Sunday Message - Light Vs Dark

Jeff Klein, Outreach Pastor 

Transcript

Jeffrey Klein  0:02  
All right, let's parameter talk for about five minutes. I'm gonna bring up our guests today. Okay, let's pray together. Lord God, we just pray that as we hear the story of your work in this city Lord, we pray that you'd show us the greater things that are still to be done. Thank you so much for these partners that we have in mission with Lampstand Ministries. Lord, we just pray and we be inspired to be on the mission of God ourselves. Because of the stories they tell us your name Jesus, we pray. Amen. 

Jeffrey Klein  0:35  
In 2008, in Arizona an accountant, her name was Deb Welch decided to leave her well paying job and coordinate a 24/7 prayer initiative in the Grand Canyon State of Arizona.  Just 34 days into this initiative, the Super Bowl was scheduled to be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona, through one of the devs group's prayer times, one of the intercessors had a disturbing vision of a blood-filled stadium at the Superbowl. It was a dream she had she saw the stadium filled with blood. The team of prayerers took this vision seriously. And the morning of the Super Bowl sent a small team of prayerers to the stadium to preemptively pray against this disaster. The game went down uneventfully no disasters no blood. The only real news the New York Giants defeated the undefeated Tom Brady wide New England Patriots with the famous David Tyree Hellman catch remember this. But in the hours following the Super Bowl, media outlets began to report that behind the scenes at the Super Bowl, a bloody massacre had been averted. An angry and disturbed 35 year old man named Kirk William have a look furious that his Halloween themed bar idea drunken Stein's had been denied a permit from the Tempe city council. Hey, he had mailed rambling threats the day before two media outlets all over the country, saying he was going to bring swift and bloody revenge and sway the children of the people that were responsible for this. The morning simple have like drove his car with an AR 15 rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition to the parking lot of University of Phoenix Stadium. Little did you know he parked right in the spot near the spot where the prayers were praying. Have like later described in court what happened that day. He said he had no idea. But somehow in the middle of that parking lot. He had a change of heart. He called his father from the parking lot. His dad recounts that he was sobbing tearfully that he was going to do this terrible thing. But he decided to change his mind and turn himself in. Somehow debit her team's sensitivity to the Spirit. And the prayers of her little team seem to have helped this potential killer, a massacre that would have been witnessed by hundreds of millions of people all over the world. 

Jeffrey Klein  3:15  
Now, 1000s of years before a bull, John wrote these words, in the book of John, "The word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light." Kids. There we go light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it. Today, the light shines in darkness through ordinary followers of Jesus like Deb. And like these prayer warriors who are praying and have no idea what they're praying about, but they knew that something was seriously going on. Whenever we stand the world as the presence of Jesus as the light of Jesus, the darkness cannot stand against us. Even our simple prayers restrain the darkness. The theologian and Christian thinker origin wrote this a couple 1000 years ago, the critics of Christianity do not see how many people in how many people the flood of evil is restrained. And how many wild habits are team because of the gospel. We feel like we're losing our influence like we're being displaced, like the churches on the outskirts like we don't have as much influence who wants to have. But we choose to live as the light of Jesus in the world to join Jesus and what he's doing in the world. Wherever we can. The darkness is pushed back.

