Matthew 2:1-12

Pastor Drew Williams

Now, before we get started, I have a confession to make: I don’t really like the whole process of giving gifts.

Don’t get me wrong, I love giving to PEOPLE. I love showing them love with a thoughtful or special gift. I just get really stressed out about picking out the RIGHT gift.

What if they don’t like it? What if they already have it?

And then when you get an unexpected gift from someone, and you hadn’t planned on getting them something, and you’re like, OH NO, I’m running out of time to get them something and I still can’t figure out what to get for my wife! I don’t have extra brain space to figure out another gift!

And then I remember back to when I was a kid. I was NEVER stressed about gift giving. Maybe that was because I didn’t have to worry about who to get a gift for or whether I was staying in budget. My parents helped me decide who to go shopping for, and they usually were the ones who gave me money to buy the gifts.

It’s so much easier to give gifts to others when you have someone guiding you and giving you the resources to give the gift.

Some people think that the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas traces its roots back to the gifts given to Jesus by the wise men, and that’s the passage of Scripture we’ll be looking at today.

[SLIDE: Scripture ref and page #]
Please open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 2, which is on page 1 of the NT in the black, seat-back Bibles.

For many of us, this is a very familiar passage, and so it’s easy to not fully engage with this as the Word of God, speaking to us even today. So as we get ready to hear this passage, try and push past your memories of nostalgia and cartoons and singing kings riding on camels. Let’s get ready to hear God speak to us through his word today, as we hear Matthew 2:1-12.

[Matthew 2:1-12]

[SLIDE: blank]
Matthew sets the scene for our story by highlighting what the state of the WORLD is like when Jesus was born.

While Luke’s gospel gives us the grisly details of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, their inability to find room at the guesthouse, Jesus’s birth in the barn, greeted by the animals and shepherds who were strangers…that’s Luke.

Matthew is concerned with other details. In fact, Jesus is barely mentioned in the first two chapters of Matthew.

In Matthew chapter 1, after giving a genealogy that connects Jesus to the line of David and back to Abraham, Matthew focuses on Joseph -- on his decision about whether or not to follow through on marrying Mary after discovering she was pregnant. An angel comes to him in a dream and encourages him with the knowledge that God has been active in this situation, and tells him to stick with Mary. Joseph does.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:1]
And then Matthew fast-forwards and says, [V1] “after Jesus was born, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east show up in Jerusalem.” For Matthew’s first readers, this immediately sets the stakes, because they knew what “the time of Herod” was known for.

Herod the Great, as he was called, was a non-Jew who had been placed by the Romans as the ruler of the area. He was King of Israel. And besides being known for his great architecture projects, he was also known for being terrified of losing his power.

[SLIDE: blank]
Herod had ten wives, and lots of sons from those wives, and pretty soon, all the sons started to have some tension with each other about who would become heir to the throne. It seems that all this tension really got to Herod and started making him suspicious that someone would take matters into their own hands and fight their way to the throne with violence and murder.

And so Herod responded how anyone who is desperately clinging to control would respond — he took matters into his own hands, but he did it in the most awful way.

He killed his firstborn son just to make sure that son wouldn’t try to assassinate him. Then he ordered the killing of his first wife (probably because he knew how she’d respond to the death of her son). Then he killed his mother-in-law. Then he ended up killing two more sons. All to protect his throne.

And now we see why Matthew starts here to bring context to his story. Jesus was born in the time of murderous, insecure king Herod.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:1]
But Matthew doesn’t let us dwell on this. Before we can even reflect on what Herod teaches us, Matthew tells us that “Magi from the east” arrive in Jerusalem.

These Magi were probably not kings, even though we all know the song “We Three Kings”, but they were probably instead wealthy astrologers, maybe members of a priestly class who looked for messages in the stars and in dreams.

The fact that they came “from the east” means they were from Babylon or Persia or the Arabian Peninsula. Today, this would be modern day Syria, or Jordan, or Saudi Arabia.

Perhaps they had heard some of the prophecies about the messiah when Jews were in exile in Babylon and Persia hundreds of years before. Maybe those stories got passed down.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:2]
In any case, they arrive in Jerusalem and ask, [V2] “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose in the east and have come to worship him.”

These were foreigners. Foreigners with foreign worship practices. They studied and probably worshipped the stars. And yet, their own form of worship led them to look for “the king of the Jews.” It’s incredible to me that God is able to use ANYTHING to speak to the people he created. Astrology, worshiping the stars, led them to the Creator of the stars, the one who is actually WORTHY of worship. Matthew is showing us that from the beginning, God was calling more than just the Jews to him.

So these foreigners, these “wise men,” go to the capital of Israel, to the king’s house, expecting to be throwing a baby shower or birthday party for the new heir to the throne. And this makes sense. This is where you’d expect to meet the new king: in the capital of the country. In the palace of royalty.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:3]
But instead, they meet King Herod there. And he is understandably shaken. Matthew says he was “frightened / disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”

Herod, the one who killed his own family members to hold on to his power, is told there is a new king that has just been born. A king of the Jews.

Herod, who is currently the “king” of Israel, who spent his whole career building incredible architectural feats, many of which were forts and military installations to protect against anyone who might want to attack him and take away his kingdom, has just been greeted by foreigners who are not there to attack HIM, but to pay homage to a different king.

You can understand why he’s frightened. And all of Jerusalem is frightened with him, which means that the Magi’s arrival must have been a bit of a big affair, probably a royal entrance, maybe some trumpets. Foreign dignitaries are bringing gifts to the king. But when everyone finds out why they are there, to give gifts to a NEW king, a collective shudder rolls through the town that knows what happens when someone poses a threat to Herod’s power and influence.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:4]
But Herod is no dummy. He’s held on to his power this long, and it’s not through flying off the handle and losing his cool. So, like any royal host, he puts up his new guests and treats them well, and then he calls together all chief priests and teachers “of the people”.

The Magi are looking for the king of the Jews. Herod is just “king” over Israel -- he’s not Jewish -- so he gathers all the Jewish leaders to advise him.

And it’s so interesting to me that he asks them where the Messiah is to be born. See, Herod has been around long enough to know that the Jews are waiting for a Savior, a king to come establish a kingdom of peace that will last forever. So Herod connects the nature of this Savior Messiah to that of a ruling king, in the same way that the Jews of the time would have.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:5-6]
And so he asks where the Messiah is supposed to be born, and the Jewish leaders and teachers of the law answer with a prophecy from Micah chapter 5, which says that Bethlehem will be the place that the ruler-who-is-a-shepherd will come from.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:7]
Then Herod calls the Magi back to him secretly to ask them exactly when the star appeared.

