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We are a small church plant in Denton, TX. Jesus gave a command: to love one another as he loves us. He goes on to say that "everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." We work to make care for each other, for our city, and for our world the utmost priority in our lives. Love is more than simply a feeling or even a philosophy for us, it is a lifestyle commitment that guides where we live, what we do, how we treat people, and ultimately who we are. This is our church. These are some of our recorded sermons if you'd like to listen.
Good morning.
Leslie:Good morning.
Leslie:I want you guys to know that I had a great Christmas. It was extended by a week because I got sick the day after we had our Christmas service and was down and out for the count for about 5 days. So I had a whole extra week of rest, in my break, and I was so thankful that we had studied Sabbath because it Just reminded me that even though I couldn't work for 5 days, God continued to work. So that was good news It's for me, but I missed you guys terribly. That seemed like a super long break, and I'm so glad to be back here with you this morning, and I hope that you're glad to be back here with each other as well.
Leslie:So for the past couple of years, our church has been focusing on apprenticeship to Jesus, and we've talked about it almost every sermon. We've talked about it in our small groups. We've been practicing it together, and if we ever accomplish anything at all with that, what we hope to accomplish is to get you to spend time with Jesus, to grow and do what he did and what we think he would do if he were us and to be with him. And so we've done Sabbath, and we've done prayer, and those were pretty specific and pretty narrowed in, so we're gonna back up now to get the larger view of who Jesus is, and we're gonna fix our eyes squarely on him. So we're going to go through the book of Luke chapter by chapter, and we're just gonna look at who was Jesus, who is Jesus, how did he treat people, How did he relate to the father?
Leslie:We're gonna remind ourselves of our love for this lord that we serve. And for some of us, I think that for the first time, you're gonna be introduced to who the man Jesus is, and we're gonna do this slowly chapter by chapter. So, obviously, a chapter depending upon the chapter can be too much content to do a sermon on, or it might there might be a story that starts and then it finishes in the next chapter. It's just not always neatly broken up in a chapter, and so what we're gonna ask you to do is as we go through this to read each chapter before we do a sermon on it. That way, you'll kind of have the gist of what is going on, and we don't have to go back and explain everything that's happened, but we can give a brief recap, and then whoever's preaching can preach on what they have prayed about and pastorally thought about that our body needs, and we can focus in on some of those things, so please be faithful about reading the chapter.
Leslie:So, like, this week, I posted it on book. I had our small group leaders posted. I put it in our group me for our small group that we needed to read chapter 1. So you might not have seen that, and that's okay. But from here on out, you know you're gonna be reading a chapter a week.
Leslie:I would also encourage you to read that in different versions if you have time, different translations because I think it might help you to better understand what we're talking about. Our hope also is that you will reach beyond just the sermon on Sunday and that as you talk with people during the week, you'll share with each other what you're learning about Jesus as we read through Luke, that you'll challenge each other, that you'll sharpen each other and encourage each other so that we can grow together in our love and our apprenticeship for Jesus. So that's kind of the overview of where we're going. I wanna give you a few facts about the book of Luke before we get started reading in it. And so the first one is that it is one of the earliest account of Jesus' life.
Leslie:It starts earlier and it ends later than any of the other gospels do in regard to his life. It is the longest gospel, and that might be a surprise to some of you because if you look chapter wise, Luke is not the longest in chapters. But if you look verse wise, like, if you just look at chapter 1 and see how many verses are in it, then Luke is the longest of all the gospels. It is part of a 2 book series. So Luke and Acts were written together.
Leslie:Luke wrote both of them. And so what are the implications of that? Like, why is that even important? Why would I even mention that? Well, for one thing, as we read through the gospel of Luke, we need to keep an eye on the events that are coming in Acts because Luke will give some things where you go if you've read Acts before, you'll go, oh, that's in Acts.
Leslie:That's coming up. He's gonna talk about that there. So we wanna keep an eye on that. And also if you're reading the book of Acts, you want to remember back to what we've learned in Luke, and keep in mind the themes that Luke introduced in his gospel, and the importance of these themes will become evident as we examine some of the unique Features of the gospel of Luke. The book of Luke was written by Luke, which is not always the case by the the books better written.
Leslie:But he he was a traveling companion and a coworker of Paul, and he was also a physician. His account is written from eyewitness accounts. So he's gone back and he's interviewed people that were eyewitnesses of Jesus, and he's combined these carefully, gone over and listened to accounts of Jesus's life into To what is the book of Luke. One of the things that Luke does is that he shows how Jesus fulfills not only the story of the Bible, the story of Israel, but also the story of the whole world. And so Luke is very inclusive in the gospel as he writes.
