Jamie: Good morning, everybody. So good to see you today and welcome to VVS week as we've already talked about. I mean, this just looks phenomenal. And just the talent, the time and things that go into that. And I think they scheduled the little meters over here. It goes off with the sound off while I'm doing this because I'm a little loud and it might blow the top off the little spindles there.

But I think people, Fred, got nervous when they saw both of us up here because they think we're going to be like luchadors. We're gonna have masks. You be preacher number one, I'll be preacher number two. We just kind of tag in and out.

Fred: That's 45 minutes piece, right?

Jamie: That's right. No one. Amen. That I know, I know. I mean, like, come on.

Well, church, before we jump into the message, I have invited Fred to come up and just take a few moments today and just. I wanted to reflect on the legacy of this church and just think for a few moments about the rich history. And I couldn't think of anybody better to do that than Fred. You know, I don't mind saying this online because I mean, I don't think it would offend anybody.

I don't know any other church in this world that has a former pastor who served here faithfully for many, many years in the 80s and 90s to come back, be the interim and then stay on staff with a young buck that's only 38 years old and serve with me.

Fred: I thought I read your resume better than that.

Jamie: I thought you might have. But would y' all let Fred know how much we love and appreciate him, by the way? And I'm telling you, you know, having Fred and Kevin, who pastor for 30 something years, I feel like a little bitty like ant among some great giants.

And it only is possible because of the humility of our staff. I do believe that we're all servant minded. That's not a braggadocious thing. But it's just. It wouldn't work. It wouldn't work.

But Fred, you were here 40 years ago when I was 10. Okay, I was 11. But what was, what was it like in this room 40 years ago?

Fred: What was it like here? 40 years ago. Dirt.

Jamie: So you're saying this room wasn't here 40 years ago?

Fred: Actually, come this October will be 39. Okay. It was close, but pretty much when I came as pastor in the early 80s, we were in what's now the children's and office building over there, the brick structure on the corner. And it was a wonderful facility.

After I'd been there a couple years, God was blessing tremendously. We were bringing in chairs, and it became obvious that for us to grow and meet the needs of our county and to continue to share the gospel the way we did, we. We needed a larger and more multipurpose kind of a facility. So we began the process of dreaming about the building you're in here and other things as well, but especially this. Then in 1986, the fall of 1986, we broke ground, and in October of 87, we moved in here.

And we'd gone to two services down in the old building at that by that time. And we're doing pretty well filling those up. But when we came in here, we felt like a couple of dozen marbles in a gallon jug rattling around in here. But we had a vision to reach more and more people in Stevens county with the gospel of Christ. And we saw that in some wonderful, wonderful ways.

And when God called me away from here for season, we were seeing this room beginning to be filled on a regular basis already. So he was matching that vision he gave us even then.

Jamie: And you guys had a catchphrase, kind of a vision statement. But what was that statement you have?

Fred: Well, the phrase, and it's on the Brown's plaque out here was our go, God's glory. But that really wasn't ours. Eight people started this church down on rock creek Road, and it was a log cabin kind of a facility. And there they committed themselves for God to do whatever he wanted to do for his glory in their midst.

Well, that little building didn't hold them long. It's still marked down there. We have a cemetery down Rock Creek Road. And that's where the old.

Jamie: I don't think half the people in the room knows that.

Fred: No. A lot of people have been here many years, don't know that.

But that vision then expanded to the corner where the brick building is down there now. And as they were dreaming this, they said, God, continue to do whatever you want to do in us and through us for your glory. Well, you know, I'm a bit of a historian, and as I was reading that I. I presented to our people at the time here, takes our heritage and then also looks into a future. Let's call this campaign our goal, God's glory. And that's how that came about.

It's just phenomenal that the Lord, you know, he continues to show us things, even from our past, that makes it possible for us to walk in to the future. And this is Just one of those ways that he just. It's still our DNA.

Jamie: Yeah. I don't, I don't think any of us can really fathom the number of people that have, have passed through. Not just these walls. These walls have only been up less than 40 years out of 177 years of this church's history. And you, the other day, you, Valeria, and you had, I think, made a visit and you were looking through some. Y' all remember the old school church directories?

Well, y'all were kind of flipping through them, but. But you made a discovery that was, I mean, not a discovery. It was there, but you made an observation that, I don't know, that people realize.

