Light of the World
January 12, 2014 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: It’s all about God; it’s not about us.
Focus Passage: Matthew 2:1-2
Supplemental Passage: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 NASB)
I. A world-wide Savior
a. The Jews thought the Messiah was for them alone
b. He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6 NASB)
c. Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." (John 8:12 NASB)
II. A world-wide Message
a. The early church had trouble understanding that Jesus died for the gentiles, too.
b. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Psalms 46:10 ESV)
c. "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. (Psalms 2:7-8 NASB)
III. A word-wide Partnership
a. Too many people in the church believe themselves to be objects of the church's ministry, instead of partners in that ministry. - @edstetzer
b. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 NASB)
c. but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8 NASB)
Invitation: "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." (John 3:19-21 NASB)
[The audio of this sermon can be downloaded at http://rboyne.sermon.tv/9797746]