Jeffrey Klein  4:39  
So how do you live His light in the world? How do you do this? Well, it's great Jeremiah 29 and Old Testament passage gives us great summary of what this looks like. This is what the Lord the Lord of angel armies, the God of Israel says to all the captives he is exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem, build homes and plan to stay, plant gardens eat the food they produce me Arian have children, then find spouses for them so that they may have grandchildren multiply, do not dwindle away and work. This is the key line and work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you an exhale, pray to the Lord for it for its welfare will determine your welfare. Another versus if it prospers, you will prosper. that weren't there. The peace and prosperity that's one Hebrew word shalom, word for the shalom, the city to which I've sent you. You know what the word shalom, it's a deep and meaningful word. It means things like wholeness, purposefulness, health, prosperity, meaningfulness and peace. And the darkness in the world is trying to introduce chaos, which is lack of meaning, no purpose, scarcity, right? tearing everything down, emptiness, brokenness, that's the darkness. And if we work for the shalom, the light shines in the darkness and darkness cannot overcome it. So how do you work for Shalom? Well, you find help someone find a job. You give someone some food, maybe you give them $1 out your window at the corner. You get involved with people along the way you tutor kids who don't have a chance to maybe excel in school because they come from a different place. You you. You do God Time at Brandywine, you connect with your neighbor, show them love you partner with the church in the city, or a ministry like Lampstand. And you walk alongside them and the light shines in darkness. And when we pray what like those ladies in Arizona, when we pray, when you pray, until evil is held at bay, the darkness cannot overcome it. Now, one of the ways that we work for the shalom of the city is we partner with folks that maybe are better at this than us. They certainly have been called to a certain spot. So I'm going to bring up our friends Chris Lane camp and one floor as

Jeffrey Klein  7:17  
you can see over here. Thanks, Chris. Just to get this straight for those people who don't know you guys, which one is Chris and which ones why we can't really tell.

Juan Flores  7:30  
I'm Chris, they're

Jeffrey Klein  7:33  
all take the mic. I just want to get that straight before we get started. So what is Lampstand? What does Lampstand

Chris Langkamp  7:43  
Lampstand looks like? What I see out in the audience right now. That's Lampstand. We're all a part of Lampstand. Lampstand Ministries reaches out to people on the west side of Chicago, and reaches out to people in the suburbs. And we all work together, loving each other and looking out for each other and praying for each other and serving each other. So if you want to see Lampstand look in the mirror.

Jeffrey Klein  8:21  
Now you you sent me or you drew me Chris tried to he tried to draw up what Lampstand is. This is his artwork. I'm it's a little kind of lame, but hey, so All right, Chris. All right. So so he drew this up for us. We made a little prettier. It's getting on the screen now you can see all the different things that is that, as Chris says Lampstand serves under these ministries, yes. All over the screen. So So help us understand how that works.

Chris Langkamp  8:51  
Okay. One of the ways to shine our light is through service and through love by spreading the love of Christ. It's considering others better than yourselves. It's footwashing like Jesus said, he said that they get, he calls us to be like him. And then he went down and washed His disciples feet. It's service. It's praying for one another. And we all do that together. And we're so thankful for this church that has been with us through all these years. And what we essentially do in the city, is we serve everyone that God puts in our path, like the Good Samaritan. And we also are fishers of men and women and whoever God puts in our net. We're called to love them unconditionally and serve them and we're work for them. Not them work for us.

Jeffrey Klein  10:04  
So why is it called Lampstand? Chris?

Chris Langkamp  10:06  
It's called Lampstand because Jesus told us for the first of all, he said, We are the light of the world. And he said, you don't put your light underneath your bed, or you don't put it under a bowl, you put it under a lamp stand. So lamp stand is a community. It's a community of believers that shine our light together. And what a lamp stand is is something that you hang your light on, and helps you get your light seen. Brighter and further. And that's what we all need to do to help each other in the kingdom of God.

Jeffrey Klein  10:50  
So hey, wine, I got a question for you. What what is darkness look like in the city?

Juan Flores  10:56  
No different than it looks out here in Elmhurst,

Jeffrey Klein  10:58  
are you kidding me?

Juan Flores  11:00  
I'll hear his camouflage little different.

Jeffrey Klein  11:02  
So we we got to camouflage your numbers or darkness? 

Juan Flores  11:05  
Well, we all have sin. And the most beautiful thing about it is that we all have to depend on God to forgive us. And the most beautiful miracle that we all have in common is the gift of forgiveness. Will you agree? So it doesn't matter where you're at? I mean, ugly is ugly, right? But the beauty of God's love forgiving us, no matter whether we're in the city or in the suburbs, we all have to depend on that beautiful grace that invest in us. So we all have one thing in common, a need for a Savior, to love the hell out of us.

