This Sunday will be our final reflection service for our Gospel of Luke series, Good News of Great Joy for All People. So while most weeks I close these sermon prep posts with, “See you Sunday, Grace. Come hungry!” (meaning, come ready to receive the “meal” of a message preached from God’s word) this week the meal is more of a potluck. It’s a service we set aside to hear testimonies of how God’s word has been at work in you. That’s how Paul described the effect of teaching and preaching the Bible.
“We also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (1 Thess. 2:13)
As we reflect back over the two years we’ve spent in the Gospel of Luke, and consider how the word has been at work in our lives, let’s remember why Luke wrote this book, “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught (Acts 1:4).” Certainty was never the endgame though. Certainty about the things Jesus said and did are to lead us to faith and trust and peace and joy and hope in Him. If our certainty about Jesus has been growing than we should expect to see these things growing.
Would you take time this week to prayerfully reflect back on what we’ve covered so far and consider what your certainty concerning Jesus has been producing in your life? You might refresh your memory by re-reading Luke 19:45 through the end of the book. If you’re a note taker, pull them out and review what you’ve written. If you missed any Sundays this fall, you could go back and listen to sermons you missed. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see how God’s word has been at work.
Some questions to get you thinking…
- What effect has your certainty about Jesus – who He is and what He has done – been having on your life in this season?
- Have you had opportunities to minister to others out of what you’ve been learning or to share this good news of great joy with someone in your life? Share an example.
- How is the Gospel of Luke helping you grow in your understanding of what it means to be a disciple? And of what it means to make disciples?
- How has what you’ve been reading and learning in the Gospel of Luke been leading you to pray in your life these days? What has it been leading you to pray for our church, our community, and the world?
See you Sunday, Grace. Come hungry AND with something to share!
Song Link of the Week
Christ Our Hope in Life and Death
Unto the grave, what shall we sing?
“Christ, he lives; Christ, he lives!”
And what reward will heaven bring?
Everlasting life with him
There we will rise to meet the Lord
Then sin and death will be destroyed
And we will feast in endless joy
When Christ is ours forevermore