Pastor Jon Burgess
December 9, 2018 - W1849

[Video – Pastor Jon Burgess with David Sorenson at Sorenson’s Home]

Hello, New Hope! I can’t think of a better way to kick off the Christmas Season than to publicly declare what God is doing inwardly through water baptism! I also want to celebrate everyone who has decided to declare your faith in the Lord—and start 2019 full?on for the Lord!

One of my favorite scriptures for this time of year is what Jesus did after he conquered the devil’s temptations in the wilderness…

Matthew 4:15-17 NLT says, “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, ¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined. ¹⁷ From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’”

Many people are usually stuck in the dark place of their soul during Christmas; and I love how this verse tells about Jesus, literally, moving into the darkness where the people are and shining His light!

Dave Sorenson is a good friend of mine; we’ve gotten closer over the years as we do our journaling together at our life group. Dave’s relationship with Jesus is vibrant and fresh, and he hears the voice of the Lord on a daily basis.

As our friendship grew, Dave shared with me a story that, honestly, I was surprised to hear because he is such a positive person; and to hear him struggling with some very dark issues in his life really surprised me. I want him to unpack his story with you today…

DAVE SORENSON:

A couple of years ago, New Hope had just wrapped up a series: When Life Hurts. This series impacted me greatly as I thought about what happened to me some twenty-odd years ago:

I was a senior manager for a large company and my wife was (and still is) an extremely successful real estate broker. Life was amazing! I decided I wanted to go on my own with her, and so I left my 30-plus-year career and got a real estate license to help her. About that time, the Japanese bubble burst; and the real estate market ended!

At that time, we had a pretty large mortgage; and we had also invested in a well-known restaurant that was going under—our life savings! One thing led to another and things started to turn upside down—all at the same time! (Then, we started going to church at New Hope Oahu. I had always believed in Jesus and was baptized as a child, but didn’t necessarily believe that He was in my life; I just believed that I was doing fine and didn’t need God’s help—but there was a void in my life.)

We had funded the restaurant rather than go into bankruptcy. At that time, I learned a new game I called, The Credit Card Game: You get a new credit card; just before the payment is due, you transfer the balance to a new card—before I knew it, I had a whole drawer full of credit cards! That caused me to wake up in the middle of the night (3 a.m.) and literally hear voices! I thought I was demon-possessed, but it was actually my own voice—I just didn’t recognize it.

This experience was severely affecting our marriage of over 25 years—I was not a fun guy to be around and was constantly afraid! Prior to this time, I had never worried about money. My parents weren’t wealthy, but we had clothes to wear and food on the table. I went to a good school, and so did Val (my wife). All of a sudden, I was scared! So we sold our 5000 square-foot home and moved in to a 1500 square-foot house; sold that house and moved in with Val’s parents. I kept telling myself, “You were once a successful manager, now you’re living with your wife’s parents. What’s up with this?”

Later, we moved into an apartment building on the 23rd floor. One evening, I looked over the edge of the balcony and thought I could solve all my problems! But, then I realized that it would probably be very scary on the way down, and hurt for a few minutes!

So, I called Pastor Wayne Cordeiro and asked if we could meet. I told him, “Something is going on in my life, and I need to talk to somebody.” He immediately said, “Let’s meet at Starbucks tomorrow morning.” We met, and I spilled everything to him. It felt good to talk to somebody—but the hurt was still there.

I asked Pastor Wayne, “So, do you have any recommendations? What should I do?” He asked, “Do you read the Bible?” And I said, “No.” He asked, “Do you do devotions?” Again, I told him, “No.” Then he said, “Well, would you like to join my group—we meet once a week right here (Kahala Mall) at 6:30 in the morning.”

