You are not stuck in darkness. There is a Light that still shines.
Welcome to our Summer Sermon Series on the Daron Earlewine Podcast. This summer to inspire your spiritual journey, we’re sharing some of the messages from local churches I’ve given over the last year. This week, we’re looking at a message where I broke down John 8 and Jesus’ statement: “I am the light of the world.”
Understanding Jesus’ Statement in Context
We all experience darkness in our lives. Perhaps it’s a job loss that shakes your financial security, relationship struggles that leave you feeling alone, or health concerns that fill you with uncertainty. In those moments, what we once relied on for comfort suddenly feels inadequate, like a small flashlight during a power outage.
In this powerful message, Daron Earlewine explores one of Jesus’ most profound declarations: “I am the light of the world.” But this wasn’t just a casual statement. Jesus made this declaration at a strategic moment during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, where massive 75-foot candle towers had just been extinguished after illuminating the city for seven days. As the smoke still lingered in the air and the sun began to rise, Jesus stood up and proclaimed a truth that would change everything: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness again.”
The Feast of Tabernacles commemorated how God had led the Israelites through the desert with a pillar of fire at night. For generations, the Jewish people celebrated this feast looking forward to the day when the Messiah would come and be their light. When Jesus made his declaration, he wasn’t just using a metaphor—he was announcing that the long-awaited moment had arrived. God was present, near, and for them.
Moving Forward in the Light
The invitation is clear: Believe and receive the light Jesus offers. Then, become a light-bearer yourself. As Jesus said elsewhere, “You are the light of the world… let your light shine before others.” Our mission isn’t to expose darkness but to illuminate with love, to bring vision and hope to dark places.
Your Call to Action
Take inventory of your five capitals and identify who in your life needs what only you have to offer. Which capital do you have the most of? Where do you need to grow? And most importantly, who around you needs what’s flowing into your life?
Remember: “We’re blessed to become a blessing.” When we shift from being reservoirs to becoming rivers of blessing, we not only transform lives—we transform culture.
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To connect or learn more about joining a Rogue Collective band, visit RogueCollectiveCoaching.com or email me directly at daron@daronearlewine.com.
Episode Summary:
Jesus’ statement “I am the Light of the world” wasn’t just poetic—it was revolutionary. Daron unpacks how Jesus steps into our darkest moments not to condemn but to restore. Through ancient cultural background, modern-day storms, and real-life redemption, you’ll be reminded that light always wins. The darkness in your life doesn’t define you—Jesus does.
Key Takeaways:
⚡️ Jesus meets us in our fear, not with condemnation, but restoration
⚡️ God’s light brings truth, clarity, and freedom
⚡️ Darkness distorts reality—light reveals what’s real
⚡️ You were made to carry the light of Christ to others
Notable Quotes:
⚡️ “Darkness makes us believe lies about ourselves.”
⚡️ “Jesus doesn’t throw stones. He offers healing.”
⚡️ “You don’t need to walk in darkness, not anymore.”
⚡️ “You are the light of the world, now go shine.”
Episode Resources:
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Links to the Daron Earlewine Podcast
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TRANSCRIPT
Hey, welcome back to the Daron Earlewine Podcast. Daron Earlewine, your host. And hey, one thing I love to do in the summer is shake things up a little bit right? You got four seasons and everyone’s a little different, and I like to change things up in the summer and that’s what we’re going to do here on the Daron Earlewine podcast.
So here’s what we got for you. You know we do a lot of purpose development stuff whether it’s at schools, the purpose paradigm with what we’ve been doing doing now and kind of communicating the future of Rogue Collective as we’re doing purpose and personal development in the marketplace. And one of the other things that I’ve been doing well, shoot now for like I don’t know since I was 16, is going to churches or being a part of faith communities and sharing sermons out of the Bible.
And so what we’ve done this summer is gotten maybe some of the greatest hits over the past year or so of me speaking at local churches and we’re going to put them together. We’re going to share them with you here on the podcast. And here’s what I hope. I hope they inspire you. I hope they help you understand how much God loves you. I hope they help awaken within you the fact that God is near you right, that God is for you. And as we say every week on the podcast that God has created you on purpose and for a purpose.
