“Believe in the Light – Become sons of Light”

The sermon slides are available here.

John 12:34-36

So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

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Pastor Thom Rittichier:

I’m going to ask you to turn with me over to Psalm 83. This is our Connect. And as the year has come to an end, this 2020, we have been focusing on Israel. And the unique thing that God is doing in Israel. Last week you should have gotten a hand out about Israel and how there is an increase of interest in the Gospel and Jews are turning to the Lord and the Lord has established works there and the neat prophetic notes that has in mind. This morning as we do our Connect, we’re going to be praying again for Israel, but not just for Israel. But also for this surrounding nations to Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, many countries that have an historical note to them, just wanted to kind of get your mind started there. I have brought with me this morning, a map that talks about the locations of Israel, and it has present day, as well as past names for these nations. So Saudi Arabia was Midian, Jordan was the Edomites and the Moabites, Syria was the the Amorites. Iran was the Persians, Iraq was the Assyrians. I want you to read with me Psalm 83 and the nature of these relationships around Israel. Psalm 83, it’s a song of Asaph, “Oh, God, do not keep silent and do not hold your peace or be still, Oh God! For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. They say, ‘Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!’ For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant – the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philista with the inhabitants of Tyre; Asshurthe Hague also has joined with them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Do to them as you did to Midian.” I want you to see a present day expression of this.

(start film from oneforisrael.orrg) “When I was in Iran, every morning before class, saiying death to Israel. And this is a very strange hatreds about Israel, hatred about Jewish people came to my heart. I went for military service. And the same year for extra training like a commander. I became addicted to drugs. I stopped all religious activities. When I finished a military service, after that, I found a very good job, buisiness job and receiving good money. I left Iran just for a better life. My illegal journey started. I flew to Turkey. And from Turkey I flew to Bosnia. That was a very risky and dangerous way. When I arrived in England to apply for asylum, I didn’t have any good reason. I left Iran for a better life, I decided to tell a lie to governments through the application form. I told them because I was a persecuted Christian, life was dangerous for me and send this document to the immigration office in London. I said to myself, (his name?), if government asks you about Christianity, what do you have to tell them? I decided to go to church just to get information about Christianity, I went to the church and heard all basic things about Christianity, about Messiah, about repentance, about cross and he rose again after three days, how he is alive, he can change lives. My brain was full of information. My heart was still dark, then I receive a letter from governments for interview, so I pick up the phone and call my pastor. I’m going for interview. Could you come and help me know what to say? What not to say to government? When he came he said to me, but you are not Christian. It is all lie. Yeshua asks you to stand on truth. And truth will set you free. I became very angry. I said, No, I can’t, they will deport back to Iran. I went to my room and locked the door and bowed down, I cry and shout out and said, if there is a God, you show yourself to me, I can’t continue any more. When I said that, that moment, that moment, he revealed himself, he came that moment, he healed me completely from drugs. That moment, I gave my heart to Him. He touched my heart. And he gave me a strength and power. That was a power just walking inside my heart. Because I try several times before to give up the drugs. But I couldn’t, but that time, I asked Yeshua to a start a new life, and He did. And he said to me, I love you, as you are. Because I died on the cross for you. I went for interview in London. And the officer said to me, we have just a couple of questions. I said to him, I’m so sorry about application form. I was Christian in Iran. life wasn’t dangerous for me. I came to this country just for a better life. But two days ago, I gave my heart to Jesus, if you want to send me to Iran, or anywhere, I am ready for that. He looked at me and said you told lie. They refused application form. In my court, the judge, he looked at me and said Mr. Zarya, what did you do yesterday, because my court was on Monday. I told him, yesterday I was leading the worship group. And he said, How did he do that? And I told him, I was reading Psalm 96. And he said, what does Psalm 96 say, and I said, Everyone in the court just opened the Bible, everyone read Psalm 96, “sing a song to the Lord, sing a new song to the Lord, proclaim His salvation”. And that was a miracle. He said to me, You are accepted to stay in England. For a long time, I used to believe lie about Israel, about this nation, about Jewish people. I started to read the Bible from the beginning and through this study God gave me a passion and love for Jewish people. Because God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Yeshua save my life, changed my life. I am one for Israel.” (end of video)

