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Points of Light John 1:1-14 12-20-2020

If you haven’t noticed the banner out front between the palm trees. It was designed by Alyssa Lam and then Brent found a way to illuminate it at night, it contains our Christmas theme of light and hope based on John 1:5, “Light shines in the darkness.”

light changes everything! Without it there is little to be seen, but with it, there is good reason for hope

for all the darkness of the universe can never extinguish the light of even one solitary candle, yet the light of even a single candle will drive away even the deepest darkness.

in fact, the darker the night, the brighter the light appears.

and Christmas is not talking about a candle but Immanuel, God with us.

It is only the light of our saviors’ birth that can offer real hope to a dark world. No matter how dark it gets, God hasn’t given up on us

Here inside, our theme is represented by the stars of our decorations with our hopes attached. Henry Nouwen wrote, The Christmas scene that Anthony arranged under the alter was probably the most meaningful manger I have ever seen. Three small wood-carved figures made in India: a poor woman, a poor man, and a small child in between them. The carving is simple, nearly primitive. No eyes, no ears, no mouths, just the contours of the faces. The figures are smaller than a human hand—nearly too small to attract attention at all. But then—a beam of light shines on the three figures and projects large shadows on the wall of the sanctuary. That says it all. The light thrown on the smallness of Mary, Joseph, and the child projects them as large, hopeful shadows against the walls of our life and our world. While looking at the intimate scene we already see the first outlines of the majesty and glory they represent…. Without the radiant beam of light shining into the darkness there is little to be seen…. But

everything changes with the light. That is the story of Christmas.

To a world in darkness, it was just a poor couple on the road giving birth in some backwater of the empire.

Without the radiant beams of light shining into the darkness there would be little to see or attract attention.

But light changes everything, offering hope as it provides the outlines of the majesty and glory of the coming of our King.

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glad tidings of great joy for to us a savior has been born who is Christ the Lord.

His majesty and glory are further revealed at the empty tomb and risen Lord and ultimately seen in the full light of day when the King returns to claim this world as his own.

Ephesians 5:13 points out that everything exposed by the light becomes visible for it is light which makes all things visible

It is the apostle John who focusses on this idea of light in the coming of our Lord when he wrote,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to

testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to

everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1–14, NIV)

At some point in our lives most of us have probably stood outside in the early evening.

Standing there watching the sky darken as the sun went down, we saw the twinkle of first one, then another star shining out in the darkness.

Before long sprinkled across the whole night sky was the glimmer of thousands of points of light, each a testimony to the glory of a far-off sun.

Though unseen, the light of many of those stars has been shining in the dark void of space for hundreds, some even thousands of years, until the day in finally reached this earth and

became visible to our eye.

light shining into a darkness that could never extinguish it.

While Jesus is unique and he alone is the light of life, this imagery of light and darkness is a common one throughout Scripture, referring to God’s work throughout the ages. A work that has been ongoing yet too often unnoticed by the creation he loves

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For thousands of years, God has been shining his light like stars in the darkness, each point of light a testimony not just to his existence but also his love and concern for us, offering hope in what may often seem to be a dark and hopeless situation.

light shining in a darkness that too often does not even try to understand it

Yet each point of light bears witness, lighting the way for the coming of Jesus and the full light of his presence

To consider just a few of these points of light:

There was the literal star of Bethlehem, a testimony of his coming, lighting the way for the Magi to find the one, to use their own words, “born King of the Jews.”

Astronomers and theologians say it is very possible, perhaps even likely, that this star was either a supernova or a comet, a cosmic lightshow lighting up not just a point in space above Bethlehem but the entire universe in honor of our savior’s birth.

If that is so and it was a natural phenomenon, that doesn’t detract from the

miraculous nature of it, it adds to Gods greatness. The star was not some afterthought that he threw into the sky at the last minute.

Instead, out of his great love for us, for thousands, tens of thousands of years in

advance he began to arrange for the light to reach earth at just the right place and just the right time to illuminate Jesus’ birth.

