The Lightlings

Today on Renewing Your Mind a story about darkness and light to draw his mother gave him one last kiss finish talking him in and then turned on the Maglite next to his bed, just as she was ready to leave.

Charlie said mommy why am I afraid of the dark anyone who's afraid of the dark can relate to Charlie's question and Linda today.

Dr. RC Sproul will provide the answer by way of the story pleased to present one of his beloved children's books. Today, a story that explains the deep truths of spiritual light and spiritual darkness at the end you'll hear an interview as president and CEO Chris Larson did with RC but right now let's listen to the likely one evening in a house in a quiet neighborhood, a little boy was getting ready for bed. The boy's name was Charlie, that's his mother was talking him in. She covered him with blankets to make them warm and cozy and then she knelt by his bed and prayed with them.

Finally, she stood, leaned over and kissed him on the four Charlie looked up at her and said mommy please don't forget to turn on the nightlight before you leave my Mrs. Cobb smiled at him and said don't worry sweetheart I'll be sure to turn on the light, I won't leave you in the dark. So Charlie's mother gave him one last kiss finish talking him in and then turned on the nightlight next to his bed, just as she was ready to leave. Charlie said mommy why am I afraid of the dark. She said that's a hard question to answer. Charlie I think were going to have to save it for grandpa he's coming for dinner tomorrow so you can ask him them all right mommy Charlie said, I'll wait until tomorrow and ask grandpa about the next day. Just as Charlie's mother and promised grandpa came for dinner before they moved to the table. Charlie went and sat on his knee and said grandpa man asking a question that's smiling. So of course Charlie tell me what you'd like to know so Charlie's grandpa isn't that I'm afraid of the dark and why do so many people I know seem to be afraid of the dark to grandpa looked at Charlie said that's a very good question that you know that not only are lots of people afraid of the dark many people are afraid of the light afraid of the light since Charlie, why would that be posted to understand that. I'm afraid I'm going to have to start at the beginning.

In fact, the very Charlie loved it when grandpa told him stories so he curled up next to him and waited for grandpa to begin. Grandpa started his story always.

Once upon a time there was a great who was the king of light lived in the light made the light and his light was so perfect and so that he was called without a shadow this great king of light made a group of people money made them so that they could shine brightly.

Just as he did he called them his little white except the lightnings in a beautiful garden that he prepared for them garden that was full of bright sunshine and the sun made the garden every day.

Help the flowers and plants growing great abundance, bright light of the sun help keep everyone warm in the likely love that when the king came to visit, but then one day something terrible happened politely decided to do what they wanted to do instead of what their King had commanded them to do so.

They disobeyed the and they sinned against. And that very second that they send their life became filled with shame and with great embarrassment. So they ran as fast as they could to get away from the king they didn't want the king of like to see.

They ran out of the garden into the woods and hid themselves darkest place that on they were afraid of the light because they knew that wherever the light was the king would be in the king would see them in their shame to the lightnings left the garden. The king began to remove his lights from the garden in the garden soon became cold and covered with weeds, thorns and sticky briars.

The lightnings moved further and further into the woods until they live in a place that was almost covered this. It was so dark that they had the rope around his line feeling their way through the forest. Often they would trip and fall discovering their knees and bruise himself. It was awful living in the dreadful darkness all the time where the only life I ever saw was and barely let shadows the danced in the forest.

In fact, they couldn't tell the difference anymore between night and day. Then one night, perhaps it was even day, far off in the distance I saw a blinding light shining through the trees. They can see this light coming from miles and miles away and they were frightened by they thought that the light meant that the king was coming to find them, to punish them for their sins. So most of the lightnings began to stumble quickly away from the light. Some of the lightning children were so amazed and interested in the light that they decided to see from where they set off in travel for many.

It took them a long time but as they move, they saw the light shining brighter and brighter and finally they came to a clearing in the forest in the middle of the clearing. They saw father lightning mother lightly and a little baby shining like this blazing light seem to be coming right so the lightnings are sought, and surprisingly asked the father lightning. Who is this baby where did he come from the father lightning answer is not is the son king is given to us as a special gift. He has been born for us, and he grows up he will be called the light, and there will be no darkness strong enough to hide his light, no darkness deep enough to send his lights and turn this the lightning children knelt down at the baby's feet and they began to worship him in fear when they stood up their faces shot, but the light that was shining in their faces was not coming from inside them. It was a reflection of the light that was coming out of the baby. The lightnings were now surrounded with the light of the child come to this rush back to their homes and their friends and their families as fast as their feet could carry them and when they got home they were still shining, the other lightnings were frightened at the side of the Mason what happened to you. So the lightning children told their story. We something shining light is the son of the king of light. The king has given us a child is given us his own son to be the light of the notice that already. There was more light in the forest. Now they could begin to see where they were going, they could walk without falling. They can run and play without pumping in the trees and rocks getting bruised yet some still hid from the light while others realized they didn't need to be afraid anymore. They saw that living in the light was much better than the darkness they were used. Grandpa looked at Charlie and said you see Charlie were afraid of the dark because we were made to live in the light and Sunday all of us who love this son will live with him forever, and when we go to the dwelling place of the son who is now the light of the world, there will be no miss not only that there will be no moon and stars, or even a son will be no nightlights known lamps, no lanterns civil.