Fred: Well, actually we were visiting with Miss Wanda Carpenter. Wanda and Mike are dear friends from the years we were here before and continued to serve even after I returned four and a half years ago.

But Mike and Wanda had three boys. We have three boys. Their oldest is older than our oldest and their youngest is younger than our youngest. But that spanned about an 8 to 10 year period in the lives of our families. But they were all moving through here and all, all of their friends and all the kids that were moving through at that time.

And it was phenomenal watching them doing Bible drills here, going on mission and ministry trips here, being engaged in sharing the gospel to their friends and bringing them into the church and into Christ. And sitting there with Wanda, we began to number some of the people who were now either in ministry or married to a minister or a missionary or a teacher in a Christian school or, or deacon somewhere, whatever. And 30, 30 of those from that generation that was coming through at that time are now in active ministry service somewhere. I mean, it's phenomenal what the Lord was doing then. Our three sons, Josh Carpenter, the young one there, John Crunkleton, some of, you know, John, Heather and Andy Duke, I mean, they're just...

We just continued to add these up and I was just astounded because it's always been in our DNA here at Ebenezer to invest in the lives of children and teenage and young adults, not only leading them to Christ, but leading them to understand how there is purpose in Christ, that He. He gives purposes to our lives. And sometimes that's, that's big ministry, sometimes it's small ministry right within the church.

Jamie: What you're saying is there's probably more than 30 that came through that.

Fred: That was just that one.

Jamie: Caleb Jones is one of those two. Like he was here as a child and student and came through that. And, and even I Mean, it's just like it blows my mind. If you think about like Crosby shared a while ago, we have 450 kids pre registered to be a Bible school next week. You think about this for a moment that there might be a 7 year old boy in that room who doesn't know Jesus yet that may be saved and maybe the future pastor of this church.

And for that it's worth everything we could do. Everything. I mean, you think about the legacy that stretches almost 200 years. My goal, Fred, is I want a pastor here. When it hits 200, I'll be 74 and a half.

Fred: That's a good age to be.

Jamie: Sounds like it. Feels like it. You know, and what we do think about this, what people did 80, 40 years ago, the sacrifices that they made, the giving that they did, all benefited and continues to carry a legacy of ministry in the gospel. It's not about the building, it's about the people and the impact. And you know, it's just amazing, Fred, to think about to me the potential of VBS and our upcoming marriage conference and night to shine and various things we do.

The impact center that, that we're going to start putting studs up in this week. Like how, how does that make you feel? Thinking here you were standing here 40 years ago on a pile of dirt. To be standing up here right now looking in this room at the. I just, I love to stand up here while the countdown's going down and just look at your faces and thank God for every one of you. But what about you?

Fred: Oh, it's, it's just phenomenal to know that the Lord allowed me to have one part of this ongoing. I haven't been here the whole 177 years, though some may think I have. But to be a part of this over this whole period of time and to see, you know, we're having an incredible revival in sense of calling with our teens and young adults even now that are being called into areas of missions or service in various ways. You see, leading the broken to hope in Christ is not just an idea you came up with, but as you learn the DNA of this church and the DNA of this people, that's always been who we've been and that's who we want to continue to be in even into the future.

And you know, as we were building this building years ago, it wasn't just about our convenience and having more room to spread out. It was an investment we wanted to make into the lives of people that we didn't even know at that time. That would come to faith in Christ, grow in him and feel a calling to be engaged in various areas of ministry in this area and around the world.

Jamie: And I mean, part of that is just being faithful. You know, you got to think about this. God calls each one of you that are in this room today. God's called you here.

Fred: That's right, Absolutely.

Jamie: And you know, you think about some people ask us, well, how are we able to do the ministry sooner? Because during COVID people didn't stop giving, they were faithful to give.

And now we're able to use that to continue creating engaging environments for the current generations and the generations that's going to come, like in 40 years, somebody else is going to be up on this stage if Jesus doesn't come back and is going to be continuing hopefully that same vision, our goal, his glory. And I wanted to read something. That's why I pulled my phone up. I wasn't just looking at my text while you were talking, but one of our staff members said this. For 177 years, this church has not sat still.

Every generation has invested in this place so that the next generation has the ability to reach. And so why are we saying all this, Fred? Well, I'm saying all this because as you know, we've got lots of stuff going on this summer. We're going to work this week to get the ministry, the impact center going, get the studs up. There's a bunch of you that signed up to go drive nails and stand up walls and throw some sheetrock and some mud.