Jeffrey Klein  11:45  
That's good. I thought you were swearing for a second. I realized what you were saying I got it now. So what killed me some of the things you guys are doing? So like I've been down there, like we went by DrugDonald's the other day, Chris, you and I? Yes. What's Drug Donald's all by what's going on over there? Well, this is Chris's name for DrugDonald's with that name, but

Chris Langkamp  12:12  
yeah. Well, in it like in any place in the world, there's different hotspots where people are in real need of hope. And I call the DrugDonald's because people are lined up in their cars. And then they pay the guy and then they go to the next person and get the bag of drugs. And then they go out the parking lot or out out the other side of the liquor store. And we just hung out there. But, you know, we all have DrugDonald's around us. We all know people who are hopeless, who are struggling, who are in need, who are in love, who are in need for us, to present them to the Father on the throne of grace through prayer. I'm a bit of a knucklehead. And one knows that I have a hard head. And one of the best ways that I've found to minister to people at the drug Donald's that we have in our lives, and to minister even to myself, is through prayer. rarely have I seen people's lives change, because of Chris land camps. eloquent words, are convincing ability. It's because I got on my knees and started praying, a blessing of grace over them, and love that they would know the love of Christ, and that the Lord would open their eyes to see the light kids. So we need to shine our lights on the lampstand that we're all a part of through prayer, and through unconditional love. And for looking out for people

Jeffrey Klein  14:12  
whose eye this gets to started. How did you get into this?

Chris Langkamp  14:16  
Well, I had a hard head, and I still do part of Hard Heads Anonymous. And we're we're all in recovery. And we need to make that you know, some of us other things and some of us other things. But I was really searching I was an accountant at Avalon petroleum company. I had a really good job. And I kind of had the missions bugging me because we did some mission work and in jungle and South America. And it was amazing. A lot of miracles happened and so So I went through a time of prayer and fasting. And one night I was on my knees, praying to the Lord and begging him with all my heart, I'm like, Lord, please show me what to do. Show me what I need to do. And he said, If you want to know me better, I want you to reach out to those on the west side, whom society has forgotten, I want you to minister to the outcasts. And I've never been past Harlem Avenue before then. And so I asked a friend of mine were rough places on the west side. And it was such a strong call. I went there the night after I had this experience. And then the night after the end, it just grew. And this goes to show this was not Chris land camp. Lampstand is not Chris Langkamp. It's Jesus. Jesus Christ, is the head of Lampstand. And we're just called to be obedient to him. And he makes it grow. He causes people to get saved. And he causes us to love one another.

Jeffrey Klein  16:19  
Hey, what how'd you get into this?

Juan Flores  16:23  
Actually, I'm, I am a recovering heroin addict. And I used to love getting high. I mean, some people here might have a different excuse. I loved it. But someone talked to me about, they had something better than I was addicted to. And they share with me the love of Christ, I didn't think that Christ could love anybody like me. And this individual invested in me. And it all started with an individual that inconvenience himself to look out for my interest. And bend over backwards for me, invested in me cared for me was good when I was doing good was dead when I was doing bad. And I just, I just fell in love with God. And so he says, The secret ingredient to serving the Lord is learn to love God more than you love your drugs. And he was there for me throughout the whole journey, teaching me about the love of God. And to not worry about nothing, because I was in good hands. That guy was going to invest in me and make a difference, transform my life. I have a special gift of being illiterate. I was illiterate to the age of 28. Does anybody know what they call an illiterate person before you learn that word? Besides stupid? Well, this person said, you have an advantage because of your literacy, you don't know how to read and write. So it's going to be easier for you to totally depend on God's people to invest in you. And little did I realize the beauty of being stupid and asking people to help me. And so many people invest in me and made a difference in my life. And I'm very thankful I'm reaching 72 years of age, and allow other people from the same kind of fellowship throughout the suburbs invested in me. And so I want to share with you something that made a difference that nobody's gonna understand

