people that serve here have nothing to do with your salvation.
SPEAKER_01: It solely rests as your responsibility to step up and be a man or a woman that says, I know my former self and who I was.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to turn away and I'm going to pick up my cross and I'm going to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Every person must be born again.
SPEAKER_01: That means everything, both public and everything, both private, belongs to him.
SPEAKER_01: Which means we can no longer live as we once did.
SPEAKER_01: We must be born again.
SPEAKER_01: The old man, the old woman has died, and the new has come.
SPEAKER_01: And when the new is born, it brings light into the world.
SPEAKER_01: Peace was out of reach, although we continuously tried to make or make up our own version of it.
SPEAKER_01: We are dependent on the vehicles we drive, whether we have status, whether we feel important.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: I've had new vehicles before.
SPEAKER_01: I understand.
SPEAKER_01: You crank that thing up, you're like, oh baby, come on.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I get it.
SPEAKER_01: I get it.
SPEAKER_01: You may have gifts and talent.
SPEAKER_01: You may be up here on the stage.
SPEAKER_01: You may even you may be a closet singer and I hadn't found you yet.
SPEAKER_01: And you're hiding from me.
SPEAKER_01: You may be a closet musician and you ain't let me find you yet.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord will reveal.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: But these things that God blesses us with nice homes, good jobs, loving family, we can make these things into idols, even though they are good for us.
SPEAKER_01: We can enjoy them, but they should not be the source of our peace.
SPEAKER_01: They cannot be the source of our joy, and they a hundred percent are not the joy of our light.
SPEAKER_01: All of these things we must recognize that as soon as they come, they also can go.
SPEAKER_01: We can make millions of dollars.
SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, I've heard time and time again.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you played the lottery, but we're trying to build a new church and get a church van.
SPEAKER_01: So gotta use the devil's money.
SPEAKER_01: Tell me he won't.
SPEAKER_01: Children of Israel walked out of Egypt with their money.
SPEAKER_01: Come on now.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna go in the promised land.
SPEAKER_01: But you can do all the right things, you can do it with a good heart.
SPEAKER_01: You can you can do all the all the things that a good person is supposed to do, but if you don't carry the light, there's only two options light or darkness.
SPEAKER_01: That's not my philosophy, that's not my rule, that's the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And if we say we love the Lord, if we say we serve Jesus as He showed how He loves to serve us, then we should be carriers of the light.
SPEAKER_01: These things cannot bring peace to us.
SPEAKER_01: They can make you have temporary moments of happiness, but happiness fades.
SPEAKER_01: And when you are dependent on things, when you're dependent on people, when you're dependent on relationships, you're dependent on jobs.
SPEAKER_01: I was listening to a uh podcast yesterday with an Australian preacher, and he he actually was born and raised in Egypt, and now he's in Sydney, Australia.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't I don't know if you know anything about Sydney, Australia, but it's they just had the uh the Muslims that were shooting up the Jews on the beach over there, and he that was 20 minutes from where either they have church or where they live.
SPEAKER_01: They've had to relocate churches before because people were threatening them, because he speaks outright against Muslim belief because Allah is not the one true God.
SPEAKER_01: And so they sometimes have to run for their lives.
SPEAKER_01: But he told me he told a story about time and time again, it seemed like the enemy was just around the corner about to get them.
SPEAKER_01: But the light inside of him, he told he told the story about his dad.
SPEAKER_01: This is this is crazy.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, this is where I get my faith and my boldness.
SPEAKER_01: A Muslim sent them a phone.
SPEAKER_01: His dad was a traveling minister.
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, what do you call it?
SPEAKER_01: Evangelist, there we go.
SPEAKER_01: I only could think of missionary in my head.
SPEAKER_01: And he would travel and he would preach, and this Muslim gave him a note and wrote his phone number on there.
SPEAKER_01: And so his dad gathered all the children, his wife in the living room.
SPEAKER_01: He dialed the number on his phone and called the number that was on there.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, So you want me to stop preaching Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: You want me to stop praying for people and believing?
