WEBVTT 00:00:03.629 --> 00:00:06.190 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity 00:00:06.190 --> 00:00:09.689 Sermons. This week we are continuing our sermon 00:00:09.689 --> 00:00:12.910 series titled, This is the Way, where we look 00:00:12.910 --> 00:00:15.390 at what it means to follow in the way of Jesus, 00:00:15.570 --> 00:00:18.710 and what are some of the practical tips and practices 00:00:18.710 --> 00:00:22.089 that can help us as we become more and more like 00:00:22.089 --> 00:00:25.539 Jesus. Today we are also welcomed by a guest 00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:28.839 speaker, Reverend Sandra Seaborn, who is the 00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:31.219 Vice President of Programs at Yonge Street Mission 00:00:31.219 --> 00:00:35.100 and an ordained Anglican priest. And Sandra is 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:37.060 going to be sharing with us more about what it 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:40.719 means to be children of the light. Light that 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:44.119 shines into the dark places of our lives and 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:47.659 empowers us to live as people of the light in 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:54.770 a dark world. Today's reading is from 1 John 00:00:54.770 --> 00:00:59.689 chapter 1 verses 5 to 10. This is the message 00:00:59.689 --> 00:01:04.049 we have heard from him and declare to you. God 00:01:04.049 --> 00:01:07.409 is light. In him there is no darkness at all. 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:11.230 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:15.769 walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live 00:01:15.769 --> 00:01:21.040 out the truth. But if we walk in the light, As 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:25.060 he is in the light, we have fellowship with one 00:01:25.060 --> 00:01:29.900 another and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:34.319 us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:38.680 we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:43.099 us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and 00:01:43.099 --> 00:01:47.920 just and will forgive us our sins and purify 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:52.489 us. from all unrighteousness. If we claim we 00:01:52.489 --> 00:01:56.390 have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, 00:01:56.510 --> 00:02:01.450 and his word is not in us. The word of the Lord. 00:02:02.870 --> 00:02:06.790 I am so glad to be with you this morning. Last 00:02:06.790 --> 00:02:09.870 time I was here, there was a brief power outage. 00:02:11.040 --> 00:02:13.479 And I think it was at this service. So today, 00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:15.439 in my pocket, I usually leave it over there, 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:17.379 but I brought my phone just in case, because, 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:19.919 you know, they do double as flashlights. Anybody 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:22.360 else have their phone with them? Let's see a 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:25.240 show of hands. Okay, so if it goes out again, 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:27.240 we're good, right? Because we can just all have 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:30.060 our flashlights. And if we do, it'll look a little 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:33.669 bit like this, which is really nice. Right? If 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:37.449 we have a room full of lights like this, if you've 00:02:37.449 --> 00:02:42.210 maybe ever even been in a stadium or maybe in 00:02:42.210 --> 00:02:45.370 a sports arena, sometimes people are asked to 00:02:45.370 --> 00:02:47.610 actually turn their phones on like this because 00:02:47.610 --> 00:02:50.830 it creates a good vibe, kind of a sense of connection. 00:02:50.949 --> 00:02:54.370 Usually it's accompanied by like cheering or 00:02:54.370 --> 00:02:59.289 music. So I wanted to start here because today, 00:02:59.490 --> 00:03:02.050 if you heard what Karen was reading, there was 00:03:02.050 --> 00:03:04.789 a word that stuck in that that we're going to 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:09.590 really look at today, and that is light. So where 00:03:09.590 --> 00:03:13.349 lights in a concert hall or a stadium are really 00:03:13.349 --> 00:03:17.569 decorative or temporary, the topic of today, 00:03:17.750 --> 00:03:20.830 living in the light, is really a permanent invitation. 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:27.139 It's an invitation to a restored or a healed 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:33.060 life. And light and darkness is a motif that 00:03:33.060 --> 00:03:37.919 is essential in our scriptures all the way back 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:41.280 into Genesis. In fact, if you go all the way 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:44.159 to the beginning of our holy scriptures, this 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:48.919 is how it starts. In the beginning, God created 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:52.530 the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was 00:03:52.530 --> 00:03:56.030 formless, empty. Darkness was over the surface 00:03:56.030 --> 00:03:58.490 of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering 00:03:58.490 --> 00:04:02.569 over the waters. Verse 3 in our Bibles. And God 00:04:02.569 --> 00:04:07.069 said, let there be light. And there was light. 