Jeffrey Klein  18:30  
what you're supposed to take your clothes off and say, Chris,

Juan Flores  18:39  
an individual that didn't know me, came up to me and asked me to invest in Chris Langkamp. He became the most beautiful friend that I've ever known as a man that love God. He would come and visit me when God was sent me to Humboldt Park. He came and visited me when God was sent me to west town. He came to visit me when God was sent me to Lawndale. Everywhere God sent me whatever ministry I was involved, he would come and visit me to see how I was doing. And he was a crazy man, that no matter where he was, he would wear suspenders like this. So I'm honored to wear the suspenders because he thought I was worth investing in if you're an individual that feels rejected by everybody, and somebody calls you a friend, and is willing to invest in you. The love of God makes a big difference when it's displayed by a human being.

Jeffrey Klein  19:59  
You, years ago in the 1990s, one invested in me. And so I think a lot of the outreach stuff I know how to do started with one florists in the city of Chicago in Humboldt Park. I would spend a week down there every summer. And we invested in me. So I learned a lot about investing in others loving others. It was great. So tell us how you invest in people through Lamson? How do you guys invest in people? You're in this in the streets of Chicago there we hear him out here we hear about people getting shot and all kinds of stuff going on. And, you know, you and I were walking down the street the other day on there, we didn't get shot we made it through. So how do you invest in folks, when you're living?

Chris Langkamp  20:42  
We point to Jesus Christ. That's that's the, that's the first way to invest in somebody is to show them the love of Christ. And to serve them and to love them. And we do that often. We have certain vehicles that we use to do that through feeding through evangelism, through clothing drives, through service projects, through outreach events. And while we're doing that, we're teaching them a type of love that the world doesn't teach. It's called God's love. And that love agape love is so much different. It's looking out for their best interest. And it's unconditional love. It's unconditional love. And I think one thing that's very important is when you love somebody, you also have to be willing to learn from them as well. I learned more from the people I ministered to, than I think they learned from me. And I think that was a big surprise that God had for me from the beginning, is that the minister would become the guy that got ministered to the most. And I've, there's, there's a couple young men over here that have invested in me for a while, and I want them to raise their hands. And I learned more from them than I know that they've learned from me, and they are such a blessing to me. And I can say that about everybody. I feel like this church has been with us from the beginning. And we aren't able to do what God's called us to do in the city without you guys, because we are all a part of what his plan is for the city. His plan is for the city. His plan is for the city is for his children to love one another, and for the world to see us loving one another. And then loving the people in the world and pointing to Jesus.

Jeffrey Klein  23:18  
We're gonna meet a couple of folks you've invested in so let's we're gonna run this video, I went down there, interviewed a few folks, check this out. There's a few people that Chris has invested in Christian one I've invested in,

Unknown Speaker  23:29  
You know, on our side of our base, and it was a super crazy situation because like I say, just last night from someone who was shot in their face, and they survived and the doctor said like, this doesn't happen like no one is shot in their head survives. And for it to happen to me. God shielded me from that. It just so that God was really on my life, because God just had has his hand on my life. And, you know, they say in the church that you don't look like what you've been through, and I just really am a testament to that I don't look like what I've been through. I'm just my charges growing and God like, you know, I think it'd be like a knock on like on your batteries that and the battery is getting low and your phone's about to die. Like I can't relate that to my life. Like my childhood God was just dying on the inside. I felt like because of my surroundings, it was just draining my battery on the inside. I feel like since I've gotten connected with women again, my my charge on the inside with guys is charging and charging and charging and it's like it's on 100% Now I'm super charged.

Derrick Anderson  24:42  
Hello, my name is Derrick Anderson and I'm a current freshman at Wheaton College. And I am so grateful and thankful for the work that Chris land camp and Limsa church has done I'm grateful for for Chris and how we invested in students like me to go going into high school and further myself into college. And it has been a major milestone to be to work with him through the pandemic, and to work alongside my mentor Mike Trout, and Chapman, Kim George, and many others in the North Lawndale community. So I'm, I'm thankful for this opportunity in Deadpool to put a position that I'm in now as a wind college to continuing the legacy of mentoring and service to others.

