Following the Father
Thanksgiving Day has come and gone even if the leftovers are still in the fridge. I pray that your holiday was joyous and fulfilling, and if it wasn’t, at least you’re here this morning to give thanks to God and to be filled again by the blessings he gives every day through the power of his Spirit.
In Luke 4, as you’ll hear in this morning’s scripture reading, Jesus said that the Spirit of the Lord had anointed him to “proclaim the gospel.” When I was young and growing up in the Church, I always thought that proclaiming the “gospel” meant what we called “the five steps of salvation.” But when we listen more closely to Jesus and watch what he does in his ministry, we realize that “proclaiming the gospel” is much bigger than words about forgiveness and access to the Father. Please don’t misunderstand me: it is about those things, but it’s also about much more.
As we study together this morning in our second lesson about The Mission of God & Us, we’re going to build on what we started last week and add more specific examples as we think about what God has been doing with us and for us from the very beginning. I hope that you will really focus on what we see and hear from Jesus, because it should do two things for you: 1) it should remind us that God does care about our day-to-day needs. He made us as whole people, and his redemptive will for us is holistic. 2) it should remind us that God gives all of us opportunities to do good in his name that is part of what it means for us to “proclaim the gospel.”
I’m thankful we’re here together, and may God bless this time so that we become more and more like him.
Following the Father, The Mission of God & Us; part 2
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