So lots of different topics that’ll be coming this summer but hopefully just great content that’s going to inspire you. And we always love to hear from you. Very easy way for you to do that. Just email me Daron@daronearlewine.com. We’d love to hear what you’re learning. Love to hear questions you have. Maybe there’s a topic you’d love to hear us jump into on the podcast. Please reach out Daron at daronearlewine.com and enjoy the 2025 summer of service.
Tagline: Created on purpose and for purpose.
I don’t know how you feel about this time of year. I’m the verdict is out for me because it’s like I can’t decide like is it winter, is it spring, is it summer right? It’s just kind of like a smear of terrible kind of cool not sure moments right? Or like this week where we’re in baseball season so it’s like a lot of baseball and they’re like “oh man it’s sunny it’s nice” and then like yesterday I’m out mowing and like as I’m mowing I got kind of sweaty and I was like it’s hot you think right? So then I went to the baseball game last night and I got there and I had a short sleeve shirt on and then I realized as I exited my vehicle I have made a really bad decision.
So I had like a little pullover that I put on and then I realized wait a second if we win this game we go home. If we lose this game we have to play another game which means I’m going to be here potentially for 4 hours. I may die right? And so at this point I have to figure out where is my pride to frozeness equation because I don’t have any clothes that would help the situation. And my wife who has all of the things you need to survive life, she’s in Bloomington at another baseball game.
And so at this point I realized I’m going to have to embrace the mentality that it takes a village to raise Daron. And so I just began asking moms that were there if they potentially had extra clothing in their bag of mom type goodies. And thank God one of the moms had this big blue long coat and I wore for the next four hours and didn’t feel bad about it at all.
But you know the storms that we get during this time, a couple weeks ago right we had the tornado that came through. And it’s interesting with the storms because what happened that day is we knew the storm was coming. We had a little family pow-wow. Hey if the tornado siren goes off we’re going to the basement. We’re going to do that.
So we’re kind of prepping. Boom. Siren goes off. It’s like oh boy go to the basement. We get to the basement though. You get to the basement and you feel like you know what we’re safe. We’re good. We got a lot of wood and things above us. We should be safe in the basement. It’s very comfy down there. We have very comfy call the comfy couch right so we’re down on the comfy couch. I bring my computer just we’re checking the radar.
But my dog Theo we’ve got a little mini golden doodle. And he is an anxious mess. He hates storms. And as the every time it thunders he’s shaking. He’s trembling. He’s freaking out. Like if your dog is a freakout dog right, they have to like lay on you or be touched by you to know that they’re not going to die in this moment.
And we’re trying to comfort him like it’s just a storm. It’s not that big a deal. And I know that’s just thunder. It’s just making noise. It’s not that big of a deal. I’m trying to convince the dog we’re going to be okay. It’s not working. But I realize I’m in my basement fine until there’s another crack of lightning and thunder and boom the power goes off and it’s pitch black in the basement and I’m immediately like “Let’s join hands guys. It’s over. Lord take us now right it’s you’re in your basement. It’s okay until it’s black darkness. You can’t see.” And I’m freaking out.
And then I realized wait a second I think Julie bought some of those plug-in flashlights right they plug in the wall so they’re always charged. So I’m like don’t fear family. Hero dad is here. Right so I run upstairs and I get to the flashlights and I come down and I’m like guys I am the light of the world. If you stay with me you no longer walk in darkness. I don’t think I said that but I said something to the liking of like we’re going to be okay I’ve got a flashlight in the darkness.
Okay lights came back on. We were okay. And I just wonder if maybe you’re here this morning and here’s what I know about you and me. If you’re breathing meaning you’re alive there are some storms going on in your life. There’s some storms going on in your life. And there are places you go that you feel safe until it gets dark. I feel a little unsettled there and I feel a little stressed out but I’ve got my job and as long as I’m making money it’s okay here. We’re going to be okay in my job. And then it gets dark and you get laid off or you get fired or something happens and you go “Whoa this used to give me a lot of comfort. But I don’t know.”
Maybe it’s your marriage and it’s like well I’m not sure where the career’s going and praying for these kids but at least at least we got us. And then before you know it you kind of let some darkness come into your life and things get really hard and difficult in your marriage because marriage is really hard and really difficult and all of a sudden all you can see in your marriage is darkness. You go I don’t know.
Or maybe it’s your friends. Well at least I got my friends. And then all of a sudden you didn’t see it coming but there’s some betrayal. There’s some gossip. There’s some things. What happens and you go I thought I could trust my friends. I thought this was good. I thought this was comfortable. But now it’s just dark.
