I Am the Light of the World | John 8:12 | Gary Hamrick

good morning everybody Pastor Gary here and welcome to church online I know right now everybody's physically separated but we can come together online right now worshiping the Lord together so take your Bibles go to John chapter eight you know what time it is this is Cornerstone connection [Music] all right welcome to church online everybody as I have been saying over the past few weeks we are gonna do some quick Q&A in response to each week's teaching so some of you submitted some questions last week and so we're gonna try to answer them this week and so we're doing five questions in five minutes rapid-fire and then we're gonna go into worship and then I'll teach after that so all right ready to go question number one right now you're doing the I am series is that just something you're doing during kovat 19 what happened with going through the Bible that is correct we're only doing this right now while we are physically isolated when we come back together I hope to resume with the book of Matthew and make our way through the New Testament but this is what I feel like God's laid on our hearts right now to understand who Jesus is through these statements his I am statements number two can't wait number two in the Greek does Jesus ever use the single eggo or the single ami statement for I am that would help differentiate the importance of the eggo ami statement together making it so unique and important okay so let me just try to clarify and summarize that so as we've been making our way through the I am statements Jesus uses words that are recorded in the Greek together ago ami and when the Old Testament was translated into Greek in Exodus 3:14 when God presented his proper name from the burning bush to Moses the Greek translation is the same a go a me the question is basically did Jesus ever just say I am without those two words being together and he did there were different times in just casual conversation in Luke 9 21 Jesus took his disciples up to Caesarea Philippi and he and he was talking about you know they said well some say that your Jeremiah some Elijah some a prophet of old he said who do you say I am and in the Greek he just said a me he said may a me not ago a me and also in John 13 13 when Jesus was washing his disciples feet he said you call me master and teacher and that is right for that is Who I am and he only used the word a me so it's unique when he puts the words together he's making the parallel that he is God but there were other times in conversation he didn't put those two together awesome question number three is how can I tell the difference between genuine love for someone and lust so I'm gonna assume this question came because last week in our study of Jesus being the bread of life I talked about the woman at the well how she was constantly going from one relationship to another not satisfied until she met Jesus that's probably where this question comes from one multiple relationship after another the answer is I would just encourage you to focus on Philippians 4:8 where it talks about whatever those things are that are pure and lovely and and Noble and virtuous and true think on those things so probably if your approach to a person does not have those qualities then you might have lust in your heart but if you maintain that purity and virtue and those things that are noble and true remember you know lust is really a very selfless a selfish thing where you you want something for yourself at the expense of others love on the other hand is a very self less thing where you want something for others at the expense of yourself that's good now question number four is a longer question but I think it's important to give some the context behind this question so the question goes Loudon County is full of Hindu Indians and I am a man a minority a Christian of Indian origin and an American citizen I was born and raised in India in India but have lived in the US for almost 30 years I have two hindu colleagues who say that all religions lead to god and christ is only one of those ways they think I'm arrogant in saying that Jesus is the great I am and the only way so my question is how can you reach people like this who are steeped in pagan religion and traditions and have built a wall around themselves and are unwilling to even consider hearing the truth so thanks for your question it's difficult sometimes to try to witness to people that already have the walls up and some battles friends and I don't mean this as a cop-out I mean this sincerely some battles are gonna be won in prayer and I would just encourage you to start praying for your Hindu friends and asking the Lord to drop the guard and allow their hearts to be open to the truth of the gospel you know in second Corinthians 4:4 it says that the god of this age small G referring to Satan in fact I'm gonna talk about this later in my teaching today the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers and so we need to be praying that God would illuminate their minds and open up their hearts and in this specific case because you're talking about those of indian-origin Hendra backgrounds I would encourage you again I mentioned this last week but get the book by Ravi Zacharias Jesus among other gods Ravi is an indian-american and he culturally can probably relate through that book in ways that might be helpful to you so Jesus