I think that Herod calls them back SECRETLY because he’s trying to downplay their arrival. He doesn’t want to make it seem credible that there actually is a new king that has just been born. If he called them publicly, he would be giving credence to their claims, and that would possibly cause more people in Jerusalem to believe them, that there IS a new king, and Herod doesn’t want that.

[SLIDE: blank]
But it’s clear that Herod does believe them, because he asks about the star. But his belief in their statement is not one that is authentic—even though he says that he wants to go and pay homage to the new king…

His belief is based on his FEAR. He believes them because his power is threatened. And any threat to his power is worth his full attention.

And later on, when the Magi don’t come back to him because of the warning they received in a dream, Herod responds with fear and VIOLENCE, killing all the toddler boys in the village of Bethlehem in order to preserve his own power, influence, and comfort.

Herod asserts control over the situation, because anything else would mean having to change, having to lose what he’s used to, having to lose what he’s familiar with and comfortable with.

How many of us can relate, even a little bit, with that? We all know someone who REALLY doesn’t like change. And when they are threatened, or when their plans are changed, they respond by trying to grab onto control.

But let’s not forget the other group that we see in this story: the Jewish leadership. If they had heard the initial announcement from the Magi, and then talked to Herod about the prophecy, they would have been able to make the SAME connection that Herod did.

“Huh, travellers from far away, who are saying that their star worship has communicated to them that a new king of the Jews has been born…”

But the problem is, even if they BELIEVED in the prophecy, they didn’t show it. They didn’t put their belief into action. They sure don’t go on the short trip to Bethlehem, which was only 6 miles away. It would have taken a few hours to walk, to check it out, to see if it could be true…but they didn’t go.

Maybe they also didn’t want to upset the status quo. After all, they had a good thing going with the current leadership. They were called upon as advisors to Herod from time to time. And maybe they thought that even though Herod wasn’t the Messiah, he was better than Rome directly coming in and oppressing the area.

So, they sit back and don’t act, and they are not mentioned again in this section of the story. They chose NOT to respond to what God was saying. They chose NOT to act on what God was showing them. They sat back, and removed themselves from what God was doing.

Do we feel like we’ve sat back and allowed God’s story to pass us by?

Instead, we see the Magi respond eagerly to the prophecy of the Messiah. Their belief in God’s action and invitation is clear because they actually GO and WORSHIP.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:10]
They’ve already travelled a long way to get to Jerusalem, but they still happily get back on the road. They seek. They ask. They’ve already searched this far, and now they keep searching until they find a young peasant girl and her son. They rejoice.

[SLIDE: Matt 2:11]
Even though this isn’t the type of king they expected, they trust the leading of the star and the extra help of the prophecy. They bow, showing their submission to this new king. They GIVE gifts.

And these gifts are the type of gifts that travelling dignitaries would present to kings or even gods. Clearly, the Magi thought of Jesus as the true king of the Jews, the Messiah sent from God to bless the whole world. They worship him. They listen to the message in the dream and respond by not returning to Herod.

That’s the image we receive of how the Magi react to God’s invitation and message. Listen and respond. See and respond.

[SLIDE: blank]
When we look at these three groups in this story, it’s clear that Following Jesus means GOING to where he is and GIVING him the best we have. But we don’t do this on our own. It all starts with receiving God’s GRACE.

The Magi didn’t just wake up one day and decide to travel to Jerusalem to search for Jesus on their own. God sent them the message of the star, something that meant something to THEM, something that piqued THEIR interest, something that called them to investigate.

First, we receive, THEN we respond.

[SLIDE: How would you respond?]
But how are we going to respond? The entire focus of this passage is on the Magi. They are the central characters of this story, but do we identify with them? Or do we identify more with one of the other characters in this passage?

The Jewish leaders respond with silence. They seemingly ignore the possibility that the Messiah has come. They’d rather keep things the same. They’d rather not risk the trip. They’d rather not rock the boat.

They’d rather not do the work to seek out where God could be at work. I wonder where they were when Herod ordered the killings of all the young boys in Bethlehem?

And Herod? Herod responds with fear. The idea of someone other than him being in control scares him. He doesn’t like to submit to the authority of others. He doesn’t want to give up what he’s comfortable with.

When our kingdom is threatened, when our freedoms are challenged, do we respond like Herod? Working in secret to try and CONTROL outcomes so that we don’t lose authority and power?

 [SLIDE: The Magi respond by Going and Giving]
Then there’s the Magi. The Magi respond by leaving their home, travelling to unfamiliar places, seeking and asking. They follow the light of the star by GOING and GIVING.

First, we see, then we go. And since we’ve already been given EVERYTHING in Jesus, that makes it possible for us to give our best to those God is sending us to.

[SLIDE: blank]
That’s what is so cool about the gifts that the Magi present to Jesus. Most people think there were three Magi because there were three gifts, but we don’t know how many Magi there were in their travelling group. We just know there were three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Now, you don’t have to know about ancient gift customs or even what myrrh is to know that these are not your normal gifts you give to a toddler. Now that I have a little kids, I wonder if little Jesus was more interested in the box those things came in then the actual gifts themselves.

No, it’s clear that these gifts were not for Jesus, or at least, they weren’t for Jesus to play with or use right away.

But what’s incredible is that I’m sure these expensive and costly gifts definitely came in handy when Joseph and Mary and Jesus were on the run for the next few years.

I’m sure they helped with travel costs, living expenses while they were moving from place to place, security for the family while Joseph was searching for work in Egypt.

God prompted the Magi to give their best, to give incredible gifts to Jesus’ family so that they would be able to follow God’s leading to escape Israel while Herod was still in power. The Magi GO and GIVE, even though they don’t know God’s purpose for the gifts.

Even today, following Jesus means GOING to where he is and GIVING him the best we have. That’s one of the ways that we shine the light of Jesus into the dark places and situations around us.

And we are able to do that because he has already GIVEN us everything. We’re able to do that because of the incredible GRACE we’ve received.

[SLIDE: What is God inviting you to do?]
So, if we want to learn from the example of the Magi, what can we do today? Well, first, LOOK for Jesus. Where is he at work in your life? Jesus promised to be with widows and orphans. Jesus promised to be WITH the downcast and the hurting.

So, where do we see his signs of activity around us? Where is the star of his grace and compassion and concern for the lowly pointing us?

First, LOOK for Jesus. Then, ASK. Ask God how he’s calling you to respond. Are you to go? Are you to give? Are you to tell?

Jesus is constantly inviting us to be a part of what he’s doing. Even in this passage, we see God inviting everyone to participate. It’s a collaborative effort that takes the Magi connecting with Herod connecting with the Jewish leadership to find Jesus. Everyone is drawn in. And Jesus is still doing that today.