Jewish Israeli relationships. Psalm 80, “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Befote Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come save us!” I’m appealing to you, based on scripture, to pray for Israel, blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in and there is awakening in Israel. Take note, there is a budding in Israel. Father in heaven, we want to pause before you at the end of this year, when we assemble for the last time, to be praying for Israel, for your work with them, for the surrounding nations, thank you for even this year, the extended peace that Israel has had. And Father, as we have noted, the Orthodox Jews that are there, the non committal Jews that are there, the ones that are lukewarm, and those that are outright unbelievers, we pray for the work there that’s going on. We pray for the believers there to be strengthened that the Messianic Israelites, now a part of society there, will continue to shine because we know, based on your word, you have a future for Israel, you have a future for those Jewish witnesses. Thank you, that we can pray for Israel. In God’s name, we pray, oh, Shepherd of Israel. Amen. So that note, there is a story also included there about living in Iran, and that kind of a relationship. This is all designed for one purpose, to kind of help you think about prayer for Israel, an Asian nation. Well, this morning, we are peering into the new year. And as we are looking into this new year, I have some slides here that I’m going to project. And I’m going to ask you a couple of questions about these slides. So let’s begin with this. So what do you see here? A gingham kind of cloth. Okay, what about the dots in the middle, you see the dots? There’s no dots there. There aren’t any dots there. You see the dots. There’s no dots there. Oh, there’s the white ones. But I’m talking about the black ones in the middle. There’s no dots. And here is kind of like a ceramic tile. And if you look at it, you kind of notice the same thing at the intersections. There’s these little gray dots, that’s what you see. But that’s not what’s there. Because there’s no dots there. Here, let me bring this one in. Now what do you see with these dots? And this one. This is a regular cup. This isn’t a concave cup. It’s a regular cup. It’s just the way it appears and it isn’t really what’s there. Huh? Here’s another one. Do you see the bright light coming out of the middle of this? There is no bright light. It’s the same all the way around. It’s all the same. How about this one? Which directions are the circles moving? They’re not moving. They’re stationary. Here we go again, one more time. Do you see how this thing kind of expands out? As you look at it? Actually it doesn’t. It doesn’t expand at all. How about these snakes? Isn’t it interesting how they are kind of moving. But they’re not moving. Here’s the classic one, that things aren’t like they seem sometimes. Which line is longer, which line segment is longer? Matter of fact, neither line segment is longer. Now, at times, things are not the way they look, at times. That’s true. For example, this guy is not holding the sun under his arm. Nor is this girl grabbing it and pulling it out of the sky. Though it appears like a giant baboon is smashing this car, such is not the case. We’re looking at 2021 from 2020 now. And we’re taking a look at how things appear. Sometimes things are not the way they look.

For example, at the end of 2020, we have had some of the lowest attendance ever. Last week on Monday, Nate texted me. And he said, we had over 300 who viewed the sermon last Sunday. Now, I know that that’s prayer, but I don’t think I’ve ever had 300 or close in this room. Sometimes things are not the way they appear. 2020 has been a year of frustration. As a matter of fact, as I’ve noted to you before, one person said he is not looking forward to the statement 2021. Meaning, he doesn’t want to admit that 2021, hope you get that, that 2020 “won”. Sometimes things are not the way they appear. And quite frankly, a lot of people are thinking 2020 won. But 2020 has been a great time of opportunity like not before. And it has to do with perception. The way we’re seeing things, the angle where things are positioned, where we’re looking from. And this morning, I’m going to ask you to look with me from the angle of God as we look into 2021. That’s hard for us to do. Because we’re earthy, that’s where we are, and that’s where our life plays out here. But the Lord has asked us to set our affections on things above and not on things of the earth. For we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God. So for a moment, as we look here at the end of 2020 into 2021. I’m going to ask you to look not at the way things appear. But it’s a way that Jesus talked about them, for the future.

