Welcome and Celebrating Baptisms

Amen. So having Pastor Scott here feels like homecoming to me. And I was wondering, Pastor Scott, when you first met me, what color hair did I have? Jet blue, spiked? Have you noticed any changes in my life? I was just a wee lad when I met Pastor Scott, and I just love having him here. Thank you, my brother. His family’s been in town doing different things over the last few days, and it’s just a great blessing to have one of our team members who served here for a long time back and serving our church. We’re blessed by the Butler family.

And if you are here and you are celebrating someone’s baptism today, we just want you to know we’re celebrating with you. That was incredible to watch, people being baptized — really awesome. And if you came to watch a family member or a friend, you’re here to support someone, and that’s what brought you to church today, I just want you to know we’re super glad you’re here. All weekend long there’s so much joy in celebrating with those who are publicly declaring “I’m a follower of Jesus.” And once you publicly declare “I’m a follower of Jesus,” there’s no going back, because the word’s out. It’s an incredible step of obedience, and so we celebrate those who are being baptized.

If you’re here and you and I haven’t met yet, I’d love to meet you. I’ll be in the Welcome Center — just out any of those doors, in the lobby. Love to put a face and a name together after the service, would love to personally welcome you to Big Valley Grace. We’re really glad that you’re here.

All-Church Prayer Gathering

A week from tonight we’re going to have our next all-church prayer gathering. Really excited about it, looking forward to it. We did this in the fall, and it’s been amazing to see how the things that we’ve prayed about — how the Lord has given very tangible answers to the things that we have prayed about. We want to come together as a church, we want to thank Him, and we want to continue to seek Him for our church, and for our nation, and for our world, and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Last time we gathered it was about an hour and a half, hour and forty-five minutes, and it’s just focused on prayer. We’ll have a number of team members lead different portions.

But there are two things that I want to pray about right now before we get into our time in the Scriptures, because there are two things that are happening in our world immediately, right now, they’re upon us. One is what happened in the middle of the night while we were sleeping, which is Israel–Hamas having a ceasefire. And the second is that tomorrow there is going to be inauguration day for our next president, President Trump. So I want to spend time praying about those two things. Let’s turn to the Lord in prayer.

God, we look to the global stage and the national stage. Lord, we understand from Scripture Your thoughts about the nation of Israel — a nation You created, a nation You called out, a nation You chose. And Lord, we see our instruction in Scripture to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. There’s a lot of pieces to it, and none of us has all the information, but something very significant happened in the middle of the night with the beginning of a ceasefire with Israel and Hamas. So Lord, we’re asking that You would work. And Lord, we look forward to a day when Your kingdom is going to be on earth, and there’s going to be the bringing in of all Israel, where all Israel would be saved, and the glory of the Lord will be among us. So God, we look to Your salvation, we look to Your redemption, and we pray for what is happening right now.

And God, also tomorrow, with a new president coming in — Lord, I pray for Donald Trump, President Trump. I pray for him to acknowledge Jesus Christ. I pray for his family to acknowledge Jesus Christ. I pray for those that he has placed in his cabinet to acknowledge Jesus Christ, and that the leadership of this nation would lead towards people turning to Jesus as opposed to people turning away from Jesus. Lord, would the truth of the Word of God — would it be unleashed in this nation, and Lord, would there be repentance in our nation? Would we turn away from sin and turn towards Christ? Lord, we’re in desperate need of You. We lift up our nation, that we might honor You as a nation. I pray this in Jesus’ name. And all God’s family said — amen. We’ll continue to pray more, and look forward to being together as a family for our all-church prayer night a week from tonight. I invite you to be there, invite you to be a part.

The Calling Series

This month, in the month of January, we’ve laid out our teaching in a series titled “The Calling.” This is a teaching series that is geared towards us asking this question as a leadership team: how can we teach in such a way that in the month of January we can make some progress on our God-sized goal? Our God-sized goal is to glorify God through exponential discipleship — disciples making disciples, making disciples, making disciples. So we said, well, how do we see discipleship begin? Well, we see it when Jesus calls people. So we’re looking at four weeks of the various groups of people that Jesus calls.

