1 00:00:03,536 --> 00:00:06,539 John 8:12 2 00:00:14,431 --> 00:00:14,898 Again 3 00:00:14,898 --> 00:00:19,252 Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. 4 00:00:19,669 --> 00:00:22,672 Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, 5 00:00:22,822 --> 00:00:25,825 but will have the light of life." 6 00:00:28,561 --> 00:00:31,614 Well, welcome to the weekend here at Christ Community Chapel. 7 00:00:31,648 --> 00:00:32,515 My name is Zach. 8 00:00:32,515 --> 00:00:33,917 I'm one of the pastors here, 9 00:00:33,917 --> 00:00:37,020 and I'm so glad that we get to be part of your weekend. 10 00:00:37,404 --> 00:00:42,959 You know, 2026 is for us as a church, a year of more life. 11 00:00:43,293 --> 00:00:48,148 We are asking, believing, even expecting more life, 12 00:00:48,531 --> 00:00:52,469 more life in our relationship with God, more life and our relationships 13 00:00:52,769 --> 00:00:56,339 with each other, and our marriages, and our parenting, and our career. 14 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:58,975 We're asking, believing, and expecting. 15 00:00:58,975 --> 00:01:03,780 Not not because we deserve it or we're owed it, but because Jesus 16 00:01:03,780 --> 00:01:08,635 tells us in the Gospel of John chapter ten, verse ten that it's his mission. 17 00:01:09,085 --> 00:01:14,207 He says, I have come so that they may have life and life more abundantly. 18 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:15,475 And so we're saying to Jesus, 19 00:01:15,475 --> 00:01:19,129 hey, if that's what you want for us, that is what we want. 20 00:01:19,312 --> 00:01:20,847 And we're chasing after that. 21 00:01:20,847 --> 00:01:23,783 Of course, this spring, what that looks like is we're learning 22 00:01:23,783 --> 00:01:27,387 through the seven I am statements in the Gospel of John 23 00:01:27,687 --> 00:01:31,407 that the pathway to more is not trying harder or doing better. 24 00:01:31,825 --> 00:01:35,428 The pathway to more is a relationship with Jesus, as he reveals 25 00:01:35,728 --> 00:01:39,682 more each week to us of who he is and how our relationship with him 26 00:01:39,682 --> 00:01:42,152 leads to the more life he promised. 27 00:01:42,152 --> 00:01:43,853 We're going to continue that this week, 28 00:01:43,853 --> 00:01:47,841 so if you have a Bible, you can open it to John chapter eight, verse 12. 29 00:01:48,141 --> 00:01:50,877 Of course, if you don't know, probably you can check out the screen behind me. 30 00:01:50,877 --> 00:01:54,714 Anytime we reference the passage, or if you want to use one of our Bibles 31 00:01:54,714 --> 00:01:57,717 in the pew in front of you, or in the back over in East Hall. 32 00:01:58,101 --> 00:02:02,689 It is inconveniently located on page 851, bottom right hand corner, 33 00:02:03,022 --> 00:02:05,992 and you have to turn it to page 852 to end it. 34 00:02:05,992 --> 00:02:08,461 However you're getting to John eight or watching the screens, 35 00:02:08,461 --> 00:02:12,232 let me hold out to you an outline I'm going to use to guide our time together. 36 00:02:12,232 --> 00:02:13,399 Three points. Very simple. 37 00:02:13,399 --> 00:02:17,487 I want to show you, an observation, an invitation, 38 00:02:17,487 --> 00:02:21,407 and illumination. Observation, invitation, 39 00:02:22,108 --> 00:02:22,976 illumination. 40 00:02:22,976 --> 00:02:25,461 All right. Let's start with observation. 41 00:02:25,461 --> 00:02:29,399 Obviously, Jesus is making an explicit claim 42 00:02:29,399 --> 00:02:32,402 in this passage about himself. 43 00:02:32,485 --> 00:02:36,472 He is saying something, declaring something to be true of himself. 44 00:02:36,472 --> 00:02:37,857 And we'll look at that in a minute. 45 00:02:37,857 --> 00:02:41,761 But the key to understanding this verse is not just seeing 46 00:02:41,761 --> 00:02:45,832 what he is saying, but to hear what he isn't saying. 47 00:02:45,832 --> 00:02:49,319 What I mean by that is there's a a subtext, a point he's making 48 00:02:49,319 --> 00:02:53,389 that's kind of buried in this verse that I actually think is where we should start. 49 00:02:53,423 --> 00:02:56,342 Let me read it to you. I'll show you what I mean. Here's what it says. 50 00:02:56,342 --> 00:02:59,062 Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, 51 00:02:59,062 --> 00:03:01,998 I am the light of the world. 52 00:03:01,998 --> 00:03:08,121 Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 53 00:03:08,137 --> 00:03:10,640 Jesus says, I am the light of the world. 54 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:12,842 Whoever follows me won't walk in darkness. 55 00:03:12,842 --> 00:03:15,061 They will have the light of life. 56 00:03:15,061 --> 00:03:19,282 But of course, the implicit point he's making is whoever doesn't 57 00:03:19,282 --> 00:03:22,318 follow me will walk in darkness. 58 00:03:22,969 --> 00:03:27,707 Jesus is saying, without me you have darkness. 59 00:03:28,007 --> 00:03:31,945 Apart from a relationship with me, you will get darkness. 