Salt and Light | Keep Your Light On | Pastor Brodie Kalamen

Hello, KCC Church.

Welcome to church.

Happy Mother's Day weekend.

So thankful that you have joined us online for this service.

So thanks for being here.

My name is Valerie Lalonde.

For those of you who know me, you know I have five children.

Yes, five children.

Two girls, or no, sorry, three girls.

I lose track, there's that many.

And two boys.

And so if you see someone who looks like they're losing their mind with a million children around them, that's me.

For those of you who don't know me, I am a single mom.

I was recently widowed, will be a year this next weekend.

My amazing husband and super dad to my five kids.

He was a pastor here at Kelowna Christian Center.

And last year he was diagnosed, or actually two years ago, was diagnosed with liver cancer and passed away last year going home to be with Jesus in May.

So many of you have prayed for us and loved on our family and supported us.

And I just want to say thank you from each one of us.

We are so grateful for this community that we have here.

And we honestly wouldn't be where we are without you guys.

So thank you for that.

When Pastor Brody asked me if I could share for Mother's Day, my mind and heart were flooded with a million emotions and thoughts.

I didn't tell Brody this.

But last Mother's Day was Sean's last good day.

So for me, it was just really hard, and I didn't know how I was going to speak today.

Um but I I came to God and just said, God, should I share?

How I have so much to say and I God's put so much in my heart, but I just don't know how I'm gonna do that without uh breaking down, basically.

And I just felt like God said in my brokenness, He can speak through me.

So that's why I'm here.

I know there are a lot of moms and a lot of women out there today that Mother's Day can be very painful.

It can be a reminder of loss, hurt, uh, dreams that haven't come to fruition, and actually just mess and darkness.

And I think in that darkness, we need God's light.

This month at KCC, the focus is on salt and light.

Last week, Pastor Brody shared on being the salt, the flavor, the preservative for this distressed world.

I think we can all agree the world is a little bit of a stressful place right now.

Um we are living in fearful and unknown times.

Many of us are isolated, away from our loved ones, unsure of what tomorrow will bring.

It's dark out there.

You go to get your groceries and you can feel the heaviness.

Any mom who's been homeschooling their kids for the last six weeks, they can they know it's a very dark, dark time.

How can we, in this current time, with so much darkness and unknown and unknown show light?

Darkness is just the absence of light.

Matthew 5, 14, you are the light of the world.

A city that that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

It is us, we're the light.

And it's not just us on our own, because if it if I had to just rely on myself, I would fail.

It's Christ in us.

When we get when we let God into every area of our hearts, his light dispels all darkness.

And his light shines through us.

So today being Mother's Day, I thought I would share the definition of a mother.

A mother is a selfless, loving human who must sacrifice many of their wants and needs for the wants and needs of their children.

They work hard to make sure their child is equipped with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to make it as a competent human.

So whether you have had children or as a woman have been a person who sets aside their needs for someone else, you can let Jesus in and be the light.

You can be the one who sets the tone.

Even if you feel broken or hurt or things haven't gone the way you thought they would, that's when we can let God in.

In those times is when we need God the most.

I've learned this last year, just to be still and allow God to fill his light.

And when we do that, it's surprising how bright he can shine through us.

For every mom and woman out there, my prayer for you is that you would be still and let God's light dispel all the darkness.

As you do in your life, you'll begin to see his light shine through.

It'll start reaching your kids, your neighbors, and the world.

Happy Mother's Day.

I just want to really thank you, Val, for sharing and taking time to encourage us to resist striving in our own strength and instead lean on Christ.

I'm going to say that that's the answer.

Uh we can't always control the situations we encounter, but we can look at our response to the situations we encounter.

And I found that no matter what the situation, whether it's in difficult times or it's in really good times, we need to find that best place and that best position is to be leaning on Christ, being close to Christ.

So every message that you'll hear from this pulpit, every message you'll hear on this stream, is going to circle right around back to the importance of having a relationship with Jesus Christ that's nice and close, connected in that relationship.

So thank you again, Val.

As was mentioned, it is Mother's Day, and we just want to say we love our moms.

We do love our moms.

No one mom is alike to another.

We love them all.

And uh this week I actually overheard my son on a Zoom class, and he had a list of all of his friends on screen, and the teacher was moderating the class, and she began to ask questions as they were prepping for Mother's Day.