SPEAKER_01: And you know, he named all the stuff he does.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Yes.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, You think I'm gonna stop because of you?
SPEAKER_01: He's like, I'll kill your family, I'll kill your children.
SPEAKER_01: He said, My life belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: You can do whatever you want, but I'm not gonna stop bearing the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna stop preaching the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now, listen, here in America, we clap about that, but we won't pray for somebody in the middle of the Walmart.
SPEAKER_01: We love to get excited and we clap a little bit, like, oh yeah, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: God bless them, hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: But we won't do the basic things.
SPEAKER_01: Are we living for God or are we living ourselves for ourselves?
SPEAKER_01: Are we shining the light or are we trying to disappear and blend in with the darkness?
SPEAKER_01: There is only two choices.
SPEAKER_01: And you either find your peace.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have peace, listen, you ain't going to the right source.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have joy, you may you may feel weak today.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have the joy of the Lord, that is where you draw your strength from.
SPEAKER_01: Not from things, not from people, not from jobs, not from not from uh churches, not from pastors.
SPEAKER_01: You should be drawing from the source of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: God sent his son the light of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, the light it came.
SPEAKER_01: So look Luke chapter two.
SPEAKER_01: Go to Luke chapter two.
SPEAKER_01: You're just right there.
SPEAKER_01: Go over to six and seven.
SPEAKER_01: I think I went a little further because I just like what was happening.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, we're gonna go on.
SPEAKER_01: Luke chapter two.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's start at verse six.
SPEAKER_01: And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.
SPEAKER_01: She gave birth to the firstborn son.
SPEAKER_01: She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no lodging available for them.
SPEAKER_01: Go to verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: It says, The night there was at that night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding the flocks of sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.
SPEAKER_01: When a message is put forth from the Lord, it has light with it.
SPEAKER_01: It radiates.
SPEAKER_01: They were terrified.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, maybe you don't understand this, but when you carry the light with you and you carry it with honor and character and integrity, you know what happens?
SPEAKER_01: You scare the enemy.
SPEAKER_01: Light can bring fear, reverence, and honor.
SPEAKER_01: But the angel assured them, Don't be afraid, he said, I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
SPEAKER_01: The Savior, yes, the Messiah the Lord, has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David, and you will recognize him by this sign.
SPEAKER_01: You will find a baby wrapped in swallowing clothes and lying in a manger.
SPEAKER_01: The light of the world did not arrive with noise and trumpets and powers of display.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't come with a throne.
SPEAKER_01: He had no recognition.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but I would be ashamed if my child had to be born in the manger.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody?
SPEAKER_01: Poor Joseph had all the stuff he had to do.
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't have a first clue.
SPEAKER_01: Like, Lord, just handle it.
SPEAKER_01: Take the wheel, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
SPEAKER_01: He didn't have a crown, no recognition.
SPEAKER_01: He was just a baby that was in a manger.
SPEAKER_01: This shows us something powerful.
SPEAKER_01: That God is not intimidated by darkness.
SPEAKER_01: Light does not need force, it only needs presence.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say it again.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all didn't catch it.
SPEAKER_01: Light doesn't have to come in with loud sounds and all the noise and all the cloud.
SPEAKER_01: All it has to do is show up, and the presence of the light is enough.
SPEAKER_01: Do you understand what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus came on the scene and the light was now in the world, all he needed was presence.
SPEAKER_01: Look over in Luke chapter 2, 10 and 11.
SPEAKER_01: Actually, we just read that.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I got ahead of myself.
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I just like scripture.
SPEAKER_01: So the light is for everybody.
SPEAKER_01: We have two separate types of people that we're going to talk about in a minute.
SPEAKER_01: You have the shepherds, and then you have the wise men.
SPEAKER_01: Some would look at shepherds as stinky, they're out there taking care of sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Deodorant was not a thing back then.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all don't need to raise your hand in the middle of worship because you're losing friends.
SPEAKER_01: Back then it was just, it was what it was, and you could take a bath when you could take a bath.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they would travel for days so that their flocks could be fed.