60 00:03:31,945 --> 00:03:32,662 He's calling. 61 00:03:32,662 --> 00:03:37,617 He's observing that our world is a world of darkness. 62 00:03:38,268 --> 00:03:41,487 Now what does it mean to be a world of darkness? 63 00:03:41,487 --> 00:03:43,856 How is he using that metaphor? 64 00:03:43,856 --> 00:03:46,609 Well, if you read the context of the passage, 65 00:03:46,609 --> 00:03:49,829 if you kind of zoom out, especially the end of chapter seven, 66 00:03:49,829 --> 00:03:50,363 or even what 67 00:03:50,363 --> 00:03:54,918 follows this, what you're going to find is that Jesus as the Son of God, God in 68 00:03:54,918 --> 00:03:58,972 the flesh, is teaching with absolute clarity and authority. 69 00:03:58,972 --> 00:04:03,326 He is revealing who God is and what God is up to, 70 00:04:03,326 --> 00:04:06,829 but he's consistently met with confusion. 71 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:12,719 People are arguing about who he is and misunderstanding what he's saying. 72 00:04:12,869 --> 00:04:16,472 And so when Jesus talks about darkness here, what he's really saying is that 73 00:04:16,706 --> 00:04:18,691 our world is a world of darkness. 74 00:04:18,691 --> 00:04:21,678 Meaning our world is a world of confusion. 75 00:04:21,778 --> 00:04:25,098 Our lives, our lives of confusion. 76 00:04:25,098 --> 00:04:28,551 Without him, we will get confusion. 77 00:04:28,851 --> 00:04:32,789 Now, let me drive this point home to you by using two different metaphors. 78 00:04:32,939 --> 00:04:33,773 Let's start with this one. 79 00:04:33,773 --> 00:04:36,776 You know I am 42 years old. 80 00:04:36,993 --> 00:04:39,412 If somebody said to me, Zach, describe 81 00:04:39,412 --> 00:04:42,799 what the earth has been like for your 42 years. 82 00:04:42,799 --> 00:04:45,268 There are a lot of ways I could do that, but. 83 00:04:45,268 --> 00:04:51,708 But one way is I could tell the story of all the diet fads that I have seen. 84 00:04:52,408 --> 00:04:54,711 And there have been many, like when I was a kid 85 00:04:54,711 --> 00:04:57,930 in the early 90s, both my parents were really into fat free. 86 00:04:58,097 --> 00:05:01,768 I don't know if you are around for this, but the idea was somehow 87 00:05:01,768 --> 00:05:02,969 you could eat whatever you wanted. 88 00:05:02,969 --> 00:05:06,022 But we found a way to take the taste out and the fat out. 89 00:05:06,656 --> 00:05:09,993 So you have free cookies, fat free cake, fat free brownies. 90 00:05:09,993 --> 00:05:12,412 I mean, they weren't good, but they didn't have fat in them. 91 00:05:12,412 --> 00:05:15,081 And for a while I was thinking, that's how you're going to get healthy. 92 00:05:15,081 --> 00:05:18,051 Until someone came along and was like, no, actually, you need fat. 93 00:05:18,051 --> 00:05:20,353 Like fat provides some benefit. 94 00:05:20,353 --> 00:05:24,557 So, fat was back and all of a sudden we were into low carb 95 00:05:24,557 --> 00:05:28,861 or no carb diets, couldn't eat carbs, you could eat anything else. 96 00:05:29,095 --> 00:05:31,381 You just couldn't eat carbs. 97 00:05:31,381 --> 00:05:33,599 We were eating meat for days. 98 00:05:33,599 --> 00:05:36,152 And then someone came along and was like, well, actually, you know, 99 00:05:36,152 --> 00:05:39,288 processed carbs are bad, but actually there are some healthy carbs. 100 00:05:39,355 --> 00:05:41,157 You can't cut out carbs. 101 00:05:41,157 --> 00:05:44,994 Then we went from that to gluten free, which meant we all had to learn 102 00:05:44,994 --> 00:05:46,562 what gluten was. 103 00:05:46,562 --> 00:05:48,898 I'm 42. I still couldn't tell you, 104 00:05:48,898 --> 00:05:52,218 but for a period of my life I knew gluten was bad. 105 00:05:52,218 --> 00:05:53,720 You didn't eat it, you didn't look at it. 106 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:55,288 You weren't in the same room as it. 107 00:05:55,288 --> 00:05:57,340 You couldn't touch it. Gluten was baking. 108 00:05:57,340 --> 00:05:59,492 Anything you want just couldn't include gluten 109 00:05:59,492 --> 00:06:01,310 until someone came along and was like, well, no. 110 00:06:01,310 --> 00:06:04,163 Actually, some people have a sensitivity. They can't eat it. 111 00:06:04,163 --> 00:06:05,398 The rest of you are idiots. 112 00:06:06,933 --> 00:06:07,800 And we stopped doing 113 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,787 that and then we got into intermittent fasting. 114 00:06:10,853 --> 00:06:12,238 I don't know if you were down with this. 115 00:06:12,238 --> 00:06:12,655 It was like 116 00:06:12,655 --> 00:06:16,859 you would stop eating at a certain time and you would go 12 hours or 15. 117 00:06:16,859 --> 00:06:18,978 You know, if you could push it, you not eat breakfast. 118 00:06:18,978 --> 00:06:20,930 And and that was going to get you in shape. 119 00:06:20,930 --> 00:06:22,582 And then we realized that wasn't any fun. 120 00:06:22,582 --> 00:06:25,368 And we switch now to high protein 121 00:06:25,368 --> 00:06:28,771 everything protein I'm squirrely and there's all kinds of protein. 