That's not all. Starting last week, we began working on the gymnasium to turn it back into a family life center. And so it's going to look very fresh. It's getting some lipstick, so to speak. And it's already, they've already painted the rails and I mean, just painting the rails have made such a huge impact.

We're going to work on that gym for the next few weeks. But wait, there's more because we're going to use that gym to worship in for about three or so weeks in the month of July because the renovations that we've done out in the lobby and the hallways is to going to flow on into here. Why? So we can create more engaging space, greater capacity. Because folks, I don't know if you pay attention on a Sunday morning, but for a few weeks now we've been putting chairs out in the back.

And that, that's a, that's a problem we need to get ahead of. So that that empty seat beside you right now can continue to be empty for you to have somebody to bring and sit in that seat. We are an inviting church. It's one of our core values. We invite because we want to help people come connect to Jesus.

And so just watch the next few weeks. We're going to keep you posted as things are unfolding. Here's exciting. Can I let the cat out of the bag?

Fred: A little bit.

Jamie: The second Sunday in August, we're planning to have a big celebration.

We're going to call it, I don't know, I want to call it the regathering, but we're going to come in here. There's going to be some old faces in this room, not just ours. There's going to be some old faces. And we're hoping that that day can just be a jump start what God has already doing, but to continue doing in the life of our church. And so, Fred, I just thought it would be appropriate to just pray, pray for this week and pray for the impact that not a building will make, but these people will make.

Fred: Amen. I will. Let me pray, especially over you. Because vision begins in the heart of our pastor.

Father God, I want to thank you for what you have been doing on this property for all of these years. You set aside a place because you had called a people to inhabit that place for your glory, to be a light into the darkness, to bring people to yourself and then send them out as lights to the world. And Father, we thank you that that vision is in the heart of our pastor and for all of the things that are going to happen this summer. Bible school, mission trips, youth camp, all of the work we'll be doing on campus, all of this. Lord, we just lay this out here. It's not about us.

We want it to be about what you're doing in our community, in our hearts, to make it possible for us to see more people come to faith in you, grow in the knowledge of you and be used for your honor and for your glory. We seek that blessing in Jesus name. Amen.

Jamie: Thank you, Fred. And speaking about legacy, I mean, thank you. Yeah, I'll give it up for Fred.

Speaking about legacy, a lot of you know that Fred Wright has written a lot of plays and directed those over the years. Well, Fred was getting bored at home and decided to. I'm just kidding. Fred does not get bored at home, but he decided to take one of those plays and he's turned it into a book.

And so after service, Fred's going to be out in the lobby at a table. His book is Available on Amazon. It's called the Judas Kiss and it's biblically based, but it's fictional, but tells some very intriguing stories about the character of Judas. And he'll be out there for you to ask questions. But you can go to Amazon right now.

It's Kindle edition and you can get a paperback copy. I got a paperback and I got the Kindle and I want to keep chewing on it to hopefully just be blown away by the grace of our Jesus Christ our Savior. So y' all just take a moment and do that. Take your Bible. And I want you to turn to John, chapter 8, verse number 12.

I'm going to keep an eye on my time. I told the last service, I'll tell you guys, if I look up and we're getting a little close on time, I'll just bump it to next week. But I believe this week and next week. So vital as we're continuing in this illuminate series, that we understand, you know, that God's called us to be guiding light, right? That was the first message.

We said we don't ignore the light, we follow it. So there was application in that point, right? Crosby came up here and he shared with us about reflective light, that the call of Christ, that we would reflect, that we would give off that light, following his commands, doing his works for his glory. And we agreed we shouldn't hide the light, but we reflect it. Again, another application.

And then last week I shared with you about hopeful light out of Isaiah 58. We talked about how that we didn't need to do works for our own self righteousness to make us look like we're something that we're not, but that we let his light work through us, that we don't withhold it, we release it. Again, another application point. But folks, none of that is possible if you don't know the person who is the light, the person of Jesus Christ. He, as he said in John 8:12, Is the light of the world.

And if that light has not impacted your life, there's something wrong. In fact, I want to just make this statement. I think a lot of us in this room claim to know Jesus Christ, but here's how we live our life. We live in black and white rather than in living color. When you walked into this room today, you were probably mesmerized by the amount of stained glass that is on this stage.