But we can still miss it. We’ll miss it if we’re focused on our own small situations.

Would we rather spend our time and money building our own kingdom? Would we rather spend our LIFE on things concerned with our own comfort and authority? If we are, then I don’t think we can say it’s Jesus that we are following, because he constantly gave AWAY his power for the sake of others.

[SLIDE: blank]
Following Jesus means GOING to where he is, and GIVING him our best. He’s already given us his GRACE and is constantly CALLING us to join him.

So let’s LOOK for where he’s at work around us already. And then let’s ASK God how we can respond.

We GET TO join in with God’s mission of restoration in the world even as we’re still in the process of learning and growing. God doesn’t wait for us to become perfect before he can use us. He chooses sinful, broken people to accomplish his work.

And along the way, Jesus is actually transforming us to become more and more like him, bringing glory to God in the highest and peace on earth through how we reflect his image to those around us. Isn’t that good news? 

Luke 4:18-19

Pastor Bill Sullivan

As you find your seats, it's my pleasure to welcome up and introduce maybe for the first time for some of you, Pastor Bill Sullivan. Pastor Bill was the first senior pastor that New Life Lutheran called when New Life first started as a church. You are our first full-time pastor that we called as a church. And Pastor Bill has graciously come back to share the word with us today, to encourage us today. I'm really excited after I heard it for a service already, but also one of the things I just want to commend to you, any of you who don't know Pastor Bill, one of the things that I so appreciate about Pastor Bill is how much you love this church and this church family, and how much you and your wife, Marcia, are committed to this church family. So even though you've moved a little further away to be closer to your kids,(...) Pastor Bill and Marcia are still connected with us online every single week, part of our worshiping community. And so thank you, Pastor Bill. Can we give him a welcome for being here today?

(...)

Well, good morning. It is great to be home because I really feel like, hey, did you come home this morning?(...) And if you don't mind, I'm going to sit down.

(...)

I used to go ahead of operation on a detached retina on my eye. And when they fixed it after they fixed it, one of the things that I have had the joy of experiencing is kind of a balance. So if I were to stand up and walk around, you would think probably that I'm drunk.(...) So I decided that perhaps it's best that I sit this morning. And besides the way if somebody doesn't like it, it doesn't matter anymore because I, you know, nobody can fire me. So it's a good thing. So there's a couple of things that I want to do. First of all, just to introduce myself a little bit, because I realize it's been over six years since I retired and left them working on my seventh year since I retired. And there's a lot of people here that don't have a clue who I am. So I had the joy and privilege. My wife, Marcia and I came to New Life in 2010,(...) just in July 2010, six months into the congregation's life. And I had the joy of serving as the first full time pastor of the congregation. And before that, I spent eight years. New Life is a part of a loose association of congregations called Loosman congregations in Mission for Christ. And I had the privilege of serving as the first national service coordinator of the association before I before I came to New Life. So that's kind of a little bit about my history. And this morning, there's three reasons that I'm really glad to be here. And the first reason is probably not the most important reason. But when Pastor Drew called and asked and said, if I could be here this morning, I said, sure, because the Vikings don't beat up on the Bears till tomorrow night.(...) So I didn't have to be home by noon for the game today. So I said, yeah, I'll be glad to be there. And then the second reason is is that when I was here, when the congregation said goodbye to Pastor Eric several weeks ago, a couple of months ago now, Cheryl Staint asked me if if I could be here to help the congregation celebrate its 15th anniversary.(...) And I said, when is it? And she said, it's like the third week in January. It's like the 15th of January, something like that. And I said, oh my gosh.

(...)

It said, I go, I hate winter. I just want you to know that I hate winter. I said, I go every year to Florida for one week. And the week that I'm scheduled to be gone is the third week in January. I said, Cheryl,(...) what do you think? You think I'd rather be on the sunny beaches of Florida in January, in the middle of January, on the snowy hills of Northern Illinois.(...) And she looked at me and kind of figured out really fast that I was probably going to go to Florida.(...) So I got a chance then, instead of being one of a bunch of folks to be able to be here on the 15th of January to wish the congregation a happy birthday. I get to be here today and be the first person to wish you a happy birthday. And so that was the second reason that I was really glad to be there, to be here this morning. And we'll talk about that a little bit more in a little while. But the third reason, and this is really the most important reason that I'm really glad to be with you this morning, is because I am really so pleased at the theme of your time together and of the sermons that you've been hearing from Pastor Drew and as we've gone through this Advent season. Focusing on what is one of the very, just most beautiful passages of scripture, and that is the prologue to the Gospel of John, where we hear that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us, and that this Word that becomes flesh is the light of the world, the light which the darkness cannot overcome. And so it just really captures in just a few sentences God's great plan from creation,(...) where Christ was present in creation until the moment that he enters human history, to be in the process of redeeming us and restoring us into a right relationship with God. And so there's really nothing that I'd really rather have the opportunity to talk with you about than the great themes of light and darkness that John talks about there in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. And I want to begin this morning by kind of asking you to think about those two terms, light and darkness, that are talked about in scripture, and about the human emotions that we feel as we think about each of those words, because they each have a great deal to say to us in scripture about life and about our life together in Christ, and about our mission and our ministry in the world. And I'm going to tell you just a little story and ask you to kind of complete a sentence for me at the end of this little story. We had, I don't know if some of you, I think you probably had the same windstorm here that we had a couple of weeks at home in Merenga where I live now. And there's a cold front coming through and it was just a really, really windy night. And I have the privilege, we built a house with our oldest daughter and son-in-law, and we live on one side of the house and they live on the other side of the house. And every day I get to spend time with my soon to be eight year old grandson. I get to get him on the bus in the morning, I get to get him off the bus in the afternoon and be there with him until his parents get home. Sometimes they have things to do after school and they're not home until maybe six o'clock or something like that. Well, this time of the year gets dark at four thirty. So we had this windstorm the other day.

(...)

We were sitting, I was sitting with my grandson and we were talking and all of a sudden the lights went out and it was like pitch black in our house. You know, it was just pitch black in the living room. And when the lights went out and it got dark, the first thing that my grandson said to me, and this is where I want you to finish the sentence for me, is this.(...) "Papa,(...) I'm really scared.

(...)

I'm really afraid.

(...)

I'm really afraid."

(...)

And that captures the essence of what it means for the world to walk in darkness.

(...)

It captures what it means for the world to walk in darkness from a spiritual sense. Think about it.

(...)

When we think of all of the human emotions tied up with darkness,

(...)

fear is the father of all of the rest of the emotions that we feel.

(...)

Because what is it that fear leads to in our lives? It leads to hopelessness. It leads to despair. It leads to uncertainty.

