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good morning church this time we're going to go ahead and dismiss our three and five-year-olds and six and seven-year-olds to uh their classroom and as they are heading off to their classroom um let's let's again we love prayer so we're gonna pray for our kids real quick as they head off to their class let's pray father you are a good father and you know what it is like to be a father because you have a son jesus and father right now we pray for our sons and our daughters we pray that as they go into their classrooms this isn't just a time of child care

for them but this is a time of teaching for them for them to know your word and to come to know your son jesus christ as their lord and savior for them to be able to treasure him above all and my prayer is that they would grow up never knowing a time that they did not treasure jesus how much of a grace that would be for them it's in your name we pray amen all right church as we uh dive in we are continuing through our luke series uh so we are in week 16 of a lot of weeks that we will be in luke

so if you got your bibles open them up to luke chapter four we're going to be looking at verses 14 through 30. and this one is going to be a two-parter and so this will be part one of it and what we'll be looking at this week is really the beginning of jesus's earthly ministry so he spends three years in a ministry where he is preaching and teaching he's healing people he's casting out demons he's turning over tables he's he's doing all kinds of things and we'll actually be spending several months looking at these three years of jesus of his ministry and this is kind

of in the book of luke the entry into his ministry and so what we'll be seeing today is sort of the how he does his life in ministry and then next week we will look at what the people's response to his life and ministry was as he begins to preach and teach for them and and again i think this is good for us because not only are we seeing what jesus has done in the how he does his life in ministry and also the people's response for it but that's also going to then inform us because he's also called us to be ministers of the

word not just those who are paid to do it but all of us in this room he's equipped the saints for the work of ministry so we are all called to be in the ministry of god in the advancing and proclaiming of his good news the gospel message of jesus christ to everyone around us and so this is going to help us see how do we do that and then at the same time what we can expect from the people when they receive the good news when they hear the good news and how they might respond to it and how they might also respond to

us in those things as well so again jesus is our great model he's our great example and he is the source for the ministry that we um enter into as well and so let's i'm going to read 14 through 30 and then break down the part of it for us that we will be covering today so starting verse 14 and jesus returned in the power of the spirit of gout in this let me just start over and jesus returned in the power of the spirit to galilee and a report about him went out throughout all of the surrounding country and he taught in their synagogues

being glorified by all and he came to nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day and he stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet isaiah was given to him and he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written the spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the

lord's favor and he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth and they said is not this joseph's son and he said to them doubtless you will quote to me this proverb physician heal yourself what we have heard you did at capernaum do here in your hometown as well and he said truly i say to

you no prophet is acceptable in his hometown but in truth i tell you there were many widows in israel in the days of elijah when the heavens were shut up 3 years and six months and a great famine came over all the land and elijah was sent to none of them but only to zarephath in the land of sidon to a woman who was a widow and there were many lepers in israel in the time of the prophet elisha and none of them was cleansed but only naaman the syrian when they heard these things all in the synagogue were filled with wrath and they rose

up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff but passing through their midst he went away all right from this passage um i i want us to see um three things when answering the question how did jesus do ministry first what you're going to see is that jesus ministry was filled with the power of the spirit second you're going to see that jesus ministry included teaching the word of god and then third you're going to see that jesus ministry taught the heart and

will of god so those are the three things we're going to focus on this week before we head into the response of the people next week and so looking at that first one jesus's ministry was filled with the power of the spirit it says jesus returned in the power of the spirit to galilee all right one quick observation here because i want you to see this before we dive into even the rest of the chapters from verse 13 which is what josh covered last week to verse 14 is actually a time lapse of of anywhere from a year to 18 months all right so when

he's out in the wilderness being tempted by the devil to then now luke saying that he's returning to galilee almost over approximately a year has actually gone by before jesus returns in ministry to galilee and it's important for me to mention this because as we continue walking through luke the first miracle that you see in the book of luke is him actually casting out a demon when if you have any type of church background you might be thinking well jesus first miracle that i was always taught was turning water into wine the reason why that's important is because in matthew mark and luke theologians call

this the year of obscurity they call it the year of obscurity because matthew mark and luke don't record the first year of jesus's earthly ministry only john the apostle john records the first year of jesus ministry so if you actually read john 1 19 through john 4 54 that's the only recorded word of god that we have on jesus's earthly ministry during that time and so that actually covers him being baptized which is what luke 1 also and luke 2 covers but then it moves into him going to cana where he goes to the wedding and he turns water into wine it also mentions him

