I'm going to open the Bible now, and if you want to please help me, I'm going to read John chapter one, verses nine to 12. And if you please stand up, I'm going to read these three verses, and then we are going to pray, and then we will see a little bit of what the Bible says about the light of the world. That was the true light which lighted every man that came into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become son of God, even to them that believe in his name." Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. Thank you for your word and for your light that has shined in our hearts so we can know you and serve you and be blessed for your power in our lives. I hope that you can use these moments to give us what we need in each life tonight. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. When Pastor Hockey asked me to come here, I didn't know that I will come and preach in English. I don't do that. But I think that it's time to start doing a little more for the Lord. And I think if I can use my English for my work and for my other stuff in life, I think I can use my little English for serve the Lord. Okay, because he has given me that too. But let me tell you, when we talk about the names of Jesus, the light is one of the most important names for him. If we go to the Genesis, if we read the first chapter, the first verses of the Bible, we will see that the first thing that that God made was the light, the first day. If we go to the Gospel of John, we will find a lot of different names for the Lord. The Word, the Lamb, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth, the Life, but the first, The first name that we really see in the Bible is the light. And that is because the light is very important in our lives. We cannot live without light. Light is very important and we can find this in the Bible, but we can find this in our lives too. And the light is something that we use without knowing every day. But if we stop one moment and think about the light, we need to understand that it's something that is vital for our lives. And I want to ask you something tonight. I want to ask you to close your eyes for a few seconds. and do that for me. It's not an invitation. It's not an invitation. I just want to feel the power of light in our lives. Let me tell you, with your eyes closed, think, what can you do with your eyes closed? You may don't be able to walk to this building, to the door. You may cannot even see. anything that you can find. Maybe if I say something about your Bible, you won't be able to find anything in your Bible. You may not, can't reach the right person in your site. So, in that situation, Without the eyes closed, you can think about what is light. Let me tell you how is light. Light is white, is bright, is pure, is nice. You can open your eyes now, and you can feel the importance of light. A lot of people are living their lives with the closed eyes. spiritual talking. Because they don't have the opportunity that we have to know the Lord Jesus Christ. We have that big blessing to know the true light. And we need to be thankful for being able to see the light. We are very blessed to be here tonight because of the light. that someday, sometime, in some place shine in our lives. That happened to me in 1993. I was growing up in a Christian family and I perceived the light through my family because they were Christians and I knew a lot of things about the Bible, but I really didn't let the true light go through my heart. So I was following false lights in life. A lot of people do that. They see a small light that cross their lives and they go to follow them. But they are false lights. There's a lot of false lights in life. Sometimes it can be business, fame, or something that shine a little bit in our lives, and we sometimes get attached to these lights, and we follow them until they disappear, because they were not the true light. But Jesus says the Bible that he is the true light. That light is going to shine forever. So that's one of the importance of the name of Jesus, the truth, light, something that won't disappear like other lights in our lives. If we go to 2 Corinthians 11, verses 13 and 14, it speaks about Satan. And the Bible says that he chose himself, angel of light to deceive people about the true light, about Jesus. So a lot of people, and even Christians, sometimes get distracted about the true light. So we need to understand that only Jesus have true light. No other light is going to last forever but Jesus Christ. So we need to understand that and we need to be clear that only in Jesus we can find true light. It's important that this true light is available for everybody. Everybody, he is the light of the world and he came to shine the whole world. Sometimes we think that this light came to our lives and that's enough, but no, Jesus Christ came to shine in the whole world. He wants to be known for all the people. It says in chapter one of John, verses nine, they say, which lighted every man. that come into the world. The true light is a light who wants to be seen for everybody, not just for us. We have the blessing and we have seen the light, but there is a lot of people that is not yet have this blessing. And we need to be part in this process of let this light to shine in the whole world. The light wants to shine in the whole world. If we are in a room and we have people from different parts of the world and we turn the lights off, everybody is going to be in darkness. But if we turn the light on, everybody is going to perceive the light. Because the light, it makes not essential for people. Everybody can see the light. So we need to understand that Jesus wants to get to everybody. It doesn't matter if he's an African American, Mexican, or Asiatic people, wherever they are from. they have the right to see the light too. And we, the people who has the opportunity to become Christians through the light, we need to be part of the process of showing that light. Another thing that we need to understand about the light of the world, the true light, is that this light is a light for life. If we go to John chapter eight, verses 12, Jesus was talking about himself, and he says, in chapter eight, verses 12, in John, he says, I am the light of the world. He that follow me shall not walk in darkness. but shall have the light of life. So beside the true life and the life that shines for the whole world, this light is a light for life. So when