Christmas Lights | Donovan Rillion | Light Brings Hope

We're starting a new series this morning called

Christmas Lights. If you're like me, you love

this time of year. And I know some people don't

like the time change where it starts to get dark

and making sure that my mic is on. Are we on?

Some of you don't like the time change. They

don't like when it gets dark at 5 o 'clock. I

personally love it, and I always have. I love

that it gets dark early because the earlier the

darkness comes, the earlier the Christmas lights

come on. I hate in the morning when I wake up,

I have to turn the lights off and unplug them

because we're trying to save power, right? And

so you turn them off, and then as soon as it

gets dark outside, plug them back in. Because

we love... Christmas lights. It's a beautiful

season. Every December, sometimes November, and

for some psychopaths, October. We string lights

up on our homes. We put them on our trees. We

put them on everything that we can put them on.

The streets are lined with lights. We wrap them

around everything, and sometimes we synchronize

them to music. We had a neighborhood in my hometown

that if you switched to a certain radio station,

you could drive through the neighborhood, and

as the radio played Christmas songs, the lights

would dance and do everything with the music.

And it's an awesome thing. And when the Christmas

lights aren't here, we miss them. We start thinking

about next Christmas. I can remember when I was

a kid, my favorite time of year, obviously, was

Christmas. It was the decorations that my mom

or my grandma or whoever would put up because

it's Christmas time. And the lights would brighten

up the nighttime. And I'm somebody who's scared

of the dark. I don't have any shame in saying

that. I'm afraid of the dark. But when Christmas

season comes around and the glow of the red and

blue and green lights outside, or in the living

room on the Christmas tree, peeks into my room,

my room is no longer dark. And I can sleep well.

I love Christmas lights. And so our whole series

for the next couple of weeks is going to be about

Christmas lights. Not the lights that are on

our trees and that are on our homes, but the

light that beats the darkness. The light that...

2 ,000 or so years ago came into this dark world

and defeated the darkness. Because light always

beats darkness, does it not? Light tells us that

even the coldest, the darkest nights, and the

worst wintry times, there is something bright

to look for. Our whole series is built around

one truth, and that is this. Just like the lights

we hang to brighten the season, Jesus came to

brighten this dark world that we find ourselves

living in. And so today we start with the foundation

of it all, and this is the first what light brings

message, and that is the light brings hope. It

brings a hope. I want you to imagine wandering

through a really dark and dense forest at night.

You don't have a flashlight. There's no moon

because of the density of the canopy above you.

You can't see any clearly marked paths. It's

a dark forest you're wandering through. But you

know that if you can get to the other side of

the forest, there is something really beautiful

on the other side. There's something special.

Not only is it dark, but you have no idea how

to get to the other side. You don't know these

woods. You're not familiar with your surroundings.

You don't know this path. So you just have to

keep going. You don't know the direction. You

don't know the dangers that are in the woods.

Again, I'm scared of the dark. Don't like the

dark. So there's some dangers out there. And

you don't know if you'll make it. You have this

feeling of uncertainty. This crippling anxiety.

There's a hopelessness there. And that's what

the darkness, when we're facing spiritual darkness,

where we don't know where our hope comes from,

we don't know what life is going to be like on

the other side of these moments, when we don't

know if there will be an other side of these

moments, it's hopelessness. Because without light,

nothing makes sense. Nothing feels right. But

with the light, everything becomes visible. The

text that we're going to be looking at in Scripture

for the next couple of weeks is all in Isaiah.

It's an Old Testament book. Isaiah 9, verses

Isaiah 9:1–7

1 -7. To give you a little background, we're

dealing with Israelite people. These are God's

chosen people. Now, if you know anything about

the Bible, you know Genesis. God creates man.

Man sins. Man gets kicked out of the perfect

home that God created for man and God to live

together in. That was his plan. And so man gets

kicked out. Now man is wandering in darkness.

God chooses a people that he's going to bring

redemption to, so that he can bring redemption

to the whole world. That's the Israelite people.

