Dec. 21, 2025

In a world growing darker, you are called to be a radiant reflection of Christ's unstoppable light—shining hope, truth, and love into every shadow through your attitude, actions, and service.

Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 21:10 min into the video. The music "O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Saint Louis)", "Love has Come", "Away In A Manger (Mueller)", "Little Drummer Boy", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and "I Exalt Thee" are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Christ is the Light | Advent Series

Pastor Dave took us back to John 1:1-12 this week, continuing the Advent series with a focus on Jesus as the light of the world. His main theme was simple but profound: Christ is the light that shines into our darkness, and darkness cannot overcome it. He reminded us that Christmas isn't just about a baby in a manger—it's about a Savior who came to dispel the darkness of sin, ignorance, and death.

Understanding the Darkness

Pastor Dave started by explaining what darkness represents in Scripture—ignorance, deception, sin, evil, and delusion. He pointed out that John 1:5 says the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. He loved the Amplified translation here: the darkness did not understand it, overpower it, appropriate it, or absorb it. "The darkness cannot absorb the light," he said. "The light affects darkness, but darkness does not affect the light. Isn't that good news?" He connected this to Isaiah 9:2, where the prophet declared, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. That light is Jesus.

Light in Creation

He took us to Genesis 1, where the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. Then God said, Let there be light, and everything changed. Pastor Dave drew a parallel: "Before Christ, our lives are void, without form, and filled with darkness. But when the light of Jesus shines into our life, everything changes." He reminded us that just as physical life depends on the sun, spiritual life depends on the light of Christ. "If the sun didn't shine today, we would not exist today," he said with a grin. "If the light of Jesus did not shine into our lives today, we are not even existing. We're dead."

Characteristics of Light

Pastor Dave gave us three characteristics of light. First, it's pure—incorruptible. Light can shine on the most vile things and remain unaffected. "Jesus Christ is constant," he said. "He will never be corrupted. He will never be affected by the darkness." Second, light is constant. Its speed never changes, and neither does Jesus. I'm the same yesterday, today, and forever, Jesus declared. Third, light is victorious. "When you turn on your light, darkness leaves, right?" Pastor Dave said. "Christ is victorious over all the darkness, over all the delusion, over all the ignorance, over all the evil."

We Are Reflectors of Light

Then came the challenge. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, You are the light of the world. Pastor Dave explained that we have no light in ourselves, but when Christ lives in us, we become reflectors of His light. He shared a story about seeing someone walking in the dark with reflective stripes on their coat. "I could see them clearly because they were reflecting the light," he said. "You and I are beacons of light and love and hope in this world." He urged us to let our light shine through our attitude, our actions, and our service—so that others see Christ in us and glorify God.

Pastor Dave closed with a quote from Alistair Begg: "The good news of Christmas is that the God of the Bible, the light of the world, came down and entered the darkness, and it could not overcome Him." He invited us to pray, asking Jesus to shine His light into our lives and empower us to be beacons of hope to others. His message left us thinking about how we can reflect Christ's light in a dark world this week.