Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey. Good evening, everybody. I think we're still adjusting my mic. That's not that's my fault. I came in so late here. But hey. You know that I can you believe it? This is already March. At the end of this month is Easter, and so Easter celebration is really, short 4 more weeks away after, today.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:21]:
And so, just be reminded, we will be celebrating Good Friday and Saturday before Easter here, and then Sunday, Easter Sunday, we will be at Hookele Elementary. And we're beginning a new series this, this evening called, be the light. Now, part of that is that if, it's dependent on who the light is, I I think it always starts with Jesus. And so, would you be kind enough to stand with me? We're gonna read a scripture this evening, and we're gonna read it out loud. It's found in John 8 12, and it says it like this. Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin. Jesus said, I am the light of the world.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:08]:
If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads to life. And Jesus stating that he's the light of the world, it's it's it's an imperative. It's a it's kind of a command for us to understand that if we understand who he is, if we respond to him, that we ourselves no longer gonna need to walk in darkness. And so whatever happens in your life, it always starts with Jesus. And so would you do me a favor? All the good things in your life, would you just tell your neighbor, aren't you glad it always starts with Jesus and then you can have a seat? Yeah. Okay. And it says that that there can be a change that happens in our life when we begin to walk with Jesus. And and I, maybe like you, don't remember, like, the growing up in a Christian home.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:00]:
I don't remember that. You know why? Because it never happened. But I I don't remember, like, going to church as a kid or, you know, going to youth group. I don't remember because it never happened for me. Right? I used to walk in darkness and the reality is it didn't seem that dark to me. You know what it seemed like? Everyday. It just seemed normal. It just seemed normal.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:23]:
Some of you might remember, my friend Pastor Keha, he came and spoke a few years ago, and he he talked about the the concept of dirty water and clean water. And and the illustration basically, we use in this kind of a case is that, if you ever go to the Ala Wai, what most of us don't consider that clean water. Right? It's pretty polluted and all that. And and if the the abundance of tilapia in the Ala Wai, they don't really realize that the water is dirty. Why is that? Because it's the only water that they've known, right? It's the only water they've known. Now if you were to take that tilapia out of the Ala Wai, and you were to put it in a a pristine clear cool spring water kind of a thing, it might immediately notice something is different, but until that time it probably doesn't know. Right? Because it doesn't go around complaining. It doesn't go around it just it's just living.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:24]:
Right? And it's just normal life. And that's how I was for for a long time, and maybe some of us we we relate to that. That's just kind of the way that it was. And and I remember when I was in college then and people kept inviting me to to church or talking about God, it was it was a change of my normal because I wasn't used to people talking about that. I wasn't used to people inviting me to to church. And in fact, I kinda didn't like that part. Right? And and so but they kept on inviting me, and they kept on actually standing up for Christ in the middle of the workplace, and you know how I felt? Irritated. I just I didn't like it because I I started to see a contrast, and the contrast was kinda like they're just different and I just felt like they were weird.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:15]:
Right? But I still remember the conversation, that happened between my girlfriend and I, at the time. And I remember thinking, and I remember we just remember having this conversation saying, you know, hey, if we ever get married though, you know, and we had neighbors, I would then much rather be like Phil and Arlene, than a person like me. And because those were the 2 Christians that I I started to meet in my workplace on campus and and And I was beginning to get an inkling that something might not be right in my world. Right? Because I saw such a stark difference at the time. Maybe it's the contrast. Maybe it's the words that they said. Maybe it's the fact that they said they would pray for me that I began to see that another normal exists that I wasn't really aware of. You see my friends, Phil and Arlene, were the light of Jesus to me, in that season.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:13]:
And and it's because of them that I really came to know Christ. And the the truth of the matter is this, is that you, just as they were essential to my coming to Christ, guess what? You are essential to people coming to Christ. And you might be asking yourself, what people? And, you know, I don't know exactly. It could be your people that you go home to, it could be the people who live next to you, it could be your family, it could be your friends, it could be your co workers, or it could be some person you meet on the street. It could be some person and some community across the globe that you have no idea that because you've never met yet, but the the operative word is yet. You have no idea. But you are essential to God's plan to shine the light of Christ in this world. And so how do we understand this? Because Jesus told us that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:14]:
He says it like this. Can we read what it says in Matthew 5 verses 14? It says it like this. Ready? Let's read. You are the light of the world like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. Right? He's saying that that it's not enough that Jesus is the light of the world. And and when I say that, I don't mean it theologically that it's not enough that Jesus is the light of the world, but I'm saying it operationally. Right? That the fact is that just think about the darkest season in your life. Jesus was already the light of the world.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:49]:
Right? But it wasn't enough for you to experience the light. What had to happen? Probably someone praying for you. Probably somebody was talking to you. Probably somebody was, you know, making a difference in your life. And and so you being Jesus being the light of the world, the amazing thing he does is when we come to know him that that all of a sudden there's a transformation process that begins to happen in our life. Let's say transformation process. Transformation. What does that mean? We become not just used to being with Jesus, not just getting to know Jesus, but as we begin to find freedom, as we begin to experience his closeness, we become more and more like him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:37]:
