Sermon Central
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Heavenly Sunlight Series
Contributed by Brian Harvison on May 29, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: This is our final hymn in the series Hymns You Love Heavenly Sunlight is an amazing hymn that brings us joy Joy in the fact that as we bask in the light from heaven we can truly be blessed with joy beyond measure
This is our final hymn in the series Hymns You Love
Heavenly Sunlight is an amazing hymn that brings us joy
Joy in the fact that as we bask in the light from heaven we can truly be blessed with joy beyond measure
This sunlight floods our soul with glory divine
Hallelujah I am rejoicing, singing His praises, Jesus is mine
You will notice there is a common thread among all four of these hymns we have studied
How Great Thou Art, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, The Old Rugged Cross, and Heavenly Sunlight
That common thread is Jesus
He is the basis for all we believe
He is the central truth throughout our faint
And throughout the entire Scriptures
I read a story about a group of friends that used to play a game they called manhunt
They played at night and one night there was no moonlight or stars to light their way
Once they left the lights of the houses and found the good hiding places it was pitch black
He said, My team was doing the chasing first and we quickly found someone from the other team
So we began to run in that direction then all of a sudden “WHACK” we heard something hit a tree
When we got closer we saw that the guy hiding had run square into a tree with his face and was all cut up and bruised
The point, it helps to have light (Coby- running through a forest)
It helps to have light
This morning we are focusing on that light, Heavenly Sunlight
We need to be walking in light
First John was written by John on of Jesus’ original 12 apostles
It is believed he was the one referred to as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”
John, along with Peter and James had a special relationship with Jesus
Often called the inner circle
So John had an intimate knowledge of what it meant to walk in the light
As he walked closely with Jesus during His ministry
This is what John is speaking of in these first four verses
John opens his letter to the churched similarly to how he began his Gospel
Emphasizing that Christ “the Word of Life” is eternal
That God came into the world as a human
That he, John, was an eyewitness to Jesus’ life and that Jesus brings light and life
He says that which was from the beginning
Meaning Jesus is eternal
He say we have heard Him, seen Him, and touched Him
We proclaim Him to be the Word of Life
And why is he proclaiming this fact?
So that you also can experience it along with us
As an eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry John was qualified to teach the truth about Him
The readers of this letter, including us, had not seen or heard Jesus themselves
But they could trust that what John wrote was accurate
I believe the main focus of this first chapter is the phrase “God is light”
We need light just like we need God
Do you realize there is a physical disorder caused by lack of light?
It is called Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) and it effects 1 in 5 of us
It is caused by lack of exposure to sunlight, which in turn alters a person’s brain chemistry
During the fall and winter months when the hours of daylight are shorter, less light passes through the eyes
Which inhibits the release of an important brain chemical, serotonin
When serotonin is not released in sufficient quantities, symptoms of depression may occur
Melatonin, which regulates our sleep cycle is released in greater quantities, adding to the depressive state
How is S.A.D. treated? The standard treatment is light therapy
The principle behind light therapy is that by increasing a person’s exposure to bright light, the chemicals in a person’s brain can be brought back to normal levels and lesson or remove the symptoms
We need light
I want us to share some of the functions of light
We will look at five functions of light
And how God performs each in our lives
L – Light gives life
One of the first things God created was light
Gen 1:3 God said let there be light
I John teaches us that life comes from God
And eternal life comes through Jesus Christ
Apart from Him there is no life
Me and my father-in-law used to have a project we liked to work on together
It was with chickens
On several occasions we incubated some eggs
He had an incubator and I would care for it while the eggs were “cooking”
One of the key elements in hatching those eggs was temperature control
If the temp. didn’t remain fairly constant we wouldn’t have good results