The Israelite people, though, they struggle to

obey and to follow God's plan. They sometimes

get out of God's line of redemption, and so God

has to kind of steer them back. And God has to

help them out. One of the things that happens

to the Israelite people, they get enslaved. So

they're in Egypt, they're slaves. Well, God frees

them. He rescues them because God's a rescuing

God. And so the Israelite people, they're free

from slavery, but they sometimes get themselves

back in trouble. And so they have this history

of getting in trouble, getting out of trouble

because of God, getting in trouble, and so on

and so forth. They struggle with darkness. They

struggle with being outside of God's will. And

because of that, because of being outside of

God's will, there is some suffering that happens.

There is some darkness that comes. There is some

hopelessness that comes. But here's what God

says through the prophet Isaiah. But there will

be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the

former time, he brought into contempt the land

of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the

latter time, he has made glorious the way of

the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee

of the nations. The people who walk in darkness

have seen a great light. Those who dwell to the

land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

You have multiplied the nation. You have increased

its joy. They rejoice before you as with joy

at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide

the spoil. For the yoke of this burden and the

staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor,

you have broken as on the day of Midian. Every

boot of the tramping warrior in battle to molt.

And every garment rolled in blood will be burned

as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born.

To us a son is given. And the government shall

be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting

Father. Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his

government and of peace there will be no end.

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it with justice

and with righteousness. From this time forth

and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts

will do this. That's a pretty powerful scripture

there. Now maybe you've heard the, for to us

a child is born verse, but you don't really know

what that whole passage is. We don't talk about

that one, right? We talk about for to us a child

is born because it's Christmas time and we're

talking about the birth of the Savior. But to

me, the best verse in that whole passage is verse

2. The people walking in darkness have seen a

great light. It's a dark world. It's a dark time.

Sometimes we find ourselves in dark seasons.

Maybe it's a lost job or maybe it's a lost loved

one. Maybe it's sickness. Maybe it's family trouble.

Maybe it's uncertainty about what you're going

to eat or where you're going to live. We find

ourselves in darkness. But what God says is the

people walking in darkness have seen a great

light. Isaiah wrote these words to a people,

the Israelite people, who were no strangers to

fear. They were no strangers to oppression. They

knew very much what it felt like to be wandering,

to be spiritually lost. These are a people who

were very politically vulnerable. This is a people

who struggled with morality. This is a people

who were very unsure of their future. That sounds

like us. That sounds like some people we can

relate to, right? They were in darkness. But

God saw fit to bring a light. See, darkness isn't

just a metaphor. It's reality. For the Israelite

people, darkness was not just a metaphor. It

was a reality to them. They knew what darkness

felt like. They knew what it was like to be lost,

just like the forest we talked about. The Israelite

people, they can't see their way forward. They

don't know which way to go. They don't know how

to escape their circumstances. They don't know

how to reach the promised land that God has told

them about. They don't know about God's peace

and presence until God brings the light. And

Isaiah says the light's coming. He tells them

hope is coming. You don't have to stay in the

dark. It's not going to be dark forever. It will

not be this way for long. The light, the hope

of God is coming. And I want to just turn back

the clock here from what Isaiah is writing again.

This is the Israelite people. And so after the

Israelite people, God's chosen people, the Jews,

after they escaped slavery in Egypt, they entered

the wilderness. They entered this place of wandering.

And so now they're free. They're no longer in

slavery. They're no longer in chains. But they

may feel a little directionless. Have you ever

walked around in the desert? I haven't, but I

can imagine it's terrifying because you don't

know where you're going. You don't know unless

you have a compass, unless you have a map. You

don't know where you're supposed to head. And

so the Israelites, they're free, but there's

some directionlessness. They've been saved, but

they're not quite sure how to get home. So God

does what God always does in times of darkness.

He provides a light. So we're in Exodus. This

is the Israelites wandering. And they're in the

desert. Again, who knows where to go. They know

they've been promised this home, this land flowing

with milk and honey. They know they've been promised

a place that's going to be peaceful. They've

been promised a place where they can call home

because for so long, their only home has been

chains. And so God is offering them a place that

they can be comfortable in, but they don't quite

know how to get there. So God provides a light

to lead them. It says, by night, the Lord went

ahead of them in a pillar of fire to give them

light. If you're familiar with this passage.

God also provided a cloud that would go before

them in the daytime, but that doesn't align with

the Christmas lights theme. So we're going with

the fire at night, right? He provides them a

light so that they can have direction, so that

they can have warmth, so that they can have vision.

And if you have those things, you have a chance

at survival. And not just survival, but rescue.

You see, this wasn't... Just a flashlight for

the Israelite people wandering through the wilderness.

This was God providing guidance. It was God providing

protection. God giving them reassurance, giving

them direction. It was hope in the darkness of

the journey to home. So Israel could go on this

major adventure because God lit the path. And

for us, we don't necessarily walk through literal

physical wildernesses. we do walk through hard

to handle places like grief. We walk through

difficult places like uncertainty. Like broken

relationships, like anxiety, like temptation,

like addiction. These dark places of confusion.

We walk through these dark seasons where we don't

know what our next step is or should be. And

so God steps in to the dark forest, the dark

wilderness that we have been in or maybe we are

in. And he provides light. I want to encourage

you with this truth. Although the world is full

of darkness. And the human existence is full

of tragedy and it's full of wickedness. We are

not ever left alone. Our God never leaves us

alone. The true light has come. The Christmas

season is not about the pillar of fire that the

Israelites were led by. It's about the light

of Christ that has come. This is what John chapter

John 8:12

8 verse 12 says. Jesus says, actually, I am the

light of the world. Whoever follows me will never

walk in darkness, but will have the light of

life. If you are in Christ this morning, if you

have given your life to Jesus and have said,

I'm going to live for him. If you have been filled

with the Holy Spirit through your. commitment

to Christ, you have the light of life. So darkness

does not have to be your reality. You've got

more than a flashlight. You have the light of

Christ living inside you. He doesn't just show

us the way. He is the way. He doesn't just reveal

what's in front of us, what is before us, but

he is what's in front of us. He doesn't just

give us life. He is the provider of life. He

is our substance. See, Jesus is so much more

than just the bringer of eternal life. We talk

so much in the church and we try to tell people,

if you want to live forever, you will come to

Christ. Well, first of all, we're going to live

forever. One way or another, it's going to be

good or bad. But he's so much more than just

the bringer of eternal life. He is the power

supply for abundant and eternal life. Because

of Christ. We can live in this world today, not

just forever, but we can live today in the darkness

and the uncertainty and the fear of this life

with a lot to tell us and to show us how to get

home. See, when Jesus came as a baby in a manger,

he didn't just illuminate the night sky with

this North Star that showed people how to get

to the baby. He illuminated the world with hope

because now the light is here. So what is this

hope? What hope does the light bring? Because

you may be wandering in darkness and you may

be struggling with fear and pain and uncertainty.

Well, the light gives us a sense of where we

are. It allows you to see clearly the situation

you're in. Because if I'm in darkness, I may

not know that. I've always wondered, and if there's

any blind people in the room, I'm going to ask

you one day. But I've always wondered, what a

blind person thinks about? You know, like, they

don't know what they're missing, if they've always

been blind. They don't know what they're missing,

as far as visually. But they see something, right?

Maybe it's just darkness. But they don't know.

Well, when you bring light into it, now you can

see what you've been missing. I love watching

the videos. If you've seen them before, I should

have put a clip on the screen. But have you ever

seen the videos of the little babies that are

blind and they get glasses for the first time?

Now, the babies can see, but they can't see well.

So they get glasses for the first time and they

can see their parents' face. And it's a really

like a cute emotional thing. And I'd have all

of you crying if I showed videos. Go look them

up. It's a great way to spend your day. So you

watch these children get glasses for the first

time. And they can see their mom's face. And

you see the excitement but also like the sadness.

It's an overwhelming feeling because now they

see what they've been missing. And so when you've

been wandering in darkness. And now it's illuminated.

You can see not only the good stuff, but you

can see the bad stuff. And so it brings awareness

to where you're at. And the first step to getting

out of a scary place is realizing you're in a

scary place. And you need some light for that.

