A Light in Darkness

[0:00] Well if we could, boys and girls, and adults too, just turn back to that passage that we were reading in Luke's Gospel.

[0:16] Luke chapter 2, and if we read again at verse 27. Verse 27.

[0:31] And this is about a man called Simeon. He was an old man. And it says in verse 27, he came in the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

[0:54] For my eyes have seen your salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to your people, Israel.

[1:08] A light for revelation to the Gentiles. That's what Jesus is. Now boys and girls, I'm sure that you're all getting excited for Christmas.

[1:20] Because, well, it's just around the corner. It's not long to go now. And maybe for some of you, you're counting down the nights. You've got an advent calendar and you're counting down the days until Christmas.

[1:31] And you're getting all excited to open all your presents. But I'm sure that you've been buying presents for people too, like mine. I expect it at the door on the way out.

[1:42] Thank you. And maybe you've been sending lots of different Christmas cards. And you've been, maybe you've received a lot of Christmas cards. And maybe you, I'm sure you've put up your Christmas tree by now.

[1:54] And you've put up your decorations. And, well, you've got lots of tinsel. And there's lights. And there's all the little bubbles that hang on them. I'm sure you've got all these things. And there's so much excitement.

[2:05] So much excitement about Christmas. And it's good to be excited. It's a great time of year. It's good for us to give presents. And it's good for us to come together and spend time with our family.

[2:16] But, you know, it's also good to remember what it's all about. It's always good to remember what it's about. It's good to remember Jesus in all our excitement and all our fun.

[2:29] And I think it's good to use any occasion to make us think about Jesus. Because Jesus, he is the most important person in all the world. And he's the only person that I want everyone in here to know and love and follow.

[2:47] And this morning I took with me something that I'm sure you've all seen before. I don't know if you can make them out yet. You've probably got them at home. And they're wrapped around and around and around and around your Christmas tree.

[3:01] And they're, of course, Christmas lights. Now, I have them. I don't know if you can see them yet. You'll see them soon. I promise. They're here. You will see them. And these Christmas lights, using these Christmas lights, I only want to speak about one person.

[3:17] And that is Jesus. Jesus is the most important person. And we were reading in Luke chapter 2, as we just read there, about an old man called Simeon. And Simeon, he longed to see Jesus.

[3:32] Longed to see him. And when he finally did meet Jesus as a baby, as we read, he took him up in his arms and he said that Jesus is the light.

[3:44] He said he is a light for the revelation to the Gentiles. Jesus is a light in darkness. And that's why the Christmas lights are off.

[3:56] Jesus came into the darkness. And so I want you to remember that. But then we have to ask the question, well, why did he come into the darkness? And why is there darkness in the world?

[4:09] Why did Jesus have to come as a light into darkness? The Bible says that the world is in a spiritual darkness because of sin.

[4:19] Sin has left us in darkness. And because of our sin, we walk in darkness and we can't see clearly. And that's what happens when you're walking in the dark.

[4:31] I'm sure you've all done it before. You've gone outside and you've got no torch. Or you're walking in the house and suddenly the power goes out and you're total darkness. You can't see. You can't see where you're going.

[4:42] You can't see anything because you're in darkness. And that's what the Bible says that sin does to us. The Bible says that sin blinds us. It leaves us in darkness.

[4:53] Where we think we know where we're going. But, well, we don't actually know where we're going. We think that we're pleasing God. But we're actually pleasing ourselves.

[5:04] And we think that we know what we're doing. And that what we're doing is not sinful. But it is sinful. But when we're walking in darkness, we can't see the mess that we're in.

[5:18] And, you know, boys and girls, I always remember the story when, well, when my mother, she used to go to the gate every morning for the milk. And she would go down to the bottom of the gate, get the milk.

[5:29] The milkman would have been at, I don't know, five o'clock in the morning. And she would go down, get the milk and then come back. And we could have breakfast. And, anyway, this morning she went down.

[5:41] And it was pitch black. There were no streetlights. So she walked down slowly and she felt, could find the milk carton. She got it. And then she started walking back to the house. But what she didn't realise was that the milk carton had lots and lots of holes in the bottom of it.

[5:57] And that was because the birds had been there before her. And the birds had popped little holes in it all over the bottom. And because she was walking back to the house, my mum didn't realise that it was pouring out everywhere.