the light come to the people, that make changes in the life. It's interesting that every Christian have to experience some change when the light come to his life. We need to make different things than the things we did before. We need to let the light of life make the work in our lives. If we are Christians and if we say that we became saved for Jesus Christ and we live in the same way that we used to live, we may not be real Christians. We may just be saying that we are Christians, because the light of life make changes, and they need to be seen for other people. And sometimes we Christians don't shine as bright as we supposed to shine, and some other people don't see the true light in our lives. And instead, we keep saying that we are Christians, but we don't show the light. And we need to show the light. The light of life makes change, not just for this life, but for the eternal life. When we don't have the light, we are going to be condemned forever. But when we have the light, the true light, we are going to have eternal life. But this eternal life, First, we need to enjoy it here. The Lord wants us to enjoy the light here in the land. And not only enjoy it, but share with other people. I was married before I really became a Christian, in 1993. My wife was a Catholic girl. We married, I was from a Christian family. She was from a Catholic family. Very good Catholic family and very good Christian family. So we married and in our marriage we have a priest, Catholic priest and a pastor from a Presbyterian church. And obviously I knew more than her about the Bible because I grow in a Christian family. And I used to say that I was Christian. But my life was not the life that Christ want me to live. I was living in darkness. In 1993, one person came to my apartment here in Greenville with a Bible. And we start to talk about the Bible. a student of Bob Jones. And he came with his wife. And his wife took my wife to the kitchen and start talking to my Catholic girl in the kitchen. And I start to talk with this man in the living room. And he show me the true light with the Bible. And I really let the light go all the way through my heart. And I start to live different. I used to go to church sometimes, but when the light came to my life, I need to go to church all the time. One interesting thing, when I gave my life to the Lord, my wife became safe in the kitchen. And she wasn't now a Christian too. A new Christian, just like me. And we start going church. We were married for some years before that, and we were fighting every time. And then we became Christian, and we start to enjoy life together, to grow our family together. Then we start going church, and then we start going to the Bible Institute, And then we start serving the Lord with the kids, then with the young ones, then one day, finally, I start preaching or teaching to the adults. When I went to the Bible Institute, I never thought that that will happen. I was trying to fulfill my life with the light. I felt that that was a need for the world. and my wife have the same need in her life. So we went to all the services, and then we went to the Bible Institute. In the Bible Institute, we have four hours every Friday, and they didn't have anybody who take care of the kids. And we have three kids, five, four, three, in that time. And we need to go. So what I did in that time, I take my wife, take the kids, take the TV and the VCR and get into the church, put the VCR, put a movie for the kids and went to the Bible class. And then when the first class finished, we went run to see the kids and maybe change the movie, give them something to eat, go back to classes. For the third movie, they were sleeping. But let me tell you that the light start to shine in my life. And now it's shining in my children too. They are serving the Lord too. And it's something that only the Lord can do. And it's a blessing to see your children serving the Lord. The Bible says there is no better thing, see your children walk in the truth. And I bless for that. And there is a lot of people who need to experience that in their own lives. We need to open our mouths and our lives and our houses and our hearts to other people so they can see the light that we have. We have been blessed with the true life, with the life of the world, and with the light of the life. We need to shine. We need to let some other experience what we have in our own lives. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the opportunity to be part of your family. Thank you because one day we just not perceive your light, we receive your son and became your children. Father, help us to do the right thing with your blessings. You are the the only one who can make the light shine in our lives. Help us to do the right thing, to be thankful for what you have done in our lives, and help us to share that with other people, because it's what you want to do in our lives, too. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen. I trust that the Lord Jesus has shined in your life. If that's your testimony, then you ought to be shining that light forward and around you so that people can see that light in you. And that is certainly what we considered this evening. He is the true light. And I think our brother is absolutely right. There are so many false lights in the world that people are chasing after. And as soon as they seem to get down the road a little ways toward that light, that light just disappears. It's a false light. And so many people are really groping in darkness. That is just such an apt description of our lost world. And so we know the true light and we are to shine that light for the whole world. He is the light for the whole world. And so that really gives us a vision for what the Lord wants to do through us and through our church. is to get the light of the Lord Jesus Christ to shine around the world, you know, not just in our closets, right? You don't put the light under the bushel, right? But you let it shine forth for the whole world to see. And then to have that light shining through a life, I really appreciate what our brother shared with us tonight, that it changes a life. There should be a change. Right? The light of Jesus Christ transforms a life. It changes a life. And there should be dramatic changes in that life, and then it should shine. He should shine through that life. And so, thank you, brother, for that and for sharing with us an update of your ministry there.