Turn with me to John chapter 12, a New Year’s outlook in John chapter 12. The aim of this message is perception. The aim of it is perspective that we need to have and we need to carry. And we need to do this, rely upon, we need to trust this. Because for us here, things often look different than the way they are from Heaven’s perspective. This message is a part of our Over the Top Promises of God series. It’s a series we started exactly when the COVID shutdown came on. And by the way, I didn’t plan that. I didn’t put that in my schedule, that we’ll start this when quarantines shuts things down. But that’s when it started by God’s providence. And we are now in segment #41 in this series, standing with a view to the future. And as we do this, I want you to see the promise that Jesus delivers. And we’re just going to jump right to it. John chapter 12, verse 36, where this is said, “While you have the light”, Jesus says, “believe in the light, that you may” statement of outcome, statement of result, purpose that this is going for, “that you may become sons of light”. Now that statement was given by Jesus in a flow of events. It was stated when things were happening and anticipated to be happening, they’re looked forward to. And this comes up as a note, in a moment. And by itself alone, it states a lot. It states believe in the light. And it states the reason for that, that you become sons of light. That’s the outcome, the purpose that’s being aimed at. And it’s the promise of Jesus. The promise is, believe in the light, become sons of light. That’s how it works. Believe in the light, become sons of light, believe in the light becomes sons of light. Look as it appears, draw your conclusions and not be a son of light or believe in the light and become sons of light. That’s how it works. That’s the promise. But there is a condition on this promise that we’re going to be noting in a little bit as we go along. Let’s look at what Jesus gave us here. Jesus is referring to opportunity here. That’s how this starts where we begin in verse 34 this morning. Then he goes on and he is calling for reliance here, in the opportunity that is before you. He is calling for you to rely, to rely on him here. Trust him in this way, will you trust him? And so often we trust and the way that it appears to us. And the way it appears to us, as I just demonstrated, is not actually the way it is. Often we see things that aren’t there. We see movements and directions happening as if they are moving and they’re not. Nobody holds the sun under their arm. But the Son can well hold you. As a matter of fact, he said it like this. “No one takes you out of my hand. The Father who is greater than I has given my sheep to me and no one takes them out of the Father’s hand. You see, I and the Father are One on this”. And either we believe in the light and become children of light. Or we look at what’s there and movements that are going on and it’s as if someone held the sun. Finally, we come to Jesus promising an outcome here. And the promise is guaranteed but there’s a condition that we’ll notice as we’re going along. So let’s take a look at this. First off the situation that’s here, the situation that has unfolded for us. I want to talk initially, before we talk about the situation local, I want to talk about the situation in the big picture. The situation of the Bible’s story, as in not the way it looks. Let me do this by just hitting a few highlights of the Bible story that I think you’ll well recognize and well remember. Let’s see, how this whole story started was the last day of creation, God puts a couple there, Adam and Eve, that’s chapters one and two, in this garden. And in this garden, God gives a direction. And the direction is, don’t eat from the tree because the day you eat of it you shall surely die, that’s what’s going to happen. That’s what’s going to be the outcome. That’s the way I want you to look at that. That’s the perspective for you to have on this, in this beautiful garden, where everything is God perfection around, just a direction, with an outcome. That’s the way I want you to see it here, the way you need to see it. But this is the way Eve saw it? She looked at the tree, Genesis chapter three, verse six. And she saw this, that it’s good for food, but God said don’t eat, but she saw it’s good for food. It was a delight to the eyes. And it was desirable. It was to make one wise, you would just know. And you’ll know without having to be told, without having anyone tell you what to do or how to view and what perspective to take. It’s desirable that you’ll just have it in yourself. You’ll know, being like God. That was genuinely the way Eve saw it. That is genuinely what the Bible says. The way it looked to her. And she wasn’t even fallen yet at that point. And what happened because she didn’t hear God’s perspective, she just wanted to have her own desire and be wise, like God, she plunged herself and her offspring into pain, suffering, misery and death because it wasn’t the way it appeared. It wasn’t. Now I took a little time with Eve because I wanted you to capture the sense of how far reaching this is. Because many of us are wearing masks this morning by Adam and Eve’s choice, reaches pretty far.