122 00:06:28,938 --> 00:06:30,540 You go to Starbucks now, you get a coffee. 123 00:06:30,540 --> 00:06:33,543 They'll put somehow they will put protein on it. 124 00:06:34,343 --> 00:06:34,977 Okay. 125 00:06:34,977 --> 00:06:37,263 And I don't know if you know this, but we're post protein now. 126 00:06:37,263 --> 00:06:38,548 Protein is not cool anymore. 127 00:06:38,548 --> 00:06:40,466 Now it's fiber okay. 128 00:06:40,466 --> 00:06:42,869 You want to get as much fiber as you can. 129 00:06:42,869 --> 00:06:45,571 That's a long way of me saying we have no idea what we're doing, 130 00:06:47,156 --> 00:06:48,624 so we have no idea what we're doing. 131 00:06:48,624 --> 00:06:52,261 When someone comes out with a diet and we buy, we buy the book 132 00:06:52,261 --> 00:06:55,548 and we watch the YouTube video and the Ted talk, and we go all in 133 00:06:55,832 --> 00:06:59,218 until someone else comes along goes, that was dumb, but you should buy my book. 134 00:06:59,218 --> 00:07:00,620 And we go, okay. 135 00:07:00,620 --> 00:07:03,656 And we buy that when we don't know what we're doing. 136 00:07:04,140 --> 00:07:06,709 And the thing is, when I when I talk about confusion 137 00:07:06,709 --> 00:07:09,712 as it relates to our diets, we chuckle right? 138 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,916 But if I say we're just as confused about marriage, 139 00:07:14,967 --> 00:07:17,753 that's not funny. 140 00:07:17,753 --> 00:07:20,756 Or we're just as confused about parenting. 141 00:07:20,957 --> 00:07:22,708 Or money 142 00:07:22,708 --> 00:07:24,260 or friendships. 143 00:07:24,260 --> 00:07:27,597 I mean, because another way of talking about my 42 years 144 00:07:27,597 --> 00:07:30,650 on earth, or all the times I thought I knew what I was doing 145 00:07:32,218 --> 00:07:34,253 only to find out I did it. 146 00:07:34,253 --> 00:07:35,938 And that's not funny. 147 00:07:35,938 --> 00:07:36,088 You know, 148 00:07:36,088 --> 00:07:37,039 I turn on the news 149 00:07:37,039 --> 00:07:40,109 and see what's going on in Iran, and I don't know what to think of it. 150 00:07:40,109 --> 00:07:42,211 You don't know what to think of it. We're confused. 151 00:07:42,211 --> 00:07:44,780 And that's not funny. 152 00:07:44,780 --> 00:07:47,150 And it's not just that we experience confusion. 153 00:07:47,150 --> 00:07:48,601 We experience darkness. 154 00:07:48,601 --> 00:07:51,204 It leads to a certain kind of living. 155 00:07:51,204 --> 00:07:52,488 Let me give you a second metaphor. 156 00:07:52,488 --> 00:07:54,924 So I'm flying out to Atlanta this week. 157 00:07:54,924 --> 00:07:57,243 I love to coach leaders, be in rooms with leaders. 158 00:07:57,243 --> 00:07:58,711 I'm going to go do some of that. 159 00:07:58,711 --> 00:08:02,131 And what that means for me is I will stay in a hotel room 160 00:08:02,582 --> 00:08:05,117 and when I sleep in a hotel room, I need it 161 00:08:05,117 --> 00:08:08,337 to be absolute pitch black, dark, no light. 162 00:08:08,721 --> 00:08:09,956 And what that means is 163 00:08:09,956 --> 00:08:13,442 I will take all the extra towels and blankets that I can find. 164 00:08:13,759 --> 00:08:16,762 Then I will cover up anything that has any light in it 165 00:08:16,879 --> 00:08:20,600 so that when I'm laying in bed, I can't even see my hand in front of my face. 166 00:08:21,167 --> 00:08:22,218 And that will be perfect. 167 00:08:22,218 --> 00:08:24,136 And then I'll fall asleep and everything will be great 168 00:08:24,136 --> 00:08:26,989 until 3:00 in the morning when I wake up and I need to go to the bathroom. 169 00:08:27,990 --> 00:08:29,959 And then I have to make a choice stay in bed 170 00:08:29,959 --> 00:08:32,962 and be uncomfortable or risk death. 171 00:08:33,896 --> 00:08:35,932 Because I know somewhere out there is a table. 172 00:08:35,932 --> 00:08:38,568 I just don't remember where, right? 173 00:08:38,568 --> 00:08:40,786 And so I can lay in bed and be uncomfortable. 174 00:08:40,786 --> 00:08:44,724 I can go for the bathroom and run into furniture, right. 175 00:08:44,724 --> 00:08:47,760 And and have some bumps and bruises, or I can split the difference 176 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,763 and kind of put my hands out in front of me and walk really slow and, 177 00:08:50,963 --> 00:08:53,132 and kind of look like an idiot if the light would ever come on. 178 00:08:53,132 --> 00:08:54,600 But to make my way to the bathroom, 179 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,587 I think that's a great metaphor for the way we're living. 180 00:08:59,372 --> 00:09:01,741 We know we don't know what we're doing right. 181 00:09:01,741 --> 00:09:03,392 We know we don't know what we're doing. 182 00:09:03,392 --> 00:09:07,730 And so some of us, the way that manifests is with crippling anxiety. 183 00:09:09,031 --> 00:09:12,718 Anxiety is the body's way of telling you. 184 00:09:12,902 --> 00:09:15,271 You don't know what you're doing. 