Sermon
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
Theme
Let your light shine.
Object
A battery-powered lantern or a Peanuts comic strip with Snoopy with his typewriter (see below sermon).
Scripture
Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
Activities + Resources
One of my favorite comic strips is Peanuts and one of my favorite characters in that strip is Snoopy. If you have read very many Peanuts cartoons, you have probably seen one which shows Snoopy sitting on top of his dog house with a typewriter. He is trying to write a great story, but he seldom gets past the opening sentence which is, "It was a dark and stormy night."
Do you remember any "dark and stormy nights" in your life? I remember a lot of them! Nights when the electricity went off and the lights went out. That is not a very good feeling, is it? You can't see anything in the house and it is hard to find your way around without bumping into the furniture. That is why I always have some other form of light handy in case of an emergency. Perhaps it is a candle or an oil lamp, but those can be dangerous and could cause a fire. You can also use a flashlight, but they don't put out quite enough light. What you really need is a battery-powered camping lantern. They produce a bright light that makes it easy to see well enough to move safely around the house.
A dark and stormy night can be very scary and it is good to be prepared for such times, but there are some people who live every day of their life in darkness. They are lost and alone with no light to show the way. Can you imagine how scary that must be? We know what they need. They need Jesus, but they don't know him, so how can they find the way?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." We can show others the way to Jesus by letting our light shine. If they see that we have the light, they will want it too. It is just like it says in the song we all know, "This Little Light of Mine" (Sing the song.)
- "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!"
- "Hide it under a bushel? No, I'm gonna let it shine."
We know the song, now what we need to do is do what Jesus said. We need to let our light shine to show others the way.
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to be the Light of the World. Help us to let his light shine through us so that others will put their faith and trust in him. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