Leslie:When Paul talks about Luke, he lists him with his gentile rather than his Jewish coworkers, and so that might be one of the reasons that Luke is so inclusive in his writing and in his talking about the gospel is because he, as a title was accepted into the kingdom, and so that's very important to him. It really means a lot To him, and so that is what he wants to convey. The gospel is for everyone. He also uniquely highlights the social implications of the kingdom. This was something I had never thought about.
Leslie:So as I was listening to, The Bible Project podcast about Luke. One of the things they talked about were the Jesus communities that were left behind after Jesus taught and moved to a new place, but the Bible's so focused in on Jesus and the disciples and what they do that I think we kinda get this idea that everybody who was following Jesus, like, literally was following with him, but there would have been people that heard Jesus speak, that accepted his message, that started living like the kingdom that he was talking about, stayed where they were, that didn't go and follow him around. And so these Jesus communities really flipped the values of both the Jews and the Romans. They flipped the values of the people upside down as they started living like Jesus was living. It talks about he talks about how Jesus came especially for the poor.
Leslie:But when they talk about the poor in the bible. They're not just talking about people that don't have much money. They're also talking about people of low social status, And so that would be the disabled. It would be women. It would be children.
Leslie:It would be the elderly. It would also be siders, so people of other ethnic groups or people whose poor life choices had separate separated them from the religious community. And it's Luke says over and over again that Jesus came especially for these people, and he makes it very clear that the kinds of people Jesus included would have been shocking and even scandalous to the Jewish leaders, and it's why he ran up against so much, conflict with the Jewish leaders. Luke, ladies, also highlights the female disciple both in Luke and in Acts. In Luke 8, he is one of the only one of the gospel writers to list the women that were following Jesus, and he is, clear to include in there that they are supporting Jesus out of their own money, and this was scandalous because women were not allowed to be of other teachers.
Leslie:Women were not allowed to travel and follow a teacher and be a disciple of them. And so Jesus, in including women as disciples, was breaking all the rules, and it was a really big deal. So Luke's gonna highlight some of that. And then Jesus' I've already mentioned this once, but his big reversal of even our value systems. Jesus communities turned upside down the value systems that we have in addition to the value systems of the Jews and out of the Romans.
Leslie:He breaks everybody's categories, but he is the fulfillment of the prophets in scriptures. So I wanna give you just a quick outline of Luke, and that's gonna be on the screen behind me, because I think it's important for us to kinda see what's coming up. Some of these things you'll be familiar with, and so you will be able to tie into that and say, oh, yeah. Okay. I see we're gonna talk about this at that point.
Leslie:So Luke 1 1 through 4 is prologue, and it just show it's just the customary way that people would start their writings. It's It's what they used in the time, and it shows Luke as both a historian and a theologian. In, chapter 1 verse 5 through 250 2. We're gonna see the birth narrative, and we're gonna see the birth narrative both of Jesus and of John the Baptist, and it's gonna show the continuity between the old covenant and the new. And his purpose here is to show that this is not a new religion, but it's the fulfillment of an old religion.
Leslie:And then in Luke chapters 3 through 4 13, we see events that are prior to Jesus' public ministry. So that would be things like Jesus being lost in the temple at the age of 12, Jesus baptism, Jesus being tempted in the desert. And in verse, chapters 414 through 950, we see Jesus' public ministry in and around Galilee, so we see him healing, calling the disciples, the sermon on the plane, as Luke calls it, and miracles. And then from the bulk, I feel like, of Luke is chapters 951 to 1927, and it's Jesus' journey to get to Jerusalem, and this highlights God's love for the lost. And so this is where we find parables like the good Samaritan and the lost sheep and the lost son.
Leslie:We find his teachings on the dangers of wealth. We find conflict and controversy with the religious leaders. In Luke 1928 to 21/38, we see Jesus in Jerusalem. So think the triumphal entry. Think where he overturns the tables in the temple, debates that he has in the temple.
Leslie:And then Luke 221 through 2356, we see Jesus' arrest, his trial, his crucifixion, and so we're gonna see the Last Supper. We're gonna see his arrest. We're gonna see Peter's denial. We're gonna see his death. And then in the last chapter of Luke, we See Jesus' resurrection and ascension.