Is it not beautiful? Well, it got me thinking, why is there stained glass? Where did that even come? Is it just some artistic expression? Well, it wasn't Just for that reason, weeks ago, when our team was in Edinburgh, we went into St. Giles Cathedral, which was built almost 900 years ago.

It was a Catholic cathedral, and then under the Reformation and John Knox, it was turned into. It was the start of the Scottish Presbyterian Church. But this window that's on the screen above me is the east window, St. Giles Cathedral. And you can't see the details from your seat very well. But as I stood looking at this stained glass, I was mesmerized because it tells a story.

Pope Gregory said many centuries ago that artistic works like a stained glass are the language of the illiterate.

You see, we take for granted that all of us can read the word in black and white, that during medieval times, most of the people were illiterate. So when they stepped foot into a Gothic cathedral, they were mesmerized by the story that was being told as light reflected through those colored panels. Well, what story is being told in this window? I'm glad you asked. At the bottom of that sliver is a crucified Christ hanging on the cross.

In the middle of that glass is Jesus raised and ascending to heaven. And the top one is Jesus in glory triumphant and reigning. You see, to the illiterate, this became the language of telling the story. And I think many of us, if we're honest today, we're kind of stuck in the black and white version of the story. And today's the day to get excited about the story being reflected by the real light, Jesus Christ, as he tells us over and over and over again the story of good news, of life.

In fact, that's what this verse says. If you'll stand with me, I hope that by the end of this week, like our kids are going to do, you're going to memorize this verse.

Then Jesus again was saying to them, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Do you see him in black and white, or do you see him in living color? Father, as we dig into your scriptures, speak to us and help us. We need you, God.

We can't. We can't live this life without you. We don't have life without you. So speak to us this morning in Jesus name. Amen.

I mean, what more can I say? Like, this verse says it directly. He is the light. John's Gospel has already introduced this idea of Jesus as the light. A simple word, three letters in Greek, phos.

It occurs 23 times in the gospel, starting in John 1:4. After he's introduced is the word of God, pre existent, pre incarnate. In verse 4, it says, in him, Jesus was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Say darkness.

We're gonna talk about that today. There came a man sent from God whose name was John. His last name was Baptist. He came as a witness to testify about the light so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, John, but he came to testify about the light.

There was the true light. Remember last week? We talked about the false light. We talked about Satan parading himself as an angel of light. He came into this world and what did he do?

He enlightened every man. See, when you're in darkness, what do you need? You need light. You need some way to be able to see where you're going, to navigate your path, to know your direction, but also to know what's coming after you in the dark. Because if you don't know this, bad things happen at night.

Bad things happen in the dark. But here's the strange thing. People love it. Jesus said in John 3:19, this is judgment, that light has come into the world. And men love darkness rather than the light for their deeds.

They don't want to be seen doing the bad stuff. They think they can hide in the dark. They think that under the COVID of darkness, I'm okay, I'm safe to keep doing the same things I'm doing. Nobody can see it. Nobody can judge me.

He said, for everyone who does evil hates the light. Jesus is not talking in gray areas here. You see that if you love evil and are doing evil, you hate the light. But who's the light in this narrative? Jesus is.

Thank you. Come on. Was that my buddy Jacob? Come on, bro. I told him he was going to preach with me today.

He took my words on it. But he who practices the truth comes from the light. So here's a comparison. I follow truth or I follow evil. I follow self, or I follow my Savior.

Are you with me when you couple these things together? Leading up to John 8:12, we're called to know the light, Follow the light, to walk in the light and leave the darkness. You know why? Because darkness doesn't exist. Darkness is the absence of light.

If you want to follow with me in that study guide you were given today, darkness is the absence of light. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and it was formless. In verse three, he says, and then he created light. In fact, it was the first thing that God said was good was that sunlight or light came into the world. He didn't create the sun till a few days later.

In fact, let me show you how simple heresy creeps into teaching. I heard a mainstream preacher the other day take that verse and try to contend that that was when Jesus was created.

Do you know what the word heresy means? And I'm talking. This guy is popular and a lot of you listen to him. Jesus was the word of God. And as the word of God, he was already light.