The first week we looked at disciples — specifically, we looked at twelve disciples who were called out to be apostles, and we highlighted the life of Peter. I would encourage you to take advantage of that resource online and watch that if you missed it. I think it’d be very important for you, just as a part of our church, to hear all the messages in this series. Last week we looked at the crowd — how when Jesus calls out to the crowd, it divides the crowd immediately into those who accept Jesus and those who reject Jesus. This week we’re looking at individuals — how Jesus calls an individual. And next week, Lord willing, we’ll be looking at how Jesus calls you — plural you, us, this place, this time — how Jesus is calling us as a church, that we would be a part of those that He is calling out to.

The text that we’re going to look at today is Luke 13:10–17, and then we’ll backtrack to Luke 4. If you need a Bible, we want to give you a Bible. There’s a room right over here, has a sign over it that says “The Altar” — it’s a room we have set aside for prayer. If you don’t have a Bible, we want to solve that problem today. Just come to that room if you need prayer after the gathering, and if you need a Bible.

The text that we’re going to look at today is a text that I have never taught on. It’s also a text that I’ve never heard a sermon on until I started studying for this specific message. It’s more of an obscure text; it’s not one of the famous texts, but I think you’re going to find that it is extremely beneficial for us as a church family to be paying attention to it and to be seeing what we can learn and be instructed by from this text.

Before I read the text, I want to ask this question: if someone comes to you this week — tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — and they say, “I want you to tell me your story,” how are you going to respond? If they come to you and say, “Tell me the story of your life,” what’s going to come out of your mouth? If you had three minutes with somebody to share with them who you are and what’s happened in your life, what are the things that are going to make the list in those three minutes? I want you to consider how you would share your story and what your story looks like as we walk through this passage.

A Woman with a Disabling Spirit (Luke 13:10–13)

Luke 13:10: “Now he” — Jesus — “was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.” This is the last time we see Jesus teach in a synagogue in the Gospel of Luke. This is the last moment that is recorded, and I think as we walk through this passage you will see why. When a rabbi was traveling through a town, they would be a guest at the synagogue. A scroll would be handed to them that would be for that day’s reading; they would open up a scroll, they would teach it. This passage does not record any of those aspects — it just says he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, but that’s an important moment. What this passage really highlights is what happens after he’s done teaching, or maybe in a pause of his teaching.

And in verse 11 it says, “And behold, there was a woman.” So the scene turns from him teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath — which would have been a part of their weekly worship together in that community — to now the attention goes to a woman who is present. “Behold, there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for eighteen years.” In the Scriptures there are many people who Jesus encounters who have a physical ailment or a physical disability — lots of accounts of that, where Jesus impacted their life and brought healing. There are also lots of accounts in Scripture where Jesus encounters someone who has demon oppression or demon possession or there’s an influence of demons in their life. This account is both of those things coming together, because behold, there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. So there is demon work that is happening in the life of this woman, and she has a real physical ailment, a real physical condition, a real physical disability — “she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself” — for eighteen years. The reason that she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself is because she had a disabling spirit.

So the attention goes from what would be like corporate worship in the local synagogue to now Jesus’s attention is on a person — a woman who has a disabling spirit for eighteen years. “And when Jesus saw her, he called her over.” When Jesus saw her, he called her over. And I think this is incredible, that the God of the universe, the creator of all things in time and space, has a moment to call a specific person, to have an individual interaction with a specific person. His attention is drawn to an individual. He called her over, and he said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability,” and he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorifies God. It’s incredible — absolutely incredible.

Some things I don’t want to miss as I look at this passage. I don’t want to miss that Jesus speaks to the individual. He doesn’t just speak to his disciples; he doesn’t just speak to the crowd. He speaks to an individual. Jesus saw her and he called her. You may think that your life is insignificant — I’m guessing the woman who had a disabling spirit and was bent over for eighteen years had thoughts like that. You may think that your life is not worth noticing — I’m going to guess the woman in our historical account had thoughts like that. But Jesus took notice of her, and Jesus takes notice of you. And if Jesus can see her, then Jesus can see you. And if Jesus can call her, then Jesus can call you. I would challenge you, as you consider how you would answer the question if somebody asked you, “Tell me your story” — I would challenge you to consider how your story reflects that Jesus sees you and Jesus has called you.