Jeffrey Klein  25:33  
So Jason, how did you get so? Let us try to become a White Sox fan.

Jason  25:39  
Oh, no. So not so. So funny. You said that astray. But it actually has no seriously it has sentimental value. So my brother, my brother, my oldest brother was actually was murdered when I was a kid, he was a big Sox fan. So it's easy for me to become a Sox fan,

Jeffrey Klein  25:56  
okay, as you're trying to convert me to being a Cubs fan,

Jason  25:59  
cut the camera off.

Unknown Speaker  26:03  
So my name is Rachel. And this is where Jesus says. So Jesus has put a lot, not just in heart, but like people around me as a support system. Because I'm from Cape Town from North Lawndale. And a lot of people like being specifically black man, like we don't really get a chance to make it out. And based off of this person, from that guy, coming through white man, being momento live and stuff like that, I've been able to thrive it to the person I am today. I currently stay right here, just completed my Bachelors of Science for psychology. And now I'm working on getting my master's in communications. And I just feel like I'm blessed. You know?

Jeffrey Klein  26:50  
So Chris that first guy Jameer he said he was shot in the face. When I when I talked to that DC was shot in the face, what was he a miracle.

Chris Langkamp  27:04  
It's definitely a miracle. He was walking home from the Center were Juan and I serve and gang member wanted to have a fight with him. And he defended himself and, and beat up the gang member. And so the guy ran in his house and came running back out and Jameer was walking. And he walked up to him point blank and shot him in the face. And it went in right here. And for some reason, the bullet split in three fragments. And it stopped right before it hit any nerves or anything in his eye. And it stopped before it hit the brain. It was like a wall was there. And that doesn't happen when you get shot point blank in the face. Usually it's pretty messy. And two weeks later, I went to one of our one of the outreach events that we were working at. And he was manning one of the booths. So he was out of the hospital pretty quick. Hit the seas fine out of his eye, no brain damage or anything. And so I keep reminding Jameer that God has wonderful things in store. He works for Menards right now. And he's gotten.

Jeffrey Klein  28:35  
He told me the employee the month seven times. Yeah, yeah, totally amazing. Yeah. So

Chris Langkamp  28:41  
and I'll drive by there, and he's out in the parking lot. And it's a rough parking lot. There's, there's a lot of guys, I don't, my wife sometimes wants to go there. And I don't let her but he's out there running around, picking up newspapers that are blown around the parking lot in the wind. And he was so excited the other day call me and he's like, Yeah, I've been witnessing to my boss and to my co workers because they were asking me how I can get the employee of the month, so many times and he said, it's Jesus Christ. He's the one that allows me to get a employee of the month.

Jeffrey Klein  29:25  
All right, that's awesome. So I like to I like to pray for these guys. I mean, we could keep going here for a long time. They got lots of stories, you really should go down into the city and hang out with them. We'll have some opportunities I'll tell you about at the end of the service, but let's just if you'd hold your hands out toward them that'd be awesome. Let's just pray for them. Or Jesus we thank you that you have planted you called these two men and all their partners into a in the in the city Lord and You have given them the the commitment and the fortitude and the perseverance to invest in people, to love them with your love, to show them that they're valuable that God wants them back. We pray for these two men, that you would protect them with your angels, that you would surround them, you would continue to lead them through Your Holy Spirit's voice, where they should go next and what they should be up to next, Lord, that You would give us an opportunity as a congregation, to come around them in countless ways. And to get involved in what they're doing. Thank you so much, that we get to be partners with them that we get to be part of what they're doing in some small way. Thank you for sending them here this morning to tell us their stories and your name. Jesus, we pray all these things. Amen. Thanks, guys. You can give yourself a hand give yourself