SPEAKER_01: And so think about this.
SPEAKER_01: The people that society looked over, the people that the kingdoms didn't even recognize, the people that did not have clout, did not have status, were invited to the party.
SPEAKER_01: They were invited to come and partake of the light.
SPEAKER_01: The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord, has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David.
SPEAKER_01: The first people invited were lowly shepherds.
SPEAKER_01: Now think about this.
SPEAKER_01: The first people that were invited was his type of people.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
SPEAKER_01: He was a shepherd amongst the flock when he became older.
SPEAKER_01: And people who already done this job were invited.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're not wanting people that are lower than you in your space, and they're actually on your same level.
SPEAKER_01: They're where you need to get your training from.
SPEAKER_01: Huh?
SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
SPEAKER_01: They weren't religious leaders, they weren't wealthy elites, they were not influential voices in the community.
SPEAKER_01: They probably had never even done a live stream before.
SPEAKER_01: That's a joke.
SPEAKER_01: They didn't have it back then.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry y'all didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01: We got to teach more of the word in this house.
SPEAKER_01: They were just ordinary people doing ordinary work, and God showed up.
SPEAKER_01: The light was never meant for a select few, it was sent for everyone, especially the overlooked.
SPEAKER_01: Point number four: the light invites us all.
SPEAKER_01: The light invites us all.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 1, 9 through 12.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 1.
SPEAKER_01: I knew I did it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go back.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go to verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Because you need some context for what was said.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 1, verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Let's start at verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell you about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.
SPEAKER_01: John himself was not the light.
SPEAKER_01: He was simply a witness to tell about the light.
SPEAKER_01: The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 10, he came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him.
SPEAKER_01: He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 12, but to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to be called children of God.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 13, they are reborn, not with a physical birth resulting from human passions or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
SPEAKER_01: The light did not come to this earth so that we could remain in darkness.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't come to this earth so that you can brag about being the light.
SPEAKER_01: Because if the light you're bragging about you say comes from you, it ain't the light.
SPEAKER_01: It's darkness masquerading as light because that is what pride is wrapped in.
SPEAKER_01: Flip over in your Bibles to 1 Peter.
SPEAKER_01: Chapter 2.
SPEAKER_01: Verse.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: Starting at verse 8, it says, And he is the stone that makes people stumble.
SPEAKER_01: The rock that makes them fall.
SPEAKER_01: They stumble because they do not obey God's word.
SPEAKER_01: And so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's read our text.
SPEAKER_01: We were gonna read.
SPEAKER_01: But you are not like that.
SPEAKER_01: For you are a chosen people, you are a royal priest, a holy nation, God's very own possession.
SPEAKER_01: As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness and into his wonderful light.
SPEAKER_01: If you'll stand.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody get your candle in your hand.
SPEAKER_01: Now think about this.
SPEAKER_01: Let's have total darkness.
SPEAKER_01: Turn turn turn all the lights off just for a second.
SPEAKER_01: Now it might be hard to see, but even in darkness, you still can see something.
SPEAKER_01: Now think about this basic principle.
SPEAKER_01: When you are scattered out and you are separated, the light is dim.
SPEAKER_01: But when you unify, when you get closer, when you get together, the light becomes brighter.
SPEAKER_01: This is why the enemy loves to try to find the cracks in the foundation of the church.
SPEAKER_01: Because even though you may have a light, you may be shining the light.
SPEAKER_01: He knows that if we get all on the same page, when we get closer together, we can see the attack of the enemy coming.
SPEAKER_01: When we get closer together, the area that we may not see out into the darkness, but where we are, we can see clearly.
SPEAKER_01: If you have not, to say yes to the light.
SPEAKER_01: If you have maybe been walking along, and you got some light going, but maybe you're just flickering a little bit in the wind.
SPEAKER_01: If we had real candles, it didn't matter what to it would not matter what took out your flame.
SPEAKER_01: I could go and light yours.
SPEAKER_01: Do you understand what I'm saying to you?
