Text:\u00a0 Acts 16:25-34<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did you notice the saying on the church sign this morning?\u00a0 His light still shines in this dark world.<\/em>\u00a0 That saying didn’t come from a book.\u00a0 It came from me.\u00a0 This dark world—some might say that\u2019s kind of overstated. But I say:\u00a0 Ask the people of Paris.\u00a0 Ask the people of New York.\u00a0 Ask the people of Nigeria.\u00a0 Ask the police of Petaluma who recovered the bodies of 9 homeless people last year.\u00a0\u00a0 Visit a prison.\u00a0 An inner city neighborhood.\u00a0 Stand outside an abortion clinic.\u00a0 Listen to people who know nothing in their hearts but this darkness.\u00a0 And we can relate because some of that darkness still lives in us.\u00a0 Yes friends this world is a dark place and no one escapes alive.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In this Word of God<\/strong> we find two Christian men experiencing this world\u2019s darkness.\u00a0 They were locked up in a gloomy, dark Roman jail.\u00a0 And yet in that dark place, they shine a wonderful light.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This is the season of Epiphany<\/strong>. \u00a0During Epiphany we remember a light, a star, God put in the sky.\u00a0 He put it there not to be admired but to guide the Magi to a far more brilliant light-Jesus Christ the Light of the world.\u00a0 During Epiphany, we remember how that light came to this world and shined in our darkness.\u00a0 We remember how God pointed us to this Light at Jesus\u2019 baptism as his own Son.\u00a0 And now we Christians on whom this light has shone are to be like mirrors.\u00a0 People who reflect his light on those around us The light of God\u2019s forgiveness and the light of hope.\u00a0 A light that still shines in this dark world.<\/em><\/p>\n Well it seems to me that these two men locked away in the darkness teach us something important:<\/p>\n What the World Needs to hear from Us Christians<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What a day it had been for Paul and Silas.\u00a0 This day they were dragged before the Roman magistrate.\u00a0 Their people falsely accused them and convinced the magistrate of their guilt. He had them stripped, beaten and flogged so their backs were a bloody mess.\u00a0 Then he had them thrown into the Roman jail in Philippi where their feet were chained to a post.\u00a0 What a day it had been for Paul and Silas.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And to think it had all started with a vision God gave Paul.\u00a0 Come to Macedonia and help us.\u00a0 So Paul and Silas made their way to that part of Greece. \u00a0They went through the towns telling the good news of Jesus.\u00a0 They came to Philippi where they rejoiced at the conversion of a woman named Lydia.\u00a0 Then they rejoiced to come to her home and baptize her family.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But now they found themselves locked away in jail.\u00a0 Their bodies ached.\u00a0 They had no idea what would become of them. Yet what are we told?\u00a0 About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God<\/span>.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Picture that scene.\u00a0 People locked up in jail are usually not the most soft hearted guys or gals.\u00a0 So maybe at first, some of the other prisoners told them to shut up and go to sleep.\u00a0 Well if so, that changed.\u00a0 For we\u2019re now told.\u00a0 The other prisoners were listening to them.<\/span> \u00a0The word listening like a doctor might listen to a patient\u2019s heart.\u00a0 They were closely listening to these men who praised God even when they were suffering in the darkness.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It makes me think of a lady named Corrie Ten Boom.\u00a0 Corrie lived in Holland when the Nazis took over their land and began to round up the Jews.\u00a0 Corrie and her sister Betsie did what other Christians did.\u00a0 They helped to hide Jewish families so they would not be murdered.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Nazis arrested Corrie and her sister and put them in a concentration camp.\u00a0 They suffered greatly with many others.\u00a0 Cruelty, disease, and death were all around them.\u00a0 They lived on the verge of starvation and finally Betsie died just two weeks before their release.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But what did the people around them find in these two Christian ladies.\u00a0 They saw people who did not despair when every human hope was gone.\u00a0 They saw people who clung to Christ and his promises.\u00a0 They saw two women, who found in Jesus reason to praise God in spite of what they were suffering.\u00a0 And like Paul and Silas, those around them, even the guards, could not help but notice.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I pray that none of you ever suffer what these people did or what some Christians do today in places like Nigeria or Syria.\u00a0 Yet the Bible tells us, Through much tribulation, we must enter the kingdom of God<\/span>.\u00a0 So we cannot expect to live in this fallen world and not suffer. \u00a0 But look what we have for those times.\u00a0 We have the Light of Christ to shine in our darkness.\u00a0 We have God\u2019s precious promises.\u00a0 We have the rock solid assurance that God is our refuge and strength, and ever present help in trouble.\u00a0 And in Christ we have the confidence that God will deal with as his forgiven children.\u00a0 So look what we have for those times.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And that brings me back to my point.\u00a0 What the world needs to hear from us Christians.\u00a0 For rarely do we suffer alone.\u00a0 People see.\u00a0 People notice.\u00a0 What do they see?\u00a0 What do they hear from us?\u00a0 When we suffer, let them see us cling to Christ and his promises.\u00a0 Let them see us gather with our fellow Christians.