[6:09] Pouring out all over her clothes and all over her shoes. She couldn't see the mess that she was in. And it was only when she came into the house and that she stood in the kitchen and she looked down and she realised, oh, the mess.

[6:25] And it was only when my mother stood in the light that she could see the mess that she was in. And, boys and girls, that's why Jesus came into the world. Jesus came into the world to show us the mess that we're in.

[6:40] He came into the world to show us our sin. He came to be a light in darkness. And it was Jesus who said about himself, I am the light of the world.

[6:52] He who believes in me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. I am the light of the world. That's what Jesus said.

[7:03] And that's why Jesus came. He came to be a light in darkness. Now that our Christmas lights are on, shining brightly, Jesus came to be a light in darkness.

[7:21] And you can see on these Christmas lights there are four colours. Four different colours. There are red lights. You can see them all the way round. Red lights and there are blue lights and there are green lights and there are yellow lights.

[7:35] And I want to say a little about each of these colours in relation to Jesus. And the first colour I want us to look at is the red colour.

[7:47] The red colour. Because the red lights, they tell us that Jesus came into the world to die. Jesus came into the world to shed his red blood on the cross and die.

[8:02] And that should be the most important part about Christmas. Because the reason Jesus was born, Jesus was born to die. Jesus was born to die upon the cross and save us from our sins.

[8:17] And that's why, as a baby, Jesus was given the name Jesus. He was given the name Jesus because the name Jesus means saviour or salvation.

[8:29] And that's why Jesus came. He came to be our saviour. He came to save us from our sin. And he came to be our saviour by dying upon the cross. He came to bring salvation.

[8:42] Which is the greatest gift. The greatest gift. And Jesus did it by dying upon the cross. And the only way that Jesus could save us from our sin was by his blood.

[8:53] By his blood. And the red lights, they're all around, they point to his blood. We are saved by Jesus' blood. We're rescued, we're delivered through blood.

[9:08] Because the blood of Jesus, when Jesus was crucified, He experienced torture and hatred. He was beaten. There were big nails put through his hands and his feet.

[9:19] Which would have been agony. He had a crown of thorns put onto his head. And do you know what the Bible says about it all though? About the cross. He did it for us. That's what the Bible says.

[9:30] He did it for us. Because the Bible says that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions. Bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement from God the Father brought us peace.

[9:45] And so boys and girls, we have received everything. We have received salvation. Or we can receive salvation because of everything that Jesus deserved. That's the wonder of it.

[9:57] Jesus, He didn't deserve to die. But Jesus came to die to save us from our sin. And the Bible promises to us that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and He is righteous.

[10:10] Jesus will cleanse us from all our sin. He will cleanse us because His blood is able to cleanse us from all our sin. And the blood of Jesus is able to cleanse us from all our sin.

[10:24] If we confess. If we confess our sin. And so I hope that we will all confess our sins to Jesus. And confess our need of Jesus.

[10:35] Because when we do, Jesus promises to make us as white as snow. As white as snow. Now I hope that we have snow for Christmas.

[10:47] I don't know if it will happen. I doubt it. We might. It would be nice to see it. But there's one thing about snow. And snow, it's pure. It's white.

[10:58] And it's so clean. And that's what Jesus promises when we confess our sin. He promises to make us pure, white and clean.

[11:09] He promises to take away all our sin. And all because the red blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So Jesus is a light in darkness.

[11:22] And the red lights tell us that he came to shed his blood on the cross. But the blue lights, the blue lights tell us that we need to have faith in Jesus. We need to have faith in Jesus.

[11:35] The blue lights tell us that we need to believe in Jesus. We need to trust in Jesus. Because boys and girls, it's all very good for us to come to church every Sunday.

[11:45] And it's lovely to see you here. So lovely to see you all here. And it does everyone's heart good to see you here. Believe it or not. It does. And you know, it's good to go to Sunday school and listen to the teachers there.

[12:00] And we're very thankful for the teachers and all that they teach you. And it's good to go to youth fellowship. It's good to do all these things. And go to the places where we hear about Jesus.

