… Jesus said, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. (Luke 4:43, NIV)
What does the kingdom of God look like? If you had to decide the rules of the kingdom of God, what would they be? Would it look like anything Jesus said or did?
All the people were amazed and said to each other, ‘What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!’ (Luke 4:36, NIV)
Does Jesus amaze you? It’s very easy to read and hear familiar parts of the Bible, and not be amazed by what we read. For those who were there, Jesus’ power and authority would have been unlike anything they had ever seen before. Are you amazed by Jesus?
He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. … All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. (Luke 4:15,22, NIV)
Who do you think Jesus is? It’s very easy for us to ‘tame’ Jesus, and to think we know who he is. We might not be right! As we continue to look at Luke’s Gospel on Sunday mornings, we’re going to see some people who thought they knew who Jesus was — they were right and they were very wrong.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1, NIV)
How can we have true peace? We don’t have to look further than Ukraine to see that world peace seems impossible. We might not have to look too far to see that personal peace is hard, either. What about peace with God? Is that possible?
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4, NIV)
The day of Pentecost marks the coming-of-age of the church. The Holy Spirit fills the disciples so that they can proclaim the good news of Jesus. The same Holy Spirit is with all Christians now, helping us to know the truth and to help us to be witnesses about Jesus.