And God spoke light into existence and then sent the light of the world later. He's always been the light and he's always been Jesus Christ was not created. If you're listening to me online, if somebody tells you Jesus Christ was created, they are heretic. That's false. If Jesus was created, you and I are lost in our sin and hellbound because it took a perfect, sinless savior to die for our sins.

He is the light of the world to rescue us from nothingness, purposelessness, selfishness, missionlessness, to a new life, to be a new creation. He came to change us, not to make us a little bit better. Because we were in darkness and he brought us into light. And there is no gray in this. You know what gray area is in our life?

Those are those places where I can get by with a little bit of sin and just hope nobody sees me doing it. In fact, a shadow is like a gray area. And all a shadow is is an obstruction to light. You can look on the floor and you can see how the lights are coming down and it's creating shadows. But a shadow is nothing but just a little taste of darkness.

And if I think I can hide in the shadow and not be seen by an eternal God, I'm fooling myself. You know what I want? I want Jesus in my life like a tanning bed. Any of you ever lay in a tanning bed? That's why you wear those little goggles.

Because if you open your eyes, you won't see for two days. I want to go to the doctor and they take a light when I go to the dermatologist, I want them to see every mole, every wart, everything in my body. Because if I leave it there, it's going to grow and kill me. When I leave sin in my life and try to stay in the darkness and not step into the light where he can illuminate and enlighten every aspect of my life, then I can see the power of his saving grace and I go to the dentist. I don't want him to pull a flashlight out of his pocket.

I want him to pull that big light down that you do. Look at it. You can't drive home if you look in it. It, like, blinds you, burns the back of your skull. Like those halogen lights we talked about a few weeks ago.

Like, we want strong light in our life. I don't want weak light in my life. That doesn't do me any good.

I need light that can rescue me from darkness. And if I'm comfortable hiding in the darkness, I haven't found life. He said, I'm the light of light, life. So, number one, those who know Jesus will follow the light and not walk in darkness. Guys, this is kind of like when someone divorces and they have joint custody of a child.

Some of you are living in the darkness and living in the light. You live in the darkness, you live in the light. No wonder you're so confused spiritually. You think you can get the best of both worlds, but you can't. The longer you continue harboring in the darkness, the more life gets sucked out of you.

What I want is the light of the man who said, I am the resurrection and the life I want. The one who says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That's what I want. And I can't experience that life if I'm still clinging to the darkness. It says in the scripture in verse 12.

Then Jesus again spoke to them. Now, this could either go back to the end of seven, when they're all kind of processing who is Jesus? But I like that story in chapter 8 where Jesus has brought a woman caught in adultery, and he's asked to judge her.

You know what bothers me about that story? Where's the dude?

The man that brought her to him had no intentions of being just. Y' all realize that, right? Their purpose in bringing that woman to Jesus was to shame her and. And trick him. So when Jesus looks up and says, whoever's without sin, cast the first stone, that's why they all had to drop the rocks.

Thankfully, they had enough introspection to know they were not without sin. If you look in the text with me, he looks at her and says, I do not condemn you. Where are they? Go and sin no more. He didn't give her a pass, right?

He told her to go and sin no more. But then he says. Then Jesus spoke again to them, saying, who's to them? Look at the next verse. The Pharisees, they brought him a woman to judge, and he's telling them who he is.

If they really wanted to know his judgment. If they really wanted to know his judgment, they would have brought the woman and said, what do we do? Not Our law says we should stone her. And then Jesus introduced them to something so fabulous. He introduced them to grace.

Have you seen grace in living color? Or are you still looking at it in black and white? Is it an ideal or is it a reality? Because when he spoke to them, this is Jesus speaking. Everyone else be quiet.

The master of the universe, it's not he. Man is speaking. Listen. And he says, I am the light of the world. Hearkening back to chapter one, verse nine, meaning the true light that came into the world.

And the reason he's the light of the world is now he's illuminating by his very presence. Do you know that light? Because he says in the next verse, he who. And then you get this participle, is following me. It's active and present.

It's. It's something we're doing continually. He who is following me will not walk in the darkness. Literally, he's saying that. Don't be stagnant.

That's right.

You mean translate that. I said amen is what that's saying. This obliterates this idea that I'm some kind of double agent. Cause see, here's the truth. Write this down.

Shadows are darkness. They're darkness. There are no gray areas. With the light, you may can see them. But remember, darkness doesn't exist.