00:04:08.069 --> 00:04:11.689 God saw that the light was good and he separated 00:04:11.689 --> 00:04:17.529 the light from the darkness. See, light brings 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:21.480 structure. and substance. It contains chaos, 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:27.800 even from the first day. And if we go fast forward 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:29.759 into our New Testament, the beginning of the 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:33.839 Gospel of John echoes this same motif with these 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:36.600 words about light. In the beginning was the Word, 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:40.019 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:43.060 He was with God in the beginning, and through 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:45.680 him all things were made. Without him nothing 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:50.420 was made that was made. In him was life, and 00:04:50.420 --> 00:04:55.600 that life was the light of all humankind. The 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:58.860 light shines in the darkness, and the darkness 00:04:58.860 --> 00:05:06.500 has not overcome it. Amen. I mean, with everything 00:05:06.500 --> 00:05:09.980 that is going on in our world today, with the 00:05:09.980 --> 00:05:12.800 many wars, the corruption, the suffering, the 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.160 poverty, it helps me to ground myself in what 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:21.000 I think of as these eternal and cosmic truths. 00:05:21.819 --> 00:05:29.620 God is light, and God light brings life. And 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:32.800 so as we look at this sermon series, we've been 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.040 focusing on, which is this is the way, we're 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.699 delving into three aspects of what does it mean 00:05:38.699 --> 00:05:43.019 as followers of Jesus to live in the light of 00:05:43.019 --> 00:05:46.500 God. And the three words I'm going to leave with 00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:48.899 you today are that this kind of light, this God 00:05:48.899 --> 00:05:53.160 light, it reveals, it restores, and it radiates. 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:00.000 That passage from 1 John is going to show us 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:05.319 how the light of God reveals who we are, and 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:09.720 it also shows us who God is. It's also a light 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:12.819 that brings salvation and restoration and healing, 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:16.279 and then it's a light that sends us into the 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:19.860 world so that we can radiate the same light for 00:06:19.860 --> 00:06:28.379 those around us. So reveal. What does God... 00:06:28.990 --> 00:06:34.110 reveal in his light? Well, in my home, when the 00:06:34.110 --> 00:06:36.930 sun shines at this time of the year in the late 00:06:36.930 --> 00:06:39.990 afternoon, what I notice first are the dirty 00:06:39.990 --> 00:06:42.910 windows because I've had melting eaves all over 00:06:42.910 --> 00:06:45.850 them. And I noticed the dust bunnies in the corners. 00:06:46.370 --> 00:06:49.829 And I'm like, oh, I mean, I love the sun, but 00:06:49.829 --> 00:06:53.129 I'm like, oh, what about in my life though? Like 00:06:53.129 --> 00:06:56.009 when God's light shines, what does it reveal? 00:06:57.840 --> 00:07:00.860 Well, a few years ago, when I was working at 00:07:00.860 --> 00:07:02.879 St. Paul's Anglican Church, and that's where 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:06.060 I met Pastor Rob, I had a hockey injury. I play 00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:08.720 ice hockey with women my age in a rec league, 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.079 and I made the mistake one time of putting my 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.060 foot in the way of somebody shooting, and most 00:07:15.060 --> 00:07:17.740 of the time that's not a problem because they're 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:19.439 people my age. It just happened the woman shooting 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.519 was a police officer, so it was a bit of a harder 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:25.439 shot, and it was very painful. And so I had to 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.540 go get my foot x -rayed. This is not mine, but 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:29.300 I did get my foot x -rayed because we needed 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:32.120 to see what we couldn't see from the outside. 