among other gods by Ravi Zacharias that's great last question it's kind of a combination of two similar questions and so these questions go as as this first you mentioned the feeding of the 5,000 is in all four Gospels how come the feeding of the 4,000 is not a feeding of the 5,000 sorry did I say fourth I'm not sure but go ahead again you mentioned the feeding of the 5,000 is in all four Gospels how come the feeding of the 4,000 is not and then another question you said the miracle of the fish and loaves was the only miracle of the four Gospels did you mean the only public miracles since Jesus walking on water and John 619 seems to be a miracle too okay so there are over 30 recorded specific miracles that Jesus performed throughout the four Gospels what I what I was saying last week was that only one of those more than 30 which is defeating the 5,000 occurs in every single one of the four Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John somebody might have thought that I meant it's the only miracle in all the Gospels I just meant it's the only one that is repeated by all four Gospels Jesus walking on water is one of the miracles but that miracle only appears in three of the Gospels not in the Gospel of Luke so more than 30 miracles specifically and he did more than that just the ones recorded but only the feeding that 5,000 is the one miracle that all four Gospels record awesome all right well that is all of the time we have for today next week we'll try to answer five more questions but for now let's head into the service and let's worship together good morning church family would you sing with us as we worship our Lord together on one thing seemed God the never fish would not fill me now you won't fail me now in the way seeing God who's never leave it's working all things out working all things out yes I will lift you high in the love its belly yes I will bless your name I sing for joy yes I [Music] not feel me you won't good boy seeing God is working on the [Music] let's you [Music] my heart is five four five nothing can stay - duper bull replied [Music] we can stay I choose to do - clover pylori by the name of all day nothing can stand against I choose to Oh that's you we full of joy with my heart is heavy Oh [Music] for we all my days yes I [Music] wanna be close comes to your side heaven is real death is a lie wanna hear voices angels above singing as one [Music] holy oh my the great I swear it's none beside me the great eye [Music] wanna be near near to your heart love hating the dog wanna see trombones leaving again singing a swan [Music] great I his word be shy [Music] the great eye [Music] the mountain shape before him the demons run and flee who at the mention of I'm king of majesty instead [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah see this out Mountain she came for [Music] at dimension [Music] you can stay in the darkness we were waiting without hope and without not - from heaven you came running there was mercy in your eyes to fulfill the law and prophets to avert came the world from a throne of endless glory - a cradle in the derp [Music] the speed [Music] majesty praise forever to the key [Music] to reveal the big dumb calm and to reconcile to redeem the whole creation you did not despise the crawl for ribbon in your soldering you saw to the knowing this was oh Jesus for [Music] [Music] [Music] that shoe rose I love head and held its breath to that storm was moved for good for the lamp komperdell and the dead rose from their tombs and the angel stood in awe for the song to the Father restore and the Church of Christ was BAM scoffs for truth despite his blood [Music] for [Music] for pepper to the key [Music] tis so sweet to trust in Jesus just to take him at his word just to rest upon his promise just to know they're safer though Jesus t-cells how trusting how I moved here and oh Jesus Jesus precious Jesus Oh for please to trust him or no for grace to turn god I just pray that this morning that you would give us the grace to trust you more but you would give us the strength each day to rest in you rest in your promises to know that you are good and faithful and loving and kind and that you are sovereign that you are in control that none of this is happening without you knowing God that you are not surprised that you are working all things together for the good of those who are called according to your purpose God so just help us to rest in you help us to have the grace that we need each day to love those around us the courage to face all the trials that we have ahead of us got to help us to lean on you and not our own understanding in Jesus name I pray mm-hmm well good afternoon course on Chapel thanks for tuning in to our last service here and my name is pastor Tyler I'm here to bring you some announcements for this afternoon but first some shoutouts to you that are watching online we have lish from california we have Katie from Arkansas and we also have Terry from the UK so we're glad to have you guys join with us just some announcements for today first off parents if you have young children please take advantage of our children's ministry on YouTube they have their own YouTube channel they put out lessons Bible teachings crafts very just fun energetic stuff to learn more about Jesus my wife and I loved it for our daughter and so please take advantage of that you can go to youtube and then search cornerstone Chapel