I could ask these kids on this front row, reach down there and give me a little of that darkness. They can't grab it. They can't hold it. They can't bottle it up. Know why?

Because it's simply the absence of. Of darkness. Some of you, if you go home today and you were to take all the clothes out of your closet, you'll find trash and missing buttons. I mean, a whole lot of just dust bunnies. Because your closet's kind of dark, isn't it?

You clean it out and you expose it to the light. Those gray areas dissipate. Where do I get that idea? Let me show you two examples. First, John 15, 7 says this.

This is the message we have heard from him and announced to you. Are you ready? About to tell you a message. God is light, and in him there is. What does your Bible say?

No darkness. Not a little bit, not a part. There's no darkness in him. If we say we have fellowship with him, but yet walk in darkness. If I'm splitting my parents up here, we lie and we do not practice truth.

There is no middle Ground here, guys. We either walking in the light or we're stumbling in the darkness.

Listen, if you're tired of struggling in your Christian life, the purpose, the reason might very well be you still love the darkness more than you love the light.

It says if we walk in the light, as he himself is the light, we have fellowship with one another. What's he saying? Y' all ready for me to chase? Where's John Mark? I'm about to chase a squirrel, brother.

Here it comes. I may not kill this one, though. As I've read the New Testament and looked at all the word, the various places of the use of darkness, the one fruit that keeps coming up is the same how I treat other people is proportionate to how much I'm living in the darkness.

Because he just said there, if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another. Guess what happens if I don't walk in the light? Fellowship is broken. That's with my spouse, that's with my kids. That's with my family.

That's with my friends. That's with my co workers. And especially in the house of God, when I'm walking in darkness. Maybe the reason some of you aren't getting along in church is because one of you or both of you are walking in darkness. And you're spending more time trying to be right than relatable.

Y' all know everything leads back to repentance, right? If y' all haven't learned me enough in three and a half years, no, I'm gonna at some point say, you need to repent. I'm telling you this morning, if there's hatred in your heart for your brother, you need to repent. That's for the stranger, and that's for your family member. There is no place for light and hatred to occupy the same place.

I killed it, John. Mark shot it.

The word is walk. Flip over with me if you will. To John 12:35. 12:35, because he's continuing this discussion about being light. He's entered into Jerusalem Passion Week.

He's leading to the cross. Some of the disciples come to him and say, hey, there's some Gentiles that want to see you. And he talks about this idea, if you're going to follow me, you need to serve me. And then a voice speaks from heaven, says, this is my son and glorify your name. And he said, this voice has not come for my sake, but for your sake.

Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. Who's the Ruler of this world, Satan. And guess where he works best? In the dark.

And he said, but if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself. Point number two, those who know Jesus will flee the darkness and actively walk in. And I'm going to add into the light. Lift it up. Did anybody notice the cross in the back of this room and how high it is?

I mean, it almost reaches the ceiling. When Jesus said this, this wasn't. If I worship harder, Jesus name is glorified more. That's not what this verse means. He's talking about his death.

Listen to what verse 35 says. So Jesus said to them, for a little while longer, the light is among you. Who is the light? Say his name. Walk while you have the light.

You know how easy it was to be a disciple and follow Jesus? Jesus got up, you got up. Jesus laid down, you laid down, you got up. You didn't see Jesus. You're like, where is he?

Let's go find him, like. But then he's gone. How much harder it is to follow the light when the light is not here. Yeah, it is.

He who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. We have the light. Believe in the light so that you may become sons of light. He had a plan, and guess what? That plan included you and me.

He called us to follow him, and now he's calling us to flee the light. Here's the truth. If I'm actively continuing to walk with and to the light, the darkness cannot overwhelm me. I did a camp one year in the Yosemite National Forest, and it's dark at night. Like, I've never seen so many stars.

It's gorgeous. Thankfully, I didn't see any mountain lions and I forgot that that's where they lived. So I'm just kind of just frolicking back to my cabin one night, the dark. And it hit me about halfway across the field. What was that noise?

Now, I didn't see a mountain lion, but if there would have been one, I probably wouldn't have seen him anyway, because bad things happen in the dark. But here's the truth. As long as I keep moving, the darkness can't overwhelm me. Here's the second truth to that. If I am actively continuing to walk, I have direction.