185 00:09:15,271 --> 00:09:18,090 It's the physical manifestation of the stress of going, 186 00:09:18,090 --> 00:09:20,393 I don't know how to do marriage. I don't know how to raise kids. 187 00:09:20,393 --> 00:09:22,011 I don't know how to get ahead in my career. 188 00:09:22,011 --> 00:09:23,312 I don't know how to make enough money. 189 00:09:23,312 --> 00:09:25,848 I don't have any answers for life's biggest questions. 190 00:09:25,848 --> 00:09:29,151 And your body is saying, I know, I know, I know, and you're freaking out. 191 00:09:29,752 --> 00:09:30,987 And that's how some of us live. 192 00:09:30,987 --> 00:09:32,121 We this is the most 193 00:09:32,121 --> 00:09:36,025 anxious generation, statistically, of any generation ever before. 194 00:09:36,025 --> 00:09:38,010 Well, why wouldn't it be? 195 00:09:38,010 --> 00:09:39,962 We know more about the world than we've ever known, 196 00:09:39,962 --> 00:09:42,598 and we know we still don't know anything. 197 00:09:42,598 --> 00:09:44,900 Others of us are a little more adventurous, 198 00:09:44,900 --> 00:09:48,137 so we run headlong after what we think we want. 199 00:09:48,421 --> 00:09:50,957 And our story is a story of running into things 200 00:09:52,675 --> 00:09:54,927 of bumps and bruises, 201 00:09:54,927 --> 00:09:56,879 of marriages that didn't work. 202 00:09:56,879 --> 00:09:58,948 Broken family relationships. 203 00:09:58,948 --> 00:10:00,049 Broken friendships. 204 00:10:00,049 --> 00:10:02,001 Financial difficulty. 205 00:10:02,001 --> 00:10:02,184 Right? 206 00:10:02,184 --> 00:10:04,070 We can point to every bruise and tell the story of how 207 00:10:04,070 --> 00:10:07,189 we thought we knew what we were doing, only to find. Out we didn't. 208 00:10:07,940 --> 00:10:08,791 At best. 209 00:10:08,791 --> 00:10:11,994 At best, we split the difference and we move through life 210 00:10:11,994 --> 00:10:15,348 slowly and carefully, just trying not to mess anything up. 211 00:10:15,531 --> 00:10:18,768 And a good day for us is a day where we don't mess anything up. 212 00:10:18,768 --> 00:10:21,771 But we're not really living. 213 00:10:24,256 --> 00:10:27,259 Jesus says that the root cause of that 214 00:10:28,127 --> 00:10:31,580 is that we are confused. 215 00:10:32,448 --> 00:10:35,551 That the root cause of our anxiety, the root cause of the bumps 216 00:10:35,551 --> 00:10:40,473 and bruises of the fads we chase, the root cause of the cautious, careful, 217 00:10:40,473 --> 00:10:45,511 not really living lives that we lead as we don't know what we're doing. 218 00:10:45,511 --> 00:10:46,912 Do you feel that? 219 00:10:49,231 --> 00:10:50,599 Do you feel anxious? 220 00:10:50,599 --> 00:10:51,867 Do you feel confused? 221 00:10:51,867 --> 00:10:54,620 Do you feel wounded? 222 00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:55,738 Well, if you do, you're going to love. 223 00:10:55,738 --> 00:10:57,206 My second point. 224 00:10:57,206 --> 00:10:59,208 Because Jesus isn't just making. 225 00:10:59,208 --> 00:11:01,711 An observation, 226 00:11:01,711 --> 00:11:04,046 he's making an invitation. 227 00:11:04,046 --> 00:11:05,931 Look at what he says. John 812 he says this. 228 00:11:05,931 --> 00:11:08,250 And again Jesus spoke to them, saying. 229 00:11:08,250 --> 00:11:11,721 I am the light of the world. 230 00:11:12,171 --> 00:11:15,141 Now I want you to notice that Jesus does not say, 231 00:11:15,141 --> 00:11:18,678 there is a light in the world, and I know how to find it. 232 00:11:20,363 --> 00:11:24,467 He does not say, there is there must be light out there somewhere. 233 00:11:24,467 --> 00:11:27,770 And if you and I link arms, we can find it together. 234 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:32,124 He doesn't say there's a light inside of you and he knows how to bring it out. 235 00:11:32,725 --> 00:11:33,843 No, he doesn't say any of that. 236 00:11:33,843 --> 00:11:36,662 We would resonate with any of that. Right? He doesn't say that. 237 00:11:36,662 --> 00:11:38,814 What he actually says is something even more audacious. 238 00:11:38,814 --> 00:11:42,118 He says, I am the light of the world. 239 00:11:42,118 --> 00:11:45,020 And when he says that, he's saying two really important things, 240 00:11:45,020 --> 00:11:48,357 the first thing he's saying, he's inviting us to watch him 241 00:11:49,975 --> 00:11:52,011 because Jesus is saying that the darkness 242 00:11:52,011 --> 00:11:55,431 that you and I live in, the confusion that we carry, he doesn't carry it. 243 00:11:55,431 --> 00:11:57,183 He doesn't live in it. 244 00:11:57,183 --> 00:11:58,884 He's not in the darkness. 245 00:11:58,884 --> 00:11:59,518 He says. 246 00:11:59,518 --> 00:12:02,688 He's saying that for him, the hotel room light is on. 247 00:12:03,205 --> 00:12:04,223 He knows what he's doing. 248 00:12:04,223 --> 00:12:06,175 He's inviting us to watch his life. 249 00:12:06,175 --> 00:12:07,710 Look, I told you two weeks ago 250 00:12:07,710 --> 00:12:09,378 that if you're new to the Bible, if you don't, 251 00:12:09,378 --> 00:12:11,597 you don't have a ton of background with the Bible. 