(...)

It leads to questioning all sorts of things, questioning life.

(...)

Fear is the father of all of the things that we associate in the Bible with darkness,(...) with walking in darkness.

(...)

And fear is paralyzing and it causes all of those other things.

(...)

And so when the lights came back on, you know, William said, "I feel so much better now." You know, the opposite of fear, walking in darkness, is the peace that comes with walking in the light.

(...)

The prince of darkness is the prince of fear,(...) the devil. The prince of fear. The prince of light is Jesus, the prince of peace.

(...)

Right? So this morning, I want to just take a couple of the principal humans that were a part of that first Christmas.

(...)

And to look at the beginnings of the incarnation of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us, and how God moves both of them from fear to peace, which enables them to carry out God's mission,

(...)

God's plan for them in their lives.

(...)

Okay?(...) So we're going to take a look at Mary and we're going to take a look at Joseph.(...) And then we're going to spend a little time with their cousin, John the Baptist, because we find out in the scriptures that Mary and Joseph, Mary is related to Elizabeth, who is the mother of John the Baptist, and then Mary and Joseph being the parents of, the earthly parents of Jesus. So we're going to take a look. If you want to grab that, I marked the pages on the Pew Bibles in front of you, in front of the chairs. If you want to follow along there or on your phones or whatever you want to do, that's fine. But we're going to start and we're going to take a look at how both Mary and Joseph deal with the darkness, the fear,(...) the spiritual darkness of fear,

(...)

and how God moves them to light. First of all, as we're talking about that, did you know that of all of the commands in scripture,

(...)

there's one that is mentioned more times than anything else in all of scripture that God tells us to do or not to do.(...) And I haven't fact checked it, but I've read that the Bible says 366 times, one for every day of the year plus one for leap year. One phrase, and you know what it is?

(...)

Fear not.

(...)

There's a reason for that.

(...)

There's a reason that God says fear not so many times because he knows that we're so prone to it. And he knows that it causes so many other things that keep us from accomplishing what God has envisioned for us. So let's start with Mary in the gospel of Luke. It's on page 43 in the back part of your Bibles. If you're following along with the Bibles of the chairs in front of you, we're going to look at chapter one, verses 26 through 38. And you're going to see exactly that both Mary and Joseph, the very first thing that God has to say to them has to deal with fear.

(...)

In the sixth month, starting in the 26th verse of chapter one,(...) in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth.

(...)

To a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, to the house of the house of David.(...) The virgin's name was Mary and he came to her and he said, greetings favored one.(...) The Lord is with you.(...) But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. You know, another word for the word perplexed probably is what? She was afraid.(...) She was afraid of what the angel was saying. Or imagine this, Mary and Joseph were just, you know, late teenagers and there was much that was going on here. So anyway, the Lord said to her, greetings favored one. The Lord is with you. But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, do not be afraid.

(...)

Mary, for you have found favor with God and now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus.(...) He will be great.

(...)

He will be called the son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor,(...) David.(...) He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There will be no end.

(...)

Mary said to the angel, how can this be?

(...)

Since I'm a virgin,(...) the angel said to her,(...) the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be holy.(...) He will be called the son of God. And now your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son.

(...)

And this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.

(...)

For nothing will be impossible with God.(...) Then Mary said,(...) here am I, the servant of the Lord.

(...)

Let it be with me according to your word.(...) And then the angel departed from her. Do you see the beauty of that?

(...)

How it begins with fear.

(...)

You know,(...) it was it was a very difficult thing to to be an unwed mother.

(...)

In the time of Jesus birth, it was it was it was dangerous.

(...)

You know, women were often put to death.

(...)

If they were found to have committed adultery.(...) I mean, the stigma was was horrendous.

(...)

And Mary was a young girl with her life in front of her. She was afraid.

(...)

And God moves her from this paralyzing fear to the place where she,

(...)

because the light of the word comes to her and shows her what God God's promised for her is, what God's plan for is. And Jesus let it be to me according to your word. In fact, she goes on to write to sing one of the most beautiful songs in all of scripture called the Magnificat, where she says, blessed am I amongst women

(...)

and greatest, the Lord who has done great things for me. You see this transformation that happens in her life because the light of Christ,(...) the light of the word, the light that God brings

(...)

is, you know, dissolves the fear within her and enables her to to do this great thing that God has called her to do and to be the mother of of of Jesus here on Earth. Now, let's move to Joseph and look and see how he deals with the news that that he is to to take Mary as his husband and to be the earthly father for Jesus. We're in Matthew, the first chapter.

(...)

It is on page one of the New Testament in the back part of your Bibles. And we're going to look at verses 18 through

(...)

twenty five, the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, and the very same thing that happens with Mary happens of Joseph. The very first thing that Mary feels is the very first thing that Joseph feels. Let's look now. The birth of Jesus, the Messiah, took place in this way. Starting at verse 18, when his mother, Mary, had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.(...) Her husband, Joseph,(...) being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace,(...) planned to dismiss her quietly.

(...)

But just when he had resolved to do this,(...) an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,(...) Joseph,(...) son of David,(...) do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,(...) for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.(...) She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus. For he will save his people from their sins.

(...)

All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet. Look, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God with us.(...) When Joseph awoke from sleep,(...) he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took her as his wife,(...) but he had no marital relations with her until she had born a son and he named him Jesus.

(...)

The very same progression.

(...)

The angel comes to Joseph in his dream and he's already filled with fear.(...) I mean, you know, Mary's found to be pregnant. And of course, his reputation is on the line too.(...) People are going to look at him and say, you know, you're the father.

(...)

And he was a righteous man. And so he was planning because he was afraid of what might come to kind of put her aside, to break off the engagement quietly.

(...)

And we see what fear was doing to him as well. And so the angel comes to him in his dream and says, Joseph,(...) don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.

(...)

For here's what God has planned.

(...)

And as we look at Mary and Joseph throughout the rest of scripture, we see that they are faithful to the calling that God has on their life to do as God has called them to do, they put their fear and all of the things that come along with it aside and let the light of Christ be the light that guides their lives.

(...)

And we could look at other examples all the way through scripture of that light and darkness theme and the fear that changes to peace and hope because of the light that Christ brings into people's lives. And so we're going to look at John the Baptist for just a second and see what

(...)

the scripture kind of outlines as the purpose of those who bear witness to the light in the world, John and each of us, because we are all those who are called to bear witness to the light of Christ in our lives. We're in the gospel of John, the very first chapter, and we're just going to look at three verses, the sixth through the ninth verses of the gospel. According to John, it is on page 70 of your New Testament in the back of the Bible, starting at verse six.

(...)

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. You could put your name in there. You know, we can all put our own names in there. He came as a witness to testify to the light so that all might believe through him.

(...)

He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light,(...) the true light,(...) which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. And that true light is Jesus.

(...)

And you and I are called as was John who spent the rest of his life bearing witness,

(...)

bearing testimony to the light of Christ up until the time that he was beheaded

(...)

and martyred for the faith. You and I are called to the same task in our lives, to be witnesses to the light(...) and to not be paralyzed by fear or any of the things that come with it, but to be changed into those who bear the light of Christ to the world around them.(...) Jesus kind of flushes that out a little bit at the beginning of his earthly ministry. Our last stop this morning as we look through the scriptures for just a second in the fourth chapter of the gospel of Luke, which is on page 47. I'm going to flip over there to page 47 in your Bibles. We're going to look at the just two verses where Jesus kind of expounds upon that whole to bear witness to the world and what our job is as Christians in the 18th and 19th verses of, as Jesus begins his public ministry, he's been baptized by John and the river Jordan. So what a great thing to have celebrated baptisms here this morning. And as soon as he comes up out of the waters of the Jordan, he goes off for 40 days in the wilderness by himself, where he is strengthened by the Holy Spirit for his, his mission. And he comes back and he goes to the temple. And these are the first words from the prophet that he shares in the temple that day. Here's what he says, starting in verse 18. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.(...) He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to, to the blind,(...) to let the oppressed go free,(...) to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, which is another way of saying, when Jesus says to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. You see, that's just another kind of imagery of the very same thing.

(...)

The recovery of sight for the blind, the recovery of sight, the light, the blind being the darkness.(...) And so Jesus says, I've been sent to proclaim the recovery of, of light to the blind, of life to those who are dead. And so I want to move forward now to,(...) you know, to, to today and to talk about how I see all of this as a way of expressing what God has done here in the midst of this congregation for the last 15 years.

(...)

And I'm going to kind of just tell you a little bit about the story for those of you who, who are new to new life and who weren't here 15 years ago in the congregation started, it's an amazing story to me of how God moves people from fear to peace, from darkness to light,(...) from that which paralyzes us to that, which sets us free to do his work in remarkable ways in our world today.

(...)

In January of 2010,(...) events happened in the life as sometimes throughout history. We see recorded in the scriptures,(...) those who are appointed by God to lead his people, sometimes the people who are the shepherds of the church kind of lose their way and they become kind of full of themselves.

(...)

And they start to think that, you know, maybe they've got better ideas than God has.(...) And so they, they will sometimes try to move people in directions that are contrary to the light that shines from the pages of scriptures.(...) And that was happening in the life of the church body that, that those congregations that those people that left congregations to become a part of new life found themselves in.(...) And so, you know,(...) early in January of that year, people left,(...) started with a group of folks in Rock Falls at a congregation there who, who left because they felt as though the foundation of our faith, which is the light of God emanating from the scriptures.(...) The, the word is the rock on which we stand and who felt as though that was being compromised.(...) And so I had to leave to start over again. And I'm telling you, I know that as I spoke to many of those people, there was some of that fear that can lead to paralysis, that can lead to despair, that can lead to all sorts of things that were, was there as they, as they took that step, but here's the amazing thing. Within the course of a week they were worshiping again in a community center in Rock Falls because, you know, the light, the darkness can't overcome the light. And the light broke through and there was people used that were willing to step in and help them to kind of get started. And a few months later, folks from another congregation who experienced the same thing joined them.(...) This is all between January and, and late May of 2010.

(...)

In the midst of all of that, well, that was going on here with the folks that, that were a part of the birth of new life. I was at a place in my own life where I really felt it as though it was kind of one of the darkest times of my ministry in my life.(...) It was a very scary time for me.

(...)

A number of things kind of all came together in a March of 2010,(...) just leading up to Holy Week. And one of the things that happened is that for those of you who don't know my wife, Marcia, she had a very serious hemorrhagic stroke 20 years ago, and it's presented a number of challenges for her. And I was traveling a great deal of the time and it was becoming more difficult for her to be able to function when I was going away from home. And so, you know, struggling with, you know, what, what comes next.

(...)

And, and on top of that, I was experiencing some, some challenges with my own health and some difficulties with my heart. And then a third thing that kind of was a part of that all during the very same time was a number of things that were going on with me and just kind of some struggles with the leadership in the folks that were in charge of the association. It's kind of a long story that I don't need to go into in great depth now, but it left, it led to the place where just before Holy Week of 2010, this is in March, I was just really a dark place.

(...)

I went wondering what was coming next for me. And I was on the road traveling and speaking to congregations in the western part of the country in Montana, where I grew up. And, and the director of operations for the association called me the Sunday, just a few days before, before Palm Sunday. And I was scheduled to be able to be home and to have some time to rest and to kind of, kind of avoid things. And she said, I, I just found out that there's one more place where you have to go before you come, you go home for Easter. She said, you need to speak at a new church in Rock Falls in Sterling, Illinois.

(...)

And, and my first reaction was really, I'm tired. You know, I'm struggling. I'm having a hard time wanting to go home. And she said, well, you just need to do this. And I said, okay. And so, I mean, I was, I was kind of reluctant and I think people kind of knew maybe a little bit that Sunday that I might've been a little reluctant, but here's, this is kind of one of the funny things that happens sometimes in how God maybe has a sense of humor in all of this, that I was on Palm Sunday, getting ready to preach here at the Rags to Ruses place that new life was meeting in at the time. And I had to go to the bathroom and I was in the bathroom and Bob Smelter, who was now gone to be with the Lord, was in the bathroom with me. And here we were talking and he said, and he said, how are you doing?(...) I said, well,(...) I'm kind of having a tough time. Now, just honest with him, I'm kind of having a tough time. He said, I'm kind of wondering what comes next for me. I'm not sure what, what she told them. There might be changes coming.(...) This is on a sun on Palm Sunday.

(...)

So little known to me, I knew I was right in the process of getting ready to call its first pastor. They had been talking to some people and they were not sure exactly if the person they were talking to was the right person. And so he left the bathroom and went right to Gary Sandrock, who is the president of the congregation. And he said, you know what? I think that he might be looking for someplace new to go. He might be looking. He might be looking for a job here shortly.(...) So by Wednesday of that week, which is when things kind of came to a head for me after I had gone home from here and I'd had a meeting that had really resulted in the fact that I was, I decided to move on to something else.

(...)

It was, I think Wednesday or Thursday that I got a call from, from, I think it was Gary that was on the phone, I think they'd like to interview me to be the pastor here at New Life.

(...)