children's ministry for moral Nats just a couple of updates on our local projects first off we have delivered two hundred medical masks to the senior living community called tribute in one Loudon we also partnered with mobile hope we supplied 100 people with different supplies that they need in three neighborhoods here in Leesburg and then also we did three construction projects in some neighborhoods here including plumbing and carpentry so we're very happy that the Lord has been able to use us as the hands and feet of Jesus just want to give a shout out as well for our giving if the Lord put us in your heart to make you know him known through giving please consider that you can go online and do it that way or you can text this number you can text to give to this number 703 935 2,600 all right and in one last announcement that we have from the US Census Bureau they have actually contacted us because we are a large Church in this area and they have asked us to help get the word out about filling out the US census because there has been a low response in our area so as a friendly public service announcement we are trying to help them get the word out so please visit 2020 census gov for more information on that alright well we're about to head into the teaching with Pastor Gary he's continuing through his sermon series called the I am and so would you please tune in with us right now [Music] all right once again welcome to online church everybody let's take our Bibles and go to John chapter 8 John chapter 8 and again if you have any questions from today's teaching you can text those questions this week to 703 8 4 4 9 9 6 9 and I'll try to answer a couple of those questions at the top of the hour next Sunday just like I did this morning so from John chapter 8 we're continuing our series Jesus is the I am and we've already established the fact that when Jesus said I am he was using some unusual grammatical construct to make a parallel between his words and the words of God speaking out of a burning bush to Moses in Exodus chapter 3 that every time Jesus said I am and it was recorded in the Greek New Testament and when we also see how God said I am from the burning bush as he identified himself to Moses in Exodus chapter 3 when the Old Testament was translated into Greek known as the Septuagint Jesus's words and the words of God from exodus 3 were identical and those Greek words are a go a me I am and it was jesus' way of asserting his divinity he was communicating using the same language recorded in the Greek New Testament as recorded in the Greek translation of the Old Testament the same words communicating Jesus is asserting his divinity that in fact he is God and then through the Gospel of John Jesus adds metaphors to these I am statements and we have seven altogether and again I'm going to go through the list just so if you're tuning in for the first time you you know the direction we're going so here's the list of these seven am statements jesus said number one i am the bread of life number two i am the light of the world number three I am the door for the Sheep number four I am the good number five I am the resurrection and the life number six I am the way the truth and the life and number seven I am The True Vine and so today we're gonna be looking at number two last week we studied number one Jesus is the bread of life today number two Jesus said I am the light of the world and it's taken from one single verse we're gonna read out of John chapter 8 verse 12 and here it is then Jesus spoke to them again saying I am the light of the world he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but will have the light of Life let's pause there and pray and commit our Bible study to the Lord this morning father we just come together in our respective places we're separate physically but together in the spirit as we join our hearts in worshiping you as we've already done and now as we extend our worship through the studying of your word together that we would hear these things and apply these things to our lives that we would be doers of your word not hearers only so bless this time together as we study the Bible we love you we thank you Lord we praise you even in difficult times as we are aware of all these unusual circumstances in our world right now I pray for those who are depressed discouraged those who are feeling so isolated right now or that you would visit them in a very personal way right now wherever they are and together we give you praise and we give you thanks in Jesus name and everybody at home said Amen a little bit of scientific facts about Lights before we dive into our study here light is made up of energy light travels in a straight line objects in its path caused light to bend or refract the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second traveling at the speed of light one could go around the earth seven and a half times in one second there are different types of light and each one has its own wavelength some light is visible to the human eye most light along the light spectrum is invisible to the human eye we're talking about things like gamma rays x-rays infrared rays microwaves even radar when you love to be able to see radar we know who you are anyway light from the Sun takes over eight minutes to reach Earth and Einstein said that if you could travel at the speed of light time ceases to be the first time that the word light