[12:12] Because we hear about Jesus in church. We hear about Jesus in Sunday school. We hear about Jesus in youth fellowship. And I hope that we all hear about Jesus at home and in school. But we not only need to hear about Jesus.

[12:26] We need to have faith in Jesus. We need to trust in Jesus. We need to believe in Jesus. We need to follow Jesus. And that's what the Bible tells us over and over and over again.

[12:39] It tells us that we need to have faith in Jesus Christ. And the most important or the most well-known verse in the Bible, as you'll probably know, is John 3, 16.

[12:51] And it says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

[13:03] And that word, whosoever. Whosoever. That word means anyone. And everyone. Absolutely everyone. So the offer to have our sins forgiven is, you could say, it's as wide as possible.

[13:18] As wide as possible. It includes everyone who is in church today, and it includes everyone who is not. The Bible tells us that whosoever believes in Jesus, whosoever trusts in Jesus, whosoever has faith in Jesus, will not perish, but have eternal life.

[13:38] The Bible says that by trusting in the blood of Jesus, and his power to cleanse us, and make us white as snow, when we trust in him, we will not perish. We will be forgiven.

[13:50] And we need to trust in that promise. The promise that when we confess our sin, Jesus will cleanse us from all sin. And you know, boys and girls, you're never too young to believe or to trust in Jesus.

[14:06] Mommies and daddies, grannies and shenners, aunties and uncles, there is no one who is too young or too old to trust in Jesus.

[14:18] There is no one who is too sinful to trust in Jesus. There is no one who is too bad to trust in Jesus. Because Jesus says that whosoever, whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

[14:35] And the blue lights, they mean that we have to have faith in Jesus. Well, we need to have faith. But what does faith mean? What does it mean to trust in Jesus? What does it mean to believe in Jesus? And, have you ever played that game with your brother or sister?

[14:49] Maybe you've done it with your mum and dad. Where you stand and you fall back, and they catch you. Have you ever played the game? Maybe you'll do it when you go home, but be safe when you do it. Don't drop them.

[15:00] But, when you stand, and you just let go of everything, and you just tip over, and then they promise they'll catch you, they'll stand behind you and catch you. And it's when you do that, you're letting go of everything.

[15:12] Letting go of absolutely everything, and you lean back, and you topple over, and you're, well, you're hoping that they'll catch you. Well, that's what it's like when we talk about having faith in Jesus, and trusting in Jesus.

[15:24] It's letting go of everything that we think will get us to heaven. It's letting go of everything that we think that is good enough to make us presentable before God.

[15:38] Because nothing is able to save us, apart from trusting in Jesus Christ. Nothing. Nothing that we do can save us. No amount of good works, or being a good person, or being a nice person, can save us.

[15:52] We can be the nicest person in all the world. We can do great things with our life. But we still have to trust in Jesus in order to be saved. And so, boys, Jesus is a light in darkness.

[16:05] Jesus came into the world to save us from our sin. And so the red lights, they tell us about Jesus' blood. The blood that cleanses us from all sin.

[16:16] The blue lights, they tell us that we need to have faith in Jesus. We need to believe in Jesus. And that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

[16:28] But then we have the green lights. The green lights. And they tell us we need to grow. We need to grow in our knowledge of Jesus.

[16:39] Because when we know that the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from our sin, and when we trust and have faith in Jesus in our heart, we need to grow.

[16:50] And the Bible says that we need to grow in the knowledge of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. And you know, boys and girls, the Bible teaches us that, or it describes growing like a little seed.

[17:04] You've all planted little seeds, have you? And you know, when a seed is planted in the ground, it'll grow. But it won't grow very, very fast. It'll grow very, very slowly.

[17:16] And I took something with me here. I took this with me this morning. This, this is David's one. And David is growing a daffodil. They're doing this in Scholarich.

[17:29] I don't know if Ayla's got one. I'm sure she does. Anyway, David is growing this. And so, well, so is Finley. Finley's got his own pot. And they have the responsibility of growing this daffodil at home.

[17:41] And that it grows into a lovely big flower. But most mornings, David is asking me, has my flower grown yet? And I say to him, no, not yet, David.

[17:52] It'll grow slowly. And then David will ask again, will it be grown by tomorrow? And then I say, well, no, David. It'll grow very, very slowly. And there's a wee bit of green coming out the top now.

