Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website ecb .asia or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. As we were able to see
throughout the story, the birth of Jesus, The
theme of light comes repeatedly from the prophecies
of the Old Testament that people in a great darkness
will see great light. What we are told is that
in the concept of celebrating Christmas, the
theme of light is very important for us because
it represents the contrast of darkness. And there
is something that Jesus said about who he is.
That brings it to the very center stage of what
we are celebrating today. I'm going to invite
you to read the very words of what Jesus said
when he was talking about who he is. Will you
read it with me? Jesus says, he spoke to the
people once more and said, I am the light of
the world. If you follow me, you won't have to
walk in darkness because you will have. The light
that leads to life. This powerful assertion on
Jesus to say that I am the light of the world.
And to acknowledge that we were walking in darkness.
And it's an invitation that Jesus was giving
to people to follow him. Out of their own darkness
into his light. Many years ago I was able to
visit. the state of Oregon in the U .S. And there
was a lighthouse that was right there, beautiful,
ready to be pictured. And when I saw this lighthouse
with the waves crashing on the rocks, it reminded
me of this imagery of Jesus being the light of
the world because the people that are in the
midst of the waves, they either follow the light
to safety or they get lost. And they get crushed
by the waves. And Jesus is saying, I'm like that
lighthouse for your life. If you follow me, you
will find the light for your life. And this idea
that Jesus is the light of the world and that
he was inviting people to come out of their darkness
permeates the entire New Testament. The entire
biographies of Jesus that we find in the Gospels,
he encounters people after people after people,
inviting them to follow him. Now, there are three
particular experiences that I want to point to
because they connect with us in many ways. One
of them was a woman. We do not know her name.
We know her as the Samaritan woman. She was a
woman that had been married many times. She had
been divorced many times. And now she was living
with another guy that she was not even married
to. And Jesus encounters her in that space of
her life. Where she was already feeling like
worthless. From relationship to relationship.
Will somebody really even love me? Am I even
lovable? And in that darkness is where Jesus
encounters her and invites her to come out there
and follow him. So she did. And her life was
transformed. I do not know if you are in the
midst of that kind of mess. Where you are going
from relationship to relationship to relationship
feeling a little bit lost. And also feeling a
little bit worthless. Wondering what's next.
If that is where you are. Remember Jesus is the
light of the world. And he's inviting you to
follow him. So that you can experience life at
a whole different level. Because it's life with
him. There was another person. Who was a man
who was rich. We know his name. His name was
Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a person who was in
charge of the entire region. In charge of the
taxes for the government. And he had a lot of
money. He had cheated a lot of people. And also
therefore he also carried lots of shame in his
life. But this was this nagging feeling that
he was trying to overcome and he couldn't. And
that feeling that he was never good enough. It
didn't matter how much more money he made. It
was never good enough. Because the problem was
not his career or the amount of money he had.
The problem was the darkness inside. Jesus meets
him in that darkness and says, follow me. And
Zacchaeus does. And his life is transformed.
I do not know if you are in that place where
money no longer satisfies. You have it all. Except
for one thing that money cannot buy. And that
is peace. That peace that you are missing comes.
From one person known as the Prince of Peace.
The light of the world. And his name is Jesus.
There was another man. That was religious. He
was so devoted to his religion. That he knew
so much. Yet he was missing the very center.
Of what he should have known. He did not know
Jesus. In fact, he thought that Jesus was a fake.
And therefore, his mission was to kill all these
new Christians that were popping out in all of
these places. Because he thought that by persecuting
these people, he was serving God. Until one day,
Jesus appears to him and invites him to follow
him. Who was this person? His name was Saul.
And he became known eventually as the Apostle
Paul, a follower of Jesus, one who went throughout
the world proclaiming the good news that the
light of the world had come. He has struggled
with so much anger in his life and no religion
could touch that place in his heart. Only Jesus,
the light of the world, could reach that darkness.
And I do not know if you are in a place where
you have been following the religion of your
ancestors, the religion of your parents, and
yet you know that there's no peace. And now you're
in a place where you have to decide whether you
are going to explore the light of the world and
start learning more about this Jesus or remain
stuck in a place where you have religion but
no peace. Opinions, but not truth. Jesus met
all of these people, wherever they were at, in
their darkness, and said, come, follow me. And
they did. Now, I would like to fast forward a
few centuries. Because these words that Jesus
told the people of his time are the very same
words that he's telling you and me today. He
is not inviting you to just believe in him. He
is inviting you to follow him. Because it is
in following him that the light of the world
starts shining in you. If you follow me, you
won't have to walk in darkness. Because you will
have the light that leads to life. So I would
like to invite you to look at a different location.