is found in the Bible most of you might be able to guess Genesis chapter 1 it tells us in Genesis 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters and then Genesis 1:3 then God said let there be light and there was light that's the first reference to light in the Bible the last reference to light in the Bible is found in the last couple of chapters of the whole Bible which is revelation 21 and 22 and each of those times in Revelation 21 and 22 where it refers to light it speaks about the light that we will have in heaven without needing an external light source because the Lord is our light in Revelation 21 verse 23 it says the city had no need of the Sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it the lamb is its light and then the last usage of the word in the Bible is revelation 22:5 the same theme where it says there shall be no night there in heaven they need no lamp nor light of the Sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever first and last uses of the word light and multiple times throughout the Bible the word light is used now we're looking here just specifically at the Gospel of John and in the Gospel of John the word light is used 24 times John likes this reference because it describes the Lord and Jesus says here in John 8 I am the light of the world and when he says that there in John 8:12 it's partly metaphorical and it's partly literal what do I mean by literal well the Bible tells us that God is spirit but the Bible also tells us that God is light in 1st John chapter 1 verse 5 it says God is light and in him is no darkness at all so god is spirit and the Bible describes God as being light in him is no darkness at all by the way again God is light and referencing what Einstein said about how if we could travel at the speed of light time ceases to be it explains why God is not limited by space or time because he's outside of space and time God is light he is not restricted by spacer time and and so thus he has no beginning and he has no ending God is light the Bible also tells us in 1st Timothy 6 verse 16 that God dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see so God is part of that in visible light spectrum that we talked about earlier some light is visible other light is not God is invisible he is spirit he is light all of this sounds somewhat mystical and confusing but here's the interesting news on all that God decided to make his light visible and so light was wrapped in flash and Jesus Christ became the visible image of God this is what the Bible says in Colossians 1:15 Jesus is the image of the invisible God Colossians 1:15 and so Jesus shows up and he says as part of his earthly ministry I am the light of the world and again that's partly metaphorical is partly literal but for the purpose of our study we're gonna be looking at this in the metaphorical sense because that's the context in which Jesus meant it when he speaks here about how he is the light of the world he's speaking metaphorically and he's drawing a contrast between light and darkness and he's saying in effect that he has come to bring light into a morally dark world that he is pure and holy and full of good while the world is impure and unholy and full of evil and so he steps into our world to save it I mean just think about how light and darkness is a common contrast that describes good versus evil and right versus wrong it's the difference between we could say it in a different way light and darkness what is overt and what is covert things that are overt come out into the light they are visible they are vulnerable they are transparent that it is it is pure that's that's overt covert on the other hand is secretive it's it's under the cover of darkness doesn't want to be detected it is it is hidden so that's overt versus covert we know how in nature there are some overt animals and there are some covert animals you know the covert animals are the ones who come out at night the nocturnal animals the rats the bats the cats you know it's true and other nocturnal animals like like raccoons and opossums and skunks all those little creepy creatures they come out at night those are covert animals versus you have some overt animals who come out in the daylight you know the first little sign of dawn and the birds start chirping the birds start tweeting because the birds come out they're overt they come out unto the light butterflies butterflies they come out into the light they're like oh here we are so beautiful so radiant you know versus rats you know that's the difference between covert and overt listen some of you have covert verses over children you know what I'm talking about there are some overt kids who are quick to come clean they come out into the light the overit kids are the ones you just start to ask the question you just start to say all right kids listen who was the one who and the overt kid will interrupt you it was me I don't know what you're gonna say I don't know the rest of the sentence but I'm the one who I'm probably the one who did it so don't blame anybody else I will take the blame that's the overt kid and you know you have some of those you just look at them and as soon as you look at them cross they confess they come clean they come out into the light and then you have some covert kids you know those kids perhaps you were one where you you know everything close to the vest everything's secretive I'm not going