[18:04] Because the only way a flower will ever grow is if it has three things. It needs sunshine, it needs water, and it needs good soil. That's what a flower needs.

[18:16] And you know, boys and girls, I was thinking that, well, we need three things to grow in our knowledge of Jesus. Three things. Not sunshine, water, and good soil. We need prayer, the Bible, and fellowship.

[18:29] Prayer, the Bible, and fellowship. We need prayer. So we need to pray to God. We need to ask God for help, whether we're at home, or at school.

[18:41] And we can ask God for anything. Ask God about anything. We can tell God anything. Things that are bothering us, we can tell God. Tell God anything. And he'll hear us. Anytime, anywhere.

[18:52] It doesn't have to be in church. But in order to grow, we also not only need prayer, we also need the Bible. We need to read the Bible, because that's God's word. That's how God speaks to us, and tells us how much he loves us, and how much he cares for us, and how much he wants to speak to us, and assure us that we need to follow Jesus, his son.

[19:13] And we can read the Bible, anytime, anywhere. We can ask our mummy or our daddy to read us the Bible, and we can do it every day. And we can learn about God, and all of God's people, where we can learn about people like Abraham, and Joseph, and David, and Ruth, and Daniel.

[19:32] And in the Bible, we can also learn about Jesus, and all the miracles, and all that he's done for us, in dying upon the cross. But in order to grow, we not only need prayer, and reading the Bible, we have to come together for worship.

[19:47] That's why it's so important to come to church. We don't just come to church, and go, oh no, not again. But to come to church, because it's fellowship, it's worship. We come to church, to enjoy being around God's people.

[20:02] And, that's when we go to Sunday school, we're being taught more, and when we go to youth fellowship, we're being part of a fellowship, and we come together, to worship God, and enjoy fellowship with one another.

[20:15] And so boys and girls, in order to grow, we need prayer, we need Bible reading, we need fellowship, we need to come to church. Because the green lights, the green lights, they're telling us, that we need to grow like a little seed, and we need to grow in our knowledge, of Jesus.

[20:33] And so we've said that Jesus, is a light in darkness. Jesus came, to save us from our sins. And the red lights tell us, about his blood, his blood cleanses us from all sin.

[20:45] The blue lights tell us, that we need to have faith in Jesus. That whosoever believes in him, will not perish, but will have everlasting life. The green lights tell us, that we need to grow.

[20:57] We will grow, like a little seed, by reading the Bible, and prayer, and fellowship. Grow in the knowledge of Jesus. But then the last colour, the last colour, the yellow lights.

[21:10] And the yellow lights tell us, that Jesus, is in heaven. That's where Jesus is, just now. Jesus is in heaven. Jesus was in heaven, he came into the world, as we were reading, he was born as a little baby, so that he could take away our sins.

[21:28] And then, he died, on the cross, he rose again, the third day, and he ascended back, up into heaven. And when Jesus rose again, he assured us, that he wants all his people, he wants everyone, to come to heaven.

[21:44] The offer is to come to heaven. Because, heaven is a place, where there's no sadness, no tiredness, no sin, no unhappiness, no tears, no crying, no heartache, no death.

[21:59] Heaven is a place, heaven is a place of rejoicing, and that's where Jesus is. And I'm sure that, all the boys and girls in here, we all want to go to heaven. I'm sure all the mummies, and daddies, grannies, and shenners, aunties, and uncles, they all want to go to heaven.

[22:16] Everyone wants to go to heaven. Nobody wants to go to hell. But one day, Jesus was talking with his disciples, and one of the disciples asked Jesus, how do we get to heaven?

[22:30] And Jesus said to them, that the only way to get to heaven, is by trusting in him. Because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, that no one comes to the Father.

[22:42] No one can get to heaven, except through me. So the only way to get to heaven, is by trusting in Jesus, as our saviour. And that's why Jesus came into the world.

[22:55] He came to be our saviour. He came to save us, from our sin. And I always remember the story of, two sons, and their father.

[23:06] And their father was dying. And I'll finish with this little story. There were two sons, one was a Christian, and one was not. And when the two sons, they went to say goodnight, to their dad, they just went to say goodnight, before they went to bed.