going to the temple where he turns over the tables and he you know casts all them out with whips because they had turned the temple into a place of trade um you also see him doing some other healings as well um that then enter into luke or john 4 54 picking up with him then going into the ministry of galilee and it actually begins the galilean tour and he does three of those where he visits more than 240 different villages throughout galilee going into their synagogues as we'll talk here in a moment to begin teaching and proclaiming the good news of the word so if

you're walking through a chronological order of jesus's life and and death and resurrection and ministry uh luke doesn't necessarily follow a chronological order all right it does generally but at the same time he withholds some things and we don't necessarily know why he withheld some things uh we know he's very articulate and he is very detailed in what he records uh but we just know that john is the only one who recorded that first year sort of the year of obscurity um so if you want to know that year again we're going to continue to be faithful and just walking through the book of luke

word of god inspired by the word of god that's what we're going to walk through but if you're like i feel like i'm missing out of jesus's first year then on your own john 1 19 through john 4 54 you can study that all right you can study that so going from john 4 54 and then matthew 4 mark 1 john 4 and luke 4 we all enter into now the part of jesus ministry where he is returning to galilee all right so there's your year of obscurity it's over now he's entering into galilee to continue in this ministry now back to the point jesus

returned in the power of the spirit to galilee his ministry is defined by him constantly and remaining at all times in the power of the spirit all right in the power of the spirit jesus or let me say don't file this away as just an obvious truth all right this this may be the most important thing you need to hear when it comes to the christian life and ministry the christian life and ministry because it was absolutely imperative and important for jesus to stay connected to not only his father and divine relationship with him but also his relationship his eternal relationship with the holy spirit

that it's by the power of the spirit of god that jesus is also living and fulfilling the christian life as well as living and fulfilling the ministry that the father has sent him to accomplish and so if it's necessary for jesus to be connected to the spirit of god and to be empowered by the spirit of god to fulfill the ministry that god has given him how much more is it imperative and important for you and i to be connected to the power of god the spirit of god when it comes to our life and our ministry all right if it's necessary for jesus it's

much more necessary for us to be connected into this and jesus never basically the way to say it is he never goes rogue jesus never goes rogue he even goes on to say that he never does anything on his own accord never does anything on his own accord we see this written in john 5 19-20 where he says this jesus said to them truly truly i say to you the son can do nothing of his own accord but only what he sees the father doing for whatever the father does that the son does likewise for the father loves the son and shows him all that

he himself is doing and greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel for as the father raises the dead and gives them life so also the son gives life to whom he will for the father judges no one but has given all judgment to the son that all may honor the son just as they honored the father whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him truly truly i say to you whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life he does not come into judgment but has passed from death to

life what jesus is saying is there is that he is connecting every purpose for why he came every word that he utters every person that he heals every miracle that he conducts is showing something of the father he's saying everything that i do is revealing the father to you and my relationship with the father that he's given me authority whatever he does i do whatever power he has he grants to me whatever judgment he has he gives to me and then jesus is saying the way that i'm operating all of that is by my connection and power that i'm receiving from the spirit of god

so there is trinitarian language to this ministry that jesus is entering into and what that says for us or what that speaks for us is that as we pray even that we were to pray in a specific way a specific way our prayers should always be to the father through the son by the power of the spirit of god that's the way we pray that's the way we operate to the father because it's all his will it's all his purpose it's all his plan it's all his design but yet it is through the sun because he's given all authority and judgment to the son and

not only that but the son is the one who can grant life and death the son is the one who creates the son is the one who as as god speaks and wills and plan it's by the logos it's by the word of jesus christ that creation actually is ordered or comes into being and so our prayers are to the father literally manifested through the son jesus christ but the only way that they ever breathe life into any type of situation the only way that they ever happen is if it actually comes by the power of the spirit of god by the power of the

spirit of god and so we are to model and follow exactly what jesus is living out and fleshing out in his life that everything he's doing is to the father through himself by the power of the spirit of god so just as luke 1 through 4 is establishing as we looked over through the lineage through his baptism through the holy spirit coming down on him like a dove through all of those things what we're doing is we're establishing the credentials for people to view him and see him as messiah what god is now doing for us is that through the spirit of god empowering jesus