Maybe it’s your health. You got an email a call and the doctor says “Hey it’s not good.”
Maybe it’s your own mental emotional health. You’re like “Man I can at least count on me.” And then it just seems like there just continues to be darkness coming around your life and all you can see is anxiety or depression or stress. It’s getting dark in here. And what you’re realizing is you need something better than a little plug-in flashlight in your life don’t you?
The good news this morning is that you have something infinitely better than a plug-in flashlight. What we’re going to look at today is that there is a declaration made by the God who created the universe. Meaning he created light itself. This God is going to declare today. He did already and we’re going to go look at today. He declares that I am the light of the world. I am the light of the world. And anyone who believes and walks with me will never have to walk in darkness. I’m not a little plug-in flashlight. I am the creator and sustainer of all life. And I am here and I am near you and I am for you.
My guess is that some corner basement of your life needs to hear that truth this morning. Jesus thank you for this morning. Thank you for another day of life. Thank you for the truth that we have in you. And God you know because you see us you know us you love us you bless us you know the places in our life that used to bring comfort that now are causing anxiety that are causing fear that are causing terror. And so I pray Jesus that through your Holy Spirit and through your word today that you would illuminate our hearts our minds our soul our strength today and that we would believe you and receive your light in Jesus name Amen.
My name is Daron Earlewine. I get to be one of the teaching pastors here at Mercy Road Northeast and so stoked to be here this morning and really really really glad that you’re here. And we’re walking through this series right now called I am. And it’s these seven statements that Jesus uses the phrase I am and then he fills in the blank. We started off on Easter talking about him saying I am the resurrection the life. Last week Ken talked about I am the bread of life and today we’re talking about I am the light of the world.
So just to see and kind of understand the context of what’s happening here is when we hear that it’s kind of like we just introducing himself like I just told you I am Daron Earlewine and so you’re like wait Jesus is just saying stuff like that doesn’t really hit my ears a little bit different but to his audience this would have been revolutionary if not complete heresy because you see when the Jewish people were first introduced to God in the book of Exodus right relationally God is talking to this guy named Moses. Moses hey I kind of want to do what you want me to do but who are you and who should I say is sending me to do this stuff and God says I am that I am.
In that statement what it meant was he was eternal. He was eternal. He was all powerful. He was all knowing. He was the sustainer of all things. I am that I am provider healer everything they needed who was going to be able to do fill in the blank God saying “I am.” And he’s talking personally to a man. So in that moment what God was saying to humanity is “I am here. I am near and I am for you. I am that I am.”
So Jesus shows up on the scene and he begins to teach and he begins to heal people and he begins to do what he was sent to earth to do. And so in these statements we have two sides of it. This is a declaration and it’s an invitation. It’s a declaration and it’s an invitation. Jesus is declaring to his audience to us. He is saying I am God. I am God. Which was massive. And a lot of people didn’t believe him. A lot of people had a problem with the statement. But what he was saying to humanity is here’s the deal. I am here. I am Emmanuel God with you. Right I am here and I am near you and I am for you.
And so these I am statements are a declaration that Jesus is God and that he is for us in very very specific ways. And he says these statements in moments that actually mean something and are pretty big. And as I was looking through this story this week I realized that I wish I could get like a version of the Bible. Maybe it’s like ancient Jewish culture for dummies version. Would that be great right? Where you’re reading it it’s like “Hey I know this happened like 2,000 years ago and you probably aren’t a Jewish historian I’m not really.”
And I wish sometimes when the authors of the New Testament would have when they wrote the New Testament I wish they would have written some more context and they would have known like hey in a 2,000 years there’s going to be some people in Indiana reading this and they got no freaking idea why this is special. Right so sometimes we read Bible stories and we’re going to read what Jesus says here and I think it’s like yeah well Jesus said I’m the light of the world. That’s great.
And we imagine maybe he’s just walking the street. They’re by a stream or something. Maybe they’re taking a little lunch break and she’s like “Hey by the way cool stream. Anybody need some more PB&J?” “Hey guys I’m the light of the world.” And they were like “That’s cool.” And so we hear it we’re like “I guess that’s a big deal. I mean I think it’s comforting.” And I don’t know like was it like massive and when we go back and realize where Jesus said this and when he said this realize “Oh this was massive.”
So the context of this is you got to kind of see we’re in John chapter 8 but we got to really jump back to John chapter 7 to really understand the context of where Jesus was saying this and what was happening. What was happening is Jerusalem was full of people because they were having this festival called the feast of tabernacles or sukkat is what it’s called. And it was one of the three pilgrimage festivals for the Jewish people. They had Pentecost, they had Passover and they had sukai.
And this time was where they the people all the Jews would come together in Jerusalem and for a week they would live in tents or booths and the reason they would do this it was to commemorate and remember the 40 years in the desert where God led them from Egypt into the promised land. And in this time they lived in these temporary you know structures and God led them by a pillar of fire at night and he got led them by a cloud during the day and for 40 years he was faithful to them.
So every year they would come together. Everybody would be there. This was a whole week festival and one of the things they would do every day is there was this water ceremony they would do. I think I have maybe what it’s called the water libation ceremony. And what would happen is the priest would go out to the pool of Shalom and he would fill up this golden picture of water and he would come back to the temple and he would pour it over the altar and they would sing and they would celebrate. They’d have this moment of saying “We’re remembering the time when Moses struck the rock and God produced water to sustain us and he is our sustenance and someday there will be a Messiah that comes who will give us living water.” And they celebrate this moment. It’s beautiful. And they did this every single year at the Feast of Tabernacles.
So that’s what’s happening. And in chapter 7 it says this. On the last day the climax of the festival Jesus stood and shouted to the crowd. So see this. They’ve been celebrating for all week. And they do this ceremony all the time. And they’ve just poured out this water. And they’re saying “Someday God will come and someday he will be our sustenance.” And we’re looking forward to that time.
And Jesus stands up on that day and shouts to them “Hey listen. Here’s the deal guys okay anyone who is thirsty may come to me. Anyone who believes in me may come and drink. For the scriptures declare rivers of living water will flow from his heart. When he said living water he was speaking of the spirit who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet entered his glory. In this moment as they’re looking and saying someday God will Jesus stands up and says I am here. I am near and I am for you.
Here’s the declaration God is here. Here’s the invitation. You can come directly to God and he will satisfy the dehydration of your soul. It’s really good news cuz some of you are here this morning and you’re dehydrated in your soul. What brought you comfort is no longer bringing you comfort and you feel like you’re dying inside because you are. You can go 40 days without food. You can go four days without water and you begin to die or you die.
What is true physically is through is also true spiritually. If you are not connected to Jesus your spirit is dehydrated and dead. The good news is Jesus is here and he is near and he is God and he’s inviting you to come and drink of his spiritual water that will nourish your soul and not just a sip not just like a Dixie cup right he’s saying rivers of spiritual life hydration love will flow through and out of your life. It’s good news.
So Jesus says this son goes down says he goes out to the Mount of Olives. Probably prays all night. We don’t know he was out there. And early the next morning he comes back to the temple. And he shows up in this place called the court of women. It was the area that most the most amount of people were allowed in in the temple. So there would have been just packed house. And he shows up in the morning and he begins to teach the people.
And here’s the cool context that I didn’t know until this week. Okay so inside the court of women they had these four huge 75 ft candle towers. The top of these towers were these bowls and those bowls were filled with oil and they actually took old priestly garments and used them as wicks. And every night of the festival they would light these 75 foot towers of light. Like think about how huge that is. Think about that was in your neighborhood. We’re talking about like three two-story houses stacked on top of each other. These things are massive.
And every night they would get together and celebrate what God did for them. Long ago he was there and he led us through the night with the pillar of fire. And he is our light. And someday the Messiah will come and he will be our light. This is an artist rendering of what it could have looked like with these four pillars illuminating all of this light. They say it would give off so much light it would even bring light to the entire city of Jerusalem.
They celebrate the last night of the festival. They extinguish the light and the next morning Jesus shows up in the court of women. And this is like some epic cinematography win an Oscar type stuff if you think about it. You think about how much smoke these 16 bowls of oil would have had to like pour off as they’re extinguished. And so they’ve just been extinguished the next morning. The sun is just coming up around the horizon and Jesus shows back up in this in the court of women. There’s all these people smoke billowing out people are trying to waft it away to see Jesus as the sun is coming up and the light the hope the celebration is over and in this moment Jesus stands up amongst these people and he says I am the light of the world anyone who comes to me anyone who follows me never needs to walk in darkness again.
