The lights are turned off for the service; other than the lights in the vestibule, some lighting on the platform, and some candles and Christmas lights up front. You can see, but the church is fairly dark during the service.
There are songs, a short sermon, a story, and then the moment the service is named for: the lighting of the candles. Everyone has a short candle with a plastic holder on it to catch the wax. The pianist and organist play "O Holy Night"softly as our pastor takes his candle and lights it from a candle on the table behind him. He then lights the songleader's candle. They step off the platform and light the candles of the 6 ushers. The ushers then proceed back the aisles, lighting the candles of each person on the ends of the pews; who in turn light the candle of the person beside them.
I would guess there was close to 300 people there. The candles are small and don't give out much light, but I noticed that the more candles got lit; the brighter the sanctuary became. It wasn't so dark in there anymore, and yet the light came from small candles. The pastor's candle alone didn't make much difference, and neither did the addition of the ushers' six candles. Yet when most, and then all of the candles were lit; it made a huge difference in the lighting of the church sanctuary.
As I watched the church sanctuary grow brighter as candle after candle was lit; I thought about that. The world we live in is so dark and getting darker by the day. It seems wrong is glorified and is winning, while right and good are losing and are mocked and in some cases outlawed and/or shut down.
And there we are: the Christians. Are we letting our light shine? One of us may not make much of a difference in this wicked and dark world we are living in, but if we all let our light shine; then just like the small candles at my church we can make the world a brighter place and show the world that we have the best thing this world can never offer: Jesus.
There was an article posted recently titled "8 Bands You Didn't Realize Were Christian." I commented with "isn't that a sad commentary on their lives and Christianity if no one realizes they are Christian??" And it is true. It is also true for anyone who claims to be a Christian. If people would be surprised to find out that we are a Christian, something is wrong. We either are not letting our light shine, or we are not living the way we should. May God help us at this time of year and all year long to shine bright enough to light the part of the world we are in: while we are at work, shopping, at home, and everywhere we go. Jesus said we are the light of the world, so let us shine for Him.
Light your world, let the love of God shine through
In the little things you do light your world
Two doors down one rocking chair is rocking
She sits there all alone, her husband dead and gone
The best years of her life they spent together
He was always strong, but now she's on her own
And the telephone never rings
No one laughs, no one sings
It's quiet there, does anyone care?
Light your world, let the love of God shine through
In the little things you do, light your world
And though your light may be
Reaching only two or three, light your world
A knocking at her door breaks the silence
She looks out to see a little boy from down the street
She cracks the door, surprised that he came over
Flowers in his hand like a little gentleman
He said, "I picked these just for you
I hope you like the color blue
Could I stay a while, I love to see you smile"
And light your world, let the love of God shine through
In the little things you do, light your world
And though your light may be
Reaching only two or three, light your world
It only takes a little time
To show someone how much you care
It only takes a little time
To answer someone's biggest prayer
Light your world, let the love of God shine through
In the little things you do, light your world
And though your light may be
Reaching only two or three, light your world
Let the love of God shine through
In the little things you do, light your world
And though your light may be
Reaching only two or three, light your world
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