Be A Beacon In This Dark Night Matthew 5:14-16 John 8:12 John 1:3-5 Psalms 27:1 Acts 13:47-48 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 2 Corinthians 4:6 Ephesians 5:8-16 Luke 11:33-36 12.20.19

BE A BEACON IN THIS DARK NIGHT

BREAD

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

 ¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12 (NIV)

³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.  John 1:3-5 (NIV)

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?  Psalms 27:1 (NIV)

⁴⁷ For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”  ⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.  Acts 13:47-48 (NIV)

⁵ You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 (NIV)

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴ for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” ¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Ephesians 5:8-16 (NIV)

³³ “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. ³⁴ Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. ³⁶ Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”  Luke 11:33-36 (NIV)

BUTTER

“It is too bad that many believers minimize the place of good works in the Christian life.  Matthew 5:16 ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven’.  We do not perform good works to get any glory for ourselves, but we do them to glorify His blood given on our behalf.  Hebrews 13:16 indicates that our good works are actually ‘spiritual sacrifices’ that we offer to God.”  Wales Goebel 
 

“O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee.  I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow, may richer fuller be.  O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee.  My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day, may brighter fairer be.  O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee.  I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall tearless be.  O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee.  I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.”   George Matheson

“The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by.”  Felix Adler

“A holy life will produce the deepest impression.  Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine.”  D.L. Moody

“A little light dispels a lot of darkness.”  BHY

“The true Christian cannot be hid, he cannot escape notice.  A man truly living and functioning as a Christian will stand out.  He will be like salt; he will be like a city set on a hill, a candle set upon a candlestick. But we can also add this further word. The true Christian does not even desire to hide his light.  He sees how ridiculous it is to claim to be a Christian and yet deliberately to try to hide the fact.  A man who truly realizes what it means to be a Christian, who realizes all that the grace of God has meant to him and done for him, and understands that, ultimately, God has done this in order that he may influence others, is a man who cannot conceal it.  Not only that; he does not desire to conceal it, because he argues thus, ‘Ultimately the object and purpose of it all is that I might be functioning in this way’.”  Martin Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount.

“Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light.”   Book of Common Prayer

“It is light that enables us to see the differences between things; and it is Christ who gives us light.”   Augustus Hare

“--Blazingly, Jesus illustrated this with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).  No self-respecting Jew of that time would speak to a Samaritan.  But Jesus, caring more for the person than the tradition, knew she had an unquenched thirst.  He sought her out, found common ground -- and the rest is history.  It’s a model I’m seeing lived out all around me - people finding common ground, taking risks, running toward instead of away from threat.  Being brave to love and heal and bless -- no matter the cost to self. Daring to hold back, or to step in to forge a way for peace, stem a destructive tide, or build a river in a desert.  I’m seeing that being salt and light means engaging our world precisely where we are placed. Wherever we find ourselves, there, living simply, profoundly, giving our best at all times for Jesus’ sake.  Upfront or behind the scenes, whether like me you are a helper, or whether you are a leader; a doctor, an executive, a parent, a principal, a granny or a golfer, it matters not -- only that we are givers and love at all times.”   Paula Kirby

“The most brilliant way to live is to always look for the light.”   Ann Voskamp

“Our Light shines forth in order to point others to Christ – the Source of our Light – and never to self – most often the source of our darkness.”   BHY

HEART SAVOR

·         Shine your light before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.

·         Once we were living in darkness but now we are light in the Lord.

·         Our little lights dispel great darkness – shine on!