sunday sermon snippet 25 january
Then he said, “..and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” — Acts 1:8
This week’s posting of the Sunday Sermon Snippet comes from this past Sunday’s sermon which is part of a short, three-week mini-series for the month of January at Grace Church.
This last Sunday we came to the end of this short series, which is actually the foundation for who we are as Christians, and as a church family. Namely, since the Good News of Jesus matters because it saves, and because it changes everything, well, we are then the Sent Ones. And so we studied together exactly what that means, and what God has done to equip us for this marvelous work in this age.
And if you’d like to check out the whole sermon, just click here.
The Need Is Great
Most studies put the percentage of Coloradans in a church on Sunday morning at around 8%. Simple math, which is the kind of math I can actually do, means that leaves 92% of people in Colorado not in church on a Sunday morning. And while church going doesn’t necessarily mean you are actually a Christian, and not going doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not, chances are pretty good that if you don’t go to a Christian church, you’re very likely not a believer in Jesus.
Which means those people not gathered with us or other Good News proclaiming churches, well, quite simply, they are lost, separated from the Messiah, right now in darkness to one day reside in it forever. And it is those people who need to be asked a simple question. Namely—do you know Jesus? Have your sins been forgiven? Are you sealed in the Spirit? Do you have confidence at your death that instead of entering into the fiery furnace for all of eternity, you will instead “Share your master’s joy”? (Matthew 25:21)
Friends, this is why Jesus came. It is what we learn in Luke’s first installment of his magisterial two-part story, where he paints a vivid portrait of “the Son of Adam” (Lk. 3:38) as the Savior for all of humanity stained by sin and in danger; of Jesus, who is the very Son of God (Lk. 3:38); of Jesus, who was anointed by the Spirit of God that he might minister in the power of God (Lk. 3:22); of Jesus, who constantly entered into prayer—sometimes lasting all night long—in dependance upon his Father for all of life and ministry (Lk. 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 9:28, 29; 11:1; 22:32; 22:41, 44, 45); of Jesus, who called other men and women into service with him as fellow workers for the fields of sinners that were white for harvest (Lk. 10:2), doing so because, Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance….for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk. 5:31; 19:10).
And Jesus did this by proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God (Lk. 8:1ff; 9:1ff) in the face of opposition, persecution, and rejection at almost every turn, fiercely setting his sights on his mission because he knew what was (and continues to be) at stake — people are living and dying without him. And because of love, because of the “joy set before him” (Heb 12:2) of souls to be saved, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and laid down his life to save them.
That is where the first part of Luke’s story ended. The cross of Christ, the death of Jesus, and his glorious resurrection, leaving a frightened, troubled, startled, dazed, confused, trying-to-make-sense-of-it-all small band of disciples in a room in Jerusalem (Luke 24:36ff), wondering…..
What will happen next?…….
If you’d like to check out the whole sermon, just click here.