[23:24] And the first son, who was a Christian, he went up to his dad, and he said goodnight. And his father said to him, goodnight my son. But then the second son, came in, and he also said goodnight, to his father.

[23:38] But he wasn't a Christian. But the father said to him, goodbye my son. And the son, who wasn't a Christian, he was astonished at his father, that he had said to him, these things.

[23:52] And he said, why did you say goodbye to me? Why didn't you say goodnight to me, like you did to my brother? And the father looked at his son, and he said, I said goodnight to your brother, because I know, that when I die, I will see your brother, in heaven.

[24:11] Because he trusts in Jesus, as a saviour. But I said goodbye to you, because I know, that when I die, I won't see you in heaven, because you refuse, to trust in Jesus, as your saviour.

[24:29] And the son, who wasn't a Christian, knew that his father, was right, and that he needed, to trust in Jesus, as a saviour. He needed, to make sure that Jesus, was his saviour.

[24:44] And go, to see his father, in heaven. And boys and girls, I hope that we will all be like the boy, who was a Christian. And that we will trust in Jesus.

[24:58] Because as I said at the beginning, there is no better person, to talk about. No better person, to speak about, than Jesus. Because he's a wonderful saviour.

[25:08] He's the only way, to heaven. The only way. And so as we've said, with our Christmas lights, Jesus, is a light, in darkness.

[25:19] A light in darkness. He came into the world, to be a light in darkness. To take away our sin. The red lights, they tell us that Jesus, cleanses us, from all our sin.

[25:30] His blood cleanses us, from all our sin. The blue lights, we need to have faith. We need to believe. Because whosoever believes, will not perish, but have eternal life.

[25:42] We need to grow. We need to grow like the little seed. By reading the Bible, by praying, by being in fellowship, by being in church. We need to go to heaven.

[25:53] We all want to go, to heaven. And the only way, to get to heaven, is by trusting, in Jesus Christ, as your saviour. There's no one, too young, and there's no one, too old, to trust in Jesus, as their saviour.

[26:12] I hope you have, a lovely Christmas. I hope you enjoy it, and you enjoy your holidays. But most of all, my greatest desire, and the greatest desire, of every Christian, in this congregation, is to see, each and every, one of you, receiving the greatest gift, that is Jesus Christ, and embracing, his salvation, of forgiveness, of sin.

[26:41] Jesus, is the light. He is the light, in darkness. And he says to us, I am the light, of the world. He who believes, in me, shall not walk, in darkness, but shall have, the light, of life.

[26:57] Okay? So thank you for listening. You were very, very good. We'll just close, in a wee word of prayer. Okay? Heavenly Father, we give thanks, for the reminder, that Jesus, is that light.

[27:09] And help us, we pray, to run to him. Not to be found, in darkness, but to see that, he is the light, of the world. The one who is able, to cleanse us, from our sin.

[27:21] The one who is able, to look after us, and keep us, each and every day. Bless us, Lord, we pray. Bless us, in our being together, this morning. And we pray, that thy word, would find, lodgment in our heart.

[27:32] Go before us, we ask, and do us good, for Jesus' sake. Amen. We shall conclude, by singing, in Psalm 27. Psalm 27, in the Scottish Psalter, page 236.

[27:50] Singing, from the beginning, down to the verse, marked four. Psalm 27, from the beginning, and this is another, psalm about light, the psalmist says, in verse one, the Lord's my light, and saving health, who shall make me dismayed, my life's strength, is the Lord of whom, then shall I be afraid.

[28:16] Down to the end, of the double verse, marked four, of Psalm 27, to God's praise. psalm with monthly thanks to thecent strap and mail, the Lord, my life's strength, and saving health, the Lord, who shall make me dismayed, my life's strength, is the Lord of whom, then shall I be afraid, When us, my enemies and foes, most wicked persons all, to eat my flesh against me, who's they stumbled and did fall.

[29:20] Against me, though I'm hosted now, my heart can't be rested.

[29:33] Though war against me, my side will be confident in this.

[29:48] One thing I hope the Lord desire, and will seek to all take, that all days of my life I may within God's house remain.

[30:16] Amen. That I, the beauty of the Lord, behold me and admire, and that I, in His holy place, may reverently inquire.

[30:46] Amen. Amen. Amen.