See, if I'm walking, I have security. And I don't have a need to fear the dark. When our kids were little, we'd hear them cry from their room because they were scared of the dark. And we'd run in there. But they weren't moving from their spot.

They were frozen in fear.

When you hear the message of the truth calling you out of the darkness, illuminating your life, you realize just how scary the darkness is.

And in the dark is where the boogeyman hides.

Why do you want to stay there? Because here's what you get when you hang out in the darkness. Fear. Why? Because bad things happen in the dark.

Anxious. Why? Because bad things hide in the dark. Insecure. Because I can't see where I'm going and what's in front of me.

Pain. Because I'll hit things along the way. Micah found out what it feels like this weekend to hit a trailer ball on the back of my vehicle. The shin trap y' all ever hit. How many of you men have hit a shin trap on the back of somebody's truck?

I mean, it hurts until Christmas, you know, like, I don't know why your shin is so sensitive, but I mean, somebody leaves that trailer ball on there and you hit that, you say words that's not even in the English language. But here's the biggest thing. If you're in the darkness, you're lost.

Did you hear me? When you're in the darkness, you're lost. But when you're in the light, you're found. Studies prove don't just show, but they prove more crimes happen at night than in the daytime. Some of you, if you were honest when you got in trouble.

That's why lock ins are of the devil.

Randy's going to slip me a hundred dollar bill for saying that one Bad things happen in the dark. Some of you made some mistakes as you grew up. Where in the dark.

Why People carry a false sense of security living in the dark. Let me read to you again. John 3, 19, 20. This is judgment that the light is coming to the world. Men love darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.

For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed or scared. Why are they scared? Folks, honestly, tell me why. No one would want to step into the light and let the Lord expose the sickness that's there. You just going to stay in the dark and cough yourself to death rather than step into the very therapy that you need, which is exposure and illumination.

To step out of black and white and in living color, to experience afresh and anew the gospel. And if you think you can hide in the darkness, Psalmist wrote, even the darkness is not dark to you and the night is as bright as Day. Darkness and light are alike to you. And there is no creature hidden from his sight. The Hebrew writer said, but all things are opened and laid bare.

So you either do one of two things. You can either present yourself bare to the Lord so God look at me because he already knows.

But if I stay in the darkness, I can't know him and I can't have life. There is. Don't let the lie of the gray area rob you of salvation. When my kids were little, you know, we'd play hide and seek. You ever play hide and seek with a little kid?

It's actually kind of comical because, like, we would go, all right, I'm counting one, two. And they go hide number one. They'd hide like five feet behind you, but they go find a pole and they get behind the pole and they'd be like this, and they're just kind of smiling like that pole's covering them. And you would go like, all right, ready or not, here I come. And you turn around and go, oh, where's Caroline?

I can't see Caroline. Where, where is she? And she's over going like she's not. Like she thinks she's hiding, but she's not hiding. Folks, stop doing that game with God.

He sees you and he knows you. And he knows all the bad things you've done. Yet God loves you with an everlasting, unending love. He's called us to follow him. He's told us to flee the darkness.

Those who know Jesus, third point, will flee. Find the light by receiving Jesus Christ. It's like I got my points out of order. Before I can follow and flee, I gotta find him. And he's knocking at my door and he just wants to be let in.

He wants us to believe in him. Believing isn't just attributing fact. It's entrusting my life to him. It's yielding my life to him. You cannot half heartedly believe and expect to be wholeheartedly committed.

I am the light of the world. He said, while you have the light command, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light. I can't become a son of light until I know the light and believe in the light. And he came. We can't earn it, but we're like a plant.

He rises and he shines on us. Do you know what would happen if the sun ceased to exist tomorrow? We'd have weeks to live.

We'd run out of crops and food because there'd be no photosynthesis and because there's no photosynthesis. We'd run out of air eventually. That's the way some of us, we're parched in our spiritual life because I'm not leaning into the light. It's time to come out of the darkness and get a suntan, get some vitamin D, you know what I'm saying? Let him shine on us, to breathe breath into us, to bring nourishment into us.

The one, it says, he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. I don't have to go back to the darkness anymore. It doesn't have to have me bound. Unless I keep going and say, all right, I need a fix. Let me just be shackled a little bit longer.

No. Flee the darkness. Y' all know what fleeing means.

You don't lay down and let the bear sniff you. You run, Forrest. You run. John first. John 1:5 again.