How can there be light if there's no son or lamps or candles.

How can that be is grandfathered in place for the king's son lives. The light that shines forever.

Still, from these the light of heaven and all who come into his presence will never be in darkness again.

Charlie said that sure is a wonderful thing to look forward and grandpa replied Charlie. Let me make a suggestion from now on, every time that you see the sun or the moon, stars were every time you light a candle, turn on your little nightlight remember the story of the trial flight brought into the darkness of this world and remember that he gave us this baby is a present Charlie as long as you remember that you will never ever be afraid of the dark RC. It's clear that you delight to pack deep theological truths into these children's stories. Why is it important from your perspective to put good theology into children's stories.

I say two things. Partly it comes out of my own experience of being a father and grandfather were as long as I can remember. I love to try to read Gail little kids with stories that I would make up right on the spot and spin off the top of my head and out of that experience of just having fun with stories came this idea of using children's stories as a vehicle or a conduit to try to teach important theological truths to kids but not only the kids but I understand that most of the stories are read to their children by their parents and so I'm hoping that there parents will understand more deeply some of the principal truths of our faith. Because of these ideas now. I've been teaching for over 40 years and I used to say. At the beginning of my teaching career that it was my job as a teacher to tighten difficult concepts and ideas and communicate them in such a way that the students could understand the address of any professor could take his notes from graduate school and just recite them to the students and not worry about whether they understood it, and so many times it seemed like the professor himself was just regurgitating information that he had taken him and now was putting out and they had never really digested it either. I'm saying you don't really understand the concept until you're able to communicate it to a six-year-old child. Sometimes we hide behind abstract language and sophisticated verbiage to conceal our own ignorance. Where's the goal is always to be understood to make the word of God, which is already clear in itself is clear as we possibly can.

When we communicated to others in a good discipline to practice that is the discipline of trying to teach it to little children. There's a very well-known passage in the New Testament where children and the crowd are coming around Jesus and as the children are coming. The disciples turned them away and yet Jesus rebukes them, and says let the children come for such is the kingdom of God. How is what happened in that moment in the New Testament connected to what you want to do with the stories well. Jesus says it's the childlike mind that represents what the kingdom of God is like not on the one hand, we are called to become his children. On the other hand, we are rebuked by the New Testament if we have a childish understanding of the things of God's on the one hand, were told not to be childish not to be children, but to grow in our maturity to have an adult understanding of the word of God. But in what sense are we to be childlike, not in childlike ignorance, but in childlike innocence where we trust those who are in authority over us, the five-year-old has no reason to doubt the truth of what his mother is telling is not until we become more sophisticated that we begin to be skeptical and cynical of those in authority over us. Our teachers are parents and sought, but we are to have an attitude towards God that infants have towards their parents where there's an implicit trust in what is being told where to trust God and his word implicit RC as we close today. Why is this particular story important to children and their parents. I created this little story for our children service in our church for Christmas Eve. It's really a Christmas story about the coming into the world of the light of the world and I hope that this will help little children and their parents reflect on the deep, deep, deep meaning of what took place that night in Bethlehem when the light broke into the darkness and the darkness that's Dr. RC scroll in your listing to Renewing Your Mind. Thank you for being with us today as we approach the holidays that we are reminded the children love stories in this time of year.

It's a great opportunity for us as parents and grandparents to share the story of Jesus all of RC's children's books are beautifully illustrated, the kind of book.

Your children will love reading over and over the story where Dr. spell read today is called the light wings and would like to send it to you. Call us with your donation of any about at 800-435-4343.

You can also make your request online@renewingyourmind.org well before we go today would like to share with you a piece of music that was special to Dr. scroll.

He collaborated with composer Jeff Lippincott to produce an album called saints of Zion. This selection is called the Psalm of the ship and thank you for being with us today Renewing Your Mind is the listener supported outreach ministries. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow