In this section, Jesus starts to gather his disciples, and he gathers the most unlikely people. He shows a fisherman how to catch fish, and asks him to come and become a fisher of people; he calls a tax collector, and eats with him. But in the background, the religious leaders are starting to seethe at how much Jesus was breaking their laws of life, and they’re starting to plot how they might deal with him.
Jesus had just been baptised, and the Spirit descended on him. And it would seem that immediately, the Spirit leads him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. The Spirit leads Jesus to suffer and be tempted, and he succeeds like no human has before. Jesus, the second Adam, says no to the temptation of Satan. And Jesus, the promised Saviour, tells us that we are in a time of God’s favour, a time when he is bringing the good news for the spiritually poor.
John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet, spent his life preparing the way for us to worship the Messiah. But then the Messiah quietly stepped onto the stage. And he was exactly who the people weren’t expecting. In this passage, Luke does so much to show us the beauty and glory of this guy: even though he’s the powerful Son of God, he’s also a servant and saviour for us, and this shows us the ultimate example of God’s surprising humility.
Luke starts his Gospel by telling us that he has researched everything very thoroughly, and that he wants us to have certainty about everything to do with this Gospel. As we step onto this stage and start to hear this story, we see the births of two baby boys, born to two different kinds of needy families. But this is how God sets the scene for the great hope that would come to us: God is about to bring good news to the poor, and the marginalised, and the hopeless, through this child, Jesus Christ. And so the surprises begin.
In the final week of this four week series, we look at our final key commitments that we as a community want to pursue in 2019: to send. Sam unpacks the commitment of being a sending church, who are prepared to take the gospel to those who are lost, no matter the cost. Whether this is in our workplaces, families, universities, or overseas.
Over these four weeks, we are looking at four key commitments that we as a community want to pursue in 2019: to invite, love, transform, and send. In this talk, Sam unpacks the commitment of being a transforming church, who are growing together in love. We all have different gifts, and in Christ we can all learn from each other, and build one another up in love.
Over these four weeks, we are looking at four key commitments that we as a community want to pursue in 2019: to invite, love, transform, and send. In this talk, Sam unpacks the commitment of love, and how God’s love should shape our love for one another. And this should shape everything we do and are as Village Church.
Over the next four weeks at Village Church we are looking at four key commitments that we as a community want to pursue in 2019. That is, we want to be a community that’s committed to: invite, love, transform, and send. In this talk, Sam unpacks the first key commitment of inviting people to delight in God and follow his Son Jesus. This is an invitation that God extends to all of us out of an overflow of love that exists between the Father, Son, and Spirit. An invitation that, according to Matthew 22, is like being asked to join in on a Royal Wedding and share in the delight and fellowship of the King.
When we think about Christmas do we think first and foremost about joy? Because God sent his Son Jesus into the world to be with us and bring us his joy. He didn’t come merely to make us “happy” but to deal with all our miserable sin once and for all so that we can know God and experience his invincible, irrefutable joy.
As though a switch is turned on in a pitch-black room, God promised that one day a light would dawn and turn all darkness to light. In the birth of Jesus Christ, this light has dawned, and we can enjoy the light of the world in the birth of this promised child.
© 2019 Village Church - Kelvin Grove.