I am the fulfillment you guys have these the these candles we light. That’s great. And you’ve been looking for God to show back up again and guide and direct you as people. That day has come. It is fulfilled. I am here. I am near. And I am for you. Believe. Receive. Follow me. And you will never walk in darkness again. That’s good news.
And you don’t have 75 ft candles in your backyard. If you do I’d love to come see them. I’m guessing that’s against your HOA right. But here’s what I bet. As we said earlier I bet you there are some places where things feel pretty dark. You see back to Theo and in the basement like I was in a really secure place. I was in one of my favorite places in my house. But man when that darkness came in I was genuinely scared.
I can remember as a kid my dad was a pastor and I would go practice my drums all the time at the at his church. And the church was really really small like like probably about the size of like one section of of of of like our sanctuary. And I had to walk like from the front door to to the sanctuary I had to walk maybe like 10 feet to turn a light on. And in all the years that we lived there and pastor there no one ever broke in. There was no crime. Nothing ever happened to cause fear.
But the 10 ft I had to walk from the front door to that light right I was always terrified. Like this is it. This is how I die right somebody is in our church. Never been in our church. We only have like 20 people that come to the church. So why would anyone rob this church anyway like but I had to talk myself up. And there were times I would let myself in look around and I would run the 10 ft to the light and turn it on. Be like I’m safe I’m not going to die today. What did that to me? Darkness.
When things get dark we begin to imagine things that are not real. We begin to allow fear, anxiety a whole lot of things to suffocate the joy freedom love hope and faith out of our life. And my guess is this morning there’s somewhere in your life that used to bring you comfort that now all you see is darkness. And the problem is sometimes when we walk in darkness long enough we begin to believe the lie that maybe I am dark. Or worse yet we believe that because I am walking in darkness God no longer wants to illuminate my life. So now I’m alone and I’m scared and I think I’ve been rejected.
And to that fear and to that anxiety Jesus says this morning the same exact thing he said 2,000 years ago. I am the light of the world. Anyone who walks with me need not walk in darkness. I am God the creator and sustainer of all things and I am here. He is here and he is near you. He does not reject you. He does not condemn you. He is for you and wants to illuminate your life so you can see what’s true about you what’s true about him what’s true about your neighbor. He is the light of the world.
See there’s another story that gets sandwiched between these two and I love that it’s here because I think it’s going to help us quite a bit. So what happens is Jesus goes away to the Mount of Olives and it says he comes back the next morning and he’s about to teach the people. So come back to it right smoke’s billowing in. The sun’s just coming up. Jesus is he’s prepared. He’s about to tell everybody he’s the light of the world.
And all of a sudden there’s a massive commotion in the back of the court of women. There’s noise. There’s this rustling. And the crowds begin to part. And they’re like “What’s going on?” And Jesus looks back and as they see what’s happening they see this woman being drugged through the crowd. And they can tell that that she is terrified. She’s probably half naked as they pull her up and they throw her at the feet of God himself.
Where did they find her well the story says that they found her in the act of adultery. Like not like they found out she was thinking about committing adultery and told a friend. So they to not she she committed adultery and then she went and confessed to a friend I can’t believe I did this but I did this. They said well we’re we’re taking No no no. She was in the act of adultery probably in her mind thinking how did I get here I could I I never thought I could do something like this I just got what happened was I just got so filled with like anxiety and depression and loneliness and somebody reached out to me and they made me feel loved and and I never thought I could be the kind of person that could do something this dark but here I am.
She’s in the act of adultery and the door opens and light beams in and the accusers these people come and they grab her and they rip her out and they take her to what had to feel like the most terrifying place you could ever be taken. Not to jail not even to your husband who you’re cheating on. We’re going to take you and throw you at the feet of God himself.
Let’s be honest. Most of the time when we’re in the midst of our darkness where’s the last place we want to go to the feet of Jesus? Say Daron I feel like you’re picking on me this morning. That’s why I didn’t want to come to church cuz it’s starting to affect me somewhere in my mind or my heart or my spirit. And I know you guys are a bunch of churchy people and and you probably got it all figured out.
Let me guarantee you friend the people that are sitting next to you that are breathing the same oxygen you are they are in a life and death struggle against darkness in their own life as well. Thinking things they never “Why am I thinking that” saying things they wouldn’t ever thought they would say doing things that they say “A good Christian person wouldn’t do this I never thought I was capable of these kind of things.” We all have these things we’re wrestling through in darkness trying to to to control us to to smash us down. And in that moment Jesus is saying “Oh friend come into the light.”