He says, this is the message we have heard from him and announced to you. God is speaking. God is speaking. Not some preacher. God is speaking that God is light and in him there is no darkness.

Are you tired of living in the dark? Are you tired?

Now, I want you to evaluate something. Again. I did this study, and I want you to hear direct evidence that you can know darkness is winning in your life when hate is escalating.

Why don't you just listen to scripture? It's not my idea. Listen to this. It says, on the other hand, I'm writing a new commandment to you which is true in him and in you. Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

Do you see the tension? Just because Jesus came, died on the cross and was raised again didn't mean darkness ran away. It's still here.

The one who says he's in the light. I don't want you to raise your hand. Every one of you in here, that professor of Jesus Christ today, this applies to you. You ready? And yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness unto now.

The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. That's two problems. Number one, if you have a hate problem, you have a Jesus problem. And again, I'm just telling you, one of the biggest applications I can give you today, you need to repent. Now, you may go to your brother or sister and try to make things right.

If they hate you back, you can't do anything about that except stop being a jerk. Stop being a jerk. Treat them with kindness and love and respect. But if you Return hate for hate. You're no different than those living in the dark.

Second thing, if you have a hate problem, you're going to continue to stumble. What does stumbling look like? Lights are off. If we turn the lights off right now and all this was off and you're trying to walk through here. I've done this a few times, especially on a Wednesday night.

I'll leave something on the pew up here, and I come in here. I can guarantee you I will hit a pew before I get to the front, because it's not intuitive to walk down these sides and I would stumble. But what if I stumble? It just is more evidence that I need a savior. It's more evidence that I can't save myself.

The solution is to repent and believe. There's only two possibilities, ladies and gentlemen. You're either being overtaken by darkness or you're overcoming darkness by believing in Christ. He said, I have come as light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. So I'm asking you folks, taking my glasses off so I can see you in a blurry sense, do you believe in Jesus Christ?

Is he your savior? Have you asked him to save you? To forgive you of your sins and give you new life? Do you have the security that he's done that? Start testing yourself if you say that he has, but you hate your brother, you got a Jesus problem.

If you're still clinging to the darkness and trying to hide in those gray areas so you can get by with a little bit of sin because it just feels good. It's stealing your life away. The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy. I want you to know Jesus so you can go to heaven someday. I want your life to be changed and become children of light.

Do you? Do you want the same thing? Don't reject the light today. Receive it. Because I can't follow the light if I don't receive it.

I can't flee from the darkness.

I want what 1st Peter 2. 9 says. Thanks for letting me go long today. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. Listen.

So that you can proclaim the excellencies of him who's called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Just saying that you proclaim the Excellencies is like looking at stained glass and being able to tell the story. His Excellencies in living color and not in black and white. We need to find Jesus. We need to follow him so that we can flee the darkness.

So Bow your heads with me. We're going to have an invitation this morning. I hope that you've heard God's word today. Where in your life right now are you simply living a lie and not being honest? Yep, that's a part of my life that's dark.

I remember talking to this lady years ago who was a drug addict who ended up in the hospital because she had a drug overdose. And we were just talking and she just made this comment. She said, I just love doing drugs.

And two weeks before that she was in a coma and now had irreparable brain damage.

You're not being honest with yourself. Maybe you do love the drugs, but you need to be set free from it. What shadows in your life, gray areas are you protecting or justifying so you can keep them in there? What darkness in your life have you normalized to where it doesn't bother you anymore? What does the direction of your walk reveal about your destination in life?

It's the path principle. If I want to go to the right, but I'm walking to the left, I'll never get to the right. I got to turn to the right. And last, can you be honest today and say, what is different in my life now that I know Jesus? Because there's no difference.

Something didn't happen. I'm going to be down at the front. Randy's down here. Kevin's down here. We'd love to invite you.

If you don't know Jesus Christ today and you don't have the security that you're saved, would you come talk to one of us today? Don't leave this place today confused. Don't leave this place today unsure. Come do business with the Lord. If you've been saved for 50 years and you'd be honest to say, you know the story of Jesus is just black and white, can you come today and let His Excellencies be renewed in your life so that when you walk out of here, it won't be because you had three cups of coffee bouncing off the wall, but you'll want to go tell somebody about the story of Jesus?

Father, speak to our hearts now and move in Jesus name. Amen.