{"id":566,"date":"2003-12-24T18:23:32","date_gmt":"2003-12-24T18:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=566"},"modified":"2020-12-02T15:36:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T15:36:23","slug":"from-darkness-to-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/from-darkness-to-light\/","title":{"rendered":"From Darkness to Light"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Read Isaiah 9:2-7<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 24, 2003\u2014Christmas Eve Service<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Message preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What brought you here tonight? After the blackout last Sunday, I came to see if there is light in the sanctuary. All of us came into this lighted church from the darkness of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After God created the heavens and the earth, God said, \u201cLet there be light\u201d to penetrate the darkness of the world. But light didn\u2019t continue to light up the entire world. When the Assyrian king controlled Galilee from the northern kingdom of Israel, the prophet Isaiah saw this as part of God\u2019s punishment of his disobedient people. When the people turned to other gods, rather than the true God, Isaiah said in his own words, \u201conly distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However in the very next chapter, Isaiah declares, \u201cThe people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness\u2014on them light has shined.\u201d This light was not shining on the current king who ruled over Israel. But the light will be from a child about to be born, who will lift up their present burden and remove war and oppression from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This child, Isaiah says, will have four names usually ascribed to God: \u201cWonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.\u201d This child, unlike the kings that preceded him, will wisely follow the ways of God. He will be closely identified with God as no person has ever been. He will rule for the sake of the people and not for himself. Like a father, he will place the welfare of his children above his own. His path will not be the way of war, but of peace. A peace built upon justice and righteousness for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight and a half centuries later after Isaiah spoke his words; the people were still in darkness. Under the oppressive yoke of the Roman occupiers, the people were still walking in darkness. Then the light came, the Light of the World, shining forth in the darkness which could not overcome him, even though the dark forces did come together to kill him for a brief time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our own times are also dark times. The horrible events of September 11, 2001, have brought to the fore not only evil deeds of terrorists, but also called forth the dark forces within ourselves that seek to use similar means of combating our violent foes. We have become suspicious and intolerant about our unfamiliar neighbors. We have too many soldiers in Iraq. We have denied civil rights of prisoners that we are holding. Today we are on \u201corange alert.\u201d Should darkness produce more darkness or are we called upon to produce light?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the news started to spread and we heard that the church didn\u2019t have electricity on Sunday, some people wondered whether we\u2019ll have church. Against all calamities, all blackouts, earthquakes, or terrorist threats, the church must never be darkened. As God\u2019s people, even with the threat of more darkness in the world, our mission is to bring light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are always seeking the light\u2014whether it\u2019s to eat or shave or rest or to come to church. But what we have forgotten is that we are the light of Christ! If the sanctuary is darkened, we come to be lights. If our lives are darkened, we serve as lights of hope and encouragement to each other. If the world is darkened and people are still walking in darkness, we as followers of Jesus Christ: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace need to be lights in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            People are like stained-glass windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            but when the darkness sets in,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            their true beauty is revealed only if there\u2019s light from within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real reason why we are here tonight is to fan the light that is burning within us so that whatever might come our way\u2014whether it\u2019s hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, or earthquakes, or blackouts, nothing will stop God\u2019s love for the world for him to give us the gift of Christ, a baby in Bethlehem, our Savior to light up the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you came to church this evening, your pathway was lit with luminaries to show you that you will find hope and light in Christ. As we listen to God\u2019s love story to bring light into the world and sing the carols that proclaim Jesus Christ as the Savior, we pray that you will reenter the world with the commitment to become people of God who walk in the light of Christ!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read Isaiah 9:2-7 December 24, 2003\u2014Christmas Eve Service Message preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. What brought you here tonight? After theContinue readingFrom Darkness to Light<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[19,30],"class_list":["post-566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-posts","tag-christmas","tag-isaiah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2163,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions\/2163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}