This time, look inside of you. What do you see?
Light or darkness? What do you see? Darkness
comes in lots of different shapes, lots of different
experiences. But at the end, the root is the
same. There are different emotions and feelings
and struggles. Things like fear, guilt, anger,
shame, regret, anxiety, addictions, resentfulness,
broken marriages, and that nagging feeling that
doesn't want to go away, that keeps telling me,
That I am not good enough. Is that what you see?
Does this sound familiar? Or perhaps too familiar?
Because if this is what you see. Jesus is saying
you do not have to live in darkness anymore.
You can indeed have peace. Because that is what
he came to give you. So what we pray for you
today. Is that you will make a decision. To invite
the light of the world. To meet you in your darkness.
And take over your life. So that now you can
follow him. Because it is in following him. That
the light that your soul needs. Will be found.
I would like to ask you. A question. This is
very personal. But I want you to think about
the answer. Do you need the light of the world
to shine in your life? Do you? Because if you
are here today and you do not know who Jesus
is, you are not following him. then we would
like to invite you to meet with us downstairs.
We have people that have been preparing to meet
with you. If you want to learn more about how
to have a relationship with God, what does it
mean to follow Jesus? There are some signs downstairs
with red that says, do you want to know more
about Jesus? There's a room on the first floor
right there waiting for you. If you want to learn
more about this, don't leave right away. Stay.
Because this might be the day that you encounter
the light of the world to meet you in your darkness.
Now, if you say, Pastor Pablo, I would love to
stay, but I'm kind of in a hurry. I'm not here
to stay for long. No problem. What I would like
to invite you to do is to read. the Bible, especially
the Gospel of John, so that you can get to know
who Jesus is. Because as you read who he is and
what he taught, it will start meeting you at
the heart level. And if you don't have a Bible,
it doesn't matter. You can go to Bible .com and
you will be able to access the Bible online or
access it in your very phone. And you will take
it anywhere you go. And you can meet the words
of the light of the world to meet you wherever
you are. I know. I know not everybody reads.
You may say, Pastor Pablo, I just don't read
that much. So even if I had it in my phone, it
won't work. Well, in that case, no problem. Because
there's a... a group of people that came together
and said, we want to tell the story of Jesus
so that people get to understand who Jesus was.
And granted, it wasn't word by word from the
Bible, but it was a very good picture of understanding
what Jesus taught and who he is. And that series
is called The Chosen. You can go to YouTube,
type The Chosen, and now get hooked. Because
I think they have four seasons or five or something
like that. If you've never seen this and you
do not know who Jesus is, this is a good place
to get introduced. Because once you meet him,
now you will want to read that which we're saying
you cannot read. Now if you say, well, Pastor
Pablo, I just don't have time to read these things.
I don't have time to watch any YouTube videos.
Listen. If you live in Thailand, if you live
in Bangkok, forget Bible .com, forget YouTube,
you have ECB. And here we are committed to walking
with you in your journey because we want you
to experience the peace of God. You do not need
to be broken. You do not need to be lost. You
do not need to be in darkness. There is life.
There is light. There is peace. And what you
will find here. Is a community of people from
all over the world. People that have met. The
light of the world. Who are following him. And
people who were where you are today. So you will
learn from each other. A place. of a genuine
following with all of its messiness. We meet
on Sunday mornings at 9 a .m. and at 11 a .m.
So if you want to follow Jesus, if you want to
meet the light of the world, if you want the
light of the world to shine in your darkness,
join us in the journey of following Jesus. Take
this moment to thank the Lord. The light of the
world has come. And Lord Jesus, as we celebrate
you, we light this candle with gratitude. Because
your light has reached my darkness, forgiven
forever in your presence. Your light. My light.
Thank you, Jesus. All is calm, all is bright,
round yon virgin mother and child, holy infant
so tender. Beautiful. Do you remember what it
was like? When you were in darkness? When you
did not know Jesus? Do you remember what it was
like to be lost? Lost no more. Thank you, Jesus.
We honor you for what you have done. Light of
the world has come into a darkness. And today
we celebrate you. And we say happy birthday.
We are so glad you came. We love you, Lord. We
pray in Jesus' name. Amen. we welcome you to
engage by sending us an email to office at ecb
.asia. If God is calling you to support our ministries,
you will find giving options on our website.
And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.