we are now able to view jesus um to view jesus with the authority he's establishing the authority so we have credentials now we have authority that he is indeed the messiah and now the word that's great here the word that is given power from the holy spirit that word in greek is dunamas which is where we get the term dynamite from now does anyone know and this is not rhetorical you can answer does anyone know somewhere else in scripture where that term power or dynamite dunamis is used in scripture anyone huh holy spirit but but specifically the passage in scripture that i'm referring to you

will receive power when as you become witnesses to jerusalem judea it's acts 1 8 all right it's the same word that jesus is telling to his disciples all right jesus here is saying when i began my ministry the father sent the holy spirit at his baptism to empower him with this dunamos this power in order for him to live and to live out the ministry and to conduct the ministry that god has called him to do at the same time when jesus on the on on the mountain when he's given the great commission to his disciples and he's telling them to go and make disciples

of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father son and the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that i've commanded you what he's telling them at the same time is you're going to be my witnesses and you will receive the same power the same spirit that is going to come upon you in order for you to conduct your christian life and ministry in order to fulfill it to fulfill it and so what we get to do is as we are studying through the life of jesus and as we are studying through the ministry of jesus we get to be encouraged that the

exact same spirit and the exact same power that has been given and granted to jesus christ to conduct his ministry has also been given to us in order for us to rely on and uh in order for us to walk in for our christian life and ministry that's the first good news for us this morning on this dreary day that we have outside to be in christ means that we have the same connection with god that jesus has we are being instructed we are being guided we are being led we are being empowered by the spirit of god to do as jesus has done and

also therefore to do as the father has done and is doing so hear me church you cannot you cannot fulfill christian life and ministry without the spirit of god empowering you i think that's why it's so important for us to be so tethered in prayer to god to the father through the son by the power of the spirit of god in order for us to literally make the decisions that we're making on a daily basis for us to share the good news as we're teaching and proclaiming the gospel to those who are around us in conversations that we're having with them as we were raising

up our children as we were working in our cubicles or coffee shops or whatever it is that we were doing the best way that we can do those things and continue to grow in faith faithfulness in that area is if it's by the spirit of god according to his power that he has given to us you want to be a god honoring christ glorifying faithful friend husband wife father mother employee boss pray that the spirit of god leads you and empowers you to do just that so that's the first point which then leads me into the second point he returned in the power of the

spirit of god to galilee and what did he do when he arrived luke 4 15 says he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all so the second thing is that jesus ministry included teaching the word of god jesus's priority was to teach the word of god and provide clarity to the people of god what god was actually communicating to them that's his whole thing is i need to provide clarity and actually fulfill what god is already communicating to you so he's opening up the scriptures to them in the synagogues and as he's there he is proclaiming this is what you've heard this is what

you've read this is what you've been taught i'm now here and i'm fulfilling all of these things that you have already been taught that you've already heard and i'm now teaching you that these things are actually pointing to me this is why again teaching is so at the center point of jesus's ministry and even the great commission that i've already mentioned go therefore and baptize people in the name of the father son and holy spirit like go and make disciples doing this teaching them to observe all that i've commanded you that's not just uh hey go and make disciples by baptizing them so you just

baptize everybody in water and and that's kind of your view of being able to like write it down on your numbers that you get another baptism you get another convert you know report that to your networks or whatever it is uh check it off the box like more people are heading to heaven great and then whenever you get to it just teach them to observe all that jesus has commanded you all right like i went and visited a church one time when we were planting down in south florida and i remember seeing that kind of their next step after you got baptized was here's a

kit for you to be able to just kind of walk through this and that's all you need for the rest of your life when it comes to walking in discipleship it's like no there's more to that it's teaching them to observe all that i've commanded you all right and someone might say well what does that mean when jesus says all that i've commanded you well if you're thinking through the lens of scripture and how it came to be about jesus himself is considered the word of god scripture is then considered also the word of god so at bare minimum teaching us to observe all that

he has commanded is the 66 books of the bible because every single one of them have been god breathed through the son jesus christ as it is becoming the literal essence of who he is a better way to say it or in other words is jesus calls or refers to himself as the visible representation of the invisible god the word of god the written word of god is the written representative or representation of jesus christ himself so to know god we need to know jesus to know jesus we need to know his word and so teaching the word is the way in which jesus is

revealing himself to the people teaching them to observe all that i've commanded you that's why we teach through books of the bible here is because we just simply want to teach the word of god that's why we have biblically based sermon discussions in community groups that's why we have institutes to continue teaching the word of god at the end of the day what we want to do is we want to be faithful to the means by which jesus instituted when he came into the world in order to begin his ministry and that was he went into the synagogues and he talked he talked we need