And so for those of us who've come to know Jesus as our savior, as our Lord, you've known the the wonderful grace to be forgiven. You've known the the thing to be loved. You've known the fact that that that he's been your rock in the midst of the times. You know that he is the the Elroy, the the old testament calls. The God who sees. Right? Or El Shama, the one who hears. That you know he's the one who never leaves you, never forsakes you. He's the one who empowers.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:07]:
Right? That when you know that, right, it begins to change you. Does it not? And so we're all in this process not simply to know Jesus, but to become like Jesus and to be in this process of transformation. When that happens, guess what? That we become not just the one who comes to the light of the world, but you become the light of the world. That it's there's a sense that Jesus enlists you in the the the call, in the challenge, in the the commission to make a difference in the world, and he deputizes you and says, you now are little lights that shine my light into the world. Right? But as the saying goes, right, with great privilege comes great responsibility. And so we are the light of the world not because we always generate goodness in our life, right. How many of you guys are good all the time, perfect all the time, right, joyful all the time? Right. They're probably not, right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:10]:
Yeah. How many of you self deceived like my friend? No. No. But like alright. So we, now we none of us are like that. Right? But we become more and more like him. And yet at the same time, I I have to say that that if I I just read the article, I just read the news yesterday, right, and I just looked at some of the top headlines, like the star advertiser. This was the top three headlines that's that came out yesterday.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:35]:
Hawaii visitor arrivals and spending are down. The grip on Hawaii wildfire recovery costs still elusive. In other words, right, we're out of control on on spending on that. A man sentenced to 40 years for making child pornography, the local local man. And, you know, it's it just seemed like, oh, man, it's like a that's just yesterday was just a rough day, but but then I was talking to some other friends that we're just talking last night. It seems like there's a shooting every weekend on on our side of the island. Right? Somehow, I mean, I'm how many of you guys remember it not being like that? Right? Yeah. I remember it not being like that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:15]:
I I looked on some of the the the other, like, news, Hawaii news now said autopsy results in homeless youth's debt put spotlight on the dearth of treatment beds, or national news said worst Texas wildfire in history. An Israeli attempt that went horribly wrong, aid attempt went horribly wrong, or crisis on the southern border. It's like, you don't want to read how many of us read the news to get encouraged? Thank you. That you guys are smart. Right? That you don't read the news to to get encouraged because to be honest, that it just seems to be filled with more and more bad news. Right? That that the secretary of defense says that if Russia is successful in Ukraine, there could be war with NATO forces. Our our friends in Myanmar, the country is a mess. Right? It's like all these crazy things that are happening.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:04]:
But, you know, the thing is the scripture said that's just the way it would be in the last days, that that what we see, if it seems if it seems that things have gotten worse, I to be honest, I think, you know, you you're probably right. You're probably right. And, even though these are not in your notes this this weekend, you know, the thing is that in in Matthew 24, Jesus talked about it. He says that you'll hear about wars and threats of wars, but, you know, don't don't panic. Right? These things will have to take place, and there'll be wars in all kinds of places, and nations against nations, and kingdoms against kingdoms, and and there'll be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world, but he says this is not the end. It's just the it's just the labor pains. Right? It's just a sign that things are coming to this place. And and then it goes on, there's other things and we'll we'll look at that in the future, but but it says that all these things are happening.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:01]:
So the first point is this, you know, I got a a few points this evening, but the first point is this, it's not your imagination. It's not imagination your imagination that things are different. You know, I was listening to a podcast. It's one of those You guys ever get caught up, you're looking on YouTube and you see one thing and you go to the next thing and you go to the next thing. And I was going to play it this evening, but I, I was too late. So the thing is that there was an interview, not an interview, there was Joe Rogan was talking with one of his guests and they're talking about, have you heard about this guy Paul Harvey and just you guys remember that That there used to be a guy he used to come on, he's called and the rest of the story, and he'd tell about these things. And he he gets into this thing that you can know you can Google it. I encourage you to do that or YouTube, you know, search the YouTube on that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:56]:
Well, he just says, if I were the devil, what would I do if I was the devil? And he just goes on this litany of things and he's like even though, you know, all over the world that he's active, that he wouldn't be satisfied till he takes over the the US. And he talks about just how the the world will change. And when you listen to this thing, you go like, I remember like the world that our culture was different, right? We didn't think about defund the police. We thought about kind of responding to the police. The policeman was the hero because he came and made a dangerous situation right. Now I also remember that if you're in the parking lot with your boys and you're hanging out and you see the blue light come into the parking lot. We weren't like super happy because we were probably doing something else that we wasn't supposed to be doing. And so we're like, oh, my gosh.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:50]:
The guy's gonna come and tell us to leave and all those things. But but we look at the fact that our culture has changed. Right and wrong are reversed today, right? And there's a push back. I'd say this, there's a push back. People are getting so tired of just the kind of woke ness that's been out, and the fact that that to call good evil and evil good, it's they're saying it's people are getting that's enough, right? That that if I have a child, you're you ought not to tell my child that that that she's maybe a him, Right? Or that he's maybe a her, or that we ought to give him drugs to kinda like people are tired of that. They're they're getting this is craziness. When did this even become a thing? Right? And so we understand that, but why why is that? And because the Lord gave us some warnings. In 2nd Timothy, he says it like this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:48]:
He says, you should know this, Timothy, that in the last days, there will be very difficult times. Now technically, we've been in the last days since the days of Jesus. Technically, we've been in the last days because Jesus initiated the new covenant. He initiated a change where now people around the world will find life, hope, forgiveness through him, not just from not just for the people of Israel, but for for all the people in the world, and that that he would be the final sacrifice. And so ever since that time, technically, we've been in the last days, but I think we sense that the pace of change is is is just speeding. Right? How many of you guys are like, man, you can't even keep up. You cannot even keep up with the slang. You cannot even keep with what's the issue.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:43]:
You cannot even keep up with why is that? Well, he goes on. He says, for people will love only themselves and their money, and they will be boastful and proud and scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents and ungrateful. And they will consider nothing sacred. The concept of the sacred has changed. Right? The concept that the sacred is that what what God says, what the word says, that the concept of life being sacred has changed. Right? Now for some people, it's not the sacredness of life any longer, it's the sacredness of my choice. Right? It's the it's not the sacredness of God's word. It's the sacredness of some principle that I have decided.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:25]:
Right? That that that some arbitrary thing, right, that all of a sudden that the people's individual choice is the sacred. And and so things have changed. And they will be unloving and unforgiving. And that's the one thing about the woke thing is it's very unloving and very unforgiving. It proclaims to be loving, right, proclaims to be loving, but in reality it's the most unloving if you think different. Right? If you've made a mistake in your life, there's no forgiveness. You get canceled. Right? So there's these aspects.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:02]:
But he says, and they will slander others and have no self control. And they will be cruel and hate what is good. To be honest, today, for many of us, the way we were raised that if you were to to tell or you were to, to tell a young person that this is this is the way you ought to live, this is the way that you ought to think. To be honest, you probably got some pushback because what they've been hearing in social media, what they hear on TikTok, what they hear in the classroom, what they hear, right, and so things change. And they will betray friends and be reckless and be puffed up with pride and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. So rather than becoming more like Christ, they just say this, no, I want to stay in this, and in fact, I wanna go further. And he says to stay away from people like that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:04]:
The scripture, I think, is clear saying that we live in the last days. And and and some of the things that I I feel like I see in the news now is just a kind of a craziness and a barbarism that I've never seen in my life. What's happening in Myanmar, it's, it's like reading like things that happened 400 years ago. Reading about the, what's happened in Ukraine and Russia where they would kidnap all towns of children and just take them into Russia and to brainwash them right away from it. It's like stuff that you never read about. Like that's the kind of stuff like they never even did in World War 2. They never even did that in World War 1. This kind of like it's craziness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:48]:
Right? And the rules that that govern civility and and kind of propriety, even in Christian nations or non Christian nations, they seem to be kind of disappearing today. And where you can find somebody in the last, you know, in the last 20 years that if somebody was some place that, you know, we some people wanna back Hamas but because Hamas is persecuted by Israel, some some people will say this, but they don't recognize that that very group would, you know, if you're kind of like a gay rights person, you're a gay person, you're they've been in places where you get stoned in Gaza. You get There's been people, kind of Muslim radicals. What would they do? They just put in a percentage of chair and push them off the building. And and that's just not to be honest, that's not the way that it's been. Right? I'm not saying everything is good, but that's not the way to respond to things. Right? And so I think this is what I'm saying. When I say these things and if you were to to look at the newspaper or to scroll down your screen as you read the news website, what is it that God would say when he sees the world? I don't think it's really some people think that God would say, man, you you you crummy people, you, you know, like how dare you or whatever.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:21]:
And maybe some sense that God says that in some ways. But I believe that God would probably think very differently than how people think at times God might think. In the Old Testament, how many of you guys have heard this? The Old Testament is kind of brutal, but the new the the God of the Old Testament is kind of brutal, but the God of the new testament is like love. You guys ever anybody ever heard that before? Let's read a few new old testament passages about what God thinks when people are stuck in ways and and they're not living the way God called them to live. What does it it say? Maybe one of those things. In Ezekiel 3310, he says this, as surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways. So what? So they can live.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:26]:
Turn. Turn from your wickedness, oh people of Israel. Why should you die? You see, God takes no delight in in judgment. God takes no delight in these things. What else does it say? The prophet Jeremiah says this. Can we read what it says? Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin. I hurt with the hurt of my people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:53]:
I mourn and am overcome with grief. You know what I think that Jeremiah understood is that when we live in a culture that is that has somehow lost its moral bearings, that has somehow lost its spiritual bearings, that has somehow lost its bearings to truth, that what we should do is we should let our heart feel what God feels. Because what God feels what God feels is is grief at times. I think if God were to look at the news, this is what he would say, oh, how lost Oh, how lost are these people? Oh, how stuck are these people? How broken are these people? It should bother us that we live in a culture that is so broken. When he says in in in Jeremiah 8, he says that those who mourn for they will be comforted. Sometimes, you know, as Christians, we're not supposed to always be happy. You know, that I think there's a that's a myth. Right? Do me a favor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:16]:
Turn to your neighbor and say, it's a myth that you should always be happy. You shouldn't always be happy. Right? Do you ever go on this on the freeway and then there's a car accident and a wreck and there's like a, you know, just ambulance and all that. Like, you shouldn't drive by and go, oh, brah. I'm glad it's not me. Right? I mean, like, just to be happy. Like, something is right? We you're not always supposed to be happy. Right? There's some things that should bother you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:45]:
When when you read the news and you see hear these things, it it should bother us because we ought to mourn over the state of the world at times. That we understand that a better world is possible. Right? You guys understand? You guys believe that a better world is possible? I really I truly believe that a better world is possible. But sometimes we have to grieve the state of the world that we live in now. And and so we ought to sometimes mourn over our own sin, but sometimes we have to mourn over the sin in the world. Because what God created, it it doesn't look like a lot of what we see now. Maybe the nature parts do in a lot of places, but to mourn means at times to be broken to pieces. And when he says he's overcome, it says that it's that darkness has come over him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:48]:
Jeremiah mourned over the sins of his culture. The people were like his child, injured and and and barely holding on. And I'm a parent. Right? I'm a parent. I got 3 kids. If you're a parent, how many of you ever lost sleep because some of the choices or the situations that your kids were in? You guys hear me? Everybody? Yeah. How many of you guys losing sleep now, rather? I don't know. But, you know, the thing is that sometimes as a parent, we understand that when the kids are really young, you can basically make them do what you want a lot of times.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:29]:
But as they get older, right, it's just that tactic doesn't work, right? You you release them and and the thing is, does it mean that when you release them to to to be able to make their own choices? Because the reason why people get spoiled and and stuff is when we don't let them have any consequences for the decisions. Right? Spoiling is not only because you give them good things, it's because you spare them from consequences for bad decisions. Because that's the way we learn, right? That's the way we learn. Like, how many of you like, your parents tell you, hey. The stove is hot. Don't touch the stove. Well, you touch the stove, what happens? You realize pretty quick that's hot. Right? And you realize pretty quick you don't wanna do that again.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:18]:
And and so all of us, of course, we don't want our kids to have fatal consequences, but but man, sometimes as a parent, you can lose sleep, right, because of the grief, because of the friends that they're making or because of the habits that they're doing or the kind of the things that they get involved in. You know, I I think God feels that way. You see, God grieves over the culture. God grieves over the people who are stuck. And and it's true that as a result, sometimes people today, there there are people who are a little more skeptical. Right? There are people who are a little bit kind of more, I don't know if God exists. Right? But at the same time, yeah, there are those who are more rebellious. There are those who are, like, committed to just go every way the opposite of what culture has said in the past.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:20]:
And but at the same time, did you know that there are people who are really seeking after God more than ever? Google Analytics have has shown that the phrase, is God real, has been searched an average of 200 times a second, which comes to 6,000,000,000, almost 6,300,000,000 times in the course of a year. You see, when the world has got crazy, people are realizing that something is wrong with this world. And it's a great opportunity for us to say, yes. God is real. How do I know? Because I've met him. How do I know? Because I've experienced his mercy. How do I know? Because he's changed my life. And when we think in terms of being the light in the midst of a dark world, that I think one of those things is that you got we gotta be reminded that Jesus didn't come for the good people or the nice people or or the lonely people and the people without friends and, you know, or or, you know, just like he doesn't care, like he or he came for the rich people some people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:43]:
I I don't know what the the case is, but that Jesus just came for everybody. He came for everybody. And so but we have to remember why is it important, you know, to to be the light in the world? Because he doesn't just he didn't just come for everybody. He doesn't just love everybody. But we have to just be mindful that that everybody, all people, one day will face judgment. Right? The reality is we have to be reminded that one day all people will receive judgment, and that we'll all be standing accountable. Every single one of us, one day, will stand accountable to our maker. The one who made heaven and earth, the one who made us, that we'll stand accountable.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:34]:
Is this an an Old Testament thing? Because God is no. No. No. This is a New Testament thing too. Right? The Apostle Paul, when he traveled on his journeys and he was in his missionary journeys, he he went to cultures that understood God at times, and he went to places and cities that didn't understand God. We find in Acts 17, he enters, the city of of Athens and and it's it's kind of a like a circus. Right? People from all over the world and people debating and and all kinds of beliefs, and there were many pagan temples and many pagan shrines and some of them really corrupt, and some of them, you know, people did crazy things, and temple prostitutes, and drunkenness, and and at the same time great philosophies and all of these things. And he gets up, and as he's walking through the city, it says that that his spirit was grieved.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:36]:
Do me a favor. Let's say my spirit is grieved. I've been grieved. Right? You guys ever been grieved in your spirit? You go, oh my gosh. Something is so wrong in this place. Right? And it's not a judgment that people are, you know, like evil or just that something is not right. And so he says that and he gets up to the place and he he gets up and he says to them, hey, you know, I I know you guys understand that that there's all kind of gods, but let me tell you about the God that you don't really know. You have a temple one place to the unknown God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:09]:
I am here to tell you about this unknown God. And he goes on and starts saying that he's the God who made the world and everything in it, that he's he's not just the God of a little local place or a local deity or the God of drink and the God of wisdom, or that he's not that kind of a God. He's the God who made everything. He's the Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn't live in these kinds of temples. Because you know what? You you can't make a thing that where that God will just live in that place, because he's the one who actually gives life. He's the one who actually that gives breath to everything. And he satisfies every need. And and and this God, he made one people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:53]:
And that one person, this one couple that they have populated the whole earth. When is he saying that? He's saying that, like, even though we look different, you might have a different height or different culture or different skin tone or or different facial features that, to be honest, we're all one. We all came from the same place. There's a common humanity. And he decided that where these people should live. And then he goes on and he says this in Acts 17. And then and God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands people commands everyone everywhere to what? Repent of their sins and turn to him. For he set a day of judging for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:52]:
And so Paul is is motivated by the fact it's because he knows there's a day of judgment that's gonna come to every person on the planet. And he's just saying and it you know, it's like some people are good, and some people are are are well off, some people are are not so well off, some people are living are like but this is what he's saying. This he said that the people living on the edge is gonna get judged, but the people who aren't are not? No. He says everybody one day. Right? And who has to repent? Everybody. Right? Being a believer being a believer could be in some ways kind of like an AA meeting, right? Right. So, hi, my name is Glenn and I'm an alcoholic. That kind of a thing, right? But just to change it a little bit.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:47]:
Hi, my name is Glenn and and I'm a sinner. Right? Hi. I'm Glenn and I made my mistakes. I've rebelled against God and sinned against God in the past. Right? That's basically it. But he's saying that but what does it call us to? He says that you don't have to make every wrong right that you've ever done. You don't have to have your good outweigh your bad. But he says this, you have to be repentance and a turning to him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:19]:
And he says that he goes on in Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews says this, just as each person is destined to die once. How many times? Once. Right? It says it's it's saying it's it's the scriptures does not do not have reincarnation. That's not part of the scriptures. I think if reincarnation was true, then then you get a multiple chances. You get an infinite amount of chances. Scripture says this life matters. This life matters.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:50]:
The life that we live now matters because we live once, die, and then there's judgment. And what verse 28. Let's read that together. So also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him. But you guys ever wonder, what is sin? Well, what is sin? Sometimes it's hard to define, you know, but in the Bible, the word sin, whether you look at the Greek or you look at the Hebrew, the root is, it is rooted in the the root of that word is is based off the fact of, like an archery term. That if I were to to shoot an arrow to a target, whatever the bull's eye would be and the distance from arrow to bull's eye, intended purpose and goal and the distance between, this distance was called sin. It was it was called I missed the mark.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:02]:
Right? And and so that concept that what we were created for, that what we were created to do and what we actually do, that distance, is sin. So sometimes, it's rebellion. Sometimes, it's indifference. Sometimes, it's it's selfishness. Sometimes, it's things that you do. Sometimes, it's the things that you don't do. Right? Sometimes it's the things that you say. Anybody ever say stuff that you just wish you could take back, right? Because we can sin with our tongue.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:42]:
Right? And how many of you maybe you're pretty good at doing this but, you know, like you control your your words, but how many of you ever had evil thoughts? Right? I mean, to be honest, I mean, if we're real honest, I think there's nobody that hasn't had an evil thought. Right? And so whether it's to to lie or to steal or to cheat or or to lust or to hate or whatever it is, right? The the scripture says that, to be honest, it's not just what you do, although we will be judged by what we do, but it's by what you think and what you said. Right? And so in that case, if that is what sin means, right, then I think what Romans 3/23 says is absolutely true, Without question. What does it say? For everyone has sinned. We all fall short of God's glorious standard. What about kids? Aren't kids good? Aren't kids perfect? We say they are, but those of us who have kids don't think that. Right? We we love them, but not because they're perfect. Because if that was the case, nobody loved their kids.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:10]:
But because to be honest, they gotta be taught how to share, right? They gotta taught how to not be rebellious. They gotta be taught how to control their emotion and not just, like, just go crazy when they feel like it. You Susie, you can't bite your neighbor, right, in preschool. Right? That you cannot take the truck so and so is playing with. They have to be taught how to you have to learn how to do all these things. Now at the same time, you know, there's a concept in the New Test in the in the scriptures about the age of accountability that that that their sin is a little different than an adult sin. There's that concept of an age of accountability. And and what is the age? I have no idea.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:02]:
I don't know when that age is. It doesn't give us an age, but it tells us the aspect of knowing right from wrong. And sometimes they they know it, but they don't kind of know it yet. Right? But scripture talks about like a grace. When David's son died, he says, he will never come to me, but I'll go to him. Right? When his child died. And and so there's a grace that somehow covers that. But our sin and our rebellion or our apathy toward God, right, that one day we'll be judged.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:37]:
All of us will be judged. Corinthians tells us 2nd Corinthians tells us, for we must all stand before Christ to be judged, and we will each receive whatever we deserve for good or evil for what we've done in this earthly body. Right? And so all these things. And if you've ever met somebody who just says, I never sinned, explain the concept, right? Explain the concept. And if they say, I still never sinned. Well, have you ever lied, Right? I think everybody will account like even a little lie. Yes, I did all my homework, right? Like we all like I mean, yeah, like have you ever lusted? Well, if you're an adult, you understand that's probably true, right? You ever hated anybody, right? You ever, you know, envied someone? You ever jealous of someone? You were ever prideful? Like to be honest, I mean, who who hasn't done that? And so we need to be lights in the world not because there's good people and bad people, not because, you know, there's the nice people and not nice people. We need to be lights in the world because the whole world and everybody apart from the grace of God is broken and don't have a good future.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:04]:
If we are to be judged by our deeds, by our thoughts, and by our words. I don't know anybody who would stand well in that. But I like what Jesus said. Right? I like what Jesus said when he said in John 824, this is why I said that you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am who I claim to be. Now, sometimes have you ever heard anybody say this? Are you telling me I'm going to hell if I don't believe like you believe? Right? Anybody heard that before? Right? Yeah. I've said that before I was a Christian. He's telling me, like, that's the whole issue. So no.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:50]:
And what is the scripture saying? Do people go to hell because of they don't believe like us? No. Why do they? Because their sin separates them from God. I'm not telling people that you need to believe like me because believing like me is what saves you. No. That's not what I'm saying. I'm I'm saying that we're all gonna face judgment. How about you? Are you ready? Did have you had your sin dealt with somehow? Right? And and so God doesn't grade on a curve. There's an absolute.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:31]:
He doesn't say because I was better than the next guy, because I walked old ladies across the street, because I gave money away, because I, you know, know, fed the homeless. There's none of that. Those things are good. They're better than not doing them, but they don't earn my salvation. Right? It doesn't earn anybody's salvation. Romans 623 says this, for the wages of sin is what? Death. But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. I hope that that when you think in terms of being the light, we're not out there because we need to browbeat people with the Bible, or that we need to say because I'm right, or that we need to say these things because if you don't believe like I believe, then you're going to hell.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:21]:
But because we understand everyone will face judgment And unless Jesus is the sacrifice for your sins, what are you gonna do about your own sin? I couldn't I couldn't save myself. Right? And so what do we do then as a result? What do we do as a result? I think the fact is that you guys ever know anybody who is sick, but they don't wanna take their medication? You guys know any people who are married and their marriage is just on the rocks, but they refuse to go see a counselor. Do you know anybody who is on the edge of holding on to their job, but they don't wanna kinda talk to the supervisor about what they can do to make an improvement. Right. You know anybody who who they know that they they're stuck in in some kind of addiction or whatever it is, but they refuse to follow Jesus. Right? I'm sure that those are all common things. Right? We all probably know people like that. A number of years ago, there was a man who, went to Niagara Falls, right that part right before in between New York and Canada.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:54]:
And he jumped into the rapids, and the current was, you know, it gets so swift at the closer it gets. And the falls is a 173 feet at Horseshoe Falls. And that the rate of flow of the river is 675,000 gallons, per of water, that plunge every second over over the thing. So the current is unswimmable. Right? You can't swim against it. So that guy, he went over the falls, fell a 175 feet, miraculously survived, had a he had a big gash on his head. And so, you know, the rescue boat comes trying to fish him out of the water, and they throw a a life preserver, like a ring to him, and he takes it and he throws it off. And then they stick out the pole.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:53]:
They grab the pole, and he starts pushing it away. Right? And then he's he's he's swimming away from the boat to somehow go downstream. Now the authorities, they eventually rescued him against his will, but the authorities made the determination that the man had mental health issues. Right? The the guy was crazy. Must be. Right? It's not it's it's not a far conclusion. Right? It's kinda understandable. But the thing is that but you know the thing is that I I think God sees that there are people who are out there who don't wanna hear, that there are people who don't wanna repent, that God sees, that there are people who are on self destructive behaviors, that there are people who refuse to cure, that there are people who who, are are don't wanna hear God's word or don't wanna practice God's word.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:52]:
And what does God feel about those people? I think they break his heart. That's what we read earlier. Right? God doesn't say like, hey. Fine. Go to hell then. Right? Jesus still died for those people. So what do we do for those people? To be honest, there is a spiritual blindness. There is a spiritual mental health issue that has to happen that that they're wrestling with.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:30]:
The the scripture says that nobody can come to God. To be honest, no I wouldn't have come to God unless God drew me. I wouldn't have come to God. I had no interest in God. But somehow, God drew me. And so to be honest, the thing that we have to understand is that part of our role in being the light is you gotta pray for those who are still in spiritual darkness. You gotta pray for those who are still in spiritual dark. The people who don't wanna take their medicine, the people who don't wanna go to counseling, the people who don't wanna hear about Jesus, the people who don't wanna make a change that's so obvious to everybody that you gotta make the change, that you gotta pray for them because there's not just pride, there's not just will, but there's blindness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:21]:
And so Romans 2:4 says this, don't you see how wonderfully kind and tolerant and patient is God with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that it's His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? Right? And so can we ask, when you pray for somebody, you know, pray for somebody that you can pray for, Pray for God's kindness to draw them. Pray for God's kindness to draw. Those guys in the boat, they were trying to be kind. But it wasn't enough, right? Here here's the the second thing. Ask God to open their eyes to himself, right? Ask God to open their eyes to himself. John 6:44 says, none can come to me unless the father who draws them draws who sent me draws them, And then that day, I will raise him up. That people need to be drawn by God. Would you ask God to draw people to himself? God, would you draw them just the way you drew me? And the thing is that sometimes literally, Jesus told this story about there's people that when you hear the word, as soon as the word is preached, the devil comes and steals that word from their heart.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:46]:
You guys know that parable of the parable of the soils? And there's some people that they will hear the word of God. They will they will hear your encouragement. They will hear your invitation, and they want nothing to do with it. So that we say to them, the hell with you? No. That's not what we say to them. We pray. We bring them before sometimes before we bring people to God, we need to bring God to people. How do we do that? We pray for them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:18]:
Why? Because in 2nd Corinthians 44 let's read what it says. Ready? Let's read. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the good news. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ who is the exact likeness of God. There is it's not an intellectual blindness. It's a spiritual blindness. And sometimes you see this spiritual blindness in intellectual things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:59]:
I saw this, I saw this video of this guy just walking around like a man on the street with the microphone. And he walks up to these, folks, and they're, you know, adults. Right? And they just walk up, and he says, is it okay is it okay for a 12 year old to get a tattoo without their parents permission regardless of what they say? Is that okay to get, like, a 12 year old to be able to to have a tattoo? And you put them out. And it's like the first thing is, oh, no. There's nobody that said Like, no. Of course not. It's permanent. It's like they they should be, you know, they don't know what they're doing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:35]:
Right? That sometimes, you know, we because they're all they're all adults. And so the guy goes, okay. Okay. He says, so is it, is it permissible then for a 12 year old to say that my gender identity is different than what I was born? And hand the hand the mic to the the parent I mean, to these people on the street. And there's people just go, oh, no. Right? That's like and not oh, no. Oh, of course that they should be able to do that. Right? That they should, like 12 year old, they can do that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:07]:
They're just like, well, then the guy goes, but isn't that like a kind of a permanent decision and an irreversible thing and that maybe they don't really know? And he said, well, it's different when in gender identity. There's one person that when in the interview when I saw, she says when he asked that question, what about a 12 year old wanna change their sexual identity? And he's the lady goes like, okay, I get it. I know I sound hypocritical. Right? That person I would say was not blind. Right? She wasn't blind to the fact that it's totally hypocritical based on what the previous answer was. Other people can say one thing and then the exact same thing say no on the other hand and care nothing about it. And sometimes it's it's not because they're stupid. It's not because they're dumb.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:05]:
There's a spiritual blindness that people walk in that direction. People need prayer. Have I been in that way? Yeah. I've been in that place. But that's part of it is that there is a blinding influence. And so are we saying that if we're gonna be the light, it's because we have everything together? Are you the light when you're perfect and just like Jesus? Are you the light when you no longer say the wrong things with your tongue or that you're always kind or that you're always truthful or that, you know, you you're always a great example. No. You're you don't have to wait.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:58]:
If you wait till then, to be honest, you'll probably never be the light. Right? Instead, what do we do if we find ourselves how many of you guys find yourself still way to go to be more like Jesus. Right? But we know that the world around us is dark. What do we do? Well, this is what we do. How do you live so that you're gonna be essential to somebody? Start by, of course, praying, we said. But the second thing is this, repent and invite Jesus into your darkness. Repent and invite Jesus into your darkness, because Jesus didn't just die for them, He died for you. Right? He died for me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:40]:
And how many of you know that Christians, we still need saving too. Right? That once you're a Christian doesn't mean like, oh, I'm good now. I don't need Jesus. Go save everybody else because I'm saved already. I'm all good. No. We need saving still. In in Ephesians 5, it's too long to put in your notes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:00]:
Ephesians 5, he says this, imitate God. Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love and following his example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a pleasing sacrifice as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma of God. And he goes on and he says, so let there be no sexual immorality or impurity or greed among you, such sins have no place among God's people. And I'm gonna just skip a few verses, and he goes on and he says, so don't be fooled by those who are trying to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don't participate in the things these people do. For once, you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:59]:
So as people of light so live as people of light. For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. And every once in a while, it's not just the people in the world who get blinded by the enemy. Christians can get blinded by the enemy. That if we listen to the things of the world and we start absorbing the thoughts, absorbing the ways of the world, we get blinded too. Right? You get blinded because everybody's saying these things. Everybody's making this standard. Right? Every nobody wants to say and so what happens? We start going along it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:42]:
When you find yourself in that place, what do you do? You repent, which just means what? To change your mind. That's what repent means. Change your mind and just invite Jesus in your darkness. Change your change your heart. Change your decision. Right? Sometimes just change your way. How do we do that? How do we do that? 1st John tells us 1st John tells us, if we claim we have no sin, we're only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:33]:
If you wanna be the light, this is not something you do on the time that you give your heart to Jesus only. Does it happen when you give your heart to Jesus? Yeah, it does. But it happens to be honest, it's something that we ought to all do whenever we see that we strayed, whenever it seems that we fail, whenever it seems that we're struggling, hey, listen. How many of us always wanna follow Jesus? In general, you do maybe. But to be honest, when I sin, it's generally because I want to. You know what I mean? Like it's we want to do it. Temptation is not temptation if you don't wanna do it. Right? How many of you are tempted to eat kale and broccoli every day? We're like like it's not a temptation.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:28]:
That's just like, oh my gosh, I supposed to do that to be healthy or whatever it is. Right? That's not a temptation. It's only a temptation when you wanna do it. The enemy works on our temptation. Our flesh has temptations, right? Already our our our pride has its way of rising up. What do we do when we notice those things? We repent. We change our mind, and we invite Jesus into the darkness. And what does that mean? It it means we receive his forgiveness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:58]:
It means that we respond. We confess our sin. And what does he do? He is just and faithful to forgive us our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Hey. You were gonna pray here at this point, and we're gonna prepare our hearts to take communion because it's communion for the people who are perfect and holy and and never make a mistake anymore because they said yes to Jesus 5 years ago or 10 years ago or however what you wanna say. No. Communion is for the people of God who live a life in the flesh, who still sometimes make mistakes, whose hearts are for God, but that we're reminded what binds us to God is his sacrifice, is that what he did on the cross. That's what keeps us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:56]:
And that we meet Jesus, we meet Jesus in the communion because sometimes we just gotta meet him at the cross all over again. That make sense? Let's prepare our hearts. We will pray. Father, this this evening, I thank you that I I think what you're calling us to do to be the light is not to deny that darkness exists in the world. It is to let your heart, Lord, beat in our heart. It's to let our eyes see what you see. God, I know that you see the darkness in the world and it grieves you. So, father, when we're grieved at times, when we see the darkness in the world, Lord, we don't wanna just be judgmental to the world.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:43]:
But, Father, we want to grieve at times for what's happening in the world because it is that grief that will lead us to different directions. Father, would you help us to see people the way you see people, not simply as addicted or not simply as reckless, not simply as lawless, but, Lord, of people who need the grace of God, who sometimes need the truth of God, who sometimes need to have their eyes open, who sometimes need the the Spirit of God to draw them. Father, I pray that you would use that time. And when we also see the darkness in our own soul, the darkness in our own life, I thank you it doesn't disqualify us. It's just leading us afresh to the place of repentance, Lord, and the sense of trusting in the saving work of the cross all over again. Father, we praise and thank you that, lord, you use us and that we're essential, you say, as lights in the world. We're just not done. We're just not done being changed.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:01:59]:
We're just not done growing. We're just not done reaching different people, different souls, different places. So, Lord, would you use us today? In Jesus' name, God's people say amen. Hey, communion elements are in the back, and we just wanna invite you to go do that. But, again, just this aspect of inviting Jesus into your darkness, you know, the scripture just encourages us. Come. Take communion, if you're a believer in Christ. But he says this, but don't come and take it in an unworthy manner.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:02:38]:
In other words, what is that saying? Like, man, my sin, no matter. My sin doesn't matter. It just says this, is your sin is not unforgivable, but it's not that it doesn't matter. It matters to God. He just says this, repent of that. Right? Confess that. Like, don't pretend like it's all g with God. Right? So he's saying, let's just be honest and that we can receive grace, right, and mercy and help in this time because we need him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:03:10]:
But then with that kind of heart, when we go take the elements, can have some time to reflect, and then we'll take the elements together. As we bring ourselves before him, Can we have a moment of reverence? Can we have a moment of bringing ourselves before Him? In the book of Romans he says this, so now, there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Lord, I'm thankful. It doesn't say that now there is no more sin for those who belong to Christ Jesus. What you said is that you've taken the punishment for our sin. And that, Lord, you go on and you say, that what shall separate us from the love of Christ? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Because he did not spare his son, but gave him up for us all. Won't he give us everything else? Father, we confess we still sin. We still fall.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:04:38]:
Lord, at times we try, and at times we we do well, and at times we don't. And, Lord, we still need we still need what you did at the cross. Lord, apart from the grace and the mercy that you purchased for us, we would be lost. So today, we take these elements. And father, we just receive that, lord, there is it's enough. It's not my good deeds. It's not my good intentions that makes me right before you, but it's what you did. And so, Father, we take these elements to say, God, I still need you today.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:05:26]:
The cross is still enough today. Lord, I still wanna meet you today. So we take the bread as a symbol of your body that was broken. We take the bread that reminds us this is the bread of life. Your body is the bread of life. Would you take the bread? And we take the cup that reminds us of the blood that was shed. Lord, would you wash us, cleanse us all over again. We're thankful for the blood, but it heals us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:06:00]:
It restores us. It gives us strength, Lord, that we are changed and are changing as we put our faith afresh in you. We need you still. Would you take the cup? So father we're thankful today that you came for the lost, but you came for the saved. Father, I thank you that you're still in our midst even in this community today. And would you stand and would you give him the best praise you got?