Opening Banter And Energy

Five people. Tell them.

A Cave Story About Light

You Are Light In The World

Joseph And The Coat Of Colors

The Pit Reveals Your Light

Potiphar’s House And Temptation

Prison Favor Without Ideal Conditions

The Palace Test Is Forgiveness

Letting Go Of Offense And Hurt

Prayer For Forgiveness And Salvation

Tell them to get to Easter. It's gonna be great. Listen, I'm ready to preach God's word. You ready to receive it today? The year was 1997. Arshawn and I were living in Houston. Pre-kids, those were great days, weren't they? Great days. Pre-kids, we decided we had a group of friends and we did a lot together. We traveled, we went skiing together. We traveled and hung out, did a lot of we'd run together. Like one of them was training, a couple of them were training for a marathon, so we'd run together and go have breakfast. I always liked it when we ran to breakfast. That was my favorite. It's my favorite run. And uh this we got into this idea that we should go camping. And so we packed up our vehicles and drove up into Arkansas and did some camping. We're not really tent campers, we're more glampers. And by glampers I mean like a Ritz hotel or something. You know what I'm saying? Like Ritz Carlton. Like if you're gonna go, you might as well go all the way. And but we found ourselves in a tent, and then on this property that this state park we were camping at was some caves that you could go through. And so we decide we're gonna go hike through the cave. That'd be exciting. And so we get to the cave. Mind you, this is before smartphones have flashlights on them, right? I mean, you I'm I'm carrying a flip phone, and it's only for emergency, 1997, how times have changed. So we're in we get to this cave and we start to go into the cave, and it starts getting the deeper you get in the cave, the darker it gets. And so finally, I was in the front. I was like, um, who's got a flashlight? Oh no, nobody carried a flashlight. One one out of eight people, one person carried a flashlight into a cave. We're not real prepared. And that person who had the flashlight was in the very back. I was like, can you pass the flashlight forward so that if I can see, then everybody can see. And so we finally worked it out. But it occurred to me during that during that experience that, and it's really the year that I learned that even the least amount of light is just plenty enough for any amount of darkness. And that even though you might feel like the light is not bright, compared to darkness, any any light is bright. Why don't you turn your neighbor and say, you are the light. And the one you've been ignoring all service, just say, Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Here we are, week three of our series. Last week, Pastor Robbie with us. What a great week last week, huh? Man, if you missed it, if you didn't listen to it, you didn't go back and watch it, I would do it. I would I would go listen. Find it on podcasts. Just tell Alexa, hey Alexa, play Free Church Oak Park podcast, and she'll play the latest podcast for you. But um, we're we're just a week away from a couple weeks away from Easter, and we're talking about letting our light shine. And the reality is the goal of this series is that you recognize you are light, and and then you do something about it. There's a purpose to be in light. So Matthew 5 and 14 through 16 is our key verse for this series. And last week Pastor Robbie closed his message by reading this passage in the message, and this is where I want to begin today. And as I feel like the Lord has just put something on my heart to share with you. So here you are. You're here to be light. Everybody say light. Bringing out the God colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this. As public as a city on a hill. And if I make you light bears, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? No. I'm putting you on a light stand. And now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand, shine. Everybody say, shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Remember kids, we used to sing that song, This Little Light of Mine? I'm gonna let it shine. And then we say, hide it on my favorite part. Hide it under a bushel. No. Won't let Satan blow it out. I'm gonna let it shine. So you are light. You know what's amazing in this passage of scripture where it says you're here to show God colors. I think what happens in life a lot of times is we get focused on showing our colors. Somebody sang it. I can see your true colors shining through. Your true colors. And that's why I love you. So don't be afraid to let it shine your true colors. Shining through. The reality is it's not your colors. The world does not need Chuck colors or Julian covers or PM colors. The world needs God colors. You know what I learned about color this week while I was preparing? In the middle of putting up metal studs and hanging drywall and putting insulation in the walls. You know what I learned about color? Color is just light that is dispersed. And dispersed means anything or something that is distributed. So when Jesus is saying you're here to show God colors, he's saying you're here to distribute God's light. Disperse the light. Somebody say, let it shine. So for the next few minutes, as long as I can, I want to talk to you about the story of Joseph. Because I think whenever we think about color, the first story we go to is the Joseph story. Because he had a coat of many colors. And this coat of many colors was a gift from his dad as a separator, an indicator of his dad's love for Joseph. Now, I just want to point this out for a second. That each of you have been given a gift of color, of light, as an indicator of God's love for you. But the problem is we often would prefer whatever people could give us. More bling, more special. And I'm going to just tell you if a man can give it to you, a man can take it away from you. But whatever God gives you cannot be taken away. So you have to determine are you going to focus on what man puts on you or what God puts in you? And so we know that Joseph got this coat of many colors, and we know that when he went out to see his brothers and to give a report from his dad and then bring a report back to his dad, that his brothers had a plan. And they had a plan to take Joseph out. You see, they they thought he was a dreamer. And one of these days I'm going to preach about having a dream that scares the people around you in such a way that they would rather cancel your dream than see it lived out. And the idea was that they were going to take the coat, dip it in blood, leave the brother in a pit, and then go tell the dad, we're sorry, something must have happened. We found this in the wilderness. And I'm just going to tell you, when it comes to your identity, if it can be removed, it's not your calling. Just because the dad gave him the coat of many colors, that was not his calling. He was not to be called the guy that wears the coat of many colors. He was called to be light. And Joseph had an anointing on his life, a little bit like the anointing on Jesus. Joseph would eventually become a savior to the people of Israel. Not the way Jesus did it, but as an indicator and as a type of what was about to come. So they sell them. They first throw them in a pit. And I'm going to tell you, if you're for the kids, I got you some notes there. You can, first of all, the year was 1997, so you've got to write that in the notes. But light shines in a pit. I'm not going to read all the scripture today for time's sake, but they throw them in a pit. And I'm just going to tell you that there's a few things I want to let you know about this idea of being in a pit. Is dark seasons don't diminish the light, they actually reveal the light. I thought about this. If I were to turn on the flashlight of my phone, it's not real bright in this room. But I promise you, if all these, when all these lights are out and the sun's not shining through the curtains, you better have a light with you. And then this light becomes plenty bright. You see, you're not, your identity is not built on where you are, but whose you are. And where you are, if it's a dark season, is not an indicator of God's love for you. Sometimes a dark season is a delay. And sometimes a delay is your protection. Because God has to put something, He has to build something in you before you can reach really where He really has for you to go. But even in a pit, your light can shine. Then we know that Joseph, after being thrown in the pit, then he's sold into slavery and he finds himself in Potiphar's house. The Bible says that everything Joseph did was successful. That he found favor everywhere he went. It's not because he was just good at things, but it was because he had God's favor on his life. And he was light. Now I'm going to tell you there's a big difference between what happens in Potiphar's house and what happens in the pit. In the pit, Joseph's path was tested, but in Potiphar's house, it would be his purity. And let me just tell you this: that it would seem to me that when you go from a pit to Potiphar's house, Potiphar was in charge of a lot of things in Egypt. And so you would think that going from a pit to Potiphar's house was a big improvement. And I'm sure in comfort, it definitely was an improvement. But every trouble or test for your life does not show up only through adversity. Sometimes it shows up through opportunity. And just because it looks good doesn't mean it's from God. And so he finds himself in much better place, and he finds himself in a spot where, man, the environment improved, but the test intensified. And we know the story that his that Potiphar's wife, well, the Bible says Joseph was handsome. And she looked fairly upon Joseph. And in fact, she made advances upon Joseph. And in making those advances, Joseph had to determine would he negotiate with the temptation? Would he entertain the temptation? Would he linger around the temptation? And this is what is so powerful about what he said. He says, Why would I sin against God? What he's saying is, I'm not so much worried about my reputation, but I'm concerned about the light. I'll do nothing to diminish the light. And he left his coat behind, right? Here's the thing: don't bow to what's beneath you. Never bow to what's beneath you. The first coat Joseph lost to betrayal. The second coat he left for integrity's sake. So Joseph shines a light in a pit, shines a light in Potiphar's house, and then he finds himself in prison. Light shines in a prison. What do you do when you do the right thing and end up in the wrong place? You gotta let your light shine. It seems like he did everything right and he still ends up wrong. And now he's in prison and he lets the light shine. I love it in Genesis 39. It says, Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, a place where king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison, but the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight, in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Meaning, in prison, Joseph's light still was shining. And let me just tell you, the reason why that's important is because light does not wait for ideal situations to shine. Your light is not like those lights that are on auto, uh they turn on automatically when you walk in the room. Thank you. My God. I'm somewhere between insulation and drywall right now. Try to figure out what is that word? That motion sensor. And it it the light comes on only when you get in the room, and then when you leave the room, the light stays on until there's no more motion. That's not you. You are light, meaning you don't need ideal situations to shine. You just shine. Let God worry about the situation and the idealness of it, and you just shine. Now, I'm moving quickly through this because these are not the lights I want to talk about. So finally, we know the story. Joseph shares the dream of the two, the butcher baker, not the candlestick maker. And finally they remember him, and he's bringing he's brought in front of Pharaoh to tell Pharaoh's dream, the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream in the palace. And look at this light language that Pharaoh says. He says, Can we find such a one as this, a man whom is the Spirit of God? It's almost like Pharaoh saying, a man who shows off God colors. There's no one like him. And we know that Joseph is put second in command in the palace. And you think, well, honestly, that's what he was there for. He's the light. He was made for the palace. And that's the brightest light Joseph will ever be is in the palace, shining, the second in command of all of Egypt, saving the people during seven years of good times to be prepared for seven years of famines. Whoa, let your light shine, Joseph. No, I'm gonna tell you, Joseph walked through every environment, the pit, Potiphar's house, the prison, the palace, and every place his light was visible. But the brightest light is not what you do when you're rising, it's what you do when you have the power to repay. And here's Joseph now in the palace. And the very brothers that at the beginning beat him up, threw him in a pit, sold him to slavery. They're the reason why he goes to prison. All of these things, the very brother standing in front of him, he's got a chance as a second of command to really lay it on him. Oh, I'm gonna make you pay. And you know what he does? He forgives them. He could have exposed them, could have punished them, could have made them feel what he felt, but instead he's like, brothers, what you meant for evil, God meant for good. You see, you might think it's easy to shine when you're gifted or you're elevated or you're recognized, but it takes the real light God puts in us to shine when you've been betrayed or forgotten or wounded. Revenge may dim the light, but forgiveness multiplies it. And you have to think about this. If Joseph holds on to bitterness, the pit follows him to the palace. The prison lives inside his promotion, and the pain poisons his purpose. But forgiveness set him free long before. Long before his circumstances were free, forgiveness set him free. I don't know. This I have no Bible for this. This is no theology. This is just my own thought as I was preparing for this week. Liam can come. As I was preparing for this week, I thought, what must have happened in that pit? What must have happened? The realization that his brothers had turned against him, taken that coat, run off, and left him. And I can I can think the only thing that happened is he forgave them right away. There's no way he carries that bitterness to Potiphar's house and still shines brightly. There's no way he does the right thing, ends up in the wrong place in prison, and still lets his light shine if he's being carrying bitterness. There's no way he gets to the palace to be second in charge and it doesn't go to his head, and he thinks, finally, now it's my opportunity. I'll pay everybody back. He forgave from the very beginning. You see, the kind of light you are, you're not just talented light, successful light. You're not even just resilient light, you are forgiving light. Because when you forgive, the greatest reflection of our Heavenly Father, the greatest revelation of Jesus, the greatest release of any healing is you forgiving. The pit couldn't stop them, temptation couldn't trap him, prison couldn't keep him, the palace couldn't change him. It was forgiveness that proved what he was the whole time. God color light. You could probably say, I've been in the pit. You can say, Well, you know what? I I I made it past that temptation. You can say, you know what, I endured the prison. I felt the chains holding me back. Some of you might even say, I've been around the palace long enough. But you know what? Some of you are still carrying offense, some of you are still carrying hurt, some of you are still bothered by betrayal. And God sent me here this morning to tell you your next level of light is on the up is on the other side of forgiveness. The thing is, you holding on to the past is not holding anybody else back but you. Everybody else is living their best life. And you're just back here wondering, scheming someday. I'm not telling you it's easy. In fact, when I read through the Psalms, I read David saying, God, can you not just take my enemies out? Can you not just knock down the ones that are so puffed up? Are you hearing me, God? Is there any way you can really move on my behalf? I gotta watch all these people be successful, and I'm just sitting here in the middle of a field with a bunch of sheep. God, are you listening? It's okay to talk to God that way. But at the end of the conversation, you say, nonetheless, God, I release it and I forgive it. And I want to ask you, how tired are you of carrying something that God has already covered? Today I just wonder if you could make this resolve in your heart to not let what hurts you hold you hostage any longer. To not let what people did to you define you. But to choose light, and in choosing light, choose freedom. And in choosing freedom, you've chosen forgiveness. Would you bow your heads real quick and let me pray for you? Father, you're doing something in our hearts today, moving us, helping us, shining through us. But God let us realize our greatest light is when we forgive. And I pray for anyone in this room that has anything in their heart towards someone right now that's been holding them back. And I pray you'll let us release it. Keep your eyes closed quickly. If you've never, I don't know if you can forgive if you never realize you've been forgiven. And I would say if you've never accepted the forgiveness that Jesus purchased on the cross for us when he died, it'll be very hard to forgive. Because forgiveness has to be the light that shines through us. And that light only comes by way of the light of salvation. And so if you've never made a confession of your faith in Jesus today, I want to lead you through that. Or maybe, just maybe, you need to start all over. Because you've struggled to forgive, maybe you haven't really received the forgiveness that's being offered to you through Jesus Christ and his bloodshed. He took all of it to the cross. Not just our actions, but he took our emotions and our thoughts, our pains, our sufferings. He carried all of that to the cross so we don't have to carry it. So if you can just imagine for a second Jesus hanging on that tree. And when they put that nail in them, they nailed a piece of paper that had whatever has been impossible for you to forgive. And if you can receive forgiveness from Jesus, you can offer forgiveness to anyone. I want to lead you through that prayer. Are you ready? We'll all pray together. Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me and making a way for my forgiveness. Thank you that you don't hold what I've done, what I've said, or what I've thought against me. In fact, your word tells me you choose not to remember it. I receive your forgiveness, the light of your salvation. Be my Lord and Savior in Jesus' name. Amen. Come on, church, let's stand together. Come on, put your hands together and let's go.