252 00:12:11,597 --> 00:12:13,916 You should start with the Gospel of John. 253 00:12:13,916 --> 00:12:15,918 I bet there were some of you who are like, I'm going to do that. 254 00:12:15,918 --> 00:12:17,603 And then you didn't do it. Don't feel bad about it. 255 00:12:17,603 --> 00:12:19,855 Tomorrow's Monday. Great day to start. 256 00:12:19,855 --> 00:12:21,357 Give it a shot tomorrow. 257 00:12:21,357 --> 00:12:24,360 And if you were to read the Gospel of John, what you would find 258 00:12:24,527 --> 00:12:29,698 is that Jesus, his life, reads as though it has absolute clarity. 259 00:12:30,950 --> 00:12:32,885 I mean, he just moves through life. 260 00:12:32,885 --> 00:12:35,337 He's not doing this. He's moving full speed. 261 00:12:35,337 --> 00:12:37,289 He speaks truth to power. 262 00:12:37,289 --> 00:12:39,108 He uplifts the weak. 263 00:12:39,108 --> 00:12:43,879 He speaks with confidence over who God is and what God wants and what God is doing. 264 00:12:43,879 --> 00:12:46,682 He lives a life of absolute clarity, 265 00:12:46,682 --> 00:12:50,369 and he even goes to death with absolute clarity. 266 00:12:50,369 --> 00:12:53,005 He tells us over and over again, I've come to die. 267 00:12:53,005 --> 00:12:54,323 I'm going to go to the cross. 268 00:12:54,323 --> 00:12:55,374 You're going to kill me. 269 00:12:55,374 --> 00:12:58,427 I have to die in order for you to be forgiven. 270 00:12:58,527 --> 00:13:00,079 Even on the cross. 271 00:13:00,079 --> 00:13:04,650 As he's dying, he says, father, into your hands I commit my spirit. 272 00:13:05,184 --> 00:13:06,952 In other words, I trust you. I know what we're doing. 273 00:13:06,952 --> 00:13:07,887 We have a plan. 274 00:13:07,887 --> 00:13:11,273 And then three days later, just like he said, he raises from the dead. 275 00:13:11,340 --> 00:13:14,910 He goes on to ascend into heaven and tells us, see, I told you. 276 00:13:14,910 --> 00:13:16,312 I told you this is what I was going to do. 277 00:13:16,312 --> 00:13:19,732 I have come so that you can have life. 278 00:13:19,732 --> 00:13:22,284 Jesus lives and dies 279 00:13:22,284 --> 00:13:26,338 and resurrects and ascended into heaven with absolute complete clarity. 280 00:13:26,338 --> 00:13:28,374 Never a moment of confusion. 281 00:13:31,827 --> 00:13:32,611 But here's the other thing. 282 00:13:32,611 --> 00:13:34,413 He's inviting us to. 283 00:13:34,413 --> 00:13:38,601 He's inviting us to come to him to get it. 284 00:13:40,286 --> 00:13:40,769 It's interesting. 285 00:13:40,769 --> 00:13:43,189 In John 812 he says, I am the light of the world. 286 00:13:43,189 --> 00:13:46,192 That's not an encouraging thing to say necessarily. 287 00:13:46,342 --> 00:13:49,728 Like if you say to me, hey, Zach, you're living a life of complete confusion 288 00:13:49,728 --> 00:13:50,362 and darkness. 289 00:13:50,362 --> 00:13:52,097 And I go, I know. 290 00:13:52,097 --> 00:13:55,100 And then Jesus goes, I am the light of the world. 291 00:13:55,100 --> 00:13:58,971 Like, that's true, but it's it's not it's not encouraging 292 00:13:58,971 --> 00:14:02,608 because all he's really doing is saying how superior he is to me. 293 00:14:04,343 --> 00:14:04,977 But do you see? 294 00:14:04,977 --> 00:14:06,862 That's not where he stops. 295 00:14:06,862 --> 00:14:07,913 You have to see this. 296 00:14:07,913 --> 00:14:10,916 If John 812 stops with Jesus saying, I'm the light of the world, 297 00:14:11,217 --> 00:14:13,853 this is not an encouraging passage. True, but not encouraging. 298 00:14:13,853 --> 00:14:14,486 But look what he says. 299 00:14:14,486 --> 00:14:18,991 John 812 again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. 300 00:14:19,158 --> 00:14:24,530 Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have. 301 00:14:24,530 --> 00:14:27,182 The light of life. Jesus saying, I have light. I want to share, 302 00:14:28,801 --> 00:14:31,787 I have life and I want to share. 303 00:14:32,271 --> 00:14:33,622 Do you see that? 304 00:14:33,622 --> 00:14:35,457 Here's what Jesus is saying when he says, I'm 305 00:14:35,457 --> 00:14:38,360 the light of the world and you have to feel this. It's an audacious claim. 306 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:40,880 What he's saying is that from the moment he. 307 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:42,898 Arrived till now. 308 00:14:42,898 --> 00:14:43,198 Till. 309 00:14:43,198 --> 00:14:46,285 All eternity, because Jesus is the light of the world, 310 00:14:46,368 --> 00:14:49,922 darkness, confusion is no longer inevitable. 311 00:14:50,489 --> 00:14:53,492 It's a choice. 312 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:55,277 Do you understand? 313 00:14:55,277 --> 00:14:56,845 That's what he's saying. 314 00:14:56,845 --> 00:15:00,199 He's saying that because he's the light of the world and he's here. 315 00:15:00,416 --> 00:15:04,019 Darkness, confusion, anxiety, 316 00:15:04,286 --> 00:15:07,740 bumps and bruises, cautiously moving through life. 317 00:15:07,740 --> 00:15:10,643 That's a. Choice. 