LET THERE BE LIGHT
A STUDY OVER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART VIII (TOPIC: LIGHT)
DARK WORLD: We live in a dark world, a world of unattached people seeking success or pleasure or something, but all the while avoiding God.
BARNA STUDY: Barna.org did a study in March of this year about those who are unattached from a body of believers. Here is what they found.
Compared to regular churchgoers, the Unattached are:
more likely to feel stressed out
less likely to be concerned about the moral condition of the nation
much less likely to believe that they are making a positive difference in the world
less optimistic about the future
far less likely to believe that the Bible is totally accurate in its principles
substantially more likely to believe that Satan and the Holy Spirit are symbolic figures, but are not real
more likely to believe that Jesus Christ sinned while He was on earth
much more likely to believe that the holy literature of the major faiths all teach the same principles even though they use different stories
less likely to believe that a person can be under demonic influence
more likely to describe their sociopolitical views as "mostly liberal" than "mostly conservative"
TRANSITION: The world needs a light.
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:14-15
You are the light of the world. A city upon a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives life to everyone in the house.
1. PENETRATES DARKNESS:
MIKE KNIGHT STORY: I had a friend years ago who was a Christian, and was the head wrestling coach of a University. But some times he would just flee from God, he would just stop attending, stop fighting, almost like he stopped believing. I asked him about this, I found it odd. What he told me was that there are times that he messes up, when he does, he doesn’t feel worthy to be in God’s presence. So he essentially runs from God until he “cleans up his act” and comes back. But the only problem is he is never able to clean up his act by himself.
TREE SWALLOWS DOG: This is kind of like a video clip I saw on the internet yesterday, it was titled “Tree Swallows Dog.” Essentially, an owner trained his dog to attack a large evergreen tree. The dog runs, jumps, and disappears in the tree. And it reminded me a lot of what happens to Christians when they try to fight their sin without giving it go God, they get swallowed up.
BIBLE VERSE: Genesis 26:1-4
26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. 26:2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you. 26:3 Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.
BIBLE VERSE: Genesis 26:7
26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”
BREAKING IT DOWN: Isaac is a faithful man of God, but is desperately afraid. Low on funds, area is suffering, and he receives a message from the Lord on how to get through it. One of the Lord’s pieces of information is “stay!” But Isaac, doesn’t hear it. He already has his mind made up, moves away to Gerar, and even lies about his relationship to his wife because he is afraid that there are so many people that would desire his beautiful wife that they might kill him for her. In the process he just about loses her (not to mention if the people of that area might go to the extent of killing him to get to her, why in his right mind would he think to make her publicly available). He pursues darkness, rather than the light.
TRANSITION: But the light penetrates darkness. If we would only claim it and take advantage of it.
FLASHLIGHT: If you have a flashlight, now would be a time to use it. In my example, I have one of those attach to your head flashlights and I’m going to put it on. I am hoping that this will be a goofy but strong visual for those fighting darkness. “We need to put the light on, and keep the light on!”
2. PROVIDES A PATH:
FBC/LSL CHURCH: As you know, I am at the church a lot. And I often times walk around it by myself without any lights on as I am handling certain details or prepping certain areas. But I have found that walking through a dark gym is difficult. You would not believe how often I have bumped into a chair, or a table, or those giant metal things when no one is around. You know, when you take a metal object to your shin while walking at full speed, it hurts. I have gotten hurt, because I didn’t make a path.
BIBLE VERSE: Psalm 119:35
119:35 Guide me in the path of your commands, for I delight to walk in it.
BAD PATHS:
Reginold Peterson: The 42 year old Florida native became so enraged that his Subway sandwich didn’t have everything on it, that he phoned 911 and told the police.
Paula Goodspeed: Tragic story of a stalker, who spent her life stalking American Idol color commentator Paula Abdul. Rather than seek out her own life, she was found dead outside Abdul’s home, the coroner examining the body said she actually had Paula Abdul’s name tattooed inside her lip.
Michelle Allen. The 32 year old Ohio woman was arrested after she had gotten drunk, put on a cow costume, and decided to chase kids in her neighborhood. How does someone sway so far from God’s path to end up taking a police pic while wearing a cow costume drunk?
WE NEED TO SEEK GOD’S VOICE & A GOOD PATH: A personal testimony.
BUT I DON’T HEAR GOD’S VOICE…I DON’T KNOW HIS PATH (THE KITCHEN EXAMPLE): Not long ago, I was in my family room, typing on the computer, watching football, and in the zone. Then I heard Lori asking me a question, only problem, I didn’t hear the question. What? What? Finally, though she was attempting to schedule our day and make our weekly plans, she gave up and walked on back the bedroom. Was I sinning? No. Was I doing something wrong? No. My problem was simple, I was not in the right position to hear her voice. When it comes to the Lord, how close are you?
3. WARNS OF DANGER:
TRAIN TRACK: Anybody here live in Wentzville? Has any of you ever got stuck behind the Wentzville train (you know the one down town)? Any stuck waiting for a train stories here? My hardest one happened in Chicago when I was with my Aunt. As the lights came on, cars went darting past as fast as they could, not safe mind you. And when the train finally came, I actually saw a guy open his trunk, put on barbecue coals, light a fire, and eat dinner—yeah, it was that long.
WARNING LIGHTS: But all train crossings have warning lights, and thank God for those huh? Let’s check out a warning light in the Bible.
BIBLE VERSE: Genesis 19:15-17
19:15 At dawn the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” 19:16 When Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the LORD had compassion on them. They led them away and placed them outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”
BIBLE VERSE: Genesis 19:26
19:26 But Lot’s wife looked back longingly and was turned into a pillar of salt.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TURNED INTO A PILLAR OF SALT? I have not been. But I can only imagine that this would be a bad thing. Lot’s wife didn’t heed God’s call, God’ light, God’s warning lights.
POSSIBLE WARNING LIGHTS:
HESITATION: When God says, GO, he means GO! He doesn’t mean to wait, he doesn’t mean to ask questions (asking questions on obeying God’s will indirectly implies a lack of faith by the way). He means GO (everybody knows why the chicken crossed the road, but what happened to the chicken that stopped half way, he got hit by a car, that’s what happened).
LOOKING BACK: What is wrong with looking back? Sometimes, nothing. But sometimes a fascination with the past leads to present sin. Seriously, sometimes friends of mine begin to cherish their before-Christ memories, only to have them repeated in the present time.
OBEYING GOD: But ultimately, why was Lot’s wife turned into salt? Because she disobeyed.
4. GIVES OFF HEAT:
BIBLE VERSE: MATTHEW 14:34-36
14:34 After they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 14:35 When the people there recognized him, they sent word into all the surrounding area, and they brought all their sick to him. 14:36 They begged him if they could only touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
LEPROSY PICS: (Use descetion on who you show) But these pics are of people with leprosy, these are the types of people brought before Jesus. These our the types of people that need our “touch.”
MONKEY STORY: Guest speaker Bill Sanders tells a story about the value of human touch. In the story, he tells of a scientific experiment done to a monkey. Essentially, the scientist was asking the questions, what would happen to a live being if it was totally cut off from all contact to all living things. So he took a monkey from birth, and only fed it and gave it water—that’s it. The monkey did not live the happy baby monkey life and almost immediately went into depression. After some time, the scientist put a statue of a monkey in the cage, only to have the live monkey curl up to it and snuggle into it, until it stopped eating all together and died.
WE NEED EACH OTHER: Humans are the same way, we need touch, we need love, and we need it from those who know Christ earnestly because often times it is the only love that is unconditional.
Sources:
Barna.org. New Statistics on Church Attendance and Avoidance, March 3, 2008: The Barna Group, Ltd. 2008.
Thesmokinggun.com. How Now Busted Cow. September 30, 2008.
Thesmokinggun.com. Meet Mr. Subway 2008. August 5, 2008.
Thesmokinggun.com. Obsessed Abdul Fan’s Autopsy, January 29, 2008.
NAME: ___________________________
LET THEIR BE LIGHT
A STUDY OVER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART VIII (TOPIC: LIGHT)
Barna.org Study (The Unattached):
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:14-15
You are the ______________________________ of the world. A city upon a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a ______________________________ and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives life to everyone in the house.
1. ________________________________________
Friend Story: ________________________________________________________________________
Tree Swallows Dog: ___________________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Genesis 26:1-4, 7
The story of Isaac: _____________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________
FBC/LSL Church Path: __________________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Psalm 119:35
119:35 Guide me in the _____________________________ of your commands, for I delight to walk in it.
Bad Paths:
Reginold Peterson: ___________________________________________________________________
Paula Goodspeed: ___________________________________________________________________
Michelle Allen: _______________________________________________________________________
What if I don’t hear God’s voice? ________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________
Train Track: _________________________________________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: Genesis 19:15-17, 26
Possible Warning Lights:
A. ________________________________
B. ________________________________
C. ________________________________
4. __________________________________________
BIBLE VERSE: MATTHEW 14:34-36