For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! (Ephesians 5:8)
“Upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (Matthew 16:18).

Happy Sunday, everyone! I am always excited and full with anticipation when I know I will be going to church. Good people, great preaching, a lovely worship space, gathering together to express our love and adoration to a phenomenal God!

One of the ways I am able to contribute to the life of this particular congregation is writing an every-other-week column for the HMPC website. I was invited to do this by the “150th Anniversary” team. My approach is to look at the amazing history of this church through the eyes of a newcomer, and comment on how that powerful legacy continues to inspire and to animate our life together as a community.

My latest (and 7th in the series) article talks about this church as a point of light in Tarboro, a navigation beacon for those who need to find their way home.

I used the verse I’m quoting in today’s blog post: “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!“

The scripture grabbed me and I had to share it this morning.

I think that both the problem with darkness and the solution are exactly the same. Darkness – like evil – is nothing more (or less) than emptiness. Darkness exists to the extent that there is no light, and evil only has sway when goodness looks the other way.

In other words, it is not enough for us to have the light of Christ… we must shine! And it is not enough that we are the beneficiaries of goodness… we must confront evil head on.

And by confront I mean shine.

Purposeful Goodness:

There is no benefit to any of us acting as judges or pouring scorn or being aggressively confrontational. But there is great benefit – and victory – when we do the work of light and goodness purposefully in the face of evil.

Not by proclaiming our pet ideologies but by joining in with God’s initiatives of light, grace, mercy, love, justice, hope, redemption and humble service.

This is how Jesus both died and won in the same moment.

There is great evil at play in today’s world. The only way to claim lasting victory is to both shine brightly and to do goodness. Or as the prophet Micah put it so well,

• “Do justice.”
• “Love kindness.”
• “Walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Jesus was serious about Church:

I believe that if we – if you – really want to do some good in this world, then you absolutely must become a committed and active member of a church in your community. There is no practical alternative.

Jesus said this, “upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (Matthew 16:18).

There is a piece of the Jesus promise that we must take seriously – and it’s the “CHURCH” piece. Jesus wants us all to be part of his plan – active and committed, shining with goodness and with integrity.

This is more than important, it’s a life and death struggle. Not just on Easter Sunday, but every Sunday (and Monday, and Tuesday, and….)

In love – DEREK