Job, tremendously challenged, difficult experience. And initially when this hit him, Job was good, he was buoyant. he bounced. But when he began to dwell on this thing over and over and over, with the help of his friends, over and over and over, he thought, I don’t deserve this. And he eventually comes, Job chapter 30, verses 20, 21, that he accuses God of being cruel to him. And he says, You are cruel to me. I deserve better than this. Can we actually go there? Do we actually think that way? You know one thing about Job, in his murmuring and complaining, that we have to admire him for, he knew who he was murmuring, complaining and griping against. Sometimes we don’t perceive that that’s where the charge is being filed. When we gripe and complain, it’s you, you who are cruel to me. Job did that. Jesus, when he recognized Job, talked about his endurance in this. By the way, God helped Job with his perspective. In verse 38, he began to take him to see it from God’s perspective. Where were you Job when I laid the foundations of the earth? Looking at it from a different perspective. Let me just run a couple others a lot more quicker now. Noah build an ark and it had never rained on the earth. The only thing that happened is that there would be a mist that would come up from the ground and it would keep the land irrigated. Build an ark, it had never rained? Not the way it looks here Noah, it’s not the way it looks. His neighbors and what they’re saying and mocking him about it, it’s not the way it looks. Because in Genesis 6 and 7, it did rain for 40 days and 40 nights, it’s not the way it looks. How did it look to Goliath when David, a shepherd boy, comes out there? How does this look? Goliath’s statement, What am I, some dog that you come out to me with sticks? And he cursed and went after him. And by the way, do you remember that Goliath lost his head that day. Completely, because it’s not the way it looks. When you’re putting God in the picture. It’s not the way it looks. Asaph, like we read in Psalm 83, also wrote Psalm 73. And this is what he said, why is it that the wicked prosper? Why is it that they have all kinds of great wealth? I have kept my hands clean and the righteous suffer. Why is that always the case? And he says that he nearly wiped out on his walk with God, Psalm 73. Until he got God’s perspective, from going into the house of the Lord, it’s not the way it looks here. And even, this is the last one, even after Jesus death and resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, some of his followers are walking, and they talk about this Jesus of Nazareth, and they had hoped that he was going to redeem Israel. But look, look at where we’re at. The point that I’m making, you can’t be around the Bible long and come away with the perspective that things are not the way they look. Eve, Job, Asaph, Goliath…they’re not. Now the small picture here, the local picture, verse 33, Jesus has just been describing to them about his death, verse 33. He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. He’s talking here about the Son of Man being lifted up. That’s a picture that’s been used several times here throughtout this message of the gospel of John. It’s talked about with Nicodemus, when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus and he said, The Son of Man must be lifted up, just as the serpent was lifted up on the pole by Moses, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Again, in John chapter eight, verse 28, they’re talking about the Son of Man. And he says, when the Son of Man is lifted up, then you’ll see, you’ll get the right perspective on this, you’ll see what I’m talking about. So here, Jesus is talking about being lifted up the way that he’s going to die. That’s the short picture here. This is said, verse 36, just before Jesus concludes his public ministry, look at the last part of verse 36, “When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them” What we’re looking at is Jesus giving a perspective for the future that wasn’t the way it looked to a lot of folks there. We know that’s biblically consistent. So that’s the situation as it unfolded. Now, here’s the perception that was held, verse 34, “So the crowd answered him,” when he had talked about being lifted up, the death he was going to die, the hour for this had come, the crowd said to him, “we have heard from the Law” that is the Bible Old Testament, “that the Christ remains forever”. They understood that he was the Christ and he was claiming it to be that, “How can you say that the Son of Man”, which he had just identified himself to be verse 23, “How can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up?” How can you say that he’s got to go through this experience of dying in a manner in which it’s noted, that he is raised up on a pole? Do you remember how this was noted? King of the Jews, written in three languages, over his head, outside Jerusalem, lifted up on a pole, three languages, so that everyone going by would note, this is the king of the Jews. And you remember how the Jewish leaders responded to that? No, don’t say that. Don’t identify him as the King of the Jews, say that he said he was the king of the Jews. And you remember the responses? What I’ve written, I’ve written. This is the statement, lifted up on a pole. How is it did you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? How, how does this fit? How does this fit? You see, we’ve got it in the law, referring to the first five books of the Old Testament, we have it in the law that this Messiah, this Christ, is forever, like Isaiah 9:6, 7 which says this. “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father, and the government should be upon his shoulders. And at the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end on the throne of David, to order it, and establish it from that day forth forever. Behold, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” How can you say that the Messiah dies? How can he be on the throne forever? How can you say that? How does it fit? It doesn’t fit. And concerning the Son of Man, who is this son of man, that’s the question here, who are you talking about? Who is this son of man? By the way, 86 times in the New Testament the words Son of Man is used. By Jesus 85 times, the only time it’s not used by Jesus about himself is right here, when they’re talking to him, questioning this son of man. And by the way, there was a note about the Son of Man, even from the Old Testament. Listen to Daniel chapter seven, verses 13 and 14. “I saw in a night vision,” Daniel says, “and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, languages should serve him. His dominion, the son of man’s dominion, his domain, his kingdom, is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed.” How does this fit? Who are you talking about? Who is this? This is the way it looked to them.

