December 22, 2024 | "Shine in the Darkness: Let There… Be Light!” | Rev. Vicki Harrison
9:30 AM Service
Summary:
In her sermon, "Let There… Be Light!” from the "Shine in the Darkness" series, Rev. Vicki Harrison explores the profound call for Christians to embody the light of Christ in a dark world. Drawing from Matthew 5:14-16, she emphasizes that as followers of Christ, we are not just carriers of light but are inherently the light of the world, tasked with demonstrating God’s goodness through our actions. Rev. Harrison encourages the congregation to live in such a way that points others towards God, transforming our communities by letting our light shine forth in all we do, thereby glorifying God. She challenges us to assess how we reflect this light in our daily interactions and community engagements, affirming that our role as bearers of light is not merely a calling but our identity in Christ.
Listen to and subscribe to the audio-only podcast with your favorite podcasting app below.
More Sermons in this Series
Explore how Jesus’ eternal light dispels darkness and calls us to be bearers of light in our world. Join Pastor Roberto Chaple in embracing and spreading this divine illumination.
Explore how the light of Christ transforms darkness into hope in Rev. Vicki Harrison’s sermon, "The Darkness is Over!" from the "Shine in the Darkness" series.
Other Sermons from Pastor Vicki
Vicki Harrison opens Matthew 6:19-24 and makes the case that this passage is not really about money — it is about treasure, the thing we have the hardest time letting go of, and the direction our hearts travel once we have chosen one.
Pastor Vicki Harrison opens Matthew 5:13-16 and shows us that being salt and light isn't something we do — it's who we already are as followers of Jesus.
Jesus opens the most famous sermon in history by calling the poorest people in the room blessed. Pastor Vicki Harrison launches New Hope Church's fall series in Matthew 5, and the Beatitudes turn every rule about who counts upside down.
Rev. Vicki Harrison opened Matthew 12 with a question that would have stunned the room in Jesus' day: "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" Jesus points to the people around him and redefines family for good. "The church is not like a family," Vicki said. "The church is a family." On Promotion Sunday and the day before school started back, she showed what that means at New Hope Church — a household of households, led by Jesus, where the mask comes off and we actually learn to love each other. Then the whole church gathered for a family photo and prayed over its teachers.
On Communion Sunday, Rev. Vicki Harrison opens Matthew 26 — the night before the cross, where Jesus takes the oldest meal of God's people and fills it with new meaning. "This is my body… this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." The message walks through what actually happens when we come to the Lord's Table: we experience the grace of Jesus, we come together as one body, all people are welcome, and we return to it again and again. It is not a ritual to observe from a distance — it is grace we receive with open hands.
The water was at the front of the room, and one by one people stepped in to say it out loud: I belong to Jesus. Here's what Pastor Vicki Harrison taught about baptism on Sunday — and why the old really is gone.
James 1:19 is one of those verses that's easy to memorize and hard to live: "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." In this message from the Words Matter series, Rev. Vicki Harrison pairs that command with James 3:13-18 — where James contrasts earthly wisdom (bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder) with wisdom from above (pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy). The result is a conviction not just about the tongue, but about the heart posture underneath it.
James 3 opens with one of the most arresting images in the New Testament: a small rudder steering a great ship. A tiny spark setting an entire forest ablaze. The tongue. In this message from the Words Matter series, Rev. Vicki Harrison opens James 3 to explore why the words we speak are not a minor issue — they reveal the state of our hearts, they wound or they heal, and they cannot be tamed by willpower alone. Only the gospel reaches deep enough.
Amos 9 brings the Let the Lion Roar series to a close with a hard word and a hopeful one: judgment is real, but God is not finished. Next Sunday, Pastor Vicki Harrison opens the final chapter of Amos with a message about rebuilding, restoration, and the kind of renewal that reaches all the way into the future.
Amos 5 confronts a people who have drifted so far from God that their religious activity has become hollow noise. But the prophet doesn't leave them there — he holds out an Escape Plan. This Father's Day, Pastor Vicki Harrison unpacks what it means to seek the Lord and live.
Explore Rev. Vicki Harrison's Christmas Eve message from the "Light in the Darkness" series, where she illuminates how Jesus's birth offers enduring light in our lives' darkest moments, providing hope and transformation.