Not only does he speak to the individual, but he frees the individual. “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” She might have thought, “I’ve been bent over for eighteen years; I will always be bent over for the rest of my life; I will never be free from this.” And yet when Jesus speaks to the individual, he frees the individual, and she experiences something she probably never thought was going to happen. There may be something that you want to be freed from, and it’s gone on for so long that you may be thinking, “I will never be free from this. I will never experience freedom from this.” But if the God of the universe is able to speak to this woman and is able to free this woman, then the God of the universe is able to speak to you, and the God of the universe is able to free you. “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”

And Jesus touches the individual. This may seem like such a small detail, but it is not a small detail to me — he touches the individual. He laid his hands on her. We are talking about the God of the universe. The first page of my Bible says all He has to do is speak and things get created. He can just say things that He wants done and they happen. That’s how God works. He’s the owner of the business; He speaks commands and it happens. He does not have to touch her in this moment — He can just speak to her — but He chooses to touch her. And I wonder what her experience has been, having a disabling spirit and being bent over for eighteen years. I wonder how many people saw her, and when they saw her, they went around her, because they didn’t want to touch her; they didn’t want to accidentally rub up against her and touch her, because she’s had a disabling spirit, she’s been bent over for eighteen years. I wonder how many relationships she lost because she had a disabling spirit and was bent over for eighteen years, to where nobody wanted to be in close with her anymore. I wonder how long it had been since someone hugged her. And here the God of the universe has time to actually touch an individual — he laid his hands on her.

There are many things that are very isolating. It is very isolating to feel like no one will touch you. That is a very isolating place to be. And I am well aware of people who are a part of our church family who see Big Valley Grace Community Church as their family, because this is the place they can come to where someone will shake their hand, give them a hug, sit next to them, because they’re welcomed in — they experience physical touch. He laid his hands on her. And it might be that you have had moments in your life — you might be in one right now — where you don’t believe that you could get free from whatever it is you’ve got going on, and you don’t believe anybody wants to be around you, you don’t believe anybody wants to touch you. You might not experience the physical hand of God on you, but you might experience the physical body of Christ right here at Big Valley Grace Community Church, and you might experience the embrace that God has for you coming from a brother or a sister in the Lord who welcomes you in close, and embraces you, brings you in close, and hugs you, and is glad to be near you.

Jesus touches the individual, but Jesus also restores the individual. It says, “Immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.” Not in, like, five minutes — not, like, six steps to health — immediately. He speaks to her, he frees her, he touches her, and he restores her, and immediately she was made right. And it says that she was made straight. Now there’s multiple aspects to this, because the clear thing is that she was bent over for eighteen years, so clearly she was made straight and is not bent over anymore. But it’s not just a physical experience that she had, because it says that she had a disabling spirit. So not only did she need to be straightened out physically, she needed to be straightened out spiritually. So in this moment she is made straight physically, but she’s also made straight spiritually. And in that, what is the response? She glorifies God. And isn’t that what happens when God does something in our life? God’s always at work, but He works in such a way where He got our attention — that’s the key, friends. He works in such a way where He gets our attention, and what is our response? “Thank You, God. Thank You so much, God. You just did for me what I could not do for myself. You just did for my family what we could not do for ourselves. God, we were in a mess; things were crooked; things were messy — but God, You just straightened us out. Thank You, God, for how You’re working in us.” She glorifies God. Jesus restores the individual.

And I’m wondering how many of you right now in this room — this is exactly what you are hoping is going to happen in your life. You are hoping that today is the day where God is going to speak to you. You’re hoping that today is the day that God’s going to free you. You’re hoping that today is the day that God’s going to touch your life. And you’re hoping today that today is the day you’re going to be restored, so that you can get to the end result of praising God and glorifying God because of what He’s done in your life, because He’s changed you. And if that sounds like you, we have a team that is ready to pray with you at the end of this gathering. Please come be with our team, talk with our team, pray with our team, that we’d end today glorifying God together.

The Ruler of the Synagogue (Luke 13:14)

And you’d think, “This must be the best day ever. What could possibly go wrong on this day for this woman?” Well, that’s where we get verse 14: “But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant” — super, super angry, indignant — “because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, ‘There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.’” Super angry. You know, here’s the problem, everybody: we have a policy manual, and we’ve got rules and regulations, and six days is when the healing days are, and one of the days is not a healing day. So we need everybody to come on the healing days and not on the non-healing day. So that’s where we really have the problem here — there’s a non-healing day and there’s healing days, and you came on the non-healing day. Super angry. This is like shame by public humiliation, because he’s not even addressing the woman — he’s addressing everyone. Let’s just air this all out in front of everyone. Could you miss the point more? The woman had a disabling spirit; she’s been bent over for eighteen years, and now the ruler of the synagogue is upset because he sees what Jesus is doing as a human work and says, “You’re not supposed to be doing work on the Sabbath. Come on the other days.”

And this is a picture to me of how we have a spiritual enemy who is actively opposing our spiritual liberty. If you are in Christ, you have an enemy. If you are in Christ, you have spiritual liberty, and you have an enemy that wants to actively oppose your spiritual liberty that is found in Jesus Christ. The ruler of the synagogue completely missed what was actually happening right in front of them — so concerned about rules and regulations and how things are supposed to be. He says, “These are six days in which work ought to be done.” That’s like saying, “You’re all doing it wrong. You’re supposed to do it this way. This is the way you ought to do it. You ought to do it in the way that makes sense to me.”

Jesus’ Answer: You Hypocrites! (Luke 13:15–16)

Verse 15: “The Lord answered him.” So he speaks to the crowd this chastising, and now the Lord’s going to answer the ruler of the synagogue: “You hypocrites!” Always bad when God starts His conversation with you and the first words out of God’s mouth are, “You hypocrites” — that’s when you know this conversation is going to go really difficult. “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?” He says, “You are so hypocritical. You’re upset because it’s the Sabbath day and a woman has been healed, but on the Sabbath day, don’t you take your animal and untie your animal and lead your animal to water? Because no matter what day of the week it is, your animal needs to drink water, and so you take your animal to get a drink of water. Don’t you do that?” It’s a hypothetical question, because there’s only one way they could answer the question. The only way they can answer the question is, “Yeah, we do that. We take our animal and we give it water no matter what day of the week it is — that’s what we do.” “And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

Three things in Jesus’s response. First, Jesus defends the individual. He says, “Ought not this woman.” The ruler of the synagogue said, “There are six days in which work ought to be done.” Jesus uses the same language and puts it right back on him and says, “And ought not this woman. This is a woman.” You will do these things for an animal — what about this? This is a human being. And this is what God says about the difference between an animal and a human being. Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” And He’s saying, “You’re so concerned about your animal that you take care of your animal — you break your own rules to take care of your animal — and yet this is a human being.” This is a clear picture of someone prioritizing animal life over human life.

Now, today happens to be a holiday. It’s not a holiday that’s going to end up on any of your calendars, but today’s holiday is called Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. The purpose of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is to bring awareness to the sanctity, the image-bearing quality, of human life, because we have been made in the image of God — and to celebrate human life as life that has been made in the image of God, which separates it from all other life. Fewer and fewer churches talk about Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, but we are talking about it today. And there are two organizations I want to point you to, that you could take real action in our community to participate in the sanctity of human life. One of those is the Modesto Pregnancy Center. The Modesto Pregnancy Center has been actively working towards the sanctity of human life for a long time in this community — where a woman finds out she is with child, and the Modesto Pregnancy Center is available for her, to talk to, to discover that the child in her womb is a child that has been made in the image of God — that that child has been made in the image of God — to encourage them to choose life. You could get involved with the Modesto Pregnancy Center and you could make a real difference in the prioritizing of human life, the sanctity of human life. A second organization that we partner with in town is called Love Life. Love Life is a street-counseling ministry that does sidewalk counseling in front of abortion clinics. And one of the ways that you can partner with them is they do prayer walks. The prayer walks are every second Saturday of the month, February 8th through November 8th; they’re at 1601 Celeste Drive, on Saturday mornings. You could go be a part of prayer walking, to lay the groundwork in prayer on some really specific territory in our community, so that prayer will lead the way for the ministry that they’re going to have, to encourage people who are going into an abortion clinic that the baby in her womb has been made in the image of God. Two different organizations that you could take very practical participation in to make a difference in the sanctity of human life.