318 00:15:10,643 --> 00:15:12,561 You can have darkness if you want it. 319 00:15:12,561 --> 00:15:15,564 But Jesus is saying, but you can come to me. 320 00:15:15,598 --> 00:15:18,601 If you want light. 321 00:15:18,984 --> 00:15:21,153 Which of course begs the question. 322 00:15:21,153 --> 00:15:22,371 Which do you want? 323 00:15:25,291 --> 00:15:26,158 And if you 324 00:15:26,158 --> 00:15:29,161 find yourself saying, well, you know, I want light. 325 00:15:29,328 --> 00:15:31,080 Well, that's my third point, actually. 326 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,349 Not just an observation, not just an invitation, 327 00:15:33,349 --> 00:15:36,352 but here's how you get illumination. 328 00:15:37,202 --> 00:15:40,623 Jesus says, whoever follows me. 329 00:15:41,123 --> 00:15:42,741 Will not walk in darkness, but. 330 00:15:42,741 --> 00:15:44,693 Will have the light of life. 331 00:15:44,693 --> 00:15:48,197 What does he mean when he says, whoever follows me? 332 00:15:48,197 --> 00:15:49,982 Well, I think he has in mind three things. 333 00:15:49,982 --> 00:15:52,818 I'm just taking these from his teaching everywhere else. 334 00:15:52,818 --> 00:15:54,303 Three things, and they're linear. 335 00:15:54,303 --> 00:15:56,305 You start with one, move to two, move to three. 336 00:15:56,305 --> 00:15:57,773 Here's the first thing he's talking about. 337 00:15:57,773 --> 00:16:00,776 He's talking about salvation. 338 00:16:01,644 --> 00:16:03,028 Do you know what salvation is? 339 00:16:03,028 --> 00:16:04,913 It's a very churchy word. You didn't grow up in the church. 340 00:16:04,913 --> 00:16:07,099 Maybe you kind of think, you know, not really. 341 00:16:07,099 --> 00:16:07,800 Here's all it is. 342 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,919 Salvation is simply the end result of saying. 343 00:16:10,953 --> 00:16:12,304 I don't want to be in darkness anymore. 344 00:16:12,304 --> 00:16:14,640 I have no idea what I'm doing. 345 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,110 My body is telling me that my, my, my story is telling me that 346 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:19,645 I have no idea what I'm doing. 347 00:16:19,645 --> 00:16:21,714 I don't want to live this way anymore. 348 00:16:21,714 --> 00:16:23,699 And seeing in. Jesus 349 00:16:25,317 --> 00:16:27,119 a way out 350 00:16:27,119 --> 00:16:29,538 in his life, 351 00:16:29,538 --> 00:16:32,041 in his death and in his resurrection. 352 00:16:32,041 --> 00:16:34,109 To be a Christian is to say. 353 00:16:34,109 --> 00:16:35,928 I have chosen darkness. 354 00:16:35,928 --> 00:16:37,713 I have walked in darkness. 355 00:16:37,713 --> 00:16:40,349 It's been miserable. I don't want it anymore. 356 00:16:40,349 --> 00:16:42,685 And in Jesus I have found a way out. 357 00:16:42,685 --> 00:16:45,087 I got to tell you, in two weeks we're baptizing. 358 00:16:45,087 --> 00:16:47,339 You know, since we launched the reimagined vision, 359 00:16:47,339 --> 00:16:50,359 we are dangerously close to a thousand baptisms. 360 00:16:50,809 --> 00:16:53,128 I'm gonna tell you, when that day happens, we're going to celebrate. 361 00:16:53,128 --> 00:16:54,680 That's awesome. 362 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,732 But right now, my mind is not on a thousand. 363 00:16:56,732 --> 00:16:59,718 It's on one. It's on you. 364 00:16:59,852 --> 00:17:02,871 Because I talk to people, think, well, how do I know if I'm ready to be baptized? 365 00:17:02,871 --> 00:17:05,040 And and there's so much I don't know. 366 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,010 Listen, when you get baptized, you're saying there's a lot I don't know. 367 00:17:08,010 --> 00:17:10,162 Here's one thing I do know. 368 00:17:10,162 --> 00:17:11,747 I don't want darkness anymore. 369 00:17:11,747 --> 00:17:14,099 And Jesus has given me a way out. 370 00:17:15,050 --> 00:17:15,951 And if that's all you 371 00:17:15,951 --> 00:17:18,954 know, you're ready to be baptized. 372 00:17:19,822 --> 00:17:23,425 Because baptism is not about achieving and earning. 373 00:17:24,109 --> 00:17:28,230 It's about acknowledging that we would have lived and died in darkness 374 00:17:28,614 --> 00:17:31,550 if the light had not come. 375 00:17:31,550 --> 00:17:34,403 But he's come and his name is Jesus. 376 00:17:34,403 --> 00:17:36,655 Two weeks, two weeks. We'll baptize you. 377 00:17:36,655 --> 00:17:38,574 We're going to baptize. We'll have clothes ready. 378 00:17:38,574 --> 00:17:40,809 You can come take a class. You're a planner plan. 379 00:17:40,809 --> 00:17:41,844 You're not a planner. 380 00:17:41,844 --> 00:17:42,895 We got you. Come. 381 00:17:42,895 --> 00:17:44,963 Anyways, here's the second thing. 382 00:17:44,963 --> 00:17:46,131 Salvation is where it starts. 383 00:17:46,131 --> 00:17:49,134 So the second thing, the leadership of Jesus. 