As a matter of fact, this is the way it looked to the disciples too. This is out of kilter, this can’t possibly be God’s working out of the Messiah. As a matter of fact, in Acts chapter one, even after Jesus resurrection, his disciples say to him, is now the time, is this it, when you’re going to set up the kingdom? Is it now, here? And you know what he does? He leaves, he ascends into heaven. He goes and he leaves them there. No kingdom. This doesn’t look right. There’s something wrong here. There’s something off here. You see, things are not always the way they seem. Perspective, reaction given by Jesus to this, look at the verse 35, So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer,” just a little bit of time. By the way, this was just a little bit of time because he said this and by Friday, the light was gone. The light was out of there. You know what this Friday will be? This week, when Friday dawns, will be 2021. So Jesus time that he was talking about, just a bit of time that’s left, was less than what we have until the new year. That’s how close this was. Jesus reaction, the light is only with you a little bit longer. You know, their questions, though honest, had already been answered by Jesus. Jews were looking for sign. Let’s see, these are the signs, the lame walk, the blind see, the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. Every one of those signs, we’ve seen in these promises of Jesus. The man born blind, saw. The lame man at the pool, walked. Lazarus came up from the dead. And the gospel was presented over and over and over and over, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, have everlasting life. And the signs were all there. It just didn’t look right. It just wasn’t the way they had imagined it, what they had hoped for, what they had desired here, what they had wanted, it didn’t fit. And the issue was not his credentials. The issue was it didn’t fit with what they were looking for. That was the issue. That was the issue. It’s not what I wanted here. It’s not it’s not. You know, for us, looking in on a new year, I have some anticipations. Hopefully you do. But the light is really what we need to pay attention to. And we get light here. We get light. Jesus gives us a calling here. The calling goes like this, the situation unfolding, verse 35 “While you have the light,” that’s what he’s talking about, it’s just a little bit longer for those folks. “Walk”, he said, “while you have the light.” By the way, that is a call because it’s an imperative. And it’s an imperative that is now and calls for action. When the Bible talks about walk, what is that referring to? We’ve heard that over and over and over and over. If you’ve been around the Bible very long, you’ve heard it. What does it mean when it talks about walk? When he says here, walk, what’s he talking about? It’s living your life. That’s it. And the walk is a good picture of that. It’s just a step by step moving. When we get to Friday morning, we’ll be moving into the new year and it’s just like walk, walk, walk, one step, moving forward, going. So when he’s saying this, he says to them with a call, walk, imperative. This really needs to happen, this needs to be high here. Walk, he says, while you have the light, walk, while you have the light, the light. Who’s the light? What’s this referring to? The light is Jesus. He just said that in John chapter eight, Dr. Stewart presented that to us. He’s the light, I’m the light of the world. He’s the light. So while I’m here, trust me. Trust me. But it’s not making sense to me. How does this fit? Trust me. Trust me, while you have the light. Trust me. Trust me, trust me. The light is obviously referring to Christ and a little while longer, that light was with them and then it was out of there. It was gone. Now I want you to know that this light is a little bit different for us, this light is a little bit different. This light, Jesus promises in John 14, is going to be with you and it’s going to be in you. Matter of fact, Paul said this, “you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord”, Ephesians 5:8, “now your light in the Lord”. Walk, live life as children of light. Perspective here, the perspective or the perception to be held, verse 35, is we are to walk, walk while here, in light, walk while, here in light. For them it was the opportunity of Jesus being present, right there. For us, it’s walking with this light in us, it’s walking with this light that he made to be with us. You know sometimes we don’t do that, sometimes we stop trusting that God has chosen the foolish things, God has chosen the things that are not, to glorify Him, to magnify Him.