The light also reveals the truth. It allows us

to know what's a lie and what's real. It allows

us to know what dangers are really there and

what dangers are just in our heads. Because,

again, I'm scared of the dark. And I'm fully

aware that my fear of the dark is probably very

irrational. I know that. You know that. I'm just

a big baby. But when you bring light into the

picture, now I can see there was nothing really

to be afraid of. Now, if you turn the light on

and there's like a murderer sitting there with

a knife over me, yeah, there was something to

be afraid of. But I don't know any different

if there's no light here. And so when Jesus comes

in and he brings this light, he exposes the darkness

and shows us what there is to be afraid of and

what there isn't. It helps us to see the reality

around us. Again, I've always been scared of

the dark. Irrationally scared. But as a kid,

I always loved Christmas time. Because again,

The light outside, the light from the tree, would

peek through the window. And I didn't have to

sleep in the dark. I knew, no matter what, for

one month of the year, I didn't have to sleep

in the dark. I didn't have to sleep with my head

tucked under my blanket. But I could just sleep

peacefully. Because there's nothing to be afraid

of when the light is shining. The light of Christ.

not only reveals the reality around us and shows

us the truth and shows us what there is to be

scared of and what there isn't, the light shows

us where we're going. See, hope, hope's not wishful

thinking. Hope is something informed. It's a

confidence, it's an expectation of what God has

promised because God himself is faithful. If

you've read the Old Testament and if you've read

the New Testament, you know one thing is true.

God fulfills his promises every time. God is

faithful. And so we have a hope knowing that

our faithful God is at work and that he has brought

light onto the scene. So what has God promised

that we need to have hope for? Well, to the Israelites,

he promised them a home and a promised land.

You know, that land flowing with milk and honey.

He promised them that. A land where they didn't

have to live in chains. A land where they didn't

have to be in fear. A land where they could call

it home. And to the Christian, to the follower

of Christ, he has promised a home far greater.

It's not a home flowing with milk and honey.

I don't actually know why that sounds enticing.

Maybe if you like milk, it does. A land of abundance

is what that is. God has promised a land where

we can call home for eternity and not have to

worry about chains, not have to worry about darkness,

not have to worry about sorrow and fear and pain.

It is a home of abundance and eternal life. Here's

what we have been promised. Look at 1 Peter 1

-2 -5. here's the word, hope through the resurrection

of Christ from the dead to an inheritance that

is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept

in heaven for you, who by God's power are being

guarded through faith for a salvation ready to

be revealed in the last time. That's the promise.

It's a home. I love the way Peter says that,

imperishable. It can't be broken down. It can't

expire. It can't fade. It is imperishable. It's

undefiled. You can't stain it. You can't mess

it up. It is unfading. That light of glory is

going to shine bright for eternity. And it's

in heaven waiting for us. And what's it going

to be like? We're going to have an entire series

on heaven soon, I promise. But I want to give

you a little bit of a sneak peek that John gives

us in Revelation 21. He says, Then I saw a new

heaven, for the former things had passed away.

Like a bride. I've used this analogy before,

but I'm going to use it again because I love

to talk about it. When I'm standing at the front

of a church, And I see the doors open and my

beautiful wife is walking down the aisle. Waterworks.

Because it's a beautiful thing. It's an amazing

thing that someone is promising their life to

you. It's an amazing thing that this beautiful

person inside and out has committed to being

with you. And you get to have her or him forever.

You get to have them. In your life, blessing

you, loving you, being there with you through

every struggle forever. And that's what heaven's

going to be like. It is God bringing this home

to us to be with us forever. Despite all of our

flaws, despite all of our inadequacies, God promises

himself and a beautiful home to us forever. That's

what heaven's going to be like. It's a place

where there's no sorrow. There's no crying. There's

no death. There is no loss. There is no pain.

There is no fear. That is where we're going.

If you are in Christ, that's the home that has

been promised to you by God. And again, God keeps

his promises every time. He is faithful. And

so today, you may be struggling with pain. You

may be struggling with sorrow. I know there are

some in this room that are hurting because they

are losing loved ones. And to them I say, I hope.

Because this is not forever. This darkness does

not last forever. In fact, it does not have to

feel like darkness to us because we know who

our promise keeper is. We know our destination.

We know where our hope comes from. The light

has come. We've been promised something amazing.

And the light shows us exactly how to get there.

Jesus modeled the path to home. Jesus sent us

the spirit to guide us home, to guard us until

we get home. Jesus gave us the word to teach

us how to get home and how to bring other people

home. And Jesus established the church. And this

is an important one that we like to discount.

Jesus established. the church to walk with us

through this world on our journey home. Jesus

Christ, the reason for the season, has given

us everything we need to get through the darkness

and to get home to that promised land. So we

follow Jesus. We follow him. Even if the world

around us seems scary, Even if it seems dark,

even if it seems painful, even if this world

around us leads us to death, we follow Jesus.

