Peace on Earth - Part 5: Special Christmas Eve Message - Light of the World | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website ecb .asia or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. As we were able to see

throughout the story, the birth of Jesus, The

theme of light comes repeatedly from the prophecies

of the Old Testament that people in a great darkness

will see great light. What we are told is that

in the concept of celebrating Christmas, the

theme of light is very important for us because

it represents the contrast of darkness. And there

is something that Jesus said about who he is.

That brings it to the very center stage of what

we are celebrating today. I'm going to invite

you to read the very words of what Jesus said

when he was talking about who he is. Will you

read it with me? Jesus says, he spoke to the

people once more and said, I am the light of

the world. If you follow me, you won't have to

walk in darkness because you will have. The light

that leads to life. This powerful assertion on

Jesus to say that I am the light of the world.

And to acknowledge that we were walking in darkness.

And it's an invitation that Jesus was giving

to people to follow him. Out of their own darkness

into his light. Many years ago I was able to

visit. the state of Oregon in the U .S. And there

was a lighthouse that was right there, beautiful,

ready to be pictured. And when I saw this lighthouse

with the waves crashing on the rocks, it reminded

me of this imagery of Jesus being the light of

the world because the people that are in the

midst of the waves, they either follow the light

to safety or they get lost. And they get crushed

by the waves. And Jesus is saying, I'm like that

lighthouse for your life. If you follow me, you

will find the light for your life. And this idea

that Jesus is the light of the world and that

he was inviting people to come out of their darkness

permeates the entire New Testament. The entire

biographies of Jesus that we find in the Gospels,

he encounters people after people after people,

inviting them to follow him. Now, there are three

particular experiences that I want to point to

because they connect with us in many ways. One

of them was a woman. We do not know her name.

We know her as the Samaritan woman. She was a

woman that had been married many times. She had

been divorced many times. And now she was living

with another guy that she was not even married

to. And Jesus encounters her in that space of

her life. Where she was already feeling like

worthless. From relationship to relationship.

Will somebody really even love me? Am I even

lovable? And in that darkness is where Jesus

encounters her and invites her to come out there

and follow him. So she did. And her life was

transformed. I do not know if you are in the

midst of that kind of mess. Where you are going

from relationship to relationship to relationship

feeling a little bit lost. And also feeling a

little bit worthless. Wondering what's next.

If that is where you are. Remember Jesus is the

light of the world. And he's inviting you to

follow him. So that you can experience life at

a whole different level. Because it's life with

him. There was another person. Who was a man

who was rich. We know his name. His name was

Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a person who was in

charge of the entire region. In charge of the

taxes for the government. And he had a lot of

money. He had cheated a lot of people. And also

therefore he also carried lots of shame in his

life. But this was this nagging feeling that

he was trying to overcome and he couldn't. And

that feeling that he was never good enough. It

didn't matter how much more money he made. It

was never good enough. Because the problem was

not his career or the amount of money he had.

The problem was the darkness inside. Jesus meets

him in that darkness and says, follow me. And

Zacchaeus does. And his life is transformed.

I do not know if you are in that place where

money no longer satisfies. You have it all. Except

for one thing that money cannot buy. And that

is peace. That peace that you are missing comes.

From one person known as the Prince of Peace.

The light of the world. And his name is Jesus.

There was another man. That was religious. He

was so devoted to his religion. That he knew

so much. Yet he was missing the very center.

Of what he should have known. He did not know

Jesus. In fact, he thought that Jesus was a fake.

And therefore, his mission was to kill all these

new Christians that were popping out in all of

these places. Because he thought that by persecuting

these people, he was serving God. Until one day,

Jesus appears to him and invites him to follow

him. Who was this person? His name was Saul.

And he became known eventually as the Apostle

Paul, a follower of Jesus, one who went throughout

the world proclaiming the good news that the

light of the world had come. He has struggled

with so much anger in his life and no religion

could touch that place in his heart. Only Jesus,

the light of the world, could reach that darkness.

And I do not know if you are in a place where

you have been following the religion of your

ancestors, the religion of your parents, and

yet you know that there's no peace. And now you're

in a place where you have to decide whether you

are going to explore the light of the world and

start learning more about this Jesus or remain

stuck in a place where you have religion but

no peace. Opinions, but not truth. Jesus met

all of these people, wherever they were at, in

their darkness, and said, come, follow me. And

they did. Now, I would like to fast forward a

few centuries. Because these words that Jesus

told the people of his time are the very same

words that he's telling you and me today. He

is not inviting you to just believe in him. He

is inviting you to follow him. Because it is

in following him that the light of the world

starts shining in you. If you follow me, you

won't have to walk in darkness. Because you will

have the light that leads to life. So I would

like to invite you to look at a different location.