You know what? This week I got a text that said our music isn’t so hot. But where does our music take us? Does it take us to lift our hearts to the Lord? Does it take us to put Him in His rightful place? Let me tell you, there is some great and glamorous music around and you can get online or on the channel and see it taking place. As the balls for New Year’s Eve take place and what gets televised musically. Hey, it’ll be glorious. But God has chosen those things that are not, to make those things that are something, come to not. Did you hear that? That’s what is gonna happen, to make those things that are something to come to not. So what do we do, love bad music? Obviously not. We do what we can and when we do what we can, we walk in the light. Amen? We walk in the light and the light is in us. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us so, you ought to look this up Psalm 119:105, the unfolding of your word, the entrance of your word gives light. And I come here and this light that is in me resonates with this light that is being unfolded to me. And I live in the light, walk in the light. While it’s here, walk in it. Jesus call here is to rely on him. That’s the way we need to see it. That’s the way it needs to look to us. As we peer into 2021, there is opportunity and there is a call to rely on him. He was saying it at the end of his ministry. I’m saying it at the end of the ministry for 2020. This is the perspective he gave us at the conclusion of the matter. Finally, Jesus is promising an outcome here. And this outcome, drink it in brothers and sisters, drink it in, walk in this, live in the light of this, carry out your life in 2021 in this light, because this is the perspective of heaven. This is the perception that is true. It is true. Verse 36, he had just said that those who walk in darkness, they don’t know where they’re going. Boy, could we talk about darkness. Darkness is the push against the light of Christ. That’s what it is, the push of people, the push of the nature that things are set up in this world under the prince of the power of the air, who has a domain of darkness. That’s the push that’s going contrary to you and contrary to Christ. And sometimes I bring it into my mind, that push, by reviewing all the things that are out of line with the way they should look as I perceive them. And I bring the darkness in and I fail to trust the light, that he is working everything after the council of his own will. That is the truth. And that being the truth, not in darkness, Jesus says while you have the light, believe in the light. Situation yet to be unfolded, that you may be come, he says. This is an interesting word, you see this, “that you may be”? That’s called a hina clause. That hina clause is a statement of outcome, “that you may” but this thing “may” is stated with a mood that it’s uncertain. It’s called a subjunctive mood. It’s a mood that’s uncertain and it’s uncertain because it doesn’t know if you’re going to trade, if you’re going to trade the way things seem, but it’s not the case, it’s just the way it looks to me. The spots in the ceramic tile. The movement of the spots aren’t there. The snakes aren’t moving. The sun isn’t under his arm. You are under the arm, in the hand of the Son. That’s the way it is, subjunctive mood with an outcome, a result. Here’s the result. The perception to be held out, that will be held out, Sons of light. This is an offspring of Christ. This is a person that’s following him. And the fruit of the spirit that was in Jesus is shining. There is this fruit of love, joy, peace, patient, you know, we could just start with the first one, be a great pursuit to keep in mind, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control, produced by a spirit as a son of light. You know, this next year has some challenges for us. What I’m anticipating is that will be possible for the assembly to come together again. Anticipating it. I’m anticipating as the virus has a vaccine, it’s already been used, my mom’s already had it given to her, as it’s used, the church will come together again. And what will it be? Will I have become so complacent with the cost to be actively involved in the church? And there will the opportunity and his calling to trust him, to come out with an outcome that shows sons of light. There’s some challenges for us. You know, by July, this building is done for us. Unless we have some kind of actions, which I’ve already spoken about. Dr. Stewart is the one who’s brought it to me. I’ve spoken with someone on the school board. Can I say this? There’s opportunity. We need to pray as an assembly comes together. Where will we be? Where do you have in mind for us to be? Quite frankly, I will tell you what kind of leader I am. I don’t know. Wow, what confidence is bolstered? You know, let’s walk with the light and see, okay? Now you have to know, that’s not me. I mean, me, I get everything planned out. You see my life is being a manager and looking ahead and right now, I have to look to the light. We have other challenges, opportunities. We’ve been interacting, Doug and I as deacon, with a person who has a ministry going on where he has Bible studies that go out to over a 100 people who are incarcerated in the state of Indiana. And the person can’t handle the amount of work that needs to be done in servicing those. And Doug and I have interacted with him and talked about, we’d like to venture this with you as opportunity. You know what you have to do? You have to grade a correspondence course on the book of John. Would you be willing to do that opportunity? There’s opportunity in 2021. And the call of Jesus is to trust Him and have an outcome. An offspring of Christ here, serving.

Well, I’ve got more opportunities, but I think that’s probably enough. Let’s do this. How will you look and walk through 2021? How will you look at and walk through 2021? Will you be seeing this as opportunity presented by the Lord and a calling that’s imperative to walk with Him, rely on him, and show yourself to be sons of light. And you know how that goes? In the midst of a twisted and perverse generation, you shine like lights in the world, but I want you to know that that will not be as it seems, what it will be is trial and difficulty and challenge and your mind getting closed in on how worthless you are and how ineffective this is, and it’s not that perception. That’s the way it is. The way it is, is a mighty fortress is our God. And in this world, that’s devil filled, threatening to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. Okay, so we’ve got a prayer request here, prayer requests for David, has surgery tomorrow morning. So keep that in prayer. Israel, keep them in prayer, and our walk with the Lord through 2021.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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