Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to talk with you this morning about finding Jesus. When I come home at night, pull into the driveway and shut the lights off, I’ve gotten into a little habit of saying a prayer at that point. Just a short one – sometimes the short prayers are the best ones. I just say, "Thank you, God, for bringing me home safely." Maybe you do that, too. More and more I appreciate the blessing that it is, to come home and be safe. I invite you to consider doing that, too.

Anyway, I get out of the car and start walking to the front door, and as I do a look up at the sky, all lit up, and I admire those wonderful, beautiful stars, and I am thankful for the blessing that they represent to me every time I look at them. Do you look at them? I invite you to do so. And when you look at the stars, would you remember just this one little idea I want to share with you today?

How do you find Jesus? Look for his star. Look for his star, and let it shine for you. When do we need the stars to shine most? We need them to shine most when it’s dark out; we need them to shine most when it’s bleakest. Isn’t it so?

We think about the gifts of the three kings, the gold and frankincense and myrrh. But what about the gift to them? I think the gift to the kings was the sight of the star. In whatever their darkness was, the star was hope. It was comfort. It was guidance. And that’s what God has for you, too.

There is a wonderful passage in Matthew when the kings got back on the road after their interview with Herod. It seems that they didn’t see the star for a little bit. But when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And that’s my hope and prayer for you: In the midst of whatever it is that you and I and we together are going through, that you would keep your eyes on the star. The star of Jesus Christ is the comfort of your past, and the promise of your present, and the hope of your future.

Has the world got you down, dear friend? Have you found yourself discouraged and frustrated, maybe a little bit hopeless? That’s what I call "dark night of the soul". And I’m here to tell you, in the darkest night of your soul, no matter what is going on, there still shines a star. There still shines the light of God’s brightness for you.

Do you know why I’m a minister? I’m a minister because I believe that with all my heart. I’m a minister because I believe that’s what the church stands for, the brightness of God shining in the darkness. I’m a minister because I believe with all my heart and soul that you should come away on Sunday morning being reminded of that, and that’s what the church should stand for, that brightness and that hope.

That’s what Dr. King was all about. In a very, very bleak world, he held out hope and promise and love. Amen? [Congregation: Amen!] And so, dear friend, I would say to you, no matter how bleak the situation may be for you, for the people you may be trying to minister to, hold out that hope. Hold out the light. Keep your eye on the star.

Can I point out three ways that you might consider doing that this week? Number one, remember that the light of Christ, the star in the darkness, is the comfort of your past. Haven’t you had a miracle in your life? Hasn’t there been a time that you prayed about something and the answer was yes? Hasn’t there been a time when something extraordinary happened for you? Hasn’t there been a time when you reached out for God and said, "Lord, be my savior" and he said, "Yes"? Think about that, won’t you? Maybe there was more than one time when something wonderful happened for you. Hold that thought dear to your heart, because that’s the comfort of your past. That’s the time when you reached out for a star and touched it! Keep those memories.

Do you know what I think the problem with miracles is? The biggest problem is when you forget them. Somehow I think that I should keep a miracle book of all the extraordinary things that have happened to me in my life, that have been wonderful. Wouldn’t that be a good idea? The light of Jesus Christ is the comfort of your past. And that is what gives you strength for the present and the future.

Secondly, the light of the star of Christ is the promise of your present. Has the grind of life gotten you so down that you’ve forgotten about your dreams? Has the dust and the clutter of everything else that you have to do pushed you away from the golden stars that God has planted in your heart? Could it be that God has planted so many promises and possibilities and wonders and talents within you that the grind of life has pushed you away from? Let the light of Christ be the promise of your present. Dust off your dreams. Dust off your telescope. Shine up the vision of your star. God has wonderful things in store for you. The one who did so many things for you in the past has more things for you in the future. No matter what your age, no matter what your condition, no matter what your financial situation may be, there’s promise and there’s hope. Dust off your star. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go into the week with that thought in mind? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to say, "Lord, I’ve gotten away from the pull of the dreams that you’ve put into my heart, but I’m getting back to them. I’m going to dust off my star. I’m going to dust off my telescope. And I’m going to look again at the dreams you’ve put in my heart and start following them." That’s God’s will for you! He doesn’t give you wonderful ideas and hopes and talents and aspirations just for them to lie there; he wants your life to shine, not be under a bushel.

If there are quests in your heart, questions about God, pulls to draw closer, follow them and remember the words of the Lord: the one who knocks, the door is opened to him; the one who seeks, finds; the one who asks is answered. Dust off your stars. Let the light of Christ, which motivates that, be the promise of your present.

And, dear friend, let the light of Christ be the hope of your future. I know that for some folks the future is a scary and daunting thing. But won’t you remember this? Won’t you let all that you have experienced give you faith for all you have not yet experienced? Let all the blessings of the past be your fortress and your storehouse for all the things yet to come. The God who has been so good to you thus far is not going to stop being good to you tomorrow. The God who has been blessing you thus far is going to keep blessing you. Why? Because you are his beloved child. And if you want to know how God feels about you, think in your heart how you feel about your own children, or how that wonderful parent cared you for. Try that infinite times and you’ll know how God feels about you.

And so, let the light of Christ shine. It’s up there. All we have to do is look up, look up in our hearts. Let it be the comfort of your past, the promise of your present, and the hope of your future. It’s there; it’s for you; it’s from Him. Let your light shine, because his light is shining for you.

God loves you. God bless you. I love you, too. Have a wonderful week. Amen.