00:07:32.180 --> 00:07:37.139 I needed to see if this foot was broken. And 00:07:37.139 --> 00:07:41.160 it turned out it was. More recently, my mother 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:44.860 was seeing double. And so she would sometimes 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:46.540 be able to look at a page and everything would 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:50.079 move. And so the doctor sent her to get an MRI. 00:07:50.339 --> 00:07:52.860 This is a picture of a brain MRI. Because they 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:57.199 needed to see into her brain to find the problem. 00:07:58.339 --> 00:08:02.019 See, we have created machines that help us to 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:06.000 see what our eyes cannot see. These machines 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:10.199 reveal information that is true but invisible 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:13.540 to us without... this extra layer of seeing. 00:08:13.699 --> 00:08:17.639 It shows broken parts of our body so that doctors 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:21.120 can have better diagnoses and create better treatment 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:26.759 plans and care plans. And spiritually, what God's 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:30.399 light does is it reveals our spiritual brokenness. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:36.899 We call that spiritual brokenness sin. Sometimes, 00:08:36.940 --> 00:08:41.299 though, it can be hard to see it. Just like I 00:08:41.299 --> 00:08:43.320 couldn't see if my foot was broken and we couldn't 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:45.779 see if there was anything in my mom's brain without 00:08:45.779 --> 00:08:50.539 an extra layer of support, we need God's light 00:08:50.539 --> 00:08:55.240 to be able to see the sin. Now at Easter time, 00:08:55.460 --> 00:08:58.919 we prepare for it in the season of Lent. This 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:01.980 is the time that traditionally the church has 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:04.940 put a little bit of extra focus on this self 00:09:04.940 --> 00:09:07.990 -reflection. Because this season of Lent is this 00:09:07.990 --> 00:09:10.710 time that we prepare ourselves for the great 00:09:10.710 --> 00:09:14.649 victory over sin, where even death is defeated. 00:09:15.789 --> 00:09:20.090 But to do that, we need to stop and look at ourselves 00:09:20.090 --> 00:09:25.129 with the help of God's Spirit. So, if you're 00:09:25.129 --> 00:09:27.129 here this morning, and as soon as I said the 00:09:27.129 --> 00:09:30.470 word sin, you thought of a long list of ways 00:09:30.470 --> 00:09:33.120 that you fall short. And I know there's some 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:34.919 of you this morning where that's what the voice 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:38.419 is in your head. Then the top here of this slide 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:46.100 is for you. Show not shame. See, when God's light 00:09:46.100 --> 00:09:50.940 reveals spiritual brokenness to us, it is not 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:54.320 about shame. Because each one of us has been 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:58.480 adopted into God's family. We are adopted children. 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:03.019 We have inherited that. Through the gift of Jesus, 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:07.899 our identity is secure in Christ. So when God 00:10:07.899 --> 00:10:11.940 reveals brokenness to us, it is not about shame. 00:10:12.059 --> 00:10:15.299 And here I'm leaning into Brene Brown's parsing 00:10:15.299 --> 00:10:18.019 or understanding of shame, which is identity. 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:21.779 So she says, shame focuses on self -recrimination 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:25.090 and identity. I am bad. That is not what God's 00:10:25.090 --> 00:10:28.210 light is doing. Because as adopted children of 00:10:28.210 --> 00:10:31.710 God, what the light is doing is showing us things 00:10:31.710 --> 00:10:34.610 that are not aligned with God's self, which is 00:10:34.610 --> 00:10:37.490 more like I did something bad, not I am bad. 00:10:37.710 --> 00:10:41.649 And that distinction is crucially important. 00:10:42.950 --> 00:10:47.309 Because when that light is revealed to us, there 00:10:47.309 --> 00:10:50.190 are things that we can do with God's help to 00:10:50.190 --> 00:10:53.940 address that spiritual brokenness. In other words, 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:58.080 the light reveals spiritual brokenness so that 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.299 we can be healed and transformed more into the 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:05.279 likeness of Jesus so that our behaviors match 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:11.679 our identity. Our identity is in Christ. Now, 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:13.399 if you are here this morning and I said this 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:17.080 word sin, and that's not the voice in your head, 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:19.179 then it's the stuff underneath that might be 00:11:19.179 --> 00:11:23.070 more helpful to you on this slide. Because it's 00:11:23.070 --> 00:11:26.450 easy for some of us, instead of thinking of how 00:11:26.450 --> 00:11:28.769 bad we are, to think about someone else's faults. 