Sermon Tone Analysis

*Christmas 2008 – Lighting Up Your Life* (nv 12~/14~/08am) 2 of 3 */Transformation comes to Light/*

*OS: 1 *(Movie Clip) – Light is so interesting.

-God’s unchangeable laws (as gravity, harvest, everything according to its kind,) ~*Light always overcomes darkness.

Light also travels at a rate of 100 and 86 thousand miles per second --- seven times around the world at the tick of a clock…..

*TS]* “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

I John 1:5

*I.      **Light makes all the difference in the world – (2Tree)*

A.     *3* The light of God's truth-love transforms from darkness to light.

B.     Jesus’ - the single most significant expression of light since Creation

                   1.     /The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

/Mt.

4.16

*II.

**4** Transformation happens the light of Jesus shines in our lives.

*

A.     *5* /Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you./

Isaiah 60:1

                  1.     Transformation – Great proof of God’s existence.

*III.

**6** Challenge: Allow the Light of God to shine on us more and more, be transformed by it, and light up the world around us.*

A.     “I’ve already got the light – I’ve been a Christian ___ years.”

B.     Darkness and Light (2 Choices)

C.     Each person has some darkness within.

(sin=dark spot)

                  1.     Like: New White Shirt = spotless ~/ Shadows = dark spots

                  2.     Challenge: …HOW?

*TS] 7* If you want the light of God to light up your life be careful of what you eat.

You are what you eat.

 

*I.

**8** An uncontrolled diet of the world makes a dark life.*

A.     (Remember) – Two options: God or the World ~/ Light or Darkness ~/

                  1.     Romans 12:2, /Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…./

2.     Notice: Stop doing it…

B.     What is the pattern of the world?

1.     *9* 1 John 2:15-17, /Do not love the world or anything in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.//

//For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.//

//The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever./

2.

The pattern of this world will never satisfy!

Result of the world system – Short term happiness, long term pain.

a.    Obstacles to the source of light causing shadows of the heart and soul.

b.    Dribbles of coffee on that spotless shirt…

                  3.     Genesis 3 & Matthew 4 – The tactics of Satan are the same.

C.     2 Corinthians 10:4-5, /The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.

On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.//

//We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ./

1.     "strongholds" - reasoning, influence, cosmic world view.

2.

Every type of idea or argument that is capable of preventing people from arriving at what is true.

D.    The World = Temporary ~/ Short Term Happiness –No satisfaction.

*TS] 10 *If you want the light of God to light up your life be careful of what you eat.

You are what you eat.

The battleground is in the mind. 2 Corinthians 3:18, /And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit./

*II.

**11** **A rich diet of God brings transformation from darkness to light.*

A.   “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” –

B.    It is the light of God’s love and God’s truth that has such a powerful impact on our life day to day.

1.

The love of God in sending Jesus is a love beyond anything this world has to offer.

2.

The truth of God, sometimes initially painful, but extremely liberating from the fallacies of this world.

3.

Walking in the light is a life characterized by freedom - freedom from the mundane temporary offerings, demands, and expectations of the world.

It is freedom from fear, guilt, dread of the future, meaninglessness.

Freedom from the bondage of sin, etc.

C.   If God has brought good things to your life up to this point, why not continue to weed out those barriers to allowing Him to shine ever brighter?

D.   Question: What are you feeding your spirit~/hear~/mind?

1.

World: slowly barriers~/strongholds~/obstacles rise up shading the light from your soul~/heart.

2.

Remember: We are always feeding on our environment.

You don’t have to work at being fed by the world.

You do have to work at being fed by God.

                 3.

Like: Fun at first - like the box factory

*III.

**12** Just look around you from day to day and you see example after example of how a person’s choice between light and darkness impact their lives and others.

*

* *

A.     Luke 15 – The Prodigal Son

                  1.

It is an illustration of the end result of the pattern of the world.

2.     Pig pen represents darkness, stench, and the place you would have never believed you'd end up.

3.

You never start out for the pig pen, even though the whole time the world knows that's where it will lead you if allowed.

B.     The lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life all come from this world and thus that is all they can return.

What is temporal can never have eternal value.

C.     *13* Don’t you want to be on the winning team?

1.

Light always dispels darkness.

2.     God is light – Darkness comes from Satan.

D.    John 3:19-21,/ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." /