Leslie:And this is where you really see the connection between the book of Luke and the book of Acts because because those things are just briefly mentioned at the end of Luke, but he goes into more detail at the very beginning of Acts. So things like The empty tomb, the 2 followers on the road to Emmaus, him appearing to the followers in Jerusalem. So that's kinda what you can expect and when you can expect it as we go through the book of Luke. And I'm gonna ask Troy to come up right now and read the first chapter of Luke to us. He's gonna be reading from the ESV, and it's gonna be up here on the screen if you wanna follow along.
Leslie:Eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us. It seemed good also to me, Having followed all things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, That you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, There was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah, and his he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, And both were advanced in years.
Leslie:Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, He was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of people were praying outside at the hour of incense, And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fell And fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, And you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the lord, and he will not drink wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the lord their god, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children in the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
Leslie:And Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I'm an old man, and my wife has advanced in years. And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, And I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day That these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.
Leslie:And the people were waiting for Zechariah, And they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived.
Leslie:And for 5 months, she kept herself hidden saying, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people. In the 6th month, the angel Gabriel was sent to God from God to the city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, Of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, greetings, oh favored one. The Lord is with you.
Leslie:But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, For you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high, And the lord god will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom and in of his kingdom, there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I'm a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you.
Leslie:Therefore, the child will be born to be born will be called holy, the son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, And this is the 6th month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.
Leslie:And the angel departed from her. In those days, Mary arose and went to the hay with haste Into the hill country to the town of Judah. And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting from Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Mary and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Leslie:And why is this granted to me that the mother of my lord shall come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believe that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in the sa my savior. For he has looked upon my humble estate Of his of his servant.
Leslie:For behold, from now on, all generations will call me from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he is mighty, has done great things for me, and holy is my his name, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.
Leslie:He has fulfilled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent way away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, and spoke of to their fathers To Abraham and to his offspring forever. And Mary remained with her for about 3 months and returned to her home. Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the lord had shown great mercy to her, And they rejoiced with her.
Leslie:And on the 8th day, they came to circumcise the child. And they would call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, no. He shall be called John. And they said to her, none of your relatives are called by this name. And they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called.
Leslie:And he asked for his a writing tablet, and he wrote, his name is John. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was open, and his tongue loosed, And he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them laid them upon up in their hearts saying, what then will this shall be?
Leslie:For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For he has visited and redeemed his people, and he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. And as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from the of old, that we should be saved from our enemies And from the land, from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. The oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we be delivered being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the most high, for you will go before the lord to prepare his ways, To give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our god, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from up From on high.
Leslie:To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of the death. To guide our feet in the way of peace. And the child grew and became strong in the spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
Leslie:So let's talk New Year's resolutions. How many of you in here are New Year's resolution setters? How many of okay. A few. How many of you are New Year's resolutions haters?
Leslie:Oh, come on. You know the rest of you are. I hear you talk. So I am a New Year's resolution setter, And Ashley set me up perfectly for this with her testimony, actually, for everything I'm gonna say about chapter 1 in Luke. But I set the same New Year's resolutions every year, basically.
Leslie:And when I was young, I would do it, and eating healthy is always one of the ones on my list. And the 1st time someone brought donuts to the office after I made that New Year's resolution, I would have a doughnut. I would not have kept my resolution perfectly, and so I would be done. Perfectionism is the killer of New Year's resolutions. We expect ourselves to follow these resolutions perfectly, so when we can't, we quit.
Leslie:Personally, what I discovered over the years was the secret to New Year's resolutions is to not quit. And so when I would have a doughnut because someone brought them to the office, I would just say, okay. I had a doughnut. I'm gonna keep going with my New Year's resolution to eat healthy. And so perfectionism became not the mark of my New Year's resolutions, but just not giving up became the mark of that.
Leslie:We are not perfect people, and That is no surprise to our God. When God makes promises to us, they are not like New Year's resolutions. They don't depend on us. They don't go away the first time we mess up. God always fulfills his promises always.
Leslie:No matter how imperfect we are, he is perfect, and it is who God is to fulfill his promises. We sang the song, gosh. Can't remember the name of it, but it talked about beauty for ashes. I think it was the 1st song we sang today. We sang the song, behold, he comes, riding on the clouds.
Leslie:Those are promises fulfilled. Those are promises God gives thus. When God says our sins are forgiven, they are. When he says that he when he said he would send a messiah, He did. When he says he will never leave us, he doesn't.
Leslie:When he says we are saved we are. We're not saved because we were baptized 10 times or because we said a certain prayer 25 times. We are saved because he says we are, and he keeps his promises. He As we will have eternal life, and we will, he says that he will comfort everyone who mourns, that he will give sight to the blind, that he will set the oppressed free, and he will. He says Jesus This will come back, and he will.