384 00:17:49,585 --> 00:17:52,521 Jesus, when he says, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness. 385 00:17:52,521 --> 00:17:55,107 What he means is that the very first thing, 386 00:17:55,107 --> 00:17:58,710 the fundamental thing that he gave to he came to bring us 387 00:17:58,710 --> 00:18:02,598 clarity on is who God is and how God feels about us, right? 388 00:18:02,731 --> 00:18:05,117 That we could know we'd be forgiven, that we could know 389 00:18:05,117 --> 00:18:07,920 we be accepted, that we can know we'd be included. 390 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:09,571 But Jesus is saying, it's 391 00:18:09,571 --> 00:18:13,375 not just clarity on who God is and how God feels about us. 392 00:18:13,459 --> 00:18:17,062 Jesus has come to bring the light to darkness 393 00:18:17,062 --> 00:18:20,299 in every area of our lives. 394 00:18:20,599 --> 00:18:21,650 Because it isn't just that. 395 00:18:21,650 --> 00:18:23,819 On a macro level, we don't know what we're doing. 396 00:18:23,819 --> 00:18:27,873 Pick the area, marriage, parenting, career, money, friendship. 397 00:18:27,873 --> 00:18:30,626 We have no idea what we're doing. 398 00:18:31,677 --> 00:18:32,995 And Jesus is saying. 399 00:18:32,995 --> 00:18:34,463 But I do. 400 00:18:34,463 --> 00:18:35,597 Well, let me give you an example. 401 00:18:35,597 --> 00:18:37,199 I can give you a million different examples, 402 00:18:37,199 --> 00:18:38,967 but for whatever reason, this one's on my heart. 403 00:18:38,967 --> 00:18:42,271 This week, eight out of I, eight out of ten couples 404 00:18:42,271 --> 00:18:45,324 who apply to be married here at the church are living together. 405 00:18:47,309 --> 00:18:48,076 Now I want you to hear me. 406 00:18:48,076 --> 00:18:50,078 We don't do guilt and shame here, okay? 407 00:18:50,078 --> 00:18:52,948 It's actually the opposite of what we believe we don't do, so I don't 408 00:18:52,948 --> 00:18:55,951 I don't say that to guilt you or shame you if that's your story, keep coming. 409 00:18:55,951 --> 00:18:56,852 I'm glad you're here. 410 00:18:56,852 --> 00:18:59,838 I just say that to see what that tells me as a pastor, 411 00:19:00,088 --> 00:19:02,908 is that you have bought into the cultural 412 00:19:02,908 --> 00:19:05,911 fad of how to think about marriage. 413 00:19:06,028 --> 00:19:08,931 Of how to think about sex, and how to think about relationships. 414 00:19:08,931 --> 00:19:10,315 Let me ask you a question. 415 00:19:10,315 --> 00:19:13,802 The generation that came before you do, they seem like 416 00:19:13,802 --> 00:19:16,188 they know what they're talking about when it comes to marriage. 417 00:19:19,791 --> 00:19:21,059 So who told you that? 418 00:19:21,059 --> 00:19:23,245 You said, well, it's a good way to save money. 419 00:19:23,245 --> 00:19:26,398 It's a good way to try each other out, to learn each other. 420 00:19:26,398 --> 00:19:29,418 Did you know statistically, that couples that lived together before marriage 421 00:19:29,601 --> 00:19:32,604 are vastly more likely to divorce than couples who don't? 422 00:19:34,506 --> 00:19:35,457 I bet you didn't know that. 423 00:19:35,457 --> 00:19:37,609 But nobody ever told you that. 424 00:19:37,609 --> 00:19:39,061 That's because the people selling the low. 425 00:19:39,061 --> 00:19:40,829 Carb diet never tell you you need carbs. 426 00:19:40,829 --> 00:19:43,832 Do you understand what I'm saying to you? 427 00:19:46,018 --> 00:19:47,119 So I don't want you to feel guilty. 428 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:49,371 I don't want you to feel shame, but I do want you. 429 00:19:49,371 --> 00:19:51,206 Jesus is saying you can learn. 430 00:19:51,206 --> 00:19:54,209 The table is there. By running into it, 431 00:19:54,893 --> 00:19:57,112 or you can let him tell you where the table is. 432 00:19:57,112 --> 00:19:57,963 Do you understand that. 433 00:19:59,214 --> 00:20:02,000 The Bible has so much to say about how you think about debt? 434 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,136 We're all somewhere in the book of Proverbs, by the way. 435 00:20:04,136 --> 00:20:06,321 We're going to talk about debt. We're going to talk about friendships. 436 00:20:06,321 --> 00:20:07,823 We're going to talk about all kinds of stuff, 437 00:20:07,823 --> 00:20:12,411 because Jesus doesn't want you to keep running into the furniture. 438 00:20:12,411 --> 00:20:14,463 Do you want that? Yet? 439 00:20:14,463 --> 00:20:19,368 We're so prone to doing things our way and finding ourselves in a mess. 440 00:20:19,368 --> 00:20:21,620 Because when you walk around in the darkness, that's what happens. 441 00:20:21,620 --> 00:20:24,122 And then we get angry at God and we blame God. 442 00:20:24,122 --> 00:20:27,025 And how could you let this happen? How could you do this? 443 00:20:27,025 --> 00:20:30,028 But is it really his fault? 