Anointed with the Good News!

 Prayer of Illumination

Luke 4:14-22

Introduction:

     A.   Story of former pastor who brought a bouquet of

flowers to class, one more flower than people in class.

 

     B.   One flower was smashed.

 

     C.   He had us each pick one; do you know which one was left?

 

     Trans.

          Sometimes we tend to pick people the same way; we pick the ones who look like or act like we want them to. 

 

I.   A look at the Scriptures.

     A.   Jesus is anointed with the Spirit.

 

     B.   He reads this passage from Isaiah.

          1.   This is Jesus's mission. (Writings of NT, 229)

          2.   And his ministry.

 

     C.   The Jews are satisfied with how things are.

          1.   Some are making money selling animals for temple

              sacrifice.

          2.   The priests make a living doing what they do, and  they hold a high place of esteem among the Jewish people.

          3.   The Jews like it that certain people like the Gentiles and women are kept out of the inner sanctum of the temple.

 

     D.   They run Jesus out of town.

 

II.  The Church: God's anointed.

     A.   The Church is God's anointed today. II Cor. 5:17-20a

 

          So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  18  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;  19  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, d not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.  20  So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us

 

     B.   We have Christ's mission and ministry.

 

     C.   To reach out to all people.

          1.   poor or wealthy

          2.   black, white, or hispanic

          3.   educated or not educated

          4.   heterosexual or not . . .

 

     D.   If we don't do it, it won't be done.

 

III. How can we do it?

     A.   If we looked at the demographics of our community, we would probably notice some things about ourselves compared to our community.  I suspect we would find that we are:

          1.   sometimes more wealthy

          2.   in some cases more educated

          3.   maybe even whiter

          4.   although we are more diverse than most churches;

              sometimes less diverse

 

     B.   What does this tell us?

          1.   We need to welcome outsiders who are not like us.

              That would be in keeping with Christ's ministry!  If we don't, the people out there in our community  to reach for God will be very limited.  God would  not have us be If we don't, the people out there in our community to reach for God will be very limited.  God would not have us be limited!  We need to:

              a.   greet those who are not like ourselves; that is part of having open hearts, open doors,

                   and open minds!

              b.   provide a safe nursery with safe gatherings

                   certified attendants as needed.

              c.   make sure and provide handicap access.

              d.   let new people be a part of us!  Typically, a lot of churches will welcome a visitor, but when they keep coming, the life of the church is almost impossible to penetrate!

                   Don’t think this is a big problem here, but prevention is the best cure!

          2.   We can provide some ministries to our community.

              That too is in keeping with Christ's mission!

              a.   We provide the free food shelf at the Thrift Store.  I hope the folks who get food from that shelf would be welcomed into our church just like anyone else.  They are a part of our mission field!

              b.   We provide the Thrift Store that gives clothes and housing items to people who have great need!  I hope those recipients too would be invited and welcomed into our church!

              c.   We support Options.  That is great, and I hope the women and girls in crises would be welcomed here!

          3.   Anything we do as a church, needs to be invitational!

              a.   We need to be non-selective about who we invite to church.

              b.   We need to make sure we are non-selective

about who we pick to welcome or talk to.

Christ was non-selective! Christ spoke to

the woman at the well.  He spoke to the tax

collector! On the other hand, maybe he was

selective and he intentionally selected

those who were outcasts!

 

 

Conclusion:

     A.   Are we picking people like flowers?

 

     B.   What can we do, or how can we improve on what we are doing to make sure that all of God's people in Forsyth are being invited into God's kingdom?

          1.   This is something I think we always have to be asking ourselves!

          2.   This is something I am always glad to hear your input on!

          3.   This is something I need your help on as we strive to make all that we do more invitational!

 

     C.   We have the Good News!  Christ has anointed us with the Good News!  We are Christ’s Ambassadors!

 

D.   I’d like to share a Story of a Blind Girl w/apples.

     “Are you Jesus?”

 

“Are You Jesus?”

Posted by Regi Campbell on January 31, 2013

(A close friend sent me this. I didn’t live it or write it. I wish I had)

A few years ago, a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night dinner. In their rush through the crowded concourse, with boarding passes and briefcases, one of the men inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding…all but one.

He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.

He was glad he did.

The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?” She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him,

“Mister….”

He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, “Are you Jesus?”

He stopped in mid-stride … and he wondered. He gently went back and said,

“No, I am nothing like Jesus – He is good, kind, caring, loving and would never have bumped into your display in the first place.”

The girl gently nodded: “I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples. He sent you to help me, so you are like Him – only He knows who will do His will. Thank you for hearing His call, Mister.”

Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: “Are you Jesus?”

 

E.   Are you Jesus?  I want to challenge you to think of

     one person who you probably have previously ruled out

     as uninterested in church and commit to strike up a

     conversation with them this week and invite them to

     church, maybe invite them to set with you in church. 

 

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion

 

Sending forth:

“Are you Jesus?”  Go forth and be Jesus to a world who really needs to see and experience Jesus, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!  Amen!