We follow the light. I got to imagine the Israelites

when they were walking through the wilderness,

saw some crazy things at night. You know there's

wolves out there? And like scary animals that

want to eat you? You know, there were times where

they were worried about what they were going

to eat and what they were going to drink. But

every time, in all of it, God provided light.

He provided protection. God provided. If I told

you there's a million dollars waiting for you

in a foreign country, and all you've got to do

is get there. You've just got to get there. You

may know the general direction to that country.

Let's just call it Peru. I don't know why. Peru

sounds fun. There's a million dollars waiting

for you in Peru. You just got to get there. But

you don't know how to get there. You don't know

the route. You can't just like Google Maps Peru.

I guess you could. But there's some places you

got to go through to get there. You need some

guidance. You need direction. You need somebody

pointing you on the way. You need someone maybe

to just take you there. Hope without guidance

is just wishful thinking. If I just tell you,

hey, there's a promised land that God, he's guaranteed

it in his book, but you don't know how to get

there. You have no guidance. You have no direction.

It's just wishful thinking. You're just banking

on somebody else doing something and then you'll

just magically get it. That's not how this promise

works. Jesus doesn't just promise us heaven.

He shows us the way there. We don't have to guess.

We don't have to. Well, we don't have to hope.

But we know for certain how to get there. It's

written down. He modeled it for us. He told us

plainly. We have an assurance that if we follow

Christ, if we follow the light, we will find

the promised land. Here's the truth. Since Genesis

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, when Adam and Eve sinned and they

kicked out of the garden, we have been wandering.

The human race has been wandering in darkness.

We've been suffering. We've been scared. Everyone's

scared of death. Everyone's scared of what's

going to get them. We've been... worried. We've

been hurting. We've been suffering ever since

we messed up. But ever since then, God has been

working to restore his people. It's the gospel

message. He's been working to redeem and restore

his people and bring his people home. He has

been trying to bring us out of the darkness into

the light. He's been trying to bring us into

that new perfect creation to a better promised

land. Just like the Israelites, our journey involves

wilderness seasons. Our journey involves dark

seasons. It involves cold, and scary seasons.

It involves some scary traps through dark wildernesses.

But just like God did for the Israelites, God

provides light. And light brings hope. After

saying all this, I want to ask you this question.

Are you following the light? Because the light

being there does no good if you're just going

to ignore it. Are you following it? Because hope

is not a passive thing. It's not something that

we can just say, yeah, I hope, and just let it

go. Again, that's wishful thinking. Hope is directional.

Hope involves some action steps, some things

that we have to do, some things that we have

to do to show that we trust, that we follow.

So are you following the light? Are you following

the teachings of Christ? Are you trusting in

his guidance? Are you surrendering the parts

of your life that are still in darkness? Maybe

your whole life is still in darkness. Have you

surrendered that? Are you allowing God to show

you the path home? Because the light is shining.

You just have to walk in it. We just have to

walk in it. Are you following the light? I told

you I love Isaiah 9, verse 2. But you notice,

Isaiah 9:2

it doesn't say that the people found a light.

It says they saw it. The people didn't make it

happen. God did. They didn't conjure up this

light. They didn't rub some sticks together and

get fired. God made it happen. And just like

for them, The same is true for us. God provided

light. He brought the light into our darkness.

Jesus, the light of the world, has come into

our darkness and provided a path home. So as

we begin the Christmas season, as we begin this

Christmas light series, here's your encouragement

and your challenge today. No matter how dark

your world feels, no matter how dark your world

is, Light has come. And light brings hope. You

just have to follow it. It's already there. You

don't have to flip a switch. You don't have to

rub some sticks together. You don't have to lie

to match. The light is there. You just have to

follow it. If you've been walking in darkness,

if you've been walking in the cold in this terrifying

world, and you want to follow the light, we would

love to help you access it. If you've been wandering,

And you've already seen the light, but you've

just kind of strayed from the path. We'd love

to help get you back there. I know there's some

people in this room that are hurting right now,

that are worried, that are fearful. We want to

pray for you. We want to be there for you as

you go through this time because, again, the

church was established to walk with us through

the dark times. We were never meant to walk it

alone. God has provided the light in so many

ways. And they all stem from Jesus. And I hope

this morning you know that he's available for

you.