When I commit to something, I do it! So I showed up. Normally, I’m not a journaling type of guy, but after a few months, I met with Pastor Wayne again, and he asked, “How are you doing?” I told him I was doing better, but I know it’s still in me! He highly recommended that I see a Christian psychologist. I must’ve been very vulnerable because my ego would never have let me do that! But I’ve come to realize that you don’t wait to go to a counselor when you’re at your worst; but if you go to a counselor on a regular basis, you will actually keep yourself from getting to your worst.

I had always looked at one of the titles of the Holy Spirit as Counselor; so, if going to a counselor is a bad thing, something negative, or a lack of faith, why would one of His names be Counselor? So, I met with the psychologist once or twice a week for about an hour. It took me a little while to trust him, but when I finally did, I was able to share everything that was going on—I wish I had seen him before the voices came. Later, he invited Val to join us; that was a big help because she is my number one counselor and confidant (whether I want to hear it or not) and she’s also 99.9% correct, most of the time!

After about six months, I felt my issues starting to return—that’s the thing about depression, it sneaks up on you, and I didn’t realize that I had been suffering from depression. I’m quite sure it comes from the enemy!

PASTOR JON: The word that comes to me as you're talking about journaling, opening up to somebody, being vulnerable to somebody, getting into God's word on a consistent basis is that you changed your perspective, didn't you? You said, "I realized how much I had. Even when it seemed as if everything was taken away, I am still a very rich man because of what God has given me!”

[End Video]

PASTOR JON: Our series is called The Reason. The whole reason that Jesus came into the world is to invade our darkness and shine His Light in us! You may be going through something similar to what Dave was talking about—no one really knows what’s going on inside you!

1 Peter 5:7 says to cast our cares onto the Lord because He cares for us! It means to take the heavy burden off your shoulders and put it onto His! We aren’t designed to carry the heavy weight, but our God is. Allow God to bring a fresh perspective into your life—your life isn’t over yet and He has so much more for you! Here are three things we can do to be a reflection of the Light to the world around us:

1. Let There Be Light Through Declaration.

We see what that looks like in the very beginning: Genesis 1:1-5 NLT says, “¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. ³ Then God said, [A declaration was made over the formless void] “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day. God has given us the same authority today as in Genesis: look into the darkness in your relationships, finances, and circumstances and say, “Let there be...”

The angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her that she will bear the Savior of the world, but she didn’t know how that would be possible…

Luke 1:35, NLT, “…The holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. (Mary thinks this is impossible because her womb is empty; but all of a sudden her womb is to be filled with the Son of God, The Messiah!) So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.” When faith is declared, something happens!

After the angel visits Mary and tells her what is to become of her shortly, she responds in Luke 1:38 NLT, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

Following are some faith declarations that may help you move from doubt to delight, and turn doubt’s darkness into God’s light: Genesis 1:27, NIV: “So God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” Regardless of what you have done, how you feel about yourself, or what you look like, you are made in the image of God—so what was once dark is now light!

On the other side, for those who think you’re the greatest of all time, you must declare something over that darkness of pride: James 4:6, NIV says, “But He gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” When we declare the truth of God’s word over us, we participate with what God wants to do…

2. Let There Be Light Through Participation.

Jesus’ arrival is presented in different ways; John’s record is the most unique:

John 1:1-7 NLT says, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He existed in the beginning with God. ³ God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. ⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. ⁶ God sent a man, John the Baptist,⁷ to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.” 

John is preparing the way for the miraculous arrival of Jesus Christ—the Messiah. We are also invited to be a reflection of His light and become like John the Baptist—a light in the darkness!

3. Let There Be Light Through Invitation.

John 1:8-9,14 NLT says, “⁸ John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. ⁹ The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁴ So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” 

Sixty-seven percent of Americans say a personal invitation from a family member or friend would get them to try church. Let’s declare over our doubts and speak God’s truth, the Word, with an invitation!

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. How does Mary’s submission to the angel’s message make you feel about a role you are reluctant to play?

2. If you are experiencing a dark time right now and think you don’t know what else to do, who is the one person you trust that you can talk to?

3. How do the scriptures change the way you view your situation, and yourself?