Leslie:That's the whole message of the song that we sang about days of Elijah. Behold, he comes riding on the cloud, just talking about Jesus' 2nd return. When he says, like he did in Luke, that chapter 1 that Troy just read that no word of God will ever fail. It won't. We can count on God fulfilling his promises, and he always has, and he always will.
Leslie:And Luke begins with this beautiful example of God keeping his promises about John the Baptist and about Jesus, and he does that in this incredibly beautiful way. So he tells the about the birth of John the Baptist. He tells this to Zechariah in the temple. He tells this to an elderly couple that have not been able to conceive their entire life. Who else can you think of in scripture that that was true of?
Leslie:Abraham and Sarah. He parallels John the Baptist's a birth being foretold, but he also parallels it with Jesus' birth being hold. So I'm gonna talk about that for just a second. So we have Zechariah who's having a birth foretold, and we have Mary who's having a birth foretold. Zachariah is a priest.
Leslie:He is an older man. Mary is a young, unknown, unmarried woman who has never had sexual relations, and both of them are being told you will have a son. Both of them are being told that by Gabriel. And the first thing Gabriel says to both of them. Do you know what it is?
Leslie:Do not be afraid is the first thing he says to them. So then there comes a pregnancy to fulfill what Gabriel told them, and there comes a birth. And then there is a song of celebration by Mary, and then there is a song of celebration by Zechariah. And in those songs of celebration, they tell about how the sun that has been, foretold to be coming to them is gonna fulfill the prophecies. The prophecies from Genesis to Deuteronomy and the prophecies in the books of prophet in the Old Testament are fulfilled in both of these accounts because God always fulfills his promises.
Leslie:John is prophesied as a messenger who will come to prepare the hearts of Israel to meet their God and who will come make the people ready for the Messiah to be there, and Jesus is foretold as the messianic king who was prophesied, promise to David who will bring God's reign over Israel and his blessing to all the nations just like he promised Abraham. So it's all full of this meaning of how Jesus fulfills the promises of God and the prophecies that were forgiven, and I love the way that he does it with these parallel stories. There are other scriptures that talk about God being a God who fulfills his promises. One of them is in 2nd Corinthians 120 where we're told that every one of God's promises is yes in Jesus. Jesus has fulfilled all of his promises.
Leslie:God has declared his faithfulness by fulfilling his promises, even the promises that were given to Abraham, Isaac and David. However, although many of God's promises have already been fulfilled in Jesus, as we still wait for the day when God's promises of complete redemption and restoration will be fulfilled when Jesus comes back and makes all things new. And like the prophets and like the Israelites, we look ahead to when all of God's promises will be complete in Christ. And one of the things that we're told in scripture is that when we feel discouraged about that, when we start thinking it's been 100, 1000 of years since that promise was made, and nothing is happening that we can see. Jesus This is not coming back.
Leslie:When we start feeling discouraged by that, we can go back and look at the promises God has already fulfilled, and the fact that Jesus already came should give us great hope that Jesus is coming back. So we can rekindle our hope by looking back at what God has done and by looking forward to what he will do when Jesus returns because God always fulfills his promises. Second Peter 3:3 through 9 says, above all, you must understand that in the last day, scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, where is this coming he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, Everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation, but they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word, the heavens came into being, and the Earth was formed out of water and by water.
Leslie:But do not forget This one thing, dear friends. With the Lord, a day is like a 1000 years, and a 1000 years are like good day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you. Not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Leslie:I love that scriptures. Guys, most of the time, we don't have to have other people scoffing about if Jesus is coming back. We sales or our own biggest scoffers about whether that's gonna happen or not, and we need to look at what God has already done. We need to remember that God fulfills his promises. Even in Luke here, through these 2 stories.
Leslie:We see all of these promises fulfilled. But in Luke 1 20, he tells Gabriel tells Zachariah, every word I've spoken to you will come true on time. God's time is when those will come true, and that is true of us as well. All of the promises that God has spoken to us will come true in his time. In Luke 154 and 55, this is in Mary's song.
Leslie:He's it says this in the message. This is the message version. He embraced his chosen child, Israel. He remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. It's exactly what he promised for sorry.
Leslie:It's exactly what he promised beginning with Abraham and right up to now. Exactly what he promise beginning with Abraham because God always fulfills his promises. And then in Romans 4 18 through 20 five. This is in the NLT. Even when there was this is so good.