\u00a0 And let them hear us In the darkness, praise the Lord.\u00a0 For people are watching.\u00a0 They are listening like the prisoners in that jail long ago.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But the world needs to hear something more from us Christians.\u00a0 They need to hear what people heard from the Shepherds of Bethlehem.\u00a0 They need what they heard from Simeon and Anna in the temple courts.\u00a0 They need to her what a trembling desperate man heard from Paul and Silas in that Roman jail long ago.\u00a0 When people despair like the suicidal man who came to my office, when people fear what their conscience tells them about their life, when life crowds them into a hopeless corner, what will you say.\u00a0 Let them hear the hope that Christ gives.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You know the story.\u00a0 The Lord sent an earthquake so violent it caused the jail doors to fly open and the chains to come loose from their legs.\u00a0 The jailor wakes up.\u00a0 H e assumes the prisoners have escaped.\u00a0 He drew his sword and he was about to kill himself.<\/span>\u00a0 For he knew what the Roman higher ups would do to him.\u00a0 He despaired.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then he heard these words that must have startled him.\u00a0 Don\u2019t harm yourself.\u00a0 We are all here.\u00a0 Think about that.\u00a0 Somehow Paul and Silas got everyone to stay.\u00a0 And here you might think that everything would return to normal.\u00a0 Close the doors and go back to sleep.\u00a0 But no, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 My guess is this.\u00a0 The earthquake, his brush with suicide woke up his sleeping conscience.\u00a0 A conscience that pointed an accusing finger his way and made him afraid.\u00a0 Afraid of the One who shook the foundations of his prison.\u00a0 Afraid of the one he would face at his death.\u00a0 Trembling, he said to these men who he once put in chains, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul and Silas told this man what this dying world needs to hear from us Christians.\u00a0 When this jailor despaired, Paul did not say live a better life.\u00a0 Do better things. There is no hope there.\u00a0 The wages of our sin is death.\u00a0 No they pointed this man to the hope we have in what Christ has done.\u00a0 What he did for us all.\u00a0 His life lived for us.\u00a0 His life given for us.\u00a0 His blood which cleanses us from all our guilt.\u00a0 They pointed this frightened man to Jesus.\u00a0 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved-you and your household<\/span>.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And look here how the Holy Spirit changed his despair into joy. He invited them into his home where Paul and Silas told the jailor and his family about Jesus and what he had done for them.\u00a0 They told them about God\u2019s forgiveness from Jesus\u2019 cross and the hope that is ours in his resurrection.\u00a0 And then they baptized them.\u00a0 Parents and children.\u00a0 Big and small.\u00a0 With the water and the Word of baptism, they brought God\u2019s personal assurance that he has brought to you in your baptism.\u00a0 For what does the Scripture say?\u00a0 Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So here Luke tells us about this man caught up in despair.\u00a0 In that concentration camp, Corrie Ten Boom and her sister were surrounded with despairing, hopeless people.\u00a0 Corrie tells us that one day at long last the news came that she and the others would soon be free to go.\u00a0 I suppose the Nazis were about to abandon the camp before the allied advance.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Corrie tells us that she stood by the gates and thought about the privilege God had given her.\u00a0 To bring the gospel to so many women.\u00a0 She thought about the privilege to see so many believe in Jesus and die with a new found hope.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While she stood there, someone came up and told her about two ladies who had just died.\u00a0 Corrie writes this:\u00a0 Then I looked at this cruel concentration camp\u2026and I said:\u00a0 Thank you, Lord that you brought me here, even if only for these two women, who were saved for eternity because they found their way to you.\u00a0 You used Betsie and me\u2026Lord, if it were only for these two women, it was worth all our suffering, even Betsie\u2019s death.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You see, Corrie knew.\u00a0 Her sister knew.\u00a0 Paul and Silas knew what this world needs to hear from us Christians.<\/strong>\u00a0 And I realize that many people don\u2019t seem to care.\u00a0 Many seem to have it all together.\u00a0 But believe me, there are more things than earthquakes or concentration camps that can make us tremble.\u00a0 Just the realization of what kind of person I have been.\u00a0 That is a fearful thing.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So tell this world what it needs to hear.\u00a0 When you suffer, let them hear you praise the Lord.\u00a0 For we can, even with tears in our eyes.\u00a0 And when people despair in this dark world, when their hearts are troubled, let them hear what Jesus has done for them.\u00a0 Let them hear the hope Jesus gives.<\/strong>\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text:\u00a0 Acts 16:25-34 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did you notice the saying on the church sign this morning?\u00a0 His light still shines in this dark world.\u00a0 That saying didn’t come from a book.\u00a0 It came from me.\u00a0 This dark world—some might say that\u2019s kind of overstated. But I say:\u00a0 Ask the people of Paris.\u00a0 Ask the people of New York.\u00a0 Ask the people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":581,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions\/581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}