to teach it is not a secondary thing it is the primary component for true discipleship is being in god and also continuing to teach others and be taught by others as well even on multiple occasions the disciples and townspeople they would refer to jesus as teacher now that doesn't mean that everyone should necessarily teach immediately all right just because you get baptized and dive into the waters doesn't mean that you come out uh hey let me have the pulpit sir um that's not necessarily what it means but at the same time what it does mean is that there is a progression that there is a

growing in you being taught that allows you to then be able to teach others to teach others and again this progression is even seen in literally jewish education jewish education this is how they would refer to jesus as teacher or rabbi um in order to ever get that title this was their form of you ascribing to being a rabbi or a teacher they have these different levels it was literally like the first one was bait safar bait safar was kind of like your elementary school and by the end of elementary school you had you had to have the torah memorized if you don't know the

torah is that's the first five books of the bible genesis exodus leviticus numbers deuteronomy memorized all right by the end of fifth grade then you moved on to middle school bait talmud where you had to have everything memorized up to the wisdom literatures this was usually when students would begin sort of falling out all right if they didn't make it past uh the torah being memorized they would then go back home and they would enter into whatever the trade was that their father walked in so by the end of middle school you had to have the up to the psalms proverb song of solomon all

those wisdom literatures memorized and then they moved on to just our version of high school bait midrash which was the entire old testament memorized all right jennifer's jennifer genesis all the way to malachi memorized all right memorized it's not just i mean like the church that i was at in tennessee it was like let's teach them a song about just what the names of the books of the bible are it's like all right good for you that you could do the 66 books of the bible this was having them all memorized as well that is amazing to me and what they would do is they

would continue to take the best out of the best out of these students as they're progressing through and then the local rabbi or teacher this is kind of their collegiate level uh right around the age of now this is like 15 all right they're entering into this next form or phase a rabbi or local rabbi would then come and select a disciple a follower a pupil a learner who would then come and they would train them in everything that they do as a rabbi and then as you continue to kind of succeed through that process of being mentored and trained by that rabbi you would

then succeed that rabbi down the road and what jesus is doing is he's coming into this scene and he is teaching in the synagogues but he's also beginning to call followers and this is something that is outside of jewish tradition and custom because what he's doing as we'll see down the road so i'm getting ahead a little bit but i want this for your encouragement not because i'm about to call you uneducated but it's true jesus doesn't go to those who have graduated from bait mid-rash and says now you are able to come and follow me because you are the best of the best of

the best and that you have everything memorized what he does is he goes to those who didn't make the cut and their fishermen or their tax collectors or their carpenters or their tent makers they didn't make the cut and he's coming to them and this is one of the greatest honors that someone can receive is when a rabbi or a teacher comes to you and says follow me follow me and he begins teaching them what my hope is for us is that we never stop being a student we never stop being a disciple a disciple is literally what jesus is referring to them as pupils

students learners teaching them to observe all that i've commanded don't ever stop being taught everything that jesus has commanded way we can do that is read god's word read good books on the christian life and ministry by other faithful teachers and authors get yourself in teaching environments like our institute's equip class where we teach on topics like theology evangelism discipleship and christian counseling when you hear of a bible study that's being offered throughout the church again sometimes those are church sanctions sometimes those are just our faithful members in the church who are getting together and saying hey we want to lead some people through a

bible study we say yes and amen do that and so work your schedule out in such a way that you're able to start attending these different bible studies why because we want to be biblical we want to continue to learn we want to be taught devote yourself to gathering with the saints under the word of god on sundays why because we're teaching we're teaching through song we're teaching through how we pray we're teaching through what we do in liturgy and specifically what we pray and the call to worships that we have and the confessions that we do all of these are forms of teaching where

we are trans uh uh we are informing you and giving you thought theology study of god in order for you to be ultimately transformed by it transformed by it all right so jesus came teaching and some people say well what about the miracles listen the teaching is what leads to transformation the miracles were meant to create marvel all right to create marvel it was to allow people to be able to have kind of an interest into oh there's something different about this guy there's something different about him but it's the teaching that ultimately led to either them accepting him or not all right at one

point everyone was loving the fact that 5000 people were being fed by bread and fish and then jesus started teaching and at the end of the teaching many of them said this is too hard for us to understand and they walked away they were not transformed by the miracle of the bread and the fish that did not keep them what kept them was trusting the truth that jesus is teaching jesus is teaching what does the next verse look like verse 16 and he came to nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day