And on Good Friday,(...) which is really symbolic of the darkest day in the church year, now where we,(...) where Jesus dies, you know, and there's all sorts of fear amongst his disciples, you know, on Good Friday, in the midst of that whole time of darkness for me in my life, I interviewed to be the pastor at New Life.

(...)

And a few days later, they, you know, wasn't too much after that, that people said, you know, we'd like to call you to be our pastor.

(...)

Here's the thing that, and it's, you know, a couple months later, we were here, started on July 1st of that year.(...) And here's the, here's, here's the beauty of how God works when we let him in the, in the middle of our, of our darkness and our fear,(...) how God can work through that if we will let the light of Christ shine as that situation.

(...)

What happened was here was a group of people beginning a new congregation who had just come through a time of darkness for them, really.

(...)

And a lot of questioning and fear as they started a new journey.(...) And they kind of looked at me as the one who provided a little spark of hope, a little light in the darkness to come in and to serve as their pastor. On the other hand,(...) I looked at them as the light in my darkness.

(...)

You see,(...) I looked at New Life as the spark of light giving me hope for a new beginning.

(...)

In the midst of my darkness. And that's how the Lord works. If we allow him to break in to our darkness, break into our fear and to let him lead into God and,(...) and the next eight years were remarkable in our life together as the people of God in this place.(...) Oh, just from a personal standpoint, let alone the things that happened that benefited and began the work of Christ for this congregation in this community. For me,(...) you know, I was able to, to celebrate during the time that we were here. My oldest daughter was married to her husband and we celebrated that together with the people of God in this place. My grandson, who I get to be with every day and get him on the bus and off of us. And just spend time with him.(...) I had to baptize him right there in that font. And they have the people of God in this place celebrate his coming into the kingdom of God through his baptism.

(...)

When I, during my time here at New Life,(...) I contracted pneumonia, a rare form of pneumonia that almost killed me.(...) I had a couple of people visit me that say, you know, I didn't think after I saw you that I visited you, I didn't think I was going to see you again. I was really sick. But the people of New Life were the light in our darkness.

(...)

They cared for me and Pastor Ben, who was here was,(...) you know, the other pastor that was here serving with me stepped in and just did a remarkable job. People brought meals to our house. I took care of my wife for weeks while I was sick and then for weeks more after that while I was recovering at home.

(...)

And, you know, we saw firsthand how the light of Christ was so redemptive in our lives and chased away the darkness and the fear and how powerful the body of Christ can be when it when it functions the way that it's supposed to. And we saw remarkable things happen in our community.(...) As New Life, we know just we built the building this facility together to serve the community. And it's used by the community in so many ways.(...) I'll never forget it was just so wonderful. I came while we were preparing the site one day and there was a desk sitting in the middle of a cornfield and Sheryl said, yeah, we put your desk right where it's going to be when the building is built.(...) And it was it was just sitting there in this cornfield. And I have a picture of Sheryl Von Holden said, I was just looking at that picture this week. And, you know, it was just such a remarkable time as we worked together to to build this facility. But then not only that, but to begin serving our community. And for 15 years, the light of Christ has just emanated from this place.(...) And you, you know, as we each listen to to to Jesus saying to us, you know,(...) I've sent you to be to proclaim liberty, to proclaim release to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, to to be the bearers of light in your community.

(...)

It's been a remarkable thing to see. And as the congregation approaches, you know, its first 15 years,(...) God is calling on all of us. I mean, each of us never to forget the Bible says never flag in showing zeal. Never get tired of doing good.(...) Never get tired of of sharing the light that lives in you. Remember, you're not the light, but you're bearers of the light. The one who is the light of the world lives in you and wants to to to share that light with people that walk in darkness. And I'm telling you, if you look at the world in which we live, it is filled. You know, it is as you look around you. It's filled with darkness. And there are people that are afraid.(...) Right. You all know people, you know, neighbors that are afraid of whatever has come their way. All sorts of things that keep people in darkness and keep people in fear and hopelessness and despair and all sorts of uncertainty in their lives. And we know because of what we've experienced together, that there is hope, that there is light in the darkness,(...) that there is hope and there is peace and there is joy that is found in Christ. And we are called to be bearers of the light to our community. Jesus wants to use each of us, each of us, just as you have been the light to me and to my family. And as I pray, you know, I have had the privilege to be the light to you. We are called to continue to be the light to our community. God will show you if you ask him every day. And as the congregation moves into another 15 years of faithful ministry and beyond,(...) you know, we are each called to remember that Jesus calls us to, to bear the light,(...) to be bearers of the light, to be sharers of the light, to bring light into the darkness of those who are around us and to share the hope and the joy and the peace and the love of Christ that only Jesus can give because people look for answers in their darkness that they will never, they will never find any place other than in a relationship with the light of the world.(...) They won't. They won't find it anyplace else.

(...)

And if we don't share it with them, they might never know.

(...)

So God bless you as you move into a new chapter of your life together as a congregation. And I'm so grateful to have been able to have this time to just reflect on that together. And I would like to pray for you as we close this morning.

(...)

Father, I thank you for for your goodness to this congregation.

(...)

I thank you for the light of Christ that moved people from fear to to step out and to trust you and to begin a new life together with Christ, the light of the world at the center of the ministry of this place. And I thank you for the faithful servants that have been a part of that. I thank you for for Pastor Phil, who has served here since we started in an emeritus position. I thank you for Pastor Adam, who was with us for a while. Thank you for Pastor Ben.

(...)

And I thank you for Pastor Eric.(...) And now, Lord, I thank you for Pastor Drew and their faithful service to this place. I pray that you would continue to bless their ministry. Lord, I thank you for the new pastor that you have already chosen to be a part of this congregation's life in the years ahead.

(...)

What I just pray that you would help the congregation to to see who that is. And as you lead them to discover the person you've already selected to be a part of this congregation's life into the future.(...) I pray that you would be with every member of the body of Christ in this place, that you would help them to move beyond any fear or doubt or any other darkness that the evil one would throw at them to to discover joy and peace and hope and a purpose, their purpose, for sharing the light of Christ with those around them in this community so that others might come to know the one who is the light of the world, the Prince of Peace, the one who shatters our darkness and leads us into a life filled with hope and goodness.

(...)

Lord, thank you again for your faithfulness to us. Help us to be faithful to you.(...) In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Genesis 1:1-5 & John 1:1-14 

Pastor Drew Williams

A few weeks ago, Megan and I got to go on vacation with no kids. My mom gifted us three nights away for our anniversary (thanks mom), and so Megan and I went to a little cabin on a little lake.

[SLIDE 2] lower third blank
And the biggest pull for us with this cabin was that it didn’t have wi-fi, and the cell service was moderate at best. And the first night we got there, I was pretty beat from the travel day. And there wasn’t enough cell service to do anything on my phone, so I grabbed one of the books I had brought to read a bit to wind down.

And after a few minutes of reading, I just felt so exhausted and it was really dark outside and I looked at the clock…and it was 7:18pm! But, since we didn’t have the kids, Megan and I decided to go to bed.

And when I woke up (ten hours later!) the sun still wasn’t up, so I got dressed and went down to the dock on the lake.

It was that moment just as the faintest parts of dawn are starting to show in the sky. So now the stars aren’t shining as bright any more, and all you can see is the faintest outline of the tree-tops lining the lake.

But everything else is dark. And even though I KNOW there is a lake right in front of me, I can’t see it. I could be standing in front of a cliff for all I know.

It’s cold. It’s dark. There’s no color. No shapes except for the faintest outlines of the trees against the sky. Only the wind gently whistling by to remind me that I’m not asleep and I’m not floating aimlessly through the black of space.

And it reminded me of how the very first pages of the Bible describe the moments at the beginning of creation. If you take out your Bibles, you can flip there with me. And then keep your Bibles open, because we’re going to connect this with another passage later on.

[SLIDE 3] Gen 1:1-2
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth…” (which means everything there is), “the earth was a formless void…”

And if you’re looking at the black seat-back Bibles we have here, you’ll notice a little note right next to the word “created”, and the bottom of the page will tell you that another way to render this phrase is:

“When God BEGAN to create the heavens and the earth…” which I just love, because it shows that creation wasn’t a one-time thing that happened a long time ago, and then God walked away like a watchmaker and is just letting it run.

No, creation was begun by God and is still being done by God, as he creates each and every new moment and invites us to participate in his work.

“When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was formless and void…” The Hebrew words behind “formless and void” are meant to describe numbness, wasteland, emptiness. In the darkness, there was no shape, no color. Just the chaotic unknown.

[SLIDE 4] Gen 1:3
“Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Such a simple act, speaking. I just did it. There, I did it again. But when God does it, the thoughts don’t JUST become words, they create worlds.

“Let there be…and there was.” Before, there was nothingness, formlessness, void. Then God spoke, and at his word there was light, and with light comes color, and shape, and depth, and definition.

[SLIDE 5] blank
Just like that morning I was sitting by the lake. Without the light, the whole earth was formless and void. And in the dark, all there was was uncertainty, the unknown, cold. Was the lake right in front of me, or ten yards out? Was it deep? Were there monsters? Would I be safe, or would I drown if I were to go too close?

And then the sun appeared, slowly and then all at once, and the light burst over the tops of the trees, and there was color, and shapes, and depth. The trees and the dock and the shoreline stood out against the lake, and the ripples in the water reflected the million variations of color that the sun was painting on the sky.

And I stood and breathed in the crisp air, and I watched as a flock of geese swooped low over the lake, and the wind brought the sounds of life from the other shore to my ears.

And it was all a gift. When was the last time you received the morning as a gift?

Because, most mornings for me involve one or three little humans having need or being hungry before the sun comes up. And I stumble into the morning wanting nothing other than coffee. And I can’t forget to let the dogs out.

And as I check the weather for the day, then I check my email, or the news, or social media. I flit back and forth between fun little jokes or pictures of people I know to advertisements for things I don’t have but now I want, or reminders of heavy stressors in the world or in my life.

And the kids need to get dressed for the day, and I’ve got to brush my teeth, but don’t forget to reply to that one person who reached out, and all of a sudden, I’m standing by the kitchen window and I notice that the sun is fully up.

When did that happen? I didn’t even notice!

The world started formless and void, full of uncertainty and possibility, and I kept my eyes shut, and got sucked in to all the other tasks and have-tos in life, and I didn’t get to experience the light overcoming the darkness and bringing light and life.

Maybe you’re in a similar lifestage to me and you have been smiling and nodding your head. Maybe your mornings look different, but you also experience the feelings of rush and expectation and the pull of stress and uncertainty that is everywhere in our world.

And now we’re in December! And the rush isn’t going to LESSEN! The stress isn’t going to go down! The constant barrage of advertisers telling you that you don’t have something you “NEED” in order to be happy, the extra reminders of what a “perfect” Christmas season should look like will keep pointing an accusing finger at your life and make you wonder why you don’t experience that picture-perfect holiday gathering.

It’s a season of Light and Joy, but some of us aren’t experiencing very much light right now. Some of us are stuck in the shadows. Sometimes, all of us are experiencing the opposite of Joy, we’re NOT experiencing peace, or hope.

Why don’t we feel that? Why aren’t we automatically happier at this time of year? Why isn’t our family like the perfect Normal Rockwell painting of everyone enjoying gathering together and singing and sharing love?

Why don’t I feel God? Why is my stress climbing with every day we celebrate getting closer to Christmas?

You’re not alone for feeling that way. And this season of Advent we are in, when we are practicing again the waiting and the expectation, this is a time when we get to remind ourselves and those we love that God is ALWAYS in the business of shining his light in the darkness.

We get to remind each other that when you’re experiencing darkness in your life, it’s probably an invitation from God to step into his light.

[SLIDE 6]
And in our Gospel reading today, which can be found on page ???? of the New Testament in the black, seat-back Bibles, we’re going to look at how Jesus’ arrival is a mirror to creation, and that God’s ability to bring light and life to where there used to be uncertainty and chaos has not changed since the beginning of time.

So let’s read John 1:1-14 together…

[JOHN 1:1-14]

[SLIDE 7] John 1:1
Since we just read the beginning of Genesis a few minutes ago, there should be a lot of this that seems familiar. “In the beginning was…God? Well, John says, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, or we could also read it as the Word was FROM God, and the Word WAS God.”

If we keep reading the whole book of John, we see that he’s referring to Jesus as the Word of God.

[SLIDE 8] John 1:3-4
So, right here from the beginning of his book, he’s connecting Jesus to Creation and to being God. He’s the Word of God, the very creative force that brought everything into being.

And when the Word of God spoke and said Let there be light, it was more than even the type of light we’ve talked about that brings color and depth. This light is LIFE. The life of all humanity.

[SLIDE 9] blank
And so we see that Genesis 1 sets up this picture: In the beginning, when God began to create, the world was chaos and deserted (formless and void), and the darkness was WITH the desolation, and the breath of God (Spirit of God) hovered over the deep. Hovered ABOVE the deep.

And then we look at John 1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word WAS God, and he was with/from God. And he sat in authority ABOVE all creation because nothing came into being without him. And the LIGHT that shone into the darkness was LIFE.

[SLIDE 10] John 1:5
And the light is so incredibly more powerful than the darkness. Because darkness can’t overcome light. Darkness runs from light. Shadows don’t exist in light, they exist around the corner and behind the door. But as soon as the light shines, darkness is gone!

[SLIDE 11] blank
And while darkness allows fear, the unknown, secrecy… Light brings confidence, certainty, it reveals.

Darkness is where cold is, where death is, where ALONE is…
Light brings warmth, life, connection.

And the darkness can’t overcome the light. The darkness can’t overcome Jesus. Jesus is the light that brings life to all people.

And so, when we’re experiencing darkness in our life…when we’re experiencing fear and uncertainty…when we’re experiencing death or isolation in our life…

THAT’S an invitation to step into the light. Because the darkness can’t overcome the light.

But I can keep myself back in the darkness. I can allow myself to be so busied and so distracted that I don’t even notice the sun coming up in the morning.

Even on the lakeshore, waiting for the sunrise, I could still choose to close my eyes out of fear, and keep them shut, and I’ll stay in darkness.

[SLIDE 12] John 1:10-11
That’s what John is talking about when he says that the world did not “know” Jesus, did not comprehend or understand him. He came even to his people, the people of God who had been told that a savior was coming, and they didn’t accept him. They didn’t receive him. They didn’t open their eyes to receive his light.

[SLIDE 13] “Where do you need more light?”
And so, I’m wondering, for YOU, in your life, where do you need light? Where do you feel darkness? Where do you feel disconnection? Where do you feel isolation?

Maybe you’re experiencing relational conflict. This time of year brings people together, and that can open up old wounds. Or the people DON’T come together BECAUSE of ongoing disagreements, and it feels like one more cut to the heart.

[SLIDE 14] blank
The darkness is where those old wounds and disagreements thrive. They cut people off from each other. They keep people separated, both feeling the darkness, both feeling isolated, both staying back, unsure where the next attack or wound might come from.

If you feel like you’re in a season of darkness like that, you need light. You need the light that is the life of all mankind. You need Jesus.

Jesus can shine his light into every area of your life if you let him. And instead of staying in the darkness and tripping over each other and hurting each other, we need to turn on the lights to reveal what it is that we’re tripping over. We need to turn on the light to see where the other person is so we don’t accidentally hurt them again.

We need Jesus to shine his light to REVEAL what secret disagreements, what old jealousies, what hidden wounds have been festering, maybe for years.

Because when we SEE better, we can SERVE better. When the light of Jesus shines into our life and into the circumstance, we can see better how to join him in his work of healing and restoration.

“But I’m afraid, Pastor Drew. I’m not sure what’s out there in the darkness. I’m not sure what’s IN HERE in the darkness.”

Maybe that’s where you feel darkness. It’s fear, because of the unknown. What if my kids or my grandkids experience something I can’t help them with? What if they experience tragedy? What if they make dumb decisions?

In other words, “What if I’M not able to protect them? Or Help them?”
What if…NO ONE protects them?
What if…God abandons them?

And I’m stuck in the darkness of the “what if.” I’m stuck in the shadow of fear and uncertainty. Well, I need light. I need Jesus. I need to ask him to shine a light into all the ways that he already HAS protected the people I love. All the ways he already has helped them. All the ways he already has proven that he loves them even more than I could.

“Well, that sounds nice, Pastor Drew, but I still have fear. There is still so much uncertainty around us. There is still so much that is in shadow, and I can’t be sure what’s coming next.”

I have fear around our current political and social environment. And what if society continues down a path that I don’t agree with?

In other words, I can’t be SURE how things are going to continue, and so my ANXIETY is the only thing that is giving me a sense of control…it’s the only thing preventing…social collapse!

Okay, maybe I don’t really believe that. But what if God lets our society collapse? What if God doesn’t care? What if God isn’t there?

Or maybe the fears are closer to home. We watch the ups and downs of the economy, and we think about all the extra expenses this month, and we feel fear and uncertainty and isolation when it comes to our financial situation.

What if we never get out of this debt and the bank forecloses? What if they repo the car?

What if we can’t make ends meet and we have to give up the way of life we’re used to? What if we have to give up the way of life that we deserve after working so hard?

What if God lets me fall?

Wow, do we see how powerful fear and uncertainty can feel? Fear leaves us clutching at anything, trying to control what we can. Fear leaves us unable to rest. Fear leaves us unable to enjoy or receive the gifts of each day.

And that’s why, when we’re feeling fear, uncertainty…when we’re feeling darkness…it’s an invitation to step into the light.

[SLIDE 15] Isaiah 9:2
That’s why the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who lived 800 years before Jesus pointed forward to an arrival of light. Because even back then, they knew what it was like to live in darkness. They knew what it was like to feel fear and uncertainty and doubt and isolation.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.”

[SLIDE 16] Isaiah 9:6
“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

[SLIDE 17] John 1:14
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

Because God said, “Let there be light, and it was GOOD.” The light was the life of all people.

When we’re feeling darkness, it’s an invitation to step into his light. Where do you need more light in your life? That’s where you need more Jesus in your life.

Because Jesus shines his light, and the darkness flees. It REMOVES the unknown. It REVEALS what you couldn’t see before. It RENEWS your hope and peace as we follow the Prince of Peace.

[SLIDE 18] “Bring more Light into your life”
That’s why, this season, we all need a little more light in our life. I want each of us to bring more light into our lives. Because fear lives in the shadows, but we don’t have to stay there.

Because we KNOW that Jesus is on the throne.
Because we KNOW that God is a loving Father who provides abundantly for his kids.
Because we KNOW that he has a plan and a mission that he hasn’t given up on.
Because we KNOW that he has pursued us all the way into the GRAVE to bring us out.

So I want us to bring more light into our lives this month. Because Jesus stepped into our world to bring light, and we are created to reflect that light as image bearers of God.

So let’s bring more light into our lives. Let’s get more light in our lives.

[SLIDE 19] 14 Days
One way to do that is to sign up for the 14 Days of Light challenge this month. It’s going to be two weeks of short devotionals and simple actions to take to bring light TO you as well as bring light THROUGH you to others.

Sign up today, and it’ll officially start two weeks before Christmas, but it’s a simple way to practice some spiritual habits that help us spend time with Jesus. But it’s not something we do alone either. It’s something we GET to do together as a whole church family.

Because we were created to reflect Jesus’s light into the world. And we were created to do that as a community, as a whole family, brought together by this incredible God who adopts us all into his new family, given a new life, invited into a new mission.

And as we step into his light, we reflect his light into the people around us, helping them overcome the darkness. Helping our community step into the light. Helping to bring healing and wholeness to the families and individuals around us.

Because that’s always been the plan of God. To bring light. To bring life. Isn’t that good news?