00:11:28.850 --> 00:11:31.110 Maybe you turned out and you're like, yeah, my 00:11:31.110 --> 00:11:35.389 sister. Or, oh my gosh, my spouse. Or that person 00:11:35.389 --> 00:11:38.769 at work. Well, then this list might be helpful 00:11:38.769 --> 00:11:42.690 to you. Because sin or brokenness is often categorized 00:11:42.690 --> 00:11:44.690 in the ways you see on the screen. This is sort 00:11:44.690 --> 00:11:46.909 of an informal way of doing it. More formally, 00:11:47.029 --> 00:11:49.590 we call them sins. We usually bucket them in 00:11:49.590 --> 00:11:52.620 these ways. Sins of omission. That's stuff we 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:56.320 didn't do. Things left undone. Things of commission. 00:11:56.740 --> 00:11:59.740 That's the stuff that we did do that we shouldn't 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:02.620 have done. And then the third big bucket is usually 00:12:02.620 --> 00:12:05.840 imputed sin, which is a result of the fall. And 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:08.419 I've broken that down in two buckets. Harms done 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:11.399 to us and the impact of living in a broken world. 00:12:11.460 --> 00:12:14.039 The harms we bump into because we live in a world 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:18.179 that is not aligned with God's ways. And it is 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:20.690 yet to be fully redeemed as it will be. when 00:12:20.690 --> 00:12:23.230 we get to heaven, and when heaven comes here 00:12:23.230 --> 00:12:26.730 on earth. So let's give an example of how this 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:30.350 might play out in real life. Cell phone usage. 00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:35.029 This is not my screen, but, like, if you're not 00:12:35.029 --> 00:12:37.210 sure, and you have a cell phone, and you're on 00:12:37.210 --> 00:12:39.750 the screen, you just look at your usage, and 00:12:39.750 --> 00:12:42.570 it will be sobering, it's likely to be a sobering 00:12:42.570 --> 00:12:46.629 picture. How does this play out? Sin of omission. 00:12:46.710 --> 00:12:48.830 What we didn't do because we were scrolling. 00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:52.840 Skins of commission, the stuff we chose to look 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:56.159 at when we were scrolling. Harms done to us, 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:00.559 the images that pop up uninvited or ads or suggested 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:04.240 next videos. And the brokenness of the world. 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:07.379 The way that those who have designed these phones 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:09.879 and the algorithms around all the apps on the 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:14.440 phone use our biology, the natural release of 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.679 dopamine to keep us addicted to the very screens, 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:20.279 the algorithms themselves. are designed to make 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:25.799 money, keep our eyes locked. Cell phones, overuse, 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:28.700 can be an example of all of the ways that it 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:31.320 is easy to be spiritually broken in this world. 00:13:32.940 --> 00:13:37.919 But there is hope, right? Because God's life 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:43.240 always reveals to restore. God's light always 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:47.269 reveals to restore. And the Bible reading from 00:13:47.269 --> 00:13:50.149 today sets this out very clearly. In the message 00:13:50.149 --> 00:13:52.429 translation, it says this. If we claim we're 00:13:52.429 --> 00:13:54.509 free from sin, we're only fooling ourselves. 00:13:54.809 --> 00:13:57.769 A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the 00:13:57.769 --> 00:14:00.490 other hand, if we admit our sins, simply come 00:14:00.490 --> 00:14:04.169 clean about them, Jesus won't let us down. He'll 00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:07.129 be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and 00:14:07.129 --> 00:14:12.490 purge all our wrongdoing. God will be true to 00:14:12.490 --> 00:14:16.590 God's self. Isn't that beautiful? That's what 00:14:16.590 --> 00:14:19.409 faithfulness is. And then what does it mean that 00:14:19.409 --> 00:14:21.629 God is true to God's self? Like, what is God's 00:14:21.629 --> 00:14:24.730 nature that God is being true to? It is justice. 00:14:25.370 --> 00:14:28.490 You see it there. He is faithful and just. What 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:31.090 is justness or rightness? The Greek word there 00:14:31.090 --> 00:14:36.330 is derived from dika or dike, meaning equitable 00:14:36.330 --> 00:14:41.169 in character or in act, and by implication, holy 00:14:41.169 --> 00:14:49.519 and innocent. Each Sunday, each mini -resurrection 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:55.059 day, we tell this story again and again. We remember 00:14:55.059 --> 00:14:58.320 at the communion table how the blood of Jesus 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:01.899 has set us free, how Jesus loved us so much that 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:04.799 he laid down his life and paid the penalty for 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:08.379 our debts, purifying us of our sins and casting 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:12.879 out fear with love, removing punishment, bringing 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:17.860 new life where death and the devil had sway before. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:21.860 Now, if all that sounds a little too religious, 00:15:22.139 --> 00:15:25.559 I want to reflect a little bit in science terms 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:31.539 how light restores or heals. And here I'm going 00:15:31.539 --> 00:15:33.440 to read some science because I'm not a scientist, 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:37.940 but when your skin is exposed to sunlight, specifically 00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:42.080 ultraviolet rays, there's a form of cholesterol 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:46.399 called D - 7 -DHC, where the skin cells are converted 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.840 into the pre -vitamin, anybody know which one 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:53.019 it is? D, that's right, D3, right? And probably, 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:54.840 if you've been to your doctor, they probably 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:56.720 tell you, because we live in Canada, you should 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.580 all take D3 all winter. Like, all of us should 00:15:58.580 --> 00:16:00.220 be taking D3, because there's just not enough 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:03.600 sunlight in our life to do this reaction to us. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.080 And this D3, what does it help us do? It helps 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:09.120 us absorb calcium and phosphorus. It helps keep 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.659 us strong bones and regulates our immune system. 00:16:12.570 --> 00:16:15.629 Sunlight also stimulates the production of serotonin, 00:16:15.690 --> 00:16:19.649 which is a mood -regulating hormone. More recently, 00:16:19.909 --> 00:16:22.870 this here is an AI picture I created online because 00:16:22.870 --> 00:16:25.730 I couldn't find one I quite liked. Infrared light 00:16:25.730 --> 00:16:29.309 has started being used therapeutically. It's 00:16:29.309 --> 00:16:32.830 called photobiomodulation, and it used to be 00:16:32.830 --> 00:16:35.529 called laser therapy, but it is a non -thermal, 00:16:35.529 --> 00:16:38.129 low -level... Light that's used to stimulate 00:16:38.129 --> 00:16:41.090 cellular function, enhance repair, reduce pain 00:16:41.090 --> 00:16:43.049 and inflammation. And what does it do? It taps 00:16:43.049 --> 00:16:48.110 mitochondria. It increases ATP production, accelerates 00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:50.529 tissue healing. I mean, I could just go on and 00:16:50.529 --> 00:16:56.169 on, right? Light heals. Sunlight, infrared light. 00:16:57.070 --> 00:16:59.649 I mean, the medical sites I checked did note 00:16:59.649 --> 00:17:02.070 that both these ways of using light are generally 00:17:02.070 --> 00:17:04.710 safe and non -invasive, as long as you do the 00:17:04.710 --> 00:17:06.549 dosage, right? I'm not suggesting here we don't 00:17:06.549 --> 00:17:11.849 wear sunscreen. But God's light heals our soul, 00:17:11.970 --> 00:17:16.069 and we see it in the natural world as well. Light 00:17:16.069 --> 00:17:22.109 heals, and God's being restores and heals us. 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:26.180 And in a sense, I think that may be what we experience 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:29.440 when we come to church. Because as we're in church 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.920 together, we experience the presence of God. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:36.539 And it's like as we sit here and worship together, 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:39.799 it's almost like we're absorbing sunshine or 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:42.740 sitting in that infrared sauna because the experience 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:46.660 of worship can physically, not just spiritually, 00:17:46.900 --> 00:17:53.519 make you feel better. God being God's self is 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:59.500 a God of restoration. Light reveals, light restores, 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:04.500 and light radiates. Now, I wonder if any of you 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:07.099 remember these in windows. I don't know if it 00:18:07.099 --> 00:18:09.339 was out here, came all the way out here, but 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:12.140 in my neighborhood, we saw these a lot in COVID. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.720 So these little hearts are about 12 inches tall. 00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:18.839 They were made by a company in Mississauga. And 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:20.799 you could buy them and people would put them 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.440 in their windows to kind of as a sign of solidarity 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.819 and support during COVID for essential workers. 