So this woman is thrown down at the feet of Jesus. And you can think about the shame anguish that she has to be feeling ready to be condemned. I mean she’s at the feet of Jesus. And it says in this moment and the people they say “Uh hey Jesus we just caught this woman in the act of adultery and the law says that we should stone her.” And they were right. The law said she should die. And it says Jesus bends down and with his finger he begins to to write in the dirt. We don’t know what he wrote. Some scholars think maybe he started writing some of the sins of her accusers. Jesus looks up and he says “He who is without sin throw the first stone.”
And one by one starting with the oldest they begin to drop their stones and walk away. Why the oldest first I think it’s because the longer you live the more disappointing you are with yourself. The longer you live you at 20 you were like “Yeah well I’ve got it all together those other people. And you get to 47 and you go “Except for the grace of Jesus I’d be in jail.”
Eventually they all drop their stones. And he turns to this woman who has to be in sheer terror that she’s about to be exposed by the light of God. He says,”Woman where are your accusers has no one condemned you?” She looks to Jesus and she says “No.” And he says “Neither do I condemn you. Now go and sin no more.”
In her darkest moment she is thrown at the feet of Jesus. And the light of his love does not condemn does not shame but it illuminates her need for love. It illuminates what she needs to do in this moment. And it begins to illuminate the future that he has prepared in advance for her to live.
If you’re here this morning and you were concerned to come to church because you thought if I get closer to Jesus the light of the world he’s going to expose he’s going to shame he’s going to condemn. No friend. For God so loved the world that he sent Jesus his one and only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish shall not be condemned shall not be exposed but shall receive eternal life and be filled with the living water of God’s spirit and be illuminated with the light of God to see and make sense of their past to make sense of their present and to see the future that God is inviting them into. It’s good news.
So if you came this morning I just want to talk specifically to someone. You came this morning you don’t know the light of Jesus. Here’s what I want you to believe. This is true. It is not an accident that you’re sitting in that chair right now in this room right now on this place in the planet right now listening to me. Here’s the deal. You’ve been wondering if God is real. You’ve been wondering if God loves you. You’ve been wondering if God can show up in your darkness.
Here’s the deal. God the one who created and sustains and orchestrates all things. He brought you here today set you in that seat gave me these words to say so he could say “Listen friend I am here. I am near you and I am for you. I love you. I don’t condemn you. I won’t expose you. Receive my light and my love so that you never have to walk in darkness. Here’s what I want you to do. Don’t miss this moment. It’s a free gift. What you need to say is “Jesus I believe you and I receive your light and I receive your love. Jesus I give you my life.
It’s a free gift that he wants to give to and he wants to illuminate your life. If you if you pray that prayer now or maybe during this song here’s what we would love you to do. At the end of service we want you to go back to the back corner. There’s a sign that says you said yes. We want you to tell us confess it explain what God’s doing cuz you cannot walk this alone. You weren’t created to. We have to do it in community. And that’s what we love to do at Mercy Road. We’ve got a gift for you help you know some next steps that you’re going to take. Okay so you take care of that business with Jesus because he’s here. He’s near and he’s for you inviting you to walk in light.
For the rest of us there’s a cool thing that Jesus says at another time in his ministry where he says you are the light of the world. Once you receive his light he says “I got a new mission for you. You are now the light of the world.” And I don’t take a candle and hide it under a bed or under a bull. No I set it up on its stand so it can give light to darkness. That is your mission to find the dark places in this world and not show up to expose but to show up to illuminate to bring vision to bring love. It’s a beautiful mission for your life.
Heavenly Father we thank you for this morning. We thank you for this truth because God we live in a dark world. You know that. And so you have come to bring light and love and then you have called to invite us to join you to be light bearers to bring your light and your love to dark places. So I pray for anyone here today God that doesn’t know your light that you would give them the courage and the humility this morning to say Jesus I believe you and I receive your light I receive your love I give you my life. And for those of us that have already been filled with that light God I pray that you would illuminate our eyes to see the people and the places around us that need your light through our life. And would you give us the courage and would you give us the humility to say yes and follow you into it we love you. We ask these things in Jesus name.