And Jesus defends this individual, and the way he leads he says, “This is a woman. This is how you treat animals. This is not an animal — this is a woman.” And then he defines the individual: “She’s also a daughter of Abraham.” That is who she is. She is a woman, she’s a human being, and she’s a daughter of Abraham. She is a part — this is Jesus saying she is a part of the blessed family, a family that has been blessed by God. This is what Genesis 12:1–3 says: “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” And Jesus is saying, “This is a woman, and she’s a daughter. She is a daughter of Abraham. That is a blessed family to be a part of. You treat your animal in this way, but you’re missing that this is a woman. This is a human made in the image of God, and she is a part of a very special family. She’s a part of the blessing family of Abraham.”

And then Jesus deploys the individual. He says, “Be loosed from this bond.” She has been tied up long enough. To use the analogy of the untying of the animal that Jesus used — she’s been tied up long enough; it’s time for her to be untied. She’s been without the water — the living water — long enough; it’s time for her to have the refreshing drink of Jesus Christ. It’s time for her to be loosed from this bond. One of the things that the ruler of the synagogue completely missed regarding the Sabbath is the Sabbath was not just a day to cease from normal work. The purpose of ceasing from normal work was to give time and attention to how God had brought the nation of Israel out of slavery — to be loosed from the bond that they were in. And so Jesus is teaching them in this moment — they’re completely missing what the point of the Sabbath was. The work of this woman being freed is exactly what the Sabbath is about. It’s about ceasing from regular work to have time to acknowledge God’s freeing captives from slavery. Jesus deploys the individual: “Be loosed from this bond.” She stayed put long enough; it’s time for her to be on the move. She’s been stuck long enough; it’s time for her to be on the move. And he looses her.

The Mission of the Messiah (Luke 4:16–21)

A question I think we need to ask is: how does Jesus Christ free people from spiritual bondage? How does this happen? Well, in Luke chapter 4 we have another account of when Jesus is in a synagogue, and in Luke chapter 4 we find out something so critical about Jesus Christ, and it will partner directly with this account of Jesus freeing this woman. Luke 4:16, it says this: “And he” — Jesus — “came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me’” — that word “anointed” is extremely important, and we’re going to come back to it; take note of that word, “anointed” — “‘because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And now everyone’s eyes are on him” — they’re all looking at him to see, what’s he going to do next? “And he began to say to them” — and we have the shortest sermon in all of Scripture: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. He points to the passage of Isaiah, where the anointing of the Lord by the Spirit of God is on someone to accomplish all of those things, and he says, “It’s right here. It’s right now. It’s me.”

The word “Christ” is not Jesus’s last name. His last name is not Christ. If Jesus had a last name, it would be like “son of Joseph” or “of Nazareth” — that would be more like what his last name is. The name “Christ” is a title. Christ is the Greek word for a Hebrew word — the Hebrew word is Messiah. So when we talk about Jesus the Christ and Jesus the Messiah, we’re talking about the same thing; one is a Greek word, one is a Hebrew word. And the word Messiah — what that word means, translated into English, is “the anointed one.” So when we talk about Jesus is the Christ, he’s the Messiah, we’re saying that Jesus is the anointed one. And what is Jesus the anointed one to do? The passage that we just read — that’s what he does. Look at the bullet points from that passage. This is the mission of the Messiah. The mission of the Messiah is to proclaim good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Now I want to make one distinction. Does Jesus come to the economically poor? Yes. Does Jesus come to those who are actually captive — they’re actually in prison, they’re in jail, they have chains on? Yes. Does Jesus come to those who are actually physically blind? Yes. Does Jesