The End of Searching
My name is Louis, I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening, and if you’re a first-time guest welcome to our church. We want you to know City Awakening is a place for both skeptics and believers to seek truth, find joy, and live with a purpose in our city. We believe that truth, joy, and purpose can all be found in Jesus, but we also know some of you might not believe that. In fact part of my story is I was the skeptic who didn’t believe in Jesus, but I came to faith in Jesus when my wife invited me to attend a church service like this. So if you’re a skeptic or a believer, we want you to know you’re welcome to attend our church. If this Christmas Eve service impacts you, then keep coming back in 2026 as a New Year’s goal. But here we are at the end of 2025, and it’s the end of a teaching series we’ve been doing called The Savior We Need. It’s a series about how Jesus is the savior we’re searching for. Both skeptics and believers are often searching for things like hope, peace, joy, and love, and the Christmas narrative is a reminder that all those things can be found in Jesus, in the incarnate birth of the Savior. We’ve already talked about how Jesus came to give us the gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love, so tonight we’re talking about how he came to give us the gift of light. It’s the gift of HIS light, shining into the darkness of our lives.
Now we could all use a little more shine in our lives. We could all use a little more shine, a little more light, shining into the darkness of our lives. What’s that darkness for you?...Is there darkness in your marriage or family?...Is there darkness over things you’ve said or done?...Is there darkness over the uncertainty of your future, your finances, your health?...Is there darkness over how hard life’s been, you’ve had dark days, and you need a little light to show there’s still hope for your life?...The reality is we all have some darkness in our lives. We live in the most advanced technological age in history, but also the highest rate of anxiety, depression, and despair in history. We have more advice coming from the lights on our screens, but also more people walking around feeling lost in the dark. What if it’s because we’re searching for light in the wrong places?...What if it’s because we’re searching for some shine, some light, in the wrong places?...The good news of Christmas is Jesus came to shine light into the darkness of our lives. He came to shine HIS light, into the darkness of your life, and that’s what we’re talking about today. Let’s turn to John Ch.1:1-12 and get into it. The title of the message is The End of Searching. The big idea of the message is Jesus is the light we’re searching for, and he came to shine his light into the darkness of our lives... Jesus is the light we’re searching for, and he came to shine his light into the darkness of our lives...
Here’s your context. The author of this book of the Bible is the Apostle John, who was a close friend and disciple of Jesus. Historians tell us he risked his life sharing this message of Jesus with others, being brutally tortured by the Romans in ways too graphic to describe in front of the kids. But he kept telling others about Jesus despite being tortured, so they exiled him on an island called Patmos for 2 yrs. The text we’re studying tonight comes from his tortured hands, and he’s about to teach us that Jesus came to shine his light into the darkness of our lives. Let’s check it out
John 1:1-12 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him...” John starts off by declaring that Jesus is our God, our Creator, and all things were created through him. He’s declaring Jesus is our God, our Creator in the flesh, and the perfect expression of God’s Word lived out in the flesh. In fact it says in Vs. 14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” That’s a reference to the incarnate birth of Jesus, and it’s what Christmas is really about. It’s about celebrating the good news that Jesus is our incarnate God who became flesh and dwelt among us. He’s our God, our Creator, who chose to dwell with his creation and die for the sins of his creation. John says all things were created through him, which means your very life depends on him.
Again vs. 3, “All things were created through him... 4 In him was life,, and that life was the light of men.” John’s saying Jesus is both our life and our light. He’s our life, meaning he’s the Creator of our life, the Sustainer of our life, and the only one who can give us an eternally joyful life in heaven with him. When you put your faith in him, he secures your eternity, but he also illuminates your present. He becomes your light, and he shines his light into the darkness of your life. He shines his light into the darkness of your sins and struggles, guiding you through daily life as you read his Word. Psalm 119 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” The more our world is rapidly declining into darkness, becoming more unstable, uncertain, intellectually and morally confused, the more you need to rely on his Word as the light that guides your path. The Christmas narrative is about the good news that you don’t have to walk around lost in darkness and disparity, because Jesus came to shine his light into your darkness and disparity.
Again vs. 4, “In him was life,, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness didn’t overcome it.” Notice when it says the light shines in the darkness, it’s written in the present tense, not past tense. It says the light shines in the darkness, not shined in the darkness, meaning the light of Christ is still shining in the darkness of people’s lives today! It’s still shining because the darkness didn’t overcome it! It’s still shining because the resurrection of Jesus proved that even the darkness of death can’t overcome the power of his resurrecting light! This is such a great hope and reminder for anyone who puts their faith in Jesus, because it means there isn’t any darkness you’ll ever face in life that a resurrection can’t fix! There isn’t any darkness you’ll ever face in life that could ever overcome the resurrecting light of Christ in your life! I know sometimes it feels like darkness might be winning in your life, but that darkness can’t ever snuff out the light of Christ in your life! In fact this is what all the Christmas lights are supposed to be about! They’re supposed to be a reminder of the great hope that you have in the light of Christ! When you see all the Christmas lights, they’re supposed to be a reminder that the resurrecting light of Christ can shine into the darkness of your sin, shame, suffering, and sorrow. They’re a reminder that you’re not alone, there’s still hope for the darkness you’re facing in life, because the light of Christ is still shining in your life, and the darkness cannot overcome it!...
