6 Responses to “Sermon for December 18”

1.  Anonymous  on 8:17 PM  

   Every time I think about light I am struck by the contrast between light and dark. The people IN DARKNESS saw a great light. I think you can only fully long for and observe light when it is contrasted with darkness.
   
   But then darkness is the absence of light. As soon as even a little light appears the darkness fails. Think about power outages. As soon as you light a candle or turn on a flashlight you can see -- maybe not in a large area or well enough to read but well enough to manage.
   
   I remember one time we visited Wind Cave in the Dakotas. We were deep in the cave and the guide turned off the lights and said, "You can't even see your hand in front of your face." There was a pause, then laughter because we were all trying it and we really couldn't see even our hand. And then she lit one little light and suddenly we could see her, could see the people next to us, could see parts of the cave around us. Not as much as when it was fully illuminated, but darkness cannot exist where there is even a little light.
   
   Light and joy are themes in this passage -- and are reflected in traditional Christmas music over and over. So in O Little Town of Bethlehem we sing, "and in thy dark streets shineth an ever lasting light" and so on.

2.  Anonymous  on 2:08 PM  

   Thanks for the post Paula. Hope some more people jump on and post! What you said me thinking about when the lights go out at home and how dark it is in caves also. I have some good spelunking stories. :)
   Here is a questions that everyone can respond to....
   What do you do when the lights go out?

3.  Anonymous  on 2:29 PM  

   This passage gives me a great sense of Hope. It talks about how those who were in darkness have seen light. I liked it (a lot) when it talked about the CHild being born and how about everything is under Him. That gives me great relief to know that he is above me and he is taking care of things. Even when things are crazy and when we feel that we are in despair we can know that He is in control and He is watching over us. We can have pure joy in life and an everlasting hope knowing that He is always there for us. I think too many times we feel that we have to take things into our own hands intstead of turning it over to Him, the one who is called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
   If we just remember who HE is and what He came to do we can have more peace in our life. We will feel less of a need to control everything.

4.  Anonymous  on 4:03 PM  

   Just sent an email to a bunch of you that hopefully drives some traffic to our site and gets more people interacting about the sermon text. If you want a reminder email every week when I put the weekly sermon text up, you can enter your email in the Blogarithm window on the right. By the way, check out the hits we've been getting around the world. Kinda cool.

5.  Anonymous  on 5:08 PM  

   a friend of mine, who is outside of Christ (but not for long), has been sharing his thoughts and questions with me lately. he sees his life (and accurately so, i suppose) as being best characterized by darkness and pain. he actually sees the whole world this way. he says happiness is a passing illusion, and seems to have accepted this reality.
   
   but i can tell that he is not content with it; deep down he knows there's more. i see the way he sort of 'lights up' when i tell him about the way i see the world (by the light of Christ, but i never use those words), and every conversation we have seems to be another battle he wins against the darkness in him. he becomes more aware of it every time.
   
   he's the only unbeliever i have ever met who has already come to the realization and confession that darkness is in him, and this without any kind of preaching or belief in the light of Christ.
   
   i think that when he finally surrenders and submits to God, he will look at this verse as his very own, and feel the weight of the truth:
   
   The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
   on those living in the land of the shadow of death
   a light has dawned.
   
   it's poetry, and something he will very much identify with.
   
   i see it for myself, too. wrestling with who God was/is/will be, and who i was/am/will be, was alot like trying to open my eyes. and when God puts me through a 'dark night of the soul' (St. John of the Cross), where i feel like He's left, those are the very darkest times in my life.

6.  Anonymous  on 1:55 PM  

   I agree that it gives hope. It reminds me of Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. There are times of darkness, but light will overcome it and it will not end.

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