Leslie:Listen close to this. Even when there was no reason reason for hope. Abraham kept hoping, believing that he would become the father of many nations, For God had said to him, that's how many descendants you will have, and Abraham's faith did not weaken. Even though at about a 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead and so was Sarah's womb, Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this, he brought glory to God.
Leslie:He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was recorded for our benefit too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our word from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Leslie:Key in on that verse. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promised. Are you view. Are you fully convinced that God can do what he has promised? Do you even know what God has promise.
Leslie:Do you know the promises that he's made in scripture? If that resonates with you and you're like, I don't think I do, you need to go read scripture and look at what are the promises he's given us, what are the ones he's fulfilled already, and what are the ones we're still waiting for, and what are the ones that were in the already but not yet? So we already see some part of it, but we don't see the whole part of it yet. So God always fulfills his promises. What does this mean for us?
Leslie:It means that we can trust that God will do what he said he would do because he always has. It means we can trust that we are forgiven, we are adopted as sons and daughters, we are reconciled in a relationship with God, that we are with God, that we are saved, that we are res we will be resurrected just Christ was and that we will have eternal life. We can trust that Jesus will return. And the question is, do you believe that, or is that just some kind of Christian thing that we say because that's what Christians say, that Jesus is coming back. Our whole Faith hinges on Christ's return.
Leslie:Our whole faith hinges on that. That's not just some pretty spiritual saying. Hebrews tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. It is not a wish. I wish this would happen.
Leslie:Hope is sure, and hope is certain. We are certain that when Jesus returns, we are certain that he will return. We're certain when he does return, there will be no or death or mourning or crying or pain because God is making everything new. We are certain that God will fix everything sin has broken, every little thing. We can trust that death this is not the end, that we will be resurrected just as Jesus was resurrected.
Leslie:We can trust that while now in Christ, we exert we experience a certain measure of spiritual blessings that we will experience the full enjoyment of these blessings and promises when Christ comes and completes his work. So what I want to know from you this morning or what I want you to think about is what promises are you waiting for God to fulfill? What doubts do you have about what God has said he will do? Because the good news in Luke chapter 1 is that God fulfills his promises, and he fulfills them in Jesus. That is the good news that Luke is offering as we look at the birth being foretold of John the Baptist and the birth being foretold of Jesus.
Leslie:It's what we see when we look at Mary's song when we look at Zachariah's song, there are so many good things in there. If you didn't get a chance to read chapter 1. Go back and read both of their songs. They're so encouraging. I wanna go back to and this is gonna seem like a real, interesting transition, but I wanna go back to Luke 1 1 and I want you to listen carefully to this.
Leslie:Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been build among us. It also says that have been fulfilled could be translated as things we have surely believed just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to Write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know a of the things you have been taught. So many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things we have surely believed, and you can know the certainty of the things you have been taught. We can know the truth of the things we've been taught and the things we that we believe.
Leslie:And so the question is, what were you taught about Jesus, and who taught you that. What do you believe about Jesus, and why do you believe that? And is that different from what we read in scripture? As we go through Luke, be thinking thinking about is what I was taught and what I now believe, does it line up with what scripture tells me about Jesus. So you have some homework for next week.
Leslie:The first one is to read Luke chapter 2 before next Sunday, at least once, if you have a chance to read it more than once, that would be helpful too, thinking about what you've been taught what you believe about Jesus and how this lines up with scripture, and then share what you're thinking in learning with others, challenging, sharpening, and encouraging each other to grow in your love for and your apprenticeship to Jesus. I'm excited to see what we're gonna learn about Jesus or be reminded of about Jesus or maybe be mind blown by something that we believed that we see is not true or something we didn't know that we find out is true about him. I think that it is going to change our lives, and as it changes our lives, it's gonna change our community. This is the heart of what apprenticeship to Jesus is all about. We cannot be an apprentice of Jesus if we don't know who he is.
Leslie:So I'm very excited to see what God will do, and I hope that you are too. Let's pray together. God, I know that you want to teach us through the book of Luke. I know that you want to encourage us. I know that you want to change us, and I pray that we will be excited to read your word.
Leslie:We will be excited to know the word that you have to say to us. We're thankful that your word is living and active, that it wasn't just written once and then it never speaks again. We pray for your Holy Spirit to teach us. We pray for your Holy Spirit to challenge us and change us. And, god, I just pray for our immunity that as we read Luke, that we will fall in love with Jesus all over again.
Leslie:And it's in his name we pray. Amen.