John’s teaching us that darkness certainly exists in our lives and world, but that darkness isn’t coequal in power to the light of Christ. It’s similar to our physical world and how darkness doesn’t have the power to drive out light, but light has the power to drive out darkness. In fact I read a NASA article that said if a solar eclipse covered 99% of the sun. That 1% of light from the sun is still powerful enough to shine 10,000 times brighter than the moon, and could still produce enough light to drive without car lights. That 99% of darkness isn’t powerful enough to overcome that 1% of light, but that 1% of light is powerful enough to overcome that darkness, and still light up our world. That 99% of darkness isn’t powerful enough to overcome that 1% of light, just like the darkness in our lives and world isn’t powerful enough to overcome the light of Christ.
Vs. 9, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people didn’t receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name.” John’s saying we have to make a decision to either reject Jesus as our light, or receive him as our light. To either reject Jesus’ name, or believe in his name. See for some of you the issue isn’t that you don’t believe Jesus existed. It’s that you never trusted him enough to let him lead your life. You’ve admired his light, but you’ve never received it. To believe in his name means to trust and submit your life to him as your God, your Creator, your Lord and Savior. It means you trust him to be the light of your life, not just a highlight in your life...You trust him to be the light of your life, not just a highlight in your life, where you only seek him when it’s convenient...John says you have to believe in him...He risked his life getting this message out, being brutally tortured, being thrown into exile, so we could believe and receive the gift of eternal life, and the gift of Jesus shining his light into the darkness of our lives too. If anybody had a reason to doubt the light of Jesus overcoming the darkness it was John, because he saw Jesus brutally crucified on the cross. But when he saw Jesus rise again he knew Jesus had the power to overcome any darkness, including the darkness of sin and death. He risked his life getting this message out, so we could believe and receive the gift of Jesus too.
The Christmas narrative teaches us that Jesus came to shine his great light into the world, and we can’t deny the fact that he did it. I mean even skeptics can’t deny the fact that Jesus was able to shine his great light into the world, unlike anybody else in history. Historian H.G. Wells said, “I’m a historian, and not a believer. But I must confess as a historian, that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in history.” Napoleon said, “I know men, and Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world, there’s no possible comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have all founded empires upon force. But Jesus founded his empire upon love.” Gandhi said, “A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act!” Einstein said, “I’m a Jew, but I’m enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene...No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.” Jesus is unquestionably the most influential figure in history, and he shined his great light into the world, unlike anybody else in history. If his light could have that much impact in our world, then imagine the impact his light could have in your life?...If the light of Christ could have that much impact in our world, then imagine the impact his light could have in your life?...John says you have to believe it, to receive it and experience it.
The big idea of the message is that Jesus is the light we’re searching for, and he came to shine his light into the darkness of our lives...He came to shine his light into the darkness of your life...If you're a skeptic you need to believe it, so you can receive it and experience it. You need to believe that Jesus came to die for your sins on the cross, so you can receive and experience his gift of eternal life and eternal light in your life...If you’re a believer then you already have his gift of eternal life and eternal light. You already have the light of Christ shining in your life, but the problem is you sometimes let other things become a solar eclipse to the light of Christ in your life. When that happens, you need to remember that darkness in your life isn’t coequal in power to the light of Christ in your life. When you’re facing dark days in life, remember his resurrecting light is still shining in your life, and that darkness will...not...overcome it...City Awakening Jesus is the greater savior, the greater light that we all need. When all the lesser temporary lights of this world stop shining, when they get snuffed out, his greater eternal light will still be left shining. Jesus is the greater savior, the greater light, that can overcome even your darkest days...Let’s pray...
In response to this message we’re going to pass out some candles and worship Jesus. When you receive your candle go ahead and turn them on, and let that light remind you of the light Jesus wants to shine into the darkness of your life. In fact the tradition of Christmas lights started in Germany around the 17th century, when the Germans put candles in Christmas trees to remind them of the light of Jesus. Some claim Martin Luther started this tradition, and that it continued with Thomas Edison’s business partner Edward Johnson creating the first strand of Christmas lights. But Christmas lights started out as a reminder that Jesus is our greater savior, our greater light who came to save us and shine his light into the darkness of our lives. So when you turn your light on, let it be a reminder that no matter how dark your life and our world gets, you can always find hope in the greater light of Christ. Let’s stand, turn on our lights, and worship Jesus as our greater light.