and he stood up to read i love this as was his custom all right what that means is jesus loved gathering with the people of god around the word of god all right oftentimes people will say what's what's the big deal with sunday gatherings what's the big deal well the big deal is that it was also something that jesus loved to do it was his custom it was his custom to gather with the people of god in order to teach the word of god under the authority of the word of god and what we mean by that is there's something that happens in this setting

that does not happen in any other setting this is the best way i can describe it for you there is something through the authority of the teaching of god's word that is forming a people of god that only happens in the gathered room of the people of god sitting under the authority of his word we like to refer to this as the capital t teaching versus the lower case t of teaching now can you be transformed by teaching in a bible study in a home 100 percent can you be transformed by teaching in a community group setting when we're discussing sermon topics absolutely but there

is something that god does with those that he is called to preach and proclaim the word of god and be held to a higher standard of judgment when it comes to proclaiming the whole council of the word of god and that they have been given authority to be able to proclaim and teach it and make sure that they are teaching it accurately in order for the people of god to then be held accountable to observing all that jesus has commanded that happens here and so jesus as was his custom i would love for that to be what we begin to say of ourselves it was

our custom to make sure that we are continually and consistently gathering with the saints in order to sit under the word of god and to be transformed by it and held accountable to it that's what we're doing in this room right now all right this is and it is a weighty test that is that is not me saying that duane right now is teaching duane's thoughts and you better listen up no no what it actually is is myself and josh and ransford the elders of the church behind closed doors looking at the word of god and trembling over the fact that we are held accountable

and how we teach it for your transformation and to hold you accountable to whether or not you are walking in the way that jesus ultimately taught you to walk in it's a weighty task and there are moments where we sit behind closed doors and we are wrestling with one another wrestling with one another over what we teach and how we proclaim it in order for you to literally have the word of god spoken to you it's why again like i don't go cleverly with sermon titles and it's why i don't you know typically use a ton of illustrations and whatnot it's not that those things

aren't okay all right they can be used but if all you remember is an illustration or a fancy title or whatever it might be and you don't remember the actual word of god that was spoken to you then i'm not doing my job i'm not fulfilling my calling in my life and what i'm actually doing is just bringing judgment upon myself in that regard and so we come to this when it comes to teaching and proclaiming the word of god in this setting we do not address it lightly but yet want to make sure that we're proclaiming the very thing that jesus proclaimed himself and

that leads into the third part jesus ministry taught the heart and will of god and i want you to be encouraged as we walk through this portion right here it says in verse 17 that the scroll of the prophet isaiah was given to him and he enrolled the scroll and he found the place where it was written the spirit of the lord is upon me and that's just that's him talking about the spirit of god has has been given to me the spirit has been empowered within me the spirit came down on me at my baptism the spirit is the one who appointed jesus to

be able to teach with the authority that jesus has the spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me and he's anointed me to do this very thing to proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives in recovering the sight of the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of the lord's favor it says he wrote up the scroll and he gave it back to the attendant he sat down and all the eyes were on him in the synagogue and he began to say to them today this

scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing i'm here to now proclaim this news that you've heard over 700 years ago i'm here to now provide liberty to the captives matthew 4 12-17 gives a bit different perspective on this passage when he opens up isaiah luke doesn't record all that jesus read nor taught at that moment in the synagogue matthew provides another level of sight here when he heard that john had been arrested he withdrew into galilee and leaving nazareth he went and lived in capernaum by the sea and in the territory of zebulon and naphtali so that what was spoken by the prophet isaiah might

be fulfilled and he here quotes a different portion of isaiah the land of zebulun and the land of naphtali the way of the sea beyond the jordan galilee of the gentiles the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light and for those dwelling in the region in the shadow of death on them a light has dawned what this is revealing to us is that jesus and entering into his ministry is entering into darkness the domain of darkness as colossians 1 describes it and he has come as the great light of the world in the darkness he has come teaching and preaching as matthew 4