444 00:20:33,382 --> 00:20:34,399 God doesn't want. 445 00:20:34,399 --> 00:20:37,402 Confusion for you. 446 00:20:38,186 --> 00:20:40,022 He wants clarity, 447 00:20:40,022 --> 00:20:45,627 and he knows how every area of your life is meant to work. 448 00:20:45,627 --> 00:20:47,613 He does not want you to go through life 449 00:20:47,613 --> 00:20:50,132 just hoping you don't make a mess of things. 450 00:20:50,132 --> 00:20:51,500 He wants you to run. 451 00:20:53,635 --> 00:20:56,638 And he knows how to get you there. 452 00:20:56,788 --> 00:20:57,923 Here's the third thing. You're ready. 453 00:20:57,923 --> 00:21:00,926 So we come to Jesus for salvation. 454 00:21:00,926 --> 00:21:03,078 We learn who God is, how he feels about us. 455 00:21:03,078 --> 00:21:06,048 We bring every area of our life to him in leadership. 456 00:21:06,048 --> 00:21:09,167 We listen to him about every area of our lives. 457 00:21:09,167 --> 00:21:10,919 We get more light. We get rid of darkness. 458 00:21:10,919 --> 00:21:12,020 Here's the third thing we. 459 00:21:12,020 --> 00:21:15,023 Participate in bringing others into the light. 460 00:21:15,857 --> 00:21:17,192 This is so. Important. 461 00:21:17,192 --> 00:21:19,428 Because the mission of Jesus is to. 462 00:21:19,428 --> 00:21:22,247 Dispel darkness and to bring in light. 463 00:21:22,247 --> 00:21:24,349 That's the mission of Jesus. 464 00:21:24,349 --> 00:21:27,536 So what that means, brother or sister in Christ, is that your life 465 00:21:27,536 --> 00:21:29,821 isn't just about doing things the right way. 466 00:21:29,821 --> 00:21:33,959 It's about being on mission, finding meaning and purpose, which we crave 467 00:21:34,042 --> 00:21:37,713 and we have no idea how to find in the work of Jesus, 468 00:21:37,713 --> 00:21:40,582 even here at the church, to reach other people. 469 00:21:40,582 --> 00:21:42,351 Because we if we don't want 470 00:21:42,351 --> 00:21:46,371 to run into the furniture, if we realize we can live life and run, 471 00:21:46,371 --> 00:21:49,858 not crawl towards meaning and purpose, why wouldn't we want that for everybody? 472 00:21:51,209 --> 00:21:51,893 So you 473 00:21:51,893 --> 00:21:54,896 came in this morning and my guess is somebody helped you park. 474 00:21:55,397 --> 00:21:56,732 Somebody greeted you at the door. 475 00:21:56,732 --> 00:21:57,783 Somebody made you coffee. 476 00:21:57,783 --> 00:22:00,652 Somebody with your kids right now telling them about God's love. 477 00:22:00,652 --> 00:22:02,971 People came up here and sang and led you. 478 00:22:02,971 --> 00:22:04,473 People helped you find a seat. 479 00:22:04,473 --> 00:22:07,459 People made you move so that someone else could find a seat. 480 00:22:08,610 --> 00:22:09,561 Do you know why they do that? 481 00:22:09,561 --> 00:22:11,480 Do you know why they do that? 482 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,300 Because they have discovered the joy of stepping out of confusion 483 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,587 into the light, and they want that for you. 484 00:22:19,137 --> 00:22:22,524 Which is why I'm going to tell you you will never unlock true meaning 485 00:22:22,524 --> 00:22:25,077 and purpose in your relationship with God until you join. 486 00:22:25,077 --> 00:22:27,863 Him in his mission 487 00:22:27,863 --> 00:22:29,147 to bring other people divine. 488 00:22:31,950 --> 00:22:32,367 That is a 489 00:22:32,367 --> 00:22:35,370 shameless plug for you to get involved here, 490 00:22:36,688 --> 00:22:39,408 if for no other reason than you and 491 00:22:39,408 --> 00:22:42,711 I have no idea how to find meaning and purpose apart from Jesus. 492 00:22:45,263 --> 00:22:48,083 Friends barely moving through life, crippled 493 00:22:48,083 --> 00:22:52,104 by anxiety bumps and bruises from running into stuff. 494 00:22:52,287 --> 00:22:55,557 Hoping just not to make a mess of things has become. 495 00:22:55,557 --> 00:22:58,260 The American definition of. Normal. 496 00:22:58,260 --> 00:23:01,196 But it is not normal. 497 00:23:01,196 --> 00:23:03,832 You were made for more 498 00:23:03,832 --> 00:23:06,601 and only Jesus, 499 00:23:06,601 --> 00:23:09,654 the light of the world can get you there. 500 00:23:10,372 --> 00:23:13,375 Let me pray for you, father God. 501 00:23:13,592 --> 00:23:15,110 Because it's a two part prayer. 502 00:23:15,110 --> 00:23:15,710 Pretty simple. 503 00:23:15,710 --> 00:23:19,131 One is build in us a dissatisfaction 504 00:23:19,131 --> 00:23:22,134 with darkness and confusion. 505 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:24,836 You know, the old adage goes, fish don't know they're wet. 506 00:23:24,836 --> 00:23:26,822 We don't even. Realize how confused we are. 507 00:23:28,907 --> 00:23:31,526 So show us. 508 00:23:31,526 --> 00:23:34,529 And before that feeling overwhelms. Us, 509 00:23:35,814 --> 00:23:38,817 show us the hope that is available in Jesus 510 00:23:39,418 --> 00:23:42,721 that we might pursue him for your glory, 511 00:23:43,472 --> 00:23:46,892 for our joy, and for the good of those around us. 512 00:23:46,892 --> 00:23:48,693 In Jesus name we pray. Amen.