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:28.579 They originally came in white, but now you can 00:18:28.579 --> 00:18:30.859 come in every color and every different color 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:33.039 goes, the money goes to a different charity. 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:36.759 And here's what their website says. And no, I 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:38.579 have no connection to them or suggest you're 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:40.200 buying them or anything, but this is what their 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.579 website says about them. Our company was founded 00:18:42.579 --> 00:18:45.079 on creating a force of compassion through COVID 00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:48.079 -19, a difficult time that challenged us all. 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:50.440 From the very beginning, we made it our mission 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:53.619 to lift up the community that we build our lives 00:18:53.619 --> 00:18:55.960 around. That's why a portion of every glowing 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:59.339 heart... Neon light will always go to supporting 00:18:59.339 --> 00:19:02.700 a charitable cause. Together, we can create light 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:06.539 to guide us even through darkest times. That's 00:19:06.539 --> 00:19:10.359 quite the corporate vision. Light for dark times 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:17.039 and togetherness. How do we do that? Well, practically 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:19.839 speaking, if we get back down to the basics of 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.619 it, there's a couple of different ways that we 00:19:21.619 --> 00:19:25.960 see light. An object can emit light like a light 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:29.609 bulb. or a flashlight or a flame. An object can 00:19:29.609 --> 00:19:32.910 reflect or refract light, and really anything 00:19:32.910 --> 00:19:36.410 we see is doing this because objects, like every 00:19:36.410 --> 00:19:38.549 single object even in this room is doing this, 00:19:38.589 --> 00:19:41.150 but it's often easier to think of the reflection 00:19:41.150 --> 00:19:43.950 in like a mirror or a moon, or as you can see 00:19:43.950 --> 00:19:46.029 in this photo, kind of how the glass reflects 00:19:46.029 --> 00:19:49.890 the light bulb. And an object can also let light 00:19:49.890 --> 00:19:52.029 through, like the glass in the front of this 00:19:52.029 --> 00:19:56.170 light being transparent. This porch light is 00:19:56.170 --> 00:19:58.150 doing all three of those. The bulb is emitting 00:19:58.150 --> 00:20:00.349 the light, the reflection, the transparency. 00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:05.250 It's all working together to radiate. And as 00:20:05.250 --> 00:20:10.210 children of light, when the Spirit fills us, 00:20:10.410 --> 00:20:15.869 we're supposed to be like this porch light. We 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:19.470 are reflecting God's light, but we are also having 00:20:19.470 --> 00:20:22.970 absorbed God's presence, emitting it, letting 00:20:22.970 --> 00:20:26.140 it. be shown. And it's the reason I chose a porch 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:28.660 light is because the purpose of being God's light 00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:32.619 is actually for those around us, right? A porch 00:20:32.619 --> 00:20:34.440 light is not put on for the people in the house. 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:36.359 It's put on for the people who are yet to come 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:39.279 in. It's put on for the people who are still 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:44.640 on their way. Radiating light is for the community. 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:53.250 It is for others. Now where we Living in 2026 00:20:53.250 --> 00:20:56.970 may be shaped as people living in a Heidi individualistic 00:20:56.970 --> 00:21:02.349 time. Living in the light is not a private, personal, 00:21:02.529 --> 00:21:06.170 or solitary individual act. And 1 John is very 00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:08.269 clear about that. As you read through, not just 00:21:08.269 --> 00:21:10.369 the passage that we read, but if you read through 00:21:10.369 --> 00:21:12.950 to the end of the book, you're going to see that 00:21:12.950 --> 00:21:15.990 this theme comes up over and over again. Your 00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:19.970 actions, particularly in relationship to other 00:21:19.970 --> 00:21:25.490 people, That shows your beliefs. God saves you. 00:21:25.589 --> 00:21:28.490 God transforms you. You are different, and then 00:21:28.490 --> 00:21:31.230 you are different in how you show up for other 00:21:31.230 --> 00:21:34.829 people. You shine for and with people in your 00:21:34.829 --> 00:21:37.690 community, both your religious community, which 00:21:37.690 --> 00:21:40.710 the scripture calls fellowship, and your neighbors 00:21:40.710 --> 00:21:45.490 in need. Walking in the light, radiating light, 00:21:45.630 --> 00:21:49.859 means loving people as God has loved