This time, look inside of you. What do you see?

Light or darkness? What do you see? Darkness

comes in lots of different shapes, lots of different

experiences. But at the end, the root is the

same. There are different emotions and feelings

and struggles. Things like fear, guilt, anger,

shame, regret, anxiety, addictions, resentfulness,

broken marriages, and that nagging feeling that

doesn't want to go away, that keeps telling me,

That I am not good enough. Is that what you see?

Does this sound familiar? Or perhaps too familiar?

Because if this is what you see. Jesus is saying

you do not have to live in darkness anymore.

You can indeed have peace. Because that is what

he came to give you. So what we pray for you

today. Is that you will make a decision. To invite

the light of the world. To meet you in your darkness.

And take over your life. So that now you can

follow him. Because it is in following him. That

the light that your soul needs. Will be found.

I would like to ask you. A question. This is

very personal. But I want you to think about

the answer. Do you need the light of the world

to shine in your life? Do you? Because if you

are here today and you do not know who Jesus

is, you are not following him. then we would

like to invite you to meet with us downstairs.

We have people that have been preparing to meet

with you. If you want to learn more about how

to have a relationship with God, what does it

mean to follow Jesus? There are some signs downstairs

with red that says, do you want to know more

about Jesus? There's a room on the first floor

right there waiting for you. If you want to learn

more about this, don't leave right away. Stay.

Because this might be the day that you encounter

the light of the world to meet you in your darkness.

Now, if you say, Pastor Pablo, I would love to

stay, but I'm kind of in a hurry. I'm not here

to stay for long. No problem. What I would like

to invite you to do is to read. the Bible, especially

the Gospel of John, so that you can get to know

who Jesus is. Because as you read who he is and

what he taught, it will start meeting you at

the heart level. And if you don't have a Bible,

it doesn't matter. You can go to Bible .com and

you will be able to access the Bible online or

access it in your very phone. And you will take

it anywhere you go. And you can meet the words

of the light of the world to meet you wherever

you are. I know. I know not everybody reads.

You may say, Pastor Pablo, I just don't read

that much. So even if I had it in my phone, it

won't work. Well, in that case, no problem. Because

there's a... a group of people that came together

and said, we want to tell the story of Jesus

so that people get to understand who Jesus was.

And granted, it wasn't word by word from the

Bible, but it was a very good picture of understanding

what Jesus taught and who he is. And that series

is called The Chosen. You can go to YouTube,

type The Chosen, and now get hooked. Because

I think they have four seasons or five or something

like that. If you've never seen this and you

do not know who Jesus is, this is a good place

to get introduced. Because once you meet him,

now you will want to read that which we're saying

you cannot read. Now if you say, well, Pastor

Pablo, I just don't have time to read these things.

I don't have time to watch any YouTube videos.

Listen. If you live in Thailand, if you live

in Bangkok, forget Bible .com, forget YouTube,

you have ECB. And here we are committed to walking

with you in your journey because we want you

to experience the peace of God. You do not need

to be broken. You do not need to be lost. You

do not need to be in darkness. There is life.

There is light. There is peace. And what you

will find here. Is a community of people from

all over the world. People that have met. The

light of the world. Who are following him. And

people who were where you are today. So you will

learn from each other. A place. of a genuine

following with all of its messiness. We meet

on Sunday mornings at 9 a .m. and at 11 a .m.

So if you want to follow Jesus, if you want to

meet the light of the world, if you want the

light of the world to shine in your darkness,

join us in the journey of following Jesus. Take

this moment to thank the Lord. The light of the

world has come. And Lord Jesus, as we celebrate

you, we light this candle with gratitude. Because

your light has reached my darkness, forgiven

forever in your presence. Your light. My light.

Thank you, Jesus. All is calm, all is bright,

round yon virgin mother and child, holy infant

so tender. Beautiful. Do you remember what it

was like? When you were in darkness? When you

did not know Jesus? Do you remember what it was

like to be lost? Lost no more. Thank you, Jesus.

We honor you for what you have done. Light of

the world has come into a darkness. And today

we celebrate you. And we say happy birthday.

We are so glad you came. We love you, Lord. We

pray in Jesus' name. Amen. we welcome you to

engage by sending us an email to office at ecb

.asia. If God is calling you to support our ministries,

you will find giving options on our website.

And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.