The Bible Study Podcast, episode 694.

Today's episode is a special episode, A Sermon on Light and Darkness.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast.

I'm your host, Chris Christensen.

The following is going to be a sermon,

which I preached actually on January 3rd at my church, Bethel Lutheran Church in Cupertino,

or preached to, I should say, because we're still social distancing, so we're not meeting in person.

And since this has come out, there has been an interesting week in my country where there has been armed insurrectionists storming the capital with zip ties to take away lawmakers if they were able to find them and setting up a gallows and yelling that they wanted to lynch the vice president.

So it has been kind of a dark week.

I did not know that at the time that this sermon came out,

but listened to it in that context.

And then I'm going to start with some of the verses that were used.

I'm going to put the entire lectionary that we used in this particular sermon

in the show

notes of this episode and then also in the lyrics of this episode. But here are some that will give you

the context. The first lesson, the Old Testament lesson was from Jeremiah 31, 7 through 14.

For thus says the Lord, sing aloud with gladness for Jacob. And raise shouts for the

chief of the nations. Proclaim, give praise, and say, save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.

See, I'm going to bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of

the earth. Among them, the blind and the lame,

those with child and those in labor, together. A great company, they shall return here. With

weeping, they shall come, and with consolations, I will lead them back. I will let them

...