Uh what is your mom known for?

What do you what's her her big accomplishment in terms of the home?

Like what's she known for?

And one boy said, Well, my mom, she loves to work out a she does it a lot.

She's always working out, and which really meant probably to that child that her mom or his mom goes outside, looks for time to be alone, goes for a walk every day, but to their their brain, it's like my mom works out a lot.

Another one said, My mom wants the house to be super clean, super clean.

And so that probably is just a mom wanting the kitchen, bedroom, bathrooms, living room, house looking in some form or shape of order.

And so the last little boy he said, Well, my mom doesn't really like work out a lot, but she loves to be in the kitchen and she loves to bake.

And I'm thinking, well, three meals a day for healthy meals a day for her family keeps you in the kitchen, keeps you busy.

And so, no matter how you're perceived by your children, I want you to know that you are incredible.

You're incredible moms, you're incredible grandmothers.

And uh, every mom out there today deserves to have a great Mother's Day.

And so I hope you hear that from our heart to you.

We haven't had the opportunity to actually celebrate with you or actually physically connect with you, but we want to extend an invitation to you after service on Sunday between 12 o'clock and 2 here at KCC.

We're having a drive-thru for mothers, a Mother's Day drive-thru.

And we're going to be serving Starbucks coffee, some treats, we're going to be giving out a small gift to every mom who comes by.

We want to just see you.

We want to just appreciate you, acknowledge you for the love, the sacrifice, the generosity you share.

You are incredible.

So it's a blessing for us to be able to serve you on that uh today, uh, on that day on Sunday, 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock.

And uh we just want to wish you a happy Mother's Day.

Now, this series, Salt and Light, is all about making a difference.

And mothers, you are making a difference in your home.

And as the world is looking ahead at ways to reopen of sorts, we go back to the scripture where Jesus says, I want to launch the church and I want to launch disciples into ministry, and this is what I want it to look like.

This is the way I want the church to launch forward.

You're gonna be salt and you're going to be light.

And we've read that scripture, and Val mentioned it earlier with regards to being a light in our home.

Last week we talked about us being salt, but this week I want to talk to us about that element of being the light of the world.

And Jesus compares his followers to being these light bearers, light bearers, saying that they are the light to this world and that they are unable to be hidden.

In their homes they're unable to be hidden, in the city they're unable to be hidden.

So again, verse fourteen of Matthew chapter five, you are the light of the world.

A town built on the hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

Instead they put it on a stand and give light to everyone first in the house.

In the same way let your light shine before all men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify the Father in heaven.

So our role as Christians, our role as the church, is to not only be the salt, the preserving agent in the world, preserving marriage and relationships and finance and fun and education and faith and the environment.

We're not preservative, we're not preserving agents only, we're the light of the world.

We're the light in our homes and in the communities and the world as a whole.

Now, as a kid, I remember hiding under my bed covers, trying to read a book, and I'd bring a flashlight or pull my lamp under my covers.

And now I try to uh, you know, keep the glow from my phone at night from from waking up my wife when I'm on the internet.

Um, my kids do the same thing.

Uh I can still see the glow of the light coming from under their covers when they're hiding under their covers.

They can't hide.

And when you're full of light, you can't hide.

You become a spectacle wherever you go.

And that's the purpose.

Now, light, it's the most prevalent theme in the entire Bible.

In fact, one of the very first things that God does in creating the earth is to bring literally a physical light.

Now we we we realize that this was more than just physical light, this was life that came in this light to the world.

It was the first step to life.

The scripture says in Genesis 1, 3 that God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

And God saw the light, and he said to the light, You're good.

It's good.

And God divided the light from darkness.

The light also, not only does it give us life, it gives us understanding.

We were spiritually, mentally awakened when we receive this light.

Psalm 119, 13 says, the entrance of God's word into our heart, into our life, gives light.

It gives understanding to the simple.

I love simple.

It gives me understanding.

And this is where we get the image of like the light bulb on top of the head, the idea, the the lights came on.

We got understanding.

This is what the light did.

It brought understanding to life.

Thirdly, this light became a means of salvation.

David said it this way: the Lord is my light and my salvation.

And his next statement was really powerful.

He says, Who shall I fear?

In other words, if God is your light, if God is your salvation, then you don't need to fear.

You can have peace, security in your life.

So the light becomes this means of salvation.

So the question for us today is this why would you place this incredible light that brings life, that brings understanding, this light that brings peace to your life, and do what Matthew 5 says and hide it under a lamp cover.

Hide it under one of the songs we sing, hide it under a bushel, like a cover.

You don't want to hide a light that gives life, that brings understanding, that brings peace, because in this world we need life, we need understanding, we need peace.

But we need to keep our lights on.

Keep them on, keep them bright, keep them brilliant.

And the image in my mind when I think of the scripture of Jesus, when he shared, was that this light is like a bulb that's on a high point in the city and it's being placed in a high spot so that it benefits all people.

Like you never see lights when you're designing a home.

I'm gonna put a light under the bed.

No, you put lights on the ceiling because in the high places so that it benefits everyone who comes into the room.

But the temptation is that we keep the lights off.

We turn the lights down in our lives because there's work to keep the lights on.

It's being consistent every day, it's it's being recognized every day as someone who's a light bearer, carrying lights and having to shake up dark places and help other people.

And it can become fatiguing of sorts at times.

And sometimes I just don't want to be the light in my house, the light as a father, the light in as a teacher around the table.

I just want some time off.

I want to turn off.

But my challenge to you today is no matter the season that you're living in, it's so important that we keep the light on.

Keep it on.

I was reading about the coastline in Maine in the USA, and there's a lighthouse there that is uh on the end of a peak or a little uh location where the water curls around this this peak place, and the rocky cliffsides and the shoreline are really dangerous for uh people in boats.

And this lighthouse guards this coastline, and it's been guarding this coastline since the 1800s.

And today, a light bulb, and if you can believe this, a light bulb the size of my thumb, 35 watts, throws a light out from that lighthouse 15 miles to sea.

That's the power of light.

It shines 15 miles out to sea to keep boaters from coming into the shoreline and experiencing the danger of the shoreline.

And for 200 years that lighthouse has been in operation.

It was a full-time job of that lightkeeper to keep the light going, keep the light on, because it saved lives and it made it so that people could find their way home safely and come home to their families.

For Canadians, we don't have too many locations where we can experience this lighthouse, but uh can in Canada along the prairies, uh they did a test, and there was one person who lit a match, and from three kilometers away, you could see the match flicker with the naked eye.

Three kilometers away.

Some places in Canada, on a clear night, you can look up and you can see the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye, and the stars from that galaxy that are 25, just over 25 million light years away.

It's incredible the power, the visibility, the inspiration that light brings.

And what a responsibility and what an opportunity and privilege it is to be called the light of the world, the spectacle to your city, to your home, to your neighborhood, to your community.

When Jesus was speaking of light, he made it very clear.

He said, I am the source of light.

I am the source, I am the light that's gonna shine within and through the church, and it's gonna light the path for the world.

John said it in eight verse eight, chapter eight, verse twelve, he says, Jesus spoke again, saying, I am the light of the world.

He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

And if you're in proximity and you're close to the one who's the source of light, then you yourself will carry that light and become that light to others.

Now, with every truth, there's a lie.

Because we know we have an enemy out there who's wanting to rob, kill, steal, destroy, defraud us of everything that God wants for us.

And the lie is simply this the lie is you can walk just as well in the dark as you can in the light.

And the convincing argument is if you need to get from point A to point B, it's okay, you can get there, you don't need the light.

You can do it on your own, you can do it in your own strength.

And it's not too impossible for us to believe that that's not true.

Even in every simple scenario, you'll know that going from point A to point B in the dark is a slow, problematic process.

In our home, our life has been turned upside down during the season.

As all three of my kids are online and doing school, and Natalie's homeschooling and working and working out, and I'm I'm working at home and I'm adjusting where my office is and finding quiet corners of the room to meet with people online.

And in the process, one night I was up late with some friends, and it was uh everyone was still in bed, and I walked into my bedroom, and I know my room design well enough, but as I'm walking through the room, I end up tripping over what my wife calls a puff.

I don't even know what a puff is, I'd never heard of that word before.

It's like a footstool wrapped in fabric.

You put your feet up on it, but it's a puff.

And as puff had been in the middle of my room and in the dark, I tripped over it.

I caught myself on the edge of the bed, I made noise, I was frustrated, I just wanted someone to blame, but everyone was asleep.

And I realized this is a problem.

All I had to do was just turn on the light or a light, and I would have found my way without any problem.

The best life lived is a life lived in the light.

We live with the lights on, and when we live that way, something happens.

Darkness is exposed.

And it's part of the reason why people resist the light.

They resist the light because when Jesus, even as Jesus walked the earth, everywhere he went, he exposed darkness, he exposed injustice, he exposed sickness, he exposed chaos, he exposed dysfunction, he exposed racism, he exposed prejudice, he exposed belittling of other people, the belittling of other people.

And other races.

And he exposed all these things.

And when we walk in the light, oftentimes it exposes areas not in the world first, but in our own home, in our own lives first.

It showcases those dark places in our life that we have to address.

And we have to focus on and say, Lord, what are you wanting to do in my life in that area?

How do you want me to address it?

And we realize after a while that if we've been walking in darkness, the first place we need Jesus to look in our life and shine the light is first in our own heart.

But when we walk with the lights on and we say to God, I'm willing to walk this walk to be this light of the world, how do we walk?

And in our home, we just say this way ask the question what would Jesus do?

What would he do?

How would he respond?

How would he speak?

How would he act?

What things would he watch?

What things would he put down?

What things would he just stop a conversation and confront?

And we say, What would Jesus do?

Because in that case, we're reflecting the light of Jesus in our own lives onto the world.

John said it this way.

In 1 John 1, verse 5 to 7.

1 John 1:5–7

I'm just gonna close here in just a minute.

Says this is the message we have heard from him and declare to you.

God is light.

In him there's no darkness at all.

If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, then we lie and do not live in the truth.

We need to be with Jesus.

We need to ex have him address those dark spots in our own life.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.

We can walk pure, righteous, head held high, confident that we're walking with Jesus.

And it's as quick as to say, Lord, I need your light first for me before I can give it to the world.

So Jesus told his followers, he said, This let your light shine before all men.

And light cannot do anything but shine.

It's bright, it dispels darkness, it enables people to see obstacles in their way, what they're doing.

And your circumstances, even at this time of life, are an opportunity for you to allow the Lord to be a light in your life for your community and your home.

So how do we be this light of the world?

The first thing we can do is again share our story.

Our story can be shared.

God takes ordinary people with ordinary stories and He gives it power, power to make a difference in someone else's life.

And we don't have to be ashamed of our story, we don't have to be ashamed of our faith.

We can take a moment and pray, take a moment and confront, take uh confront thoughts, confront injustice, and be the light to our world.

Share that story, share your faith.

Be let it be visible to the world, don't hide it under a bushel.

Next, we take our light into dark.

Take our light into places that are dark, where it's dark.

And this is the Bible says that Jesus didn't say, go into the uh the light of you're the light of the world, not the light of a church.

But we're supposed to exit the four walls of the church, find places where people are living in darkness and become light in those places.

And lastly, shine together as a church.

This is an opportunity for every home to become a light.

And when homes together commit to allowing the light of Jesus to shine out of their homes, together as a community, we can make a difference, a greater difference together.

We can become a brighter light with more impact to our communities.

So for those of you who may be listening in today, on this Mother's Day at home, we're so appreciative that you joined us and listening.

But if God is speaking to you today, I want you to take a moment and just take a stop what you're doing and bow your head and just say, Lord, is this me?

Are you wanting me to become this light in a greater, more impactful way to my home, to my community, with my co-workers, to our city, to our nation, to this world?

Are you speaking to me today?

And if you're saying today, God, I want more of your love, I want more of your joy, I want this light, I want this life in me, I want that bright idea, that understanding to come to my own life, and I want to just be able to celebrate in my salvation because of who you are, and I want to live as that co-light bearer, then I want to speak to you today, and I want to pray with you, and I want you to lead you in a prayer that just invites Jesus into your own life and makes him the light of your life so that you can walk today as someone who's full of the light that God has for us.

So, wouldn't you just bow your heads with me today?

Pray this prayer with me.

Lord Jesus, I surrender my life to the power of the cross.

I surrender my life to you.

I acknowledge that I am a sinner and that I've been walking in darkness.

I ask you would forgive me of my sin and that your light would come into my heart.

I ask that you would become my Lord, my Savior today, and that I would live in the experience that I can have with the light bearer himself, the source of light.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

I want to go, I want to say that God loves you, God's got a plan for you, and God's not finished with us.

We've got greater, brighter days ahead.

God bless you.