17 says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand he's coming and telling them that i am ushering in a new way of doing things i'm ushering in a kingdom and i'm telling you that the way that you've been living don't live that way anymore live the way that i am now teaching to you live the way that i'm instructing you repent stop doing that trust the truth that i'm proclaiming and live in it walk in it as i empower you to do that with the spirit of god jesus has brought the kingdom of heaven to the domain of darkness to the darkness of

our souls and he's proclaiming one thing good news he's proclaiming good news to us good news to the poor both for those who are poor physically and spiritually we know this when we get to the sermon on the mount where he says blessed are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of god jesus has come to teach and proclaim liberty to the captives not everyone is captive physically in a general sense but are held captive by our sin shackled by it and unable to free ourselves and yet jesus has come to our jail cell and is proclaiming freedom he's proclaiming liberty

in that regard from the sin that so easily entangles us and now allows us to cast it off jesus comes and he preaches and teaches the recovering of sight for the blind again for sure a physical sight for those physically blind he does that in in the scriptures but ultimately he does this for all believers who have any physical ailments when he brings us back in glory he recovers us and makes us whole but he also does this spiritually for us jesus preaches and teaches liberty for those who are oppressed now yes for those who are oppressed physically because of their vulnerability as widows or

orphans or race or social economic status or family lineage but jesus also provides liberty for those who are oppressed spiritually who are vulnerable to emotional to spiritual oppressions like depression or anxieties or demonic spirits or sinful habits and so forth he's proclaiming liberty liberty and i can't give you any rhyme or reason why for some when they get saved it's like almost immediate liberty and for others it feels like a cumulative effect where it's slowly slowly slowly liberty over time and for psalms they they say they just deal with it until they die and then they get the liberty when they're in glory at the

end of the day what we can rest assured is that jesus is proclaiming liberty freedom period for those who are oppressed for those who are oppressed and we pray seeking the spirit of god to enact this liberty on our lives this freedom in our lives the good news is that jesus has come the great light in the midst of our great darkness and he's proclaiming liberty and freedom he's offering a yoke that is light he's offering for you believers to be filled with joy and gratitude and cheer i guess what he's offering for us it doesn't mean that circumstances might change but it means that

we have hope now we have hope what you see in these teachings is the exchange of polar opposites and i want to take this time to enter into our time of communion by showing you this very thing let me go ahead and invite the band to come on up what we've seen today is jesus coming in the power of the spirit of god jesus by the power of the spirit of god came teaching and what jesus taught was the very heart and will of god light in darkness liberty in captivity liberty in oppression sight for the blind well-being for those who are poor and what

you see in these teachings again is the exchange of polar opposites and that's because god doesn't do things halfway he doesn't do things halfway he doesn't provide a band-aid when you have a heart attack instead he gives you a new heart he exchanges your darkness for his light he exchanges your sin for his righteousness this is how jesus ushers in the kingdom of heaven on earth is by transforming sinners to saints that's what he's doing when he's revealing himself and proclaiming this this isaiah passage and the only way he can accomplish and fulfill this ministry is by himself being transformed as the ultimate saint to

becoming the greatest sinner that's what jesus is doing the greatest saint is coming to earth in darkness as the greatest light two sinners in order to transform us into becoming a saint as he himself becomes sin in our place that's the only way any of this is ever accomplished the good news enters into the bad news this is how he ushers in the kingdom for you to be free jesus had to become captive for you to have life jesus had to be put to death for you to not be forsaken jesus had to be forsaken by the father for you to be loved jesus had

to be hated and we're going to do communion differently today as you see the elements are down front today instead of in the back [Music] and we're going to change this up maybe from time to time we'll work with it a little bit but as we preach the truth of god's word we want you to have the opportunity to respond we want to have the opportunity to reflect we want you to have the opportunity to pray and to just sit under god's word [Music] however that's working itself out in your heart and your mind right now as we know jesus in what we do with

communion is him at the cross breaking his body and shedding his blood him becoming the sin so that we might be able to become righteous it's revealing the kind of ultimate crux of of of of what he's come to accomplish in light entering into darkness as he goes and becomes the darkness on the cross so that you and i might become the light of the world ourselves as we go out to be salt and light i want you to go ahead and stand and we're just going to create some space right now all right we're going to create some space for us to reflect and

respond however you see fit all right for some of us in this room if this is a moment where you're like hey i i've not trusted jesus i've not trusted his truth i don't know if i'm a believer i'll be down front you can come speak with me i'll have josh maybe go to the back and you can come speak to him in the back but this is also a moment for you to just pray you can come down get the elements if you want to sit down front that's fine if you want to go back to your seat and and pray at your seat

and just reflect and meditate on his word that's fine as well but we're going to just take some time to reflect and meditate as we think about his ultimate sacrifice so let's enter into this time now and then as i take you back to your seats i will then lead us in a time of communion so go ahead and come down and get the elements