Then there was the light radiating from the angels out on the hillside, announcing his birth to shepherds watching their flocks, filling the night air with songs of praise at the coming of the savior.

Today the town of David, a savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. The light of the angel Gabriel’s announcement months earlier to Mary, telling her that she would soon give birth to the hope of her people, and to Joseph with what must have been a frightening thought that the child he would raise was not just to be the savior but the Son of God.

there was the light of John the Baptist. In John 5:35 Jesus called John “a lamp that gave light.” and here in John 1, it says he was “sent from God to be a witness to testify concerning the light of all mankind so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light. To testify that the true light that gives light to everyone had come into the world.”

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And there was the light of prophets like Isaiah, who more that 700 years before Jesus’ coming prophesied that a virgin would be with child and he would be called Immanuel.

And then shortly after this he says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)

there are over 300 prophesies, written over a period of more than 1000 years, predicting everything from where Jesus would be born to how he would die, from the virgin birth to the killing of the innocents, from being a descendent of Abraham to being from the line of David.

all points of light shining in the darkness, waiting for the full light of day

The whole of Gods’ word, each story, reinforces the truth that history is not a random set of events but God has been working and guiding it towards his appointed end, leading to

Christmas and the coming of our savior, to his death and resurrection for our sin and salvation, and ultimately to his return and reign forevermore

each story is a testament that God has been, is currently, and will continue to work in this world regardless of how dark it may appear at the moment

each point of light is a demonstration that God keeps his word and his promises

the light continues to shine in the darkness, proclaiming not just his existence but offering an eternal hope, preparing for the coming of the light which far outshines them all

“And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in the darkness, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)

thus John says in him was life, and that light is the light of men. the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it.

even in the midst of this pandemic, may this Christmas truly be our celebration hope, the light has come and is shining brightly.

In the prologue to a book titled Leadership jazz, the author writes:

Esther, my wife and I have a granddaughter named Zoe, the Greek word for life. She was born prematurely and weighed only 1 pound, seven ounces, so small that my wedding ring could slip up her arm all the way to her shoulder. the neonatologist who first examined her told us she had only a 5-10% chance of living three days. When Esther and I scrubbed up for our first visit and saw Zoe in her isolette in the neonatal

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intensive care unit, she had two IV’s in her navel, one in her foot, a monitor on each side of her chest, and a respirator tube and a feeding tube in her mouth.

To complicate matters even more, Zoe’s biological father had jumped ship the month before Zoe was born. Realizing this, a wise and caring nurse named Ruth gave me my instructions. “For the next several months, at least, you’re the surrogate father. I want you to come to the hospital every day to visit Zoe, and when you come, I want you to rub her body and her legs and arms with the tip of your finger. While you’re caressing her, you should tell her over and over how much you love her, because she has to be able to connect your voice to your touch.”

That is a wonderful picture of Christmas! God connecting his word with his touch.

Over and over again throughout the ages God has been at work, setting up these points of light, like stars in the universes of human history to point the way and say he is coming. In the process he tells us over and over again that he loves and cares for us.

Like watching stars come out one by one in evening sky, he has been sending his light into the darkness offering hope and a future.

Now at Christmas, he takes this even farther.

In the birth of the Christ, God does more than say I love you, he demonstrates it and reaches out to touch us, connecting his word with his action.

as John 1:14 says, the word became flesh and blood and lived among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son, who came from the father full of grace and truth

the light continues to shine in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it

to quote Henry Nouwen once again, without the radiant beam of light shining into the darkness there is little hope to be seen…. But it is light which changes everything. It’s Christmas and the light has come.

But that light cannot be from the bulbs on our Christmas trees standing in the corner of our living rooms

the life which John says gives life to all people is to shine out from within us into the darkness of the world in which we live

each one of us are to be points of light, as Paul told the Philippians shining like stars in the universe holding out the word of life

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2 Cor 4:6 says “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6, NIV84)

may all our lights shine brightly, not just for a special day but throughout the entire year because the world is in desperate need of light and the hope which only God can provide

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