SPEAKER_01: Not only to help us see better when we become unified in the body, but it also makes it that if someone's light goes out, then in their darkness they can still see where home is.
SPEAKER_01: And then even though they may feel like they're in the dark, if we do our jobs as believers and we love our neighbor like we're supposed to, we can find them where they are with our light, and we can help reignite the light that they lost.
SPEAKER_01: Because your light is not just for you to see, your light is not just so you can unify and do it right and get together and shine and be bright together, but it's also for the lost that need the light.
SPEAKER_01: We're not only supposed to be shining the light in the darkness, but we should be also igniting flames.
SPEAKER_01: You it is physically impossible.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about this.
SPEAKER_01: I know there's people that's hard to deal with.
SPEAKER_01: You may work right next to them and you want to throw punch them every day.
SPEAKER_01: Or you may look at them and you see nothing but darkness, and you're like, why in the world would I even mess with you?
SPEAKER_01: You aggravate me so much.
SPEAKER_01: But the light just went out, nobody even helped me.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_01: You'll never be able to light someone else's light until you were in proximity with them.
SPEAKER_01: Did you catch what I said?
SPEAKER_01: I know it's hard, I know it's tough.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus dealt with 12 knuckleheads for three years.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot ignite other people's lights until we are willing to get our hands dirty, get close to them, and share the light with them.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us like to use scripture and try to light their clothes on fire.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna let you know what hell's really like.
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01: The selfish, sinful, vindictive sodomy wants to light some people's pants on fire and say liar, liar, pants on fire.
SPEAKER_01: But the Christian way, Christ way, is to use love to be the fuel to overgive or to forgive a multitude of sin, to love them, which will get them into heaven and light their fire.
SPEAKER_01: You distancing yourself because you can't stand them, or getting close to them and show them that there is a God that loves them.
SPEAKER_01: If we get out of the stage lights back up, with every hip bow, I never leave a service without asking if there's somebody here that needs Jesus, or maybe you used to have the light, and you can feel yourself slipping away into the darkness.
SPEAKER_01: Don't run from that feeling, it's called conviction.
SPEAKER_01: Be willing to lean into it.
SPEAKER_01: There is nobody here who has actually been saved from their sin that will ever mock or scoff at anybody who says yes to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And if they ever do, and I hear it, they will have to directly deal with me, and I will remind them of how sinful and ugly and disgusting they were before Jesus found them.
SPEAKER_01: Thank God that a light came into this world to save a sinner like me.
SPEAKER_01: There is nothing I've ever done to deserve his love.
SPEAKER_01: There's no prayer you can ever pray to earn his mercy and grace, but yet freely he gives of himself.
SPEAKER_01: If there's somebody here today, maybe you've got secret darkness that nobody else knows about.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to tell nobody anything, but I want to invite you to bring it to the altar and get prayed over and find deliverance and get light back in your life.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, if that's you today and you need the light again.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Let it be reignited today.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, step out of your seat.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let pride hold you in your seat.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody's gonna talk about you.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna celebrate with you.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, if you need the light today, even in the darkest of places that nobody else knows about, you need light in your life.
SPEAKER_01: You need Jesus to set you free.
SPEAKER_01: We believe in the healing power of his blood.
SPEAKER_01: That's mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.
SPEAKER_01: We believe that who the Son sets free will be free indeed in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, if somebody else is here, come on, don't let shame keep you in your seat.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, come out of your seat.
SPEAKER_01: Come out of your seat.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, I feel like there's more people.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Don't sit in your seat if you need to be set free today.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit, do your convicted power.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit, do what you can do.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, this is Pastor Stephen, the lead pastor here at Connect Church in Longview.
SPEAKER_00: I truly hope today's message has encouraged you, empowered you, and challenged you to go deeper in your walk with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: If you would like to find out more about us, I invite you to visit connectchurch.life.
SPEAKER_00: There you can find ways to give what we believe, our values, as well as different ways to reach out to us so that we can reach out to you.
SPEAKER_00: We love you.
SPEAKER_00: We're praying for you, and I hope you have an amazing week.