them. Love 00:21:49.859 --> 00:21:53.339 is light activated. I like to think of God's 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:57.259 light as love light. And so I wonder this morning, 00:21:57.380 --> 00:22:01.240 who are the people in need in your sphere of 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:05.259 influence that you can stand or sit or be with 00:22:05.259 --> 00:22:12.940 and offer this love light? Isaiah 58 verses 5 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:17.019 and 6 beautifully connects this practice of God's 00:22:17.019 --> 00:22:21.460 love. and this fellowship with this, with the 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:25.059 practice that you're going to be introduced to. 00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:26.579 And this is a bit of a spoiler alert. So this 00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:28.880 week's practice in your spiritual practices is 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:33.539 fasting. So, but Isaiah 58 connects our theme 00:22:33.539 --> 00:22:36.420 of the day, light and care of neighbor with this 00:22:36.420 --> 00:22:38.200 practice really well. So I'm going to read you 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:40.759 a little bit of it. It says, is this not the 00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:44.019 kind of fasting that I have chosen to loose the 00:22:44.019 --> 00:22:46.819 chains of injustice and untie the cords of the 00:22:46.819 --> 00:22:49.640 yoke? to set the oppressed free and to break 00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:52.700 every yoke? Is it not to share your food with 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:55.079 the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with 00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:57.519 shelter? And when you see the naked, to clothe 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:59.519 them and not to turn away from your own flesh 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:02.779 and blood. And then here comes the specific connection 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:07.680 to light that both restores and radiates. So 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:10.319 the scripture says, then your light will break 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.720 forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly 00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:16.589 appear. and your righteousness will go before 00:23:16.589 --> 00:23:21.029 you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear 00:23:21.029 --> 00:23:27.430 guard. The organization that I work for, Young 00:23:27.430 --> 00:23:29.829 Street Mission, downtown Toronto, we are always 00:23:29.829 --> 00:23:32.630 looking for volunteers to share this God's love 00:23:32.630 --> 00:23:35.490 light. 130 years of partnership with churches. 00:23:36.069 --> 00:23:39.789 That's what YSM does. It offers bread and hope. 00:23:39.930 --> 00:23:42.569 It tries to be God's love light for the people 00:23:42.569 --> 00:23:45.940 who are impacted by poverty, helping them to 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:49.200 survive and to thrive. And we could use your 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.680 love light, but sales pitch aside, there are 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:55.019 many opportunities that I saw in the activities 00:23:55.019 --> 00:23:58.500 here, outreach efforts of this church, your own 00:23:58.500 --> 00:24:00.859 neighborhood where you live, that could also 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:04.480 use God's love light. This love light that we 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:06.640 share with neighbors, it comes from God. He is 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:09.420 the source of the love light, the ultimate eternal 00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:13.039 flame. And radiating this love light that shines 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:17.819 in and through us, is where living in the light 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:23.960 ends. Now, Bruce Coburn sings it this way. This 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:28.380 is an old one, but here's how he puts it in his 00:24:28.380 --> 00:24:33.180 song. Oh, love that fires the sun, keep me burning. 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:37.240 Lord of the star fields, sower of life. Heaven 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:40.900 and earth are full of your light. Voice of the 00:24:40.900 --> 00:24:44.839 nova, smile of the dew. All of our yearning, 00:24:55.280 --> 00:25:01.819 Friends, the experience of living in the light 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:07.319 is meant to travel with us. It reveals who we 00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:11.079 are and who God is. It restores us to right relationship 00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:15.369 with God and our neighbor so that we can radiate 00:25:15.369 --> 00:25:21.130 to others. Amen. Thank you for listening to this 00:25:21.130 --> 00:25:23.930 week's episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon 00:25:23.930 --> 00:25:26.470 was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville in 00:25:26.470 --> 00:25:30.950 Mississauga, Ontario on March 22, 2026.