The Light Can't Not Shine - On Letting the Light Shine (Focus 1 of 5)

What is your favorite light or lamp in your home? 

Now that you've answered the icebreaker question, here's another - this one about half the light in the universe.

Follow these steps to think a bit more about the quantity of light: 

1. Right now, in whatever room you’re in, count the sources of light.
2. (If you’re doing the Spotlight in a group, share that number with the rest of the group.)
3. Now, count the sources of light in the room pictured below. What’d you get?

This interesting and fancily-staircased room has quite a few light bulbs (nearly 30) and two sizable windows. But is that all there is?

When Paul, one of the earliest theologians of Christianity, was explaining both the danger of living life "in the darkness" and the goodness of living life "in the light" to the people he served, he said the words quoted above. His point was that light doesn’t just shine on things. It makes things shine.

So, with that in mind, let’s do a recount.
If “everything that is illuminated becomes a light,” does that change the total number of lights in the room you’re in?

It probably should, and the number probably becomes too high to really count. There are more lights than you may have initially thought. (And if you saw through this exercise from the start, congrats!)

Of course, all this light is a metaphor. As Paul describes it in Ephesians, light is that which allows one thing to be perceived by another. As it was described in Illume’s previous series, “On Letting There be Light,” light is that which facilitates generous connection.

In this series, focus your attention on what it takes to really make that happen, as often and as prolifically as light shines in the universe.

Pray and worship along with this song.

Find and follow the light.
Throughout human history, God has been using light to carefully create relationships.

Read through the ways God has woven things together with light in the passages below. (Try to read it as a single, flowing narrative/story, but don’t hesitate to stop and ask questions along the way.)



Now, pray about this, using the following prompts:

1. Thank God for the love you find in these verses as he defeats the darkness that separates you from everything around you and draws you into the light of connecting love. 
2. Ask God to help the ideas here be part of the way you think and see the world around you.
3. Pray for specific people in your life who would benefit from these concepts. 

Save a verse for another day.
There are a lot of pieces to the tapestry of passages above, and on a given day one might strike you differently than another. This is part of how God keeps serving you—he says more than you need in one moment so that he can connect with you in another, future moment.

1. Grab a piece of paper and a writing utensil. 
2. On one side, write out the verse that most “spoke to you” or made the most sense today. 
3. On the other side, write out the verse that made the least sense or seemed the least relevant. 
4. Put the piece of paper somewhere you’ll see it throughout the week. Each time you see it, flip it over.
5. As the week goes by, consider which verse opens up the most—the one God keeps reaching out for and connecting with you.

Characterize true relationships by adding to the list.
Light exists to facilitate relationship, and as you saw in the Worship section of this Spotlight that God invests himself in that process. So it must be important. But what does it really look like?

The idea in the last sentence there - “whoever loves God is known by God” - feels like the beginning of a good description of what might be considered true relationship.

Relating is more than just knowing or seeing or perceiving. A true, genuine, loving relationship (whether it’s between a human and God, between family members, between friends, or anywhere else) is going to have certain markers. What comes to mind for you (and your group)?

Answer this question: What is true about true relationships?

Two ways to access the form and submit answers…

1. Option 1 | Use/scan the QR code here
2. Option 2 | Go to menti.com/zzquhm7ix7

Two ways to “frame up” how to write your answers…

1. “A true relationship has… [YOUR ANSWER HERE].”
2. “True relationships are… [YOUR ANSWER HERE].” 

(Note: You can contribute as many answers as you’d like.)

View everyone’s compiled answers in the frame below.

(Yes, your responses are included here, too!)

https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/98e80674f729d9eee7a034c6e1238aa1/1b7c2cb7ce64

One excellent example of a highly relational ministry is "Thai Village." We'll feature them throughout this series. For today, learn their history by looking through the timeline they provide on their website.

Feel free to submit a prayer request by filling out the below form.
(If you choose to make your request public, you'll see it display in the Current at the end of the Spotlight along with anyone else who did the same.)

Pray through your requests—together—as a group.
After submitting your requests in the above form, take some time to share with your group whatever requests the group might have for this week.

Let's recap what we have learned in this Spotlight.
What was your biggest takeaway from this Spotlight?

Sing along with (or listen to) this song to close out this Spotlight.
Feel free to sing along or simply listen. Do what makes you comfortable—but do whatever helps you focus on the song's meaning best.

Let's wrap things up by taking a look at what's Current at Illume.

Tap on the buttons in the frame below to see what’s currently happening at Illume—information on everything from current and upcoming online content to live events and opportunities to serve in the community can all be found here.