to tell you anything you know I'm not gonna I'm not gonna let you see my cards you know just really secretive in the dark really hidden you know that's the kid where you're like hey what happened to the family cat and that covert kid is like I'm never gonna say you know I have no idea what happened to the cat no I mean that's the covert kid the kubrik what happened to the cat Johnny I'm never gonna tell you it's gonna be okay you know don't worry about it that's the covert kid the overt kid is going to come to Jesus quickly the covert kid you're gonna have to pray there and pray hard we all understand so this is the kind of contrast that Jesus is talking about here light and darkness overt and covert and in this contrast he is going to explain who he is and why he came for us now it's important always to understand in scripture context so Jesus speaks here in contrast let's understand the context in John chapter 7 which leads in obviously to John chapter 8 where story is in John chapter 7 the Bible tells us it's the Feast of Tabernacles or in Hebrew is called Sukkot circle means booths and it's transitive booths because it was during this time the Feast of Tabernacles when people would actually make little makeshift booths little Hut's little shelters in their backyard and they would live in them and they would have their meals in them and here's the reason why the Feast of Tabernacles was to commemorate the 40 years of the wilderness wanderings when God graciously provided for the Jewish people and protected them and sheltered them and comforted them and supplied all their needs okay after the wilderness wanderings they were to always remember that God took care of them through this feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles it was a seven-day feast in Israel interestingly outside of Israel it's an eight-day feast and again they would make these shelters out of sticks and branches they would put it together in their backyard and and then families would camp out during the Feast of Tabernacles as a reminder God took care of us during the wilderness wanderings God was faithful to us God provided for us that's the scene here in John 7 and into John 8 it is the Feast of Tabernacles now Jewish literature tells us we don't read it in the Bible but Jewish literature tells us tradition that the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles in biblical times they would light for large candelabras in the Temple Mount area and it was again to remind the people as part of the Feast of Tabernacles and you remember this from your Bibles in the Old Testament during the wilderness wanderings God would protect the people by way of a cloud during the day to protect them from the heat of the Sun and a pillar of fire at night and it was his manifest presence among the Israelites and so on the last day the Feast of Tabernacles in biblical times they would light these four big candelabras on the Temple Mount area to remind them that during those wilderness wanderings God took care of them at night as a pillar of fire that he was the light Who illuminated them and took them from slavery to the promised land so here's the scene understand this contest this is the backdrop from which Jesus in John 8 stands up last day of the Feast of Tabernacles and he says I am the light of the world he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of Life so he uses the Feast of Tabernacles in this ceremonial moment to communicate himself and the people would have understood what he's saying is that just as God illuminated your way he's saying to the Jews as God illuminated your way from slavery in Egypt to the promised land so it is Jesus is identifying with God here I will illuminate your way from the slavery of sin to the promise of salvation this is what he's saying to us he's using this opportunity on the heels of the Feast of Tabernacles to say that I'm the greater light Jesus is saying I am the greater light than these candelabras I am the light of the world I am God and I have come to illuminate your way from the slavery of sin to the promise of salvation so he declares himself Here I am the light of the world it's a wonderful picture now Jesus came to deliver us from a world of darkness to bring us into his wonderful light this is what Peter would write in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 9 when he reminds us you are a Chosen People a royal priesthood a holy nation of people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful or marvelous light this is what Jesus came to give us now in order to understand the need for the light of the Lord we have to also understand from Scripture the problem of darkness and there are different places in the Bible that describes different kinds of darkness that affect all of us four quick things and if you're taking notes here's the first one the Bible talks about a dark world a dark world listen we live in a morally dark world sin is rampant and we see it all around us everything from sex trafficking to murder to abortion to adultery theft stealing the neglect of the elderly and the poor all of these things and many many more things are evident in our world we live in a dark world and obviously a part of that dark world scenario is what Paul writes about in Ephesians chapter 6 when he talks about the spiritual forces of evil in this dark world that there's even demonic things satanic things that are not visible to our eyes but the working of the enemy in in satanic ways to influence and to tamped and and to work his evil ways so we live in a very dark world think about how most crime is committed under the cover of darkness I mean it's a bold and brash things when criminals commit crime during the daylight most criminals commit it under the cover of darkness I'm you know all of us have been kind of sequestered obviously and a friend of mine called me the other day and he said did I interrupt your Netflix well no and then he made a joke he said yeah I finished Netflix like he's watched everything it was just a joke but one of the things that I like to watch I hate to admit it's like Dateline mysteries and Forensic Files okay pray for me but I can tell you on almost every episode like 9 out of 10 or 8 out of 10 I exaggerate maybe a little bit but I walked there's there's a lot of times some young lady who leaves a bar at two o'clock in the morning and then ends up dead and they're trying to solve the mystery and I always want to scream at the TV and like hey if young ladies wouldn't go to bars by themselves and leave it to o'clock in the morning maybe maybe harm wouldn't come to them you know it just it's mind-boggling the things that happen under the cover of darkness the terrible wicked sinful thing so please don't do stupid things in the dark like you know just look out for yourselves and for each other because criminals work in the dark the enemy works in the dark the world is dark here's what Jesus said in John 3:19 to 21 he said this is the verdict light has come into the world but men loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed but whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God now listen to that part again where Jesus talks about you know a lot of people love darkness they don't want to come into the light they like what they're doing do you let me illustrate it this way I'm sure you've gone into like a movie theater probably not recently but when you go into a movie theater and after a couple hours you come out into the light and like you have to squit because it's overwhelming you know why you have to do that because your eyes adjusted to the darkness while you were in the movie theater can I just say to you and this might be for somebody who's watching in particular today don't let your eyes adjust to the darkness don't get used to the darkness we are called to be children of the light to walk in the light don't adjust to the darkness first John 1:7 it says that if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin number two we're also warned in the Bible about dark hearts while it is easy to identify different sins in the world that I just described all the wickedness and things that happen in the world it's not as easy sometimes to identify the sins of our own heart a lot of times we are blind to the sins of our own heart we don't see them as clearly as we see the sins in the world around us a lot of times we think bad sins are performed by bad people but we don't often include ourselves in the equation we have to be aware of the fact that we have bad hearts that are in need of the light of Jesus Christ to illuminate our dark hearts in Romans 1:21 it says though they knew God they did not glorify Him as God nor were they thankful but became futile in their thoughts and were foolish in their hearts and they were darkened in their hearts so we have to be conscious of this there are dark hearts there's a dark world number 3 the Bible also warns us about dark deeds in the book of Ephesians chapter 5 verses 8 through 11 it says for you were once darkness that's before he became a Christian you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord live as children of light for the fruit of the light consists of goodness righteousness and truth and find out what pleases the Lord have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them let me tell you something that is this is such a biblical truth here this is important for all of us understand when there is secret sin you're in bondage to that but when you are vulnerable enough to confess it to God he already knows it you're not going to shock him right but when you're vulnerable and honest enough to confess it to God to bring it into the light and here's even something more vulnerable when you are willing to confide it in a trusted friend who you know will keep your confidence when you bring into the light secret sin it's amazing how the power of that sin no longer has a stronghold on you because when you confess it and bring it into the light that's why you says have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them bring them into the light and let the Lord help you but when you keep it private and hidden covert it has more power over you sin kept in darkness brings bondage but sin brought into the light brings freedom number 4 the Bible also reminds us about dark minds in 2nd Corinthians 4 3 to 6 it says but even if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing whose minds the god of this age small G talking about Satan has blinded who do not believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God should shine on them in other words Paul saying there there is a delusion that Satan brings upon the minds of people to keep them in darkness but the next verse verse 6 there of 2nd Corinthians 4 says for it is the God who commanded