Shining Bright: Living as Gleamers in Darkness
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "Don't be a grumbler, be a gleamer. Gleaming the light of Jesus in our dark world. Theologian Jonathan Pennington says, Let your good deeds, the quote, let your good deeds, another term for righteousness, is to affect people such as the Heavenly Father would then be honored. Our good deeds are for not us. Our good deeds are for us to put ourselves on display and say, Hey, guys, look at me. Look what I've done. No. Nope. Trick question. The good deeds are for us to honor God and point others to him. This takes intentionality. This takes practice. This takes attention. This takes sincere commitment to living a life dedicated to righteousness and dedicated to being a light. Dedicated to being a gleamer." [01:00:55]
2. "Light is powerful. It cannot be overtaken by darkness. Because light pierces the darkness. Darkness cannot control it, cannot subdue it, cannot escape. It cannot extinguish it. Apostle Paul, Apostle John wrote, in Jesus was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it." [38:09]
3. "Living as lights of the world and shining like stars puts us in a position to demonstrate God's righteousness which is doing right by God and by other humans. Being guided and protected by God and standing out to those who live in the world's darkness. The prophet Isaiah wrote, I am the Lord. I have called you for a righteous purpose and I will hold you by your hand. I will watch over you and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations. When we are God's lights, the nations take notice. The world sees through its darkness. From miles and miles away they see that little light. Don't be afraid. Don't be a grumbler. Be a gleamer." [01:05:56]
4. "Don't be a grumbler. Jesus said, look, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. Paul said in Romans 16, Therefore, I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and yet innocent about what is evil. There and in the Philippians passage, Paul is teaching true followers of Jesus are to be morally faultless in the world. That's crooked and perverted by its failure. Failure to understand and follow the word of God. Believers are to be straight models for the world's distorted lives." [50:21]
5. "When we live and pray and pray and live to align with God's will, our whole life changes and people around us engage and they take notice. They see that we are gleamers. The New Living Translation put our passage like this in Philippians 2, 14 through 16. Do everything without complaining and arguing so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God. Shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life. Then, on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. Shining like bright lights. He's saying here, don't be a grumbler, be a gleamer." [01:03:38]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Paul said, we are to shine like stars whose brilliance contrasts the darkened world. Jesus wants us to gleam his light, to be gleamers. So here's the phrase I want you to remember today and go home with. Don't be a grumbler, be a gleamer. Don't be a grumbler, be a gleamer." [51:29]
2. "The qualities of a gleamer. Paul said, continuing our obedience to follow the Jesus way. Working out our salvation with fear and trembling. Allowing God to work in us and through us. Doing everything without grumbling or complaining or arguing. Living blameless and pure lives. Shining like stars in the world. Being a welcome, welcoming person. By going out of our way to practice biblical hospitality of loving others and letting them see our good deeds because they lead them to the Father. This is everything Paul was trying to say. All this is how to live a righteous life. This is how we shine as lights to the world. This is how we are gleamers." [01:10:34]
3. "When we consider how to get saved, we realize there's nothing we can do ourselves. Bluntly, Paul said, for you are saved by grace through faith. It is not of yourselves. It is a gift from God. Even when we try to get out of our sticky situations that we put ourselves in or maybe the hole that we fell in is put there because of other sins or the sin in the world and the impact of that sin from the world. But we can't get out of that hole. We can't get out of that hole on our own. We're incapable of standing in front of God and saying, okay, God, look me up and down and tell me am I a good person. Whoa. Would you want to stand in front of God and ask him to tell you whether or not you are a good person? Maybe you have your own, we have our own checklist of what makes a good person, but would you want to have God tell you his? Would you be ready for that answer? No way I would." [41:02]
4. "So I think it's wise that we don't question God. We don't question God's motives and God's processes or submit that we don't need a Savior because we're good enough not to need one. We're not good enough to not need one. Paul said in Romans, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us equally are not good. No matter what our metrics are for good, we are not good in God's eyes, but on our own. So what Paul is suggesting in our Philippians passage is to have a level of humility to know that we need a Savior. That Savior is Jesus. And what God wants us to have is an appropriate degree of reverence to show Him appreciation by living our lives in a certain way, according to the Jesus way, rather than the world's way. When we do that, our lives are completely transformed from the inside out and that transformation is evident to everyone around us." [43:26]
5. "The world looks vastly different than followers of Jesus do, unless we assimilate into the world and begin to look like the world where there is no distinction, which is an unfortunate case, that oftentimes many Christians have. Oftentimes there is not enough distinction in their lives to look differently than the world. So how do we become distinct? Not extinct, but distinct. What's that like? Paul goes on, verses 14 through 16. Here's the hard part, guys. Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may be blameless and pure. Children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation. Among whom you shine like stars in the world by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn't run or labor for nothing." [47:16]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "Don't be a grumbler, be a gleamer. Gleaming the light of Jesus in our dark world. Theologian Jonathan Pennington says, Let your good deeds, the quote, let your good deeds, another term for righteousness, is to affect people such as the Heavenly Father would then be honored. Our good deeds are for not us. Our good deeds are for us to put ourselves on display and say, Hey, guys, look at me. Look what I've done. No. Nope. Trick question. The good deeds are for us to honor God and point others to him. This takes intentionality. This takes practice. This takes attention. This takes sincere commitment to living a life dedicated to righteousness and dedicated to being a light. Dedicated to being a gleamer." [01:00:55]
2. "Light is powerful. It cannot be overtaken by darkness. Because light pierces the darkness. Darkness cannot control it, cannot subdue it, cannot escape. It cannot extinguish it. Apostle Paul, Apostle John wrote, in Jesus was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it." [38:09]
3. "Living as lights of the world and shining like stars puts us in a position to demonstrate God's righteousness which is doing right by God and by other humans. Being guided and protected by God and standing out to those who live in the world's darkness. The prophet Isaiah wrote, I am the Lord. I have called you for a righteous purpose and I will hold you by your hand. I will watch over you and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations. When we are God's lights, the nations take notice. The world sees through its darkness. From miles and miles away they see that little light. Don't be afraid. Don't be a grumbler. Be a gleamer." [01:05:56]
4. "Don't be a grumbler. Jesus said, look, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. Paul said in Romans 16, Therefore, I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and yet innocent about what is evil. There and in the Philippians passage, Paul is teaching true followers of Jesus are to be morally faultless in the world. That's crooked and perverted by its failure. Failure to understand and follow the word of God. Believers are to be straight models for the world's distorted lives." [50:21]
5. "When we live and pray and pray and live to align with God's will, our whole life changes and people around us engage and they take notice. They see that we are gleamers. The New Living Translation put our passage like this in Philippians 2, 14 through 16. Do everything without complaining and arguing so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God. Shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life. Then, on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. Shining like bright lights. He's saying here, don't be a grumbler, be a gleamer." [01:03:38]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Paul said, we are to shine like stars whose brilliance contrasts the darkened world. Jesus wants us to gleam his light, to be gleamers. So here's the phrase I want you to remember today and go home with. Don't be a grumbler, be a gleamer. Don't be a grumbler, be a gleamer." [51:29]
2. "The qualities of a gleamer. Paul said, continuing our obedience to follow the Jesus way. Working out our salvation with fear and trembling. Allowing God to work in us and through us. Doing everything without grumbling or complaining or arguing. Living blameless and pure lives. Shining like stars in the world. Being a welcome, welcoming person. By going out of our way to practice biblical hospitality of loving others and letting them see our good deeds because they lead them to the Father. This is everything Paul was trying to say. All this is how to live a righteous life. This is how we shine as lights to the world. This is how we are gleamers." [01:10:34]
3. "When we consider how to get saved, we realize there's nothing we can do ourselves. Bluntly, Paul said, for you are saved by grace through faith. It is not of yourselves. It is a gift from God. Even when we try to get out of our sticky situations that we put ourselves in or maybe the hole that we fell in is put there because of other sins or the sin in the world and the impact of that sin from the world. But we can't get out of that hole. We can't get out of that hole on our own. We're incapable of standing in front of God and saying, okay, God, look me up and down and tell me am I a good person. Whoa. Would you want to stand in front of God and ask him to tell you whether or not you are a good person? Maybe you have your own, we have our own checklist of what makes a good person, but would you want to have God tell you his? Would you be ready for that answer? No way I would." [41:02]
4. "So I think it's wise that we don't question God. We don't question God's motives and God's processes or submit that we don't need a Savior because we're good enough not to need one. We're not good enough to not need one. Paul said in Romans, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us equally are not good. No matter what our metrics are for good, we are not good in God's eyes, but on our own. So what Paul is suggesting in our Philippians passage is to have a level of humility to know that we need a Savior. That Savior is Jesus. And what God wants us to have is an appropriate degree of reverence to show Him appreciation by living our lives in a certain way, according to the Jesus way, rather than the world's way. When we do that, our lives are completely transformed from the inside out and that transformation is evident to everyone around us." [43:26]
5. "The world looks vastly different than followers of Jesus do, unless we assimilate into the world and begin to look like the world where there is no distinction, which is an unfortunate case, that oftentimes many Christians have. Oftentimes there is not enough distinction in their lives to look differently than the world. So how do we become distinct? Not extinct, but distinct. What's that like? Paul goes on, verses 14 through 16. Here's the hard part, guys. Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may be blameless and pure. Children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation. Among whom you shine like stars in the world by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn't run or labor for nothing." [47:16]
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