a light to shine out of Darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ in other words the same God who commanded let there be light is the same God who will bring light to the minds of people walking in darkness so pray for people who are darkened in their minds and in their understanding and ask Lord to help them real quickly to final things that are important to understand the whole reason here why Jesus is saying I am the light of the world for two purposes in our lives number one it's really what we've been talking about it's to rescue us to rescue us this is our theme verse in John 8:12 he says I am the light of the world he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of Life he's come into the world to illuminate a dark world our dark minds our dark hearts to bring us to the place of salvation follow him he says if you follow me you will not walk in darkness but you will have the light of Life now listen the command is to follow him this is not about doing life and hoping Jesus will follow you through it this is about surrendering your life to Jesus and following him if we follow him we will have his light and not walk in darkness he's come to have relationship with us to have fellowship with us to rescue us from our dark minds our dark hearts and eventually this dark world now Jesus says in John 12:46 I have come as a light into the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness do you have the light of the Lord but now here's an interesting thing that Jesus does in bringing us to the place of salvation relationship with him and then he turns the table because the second thing is important to understand - he repurposes us he repurposes us once we are his once we come into relationship with him he flips the table on us listen to me on this this is really fascinating he flips the table on us and he says now now that you were in relationship with me now that you're walking in light okay I want you to be the light of the world Matthew 5 verse 14 Jesus says you are the light of the world now some of you are thinking hold on pastor G you just spent the last half hour telling us how Jesus is the light of the world he is but this is the only one of the seven IM statements the metaphor that jesus flips on us he doesn't turn anywhere in the scriptures and say you're the bread of life he didn't say you were the door for the Sheep he doesn't say you're the way the truth of life you're the resurrection but this is the one that he flips and he says now now that you've come into the light I want you to be the light of the world in other words Jesus repurposes our lives and calls us to be a reflection of him in this world he wants us to represent him in this world he wants us to shine his light in this world think of it like this think of us as we're like the moon and Jesus is like the Sun s UN ok the moon is not a light source by itself but it reflects the light of the Sun this is what Jesus calls us - we are called as believers to reflect the light of the Sun s oh and Jesus so that others will see him through us and this is Matthew 5:16 let your light so shine before men that they might see your good deeds and glorify your father which is in heaven so God rescues us and then he repurposes us to be his light in a dark world that's our commission now we are his ambassadors so once you receive his light now reflect it and be an example of Jesus Christ in your world jesus said again I am the light of the world he who comes to me will not walk in darkness he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of Life walk in that light friends and be an example of Jesus in your world again if you have any questions you can text your questions from today's teaching to 703 844 9 9 6 9 friends continue to press into Jesus during these days I'm gonna flip it over to Pastor Tyler now and he's gonna share a closing comment and close our service with the word of prayer god bless you well thanks again for tuning in again especially Gary said you can send in your questions about this service to the number seven oh three eight four four nine nine six nine just a shout out as well we just finished our devotional series called Kingdom character it was on YouTube Instagram Facebook we are ushering a new series called calm through the Psalms with us some of us pastors given you devotionals that's beginning tomorrow and it'll be Mondays and Wednesdays so be on the lookout for that beginning tomorrow well well let's pray and we will close today's service father we thank you so much for who you are and we thank you for your son Jesus he is the great I am God I pray that as he is the light of the world for this dark world that we live in that we would also reflect his light and share the gospel with those that are lost we all need you Jesus and so we thank you for your grace your love and your truth go before everyone as they go about their days and bring us back safely next time we love you and praise you in Jesus name Amen only man have a great day god bless you we'll see you next time you

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

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Rating: 4.8532109 out of 5

Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Biblical sermons, leesburg va, cornerstone chapel leesburg virginia, great sermons by great preachers

Id: JVG7gL5qz4k

Length: 56min 28sec (3388 seconds)

Published: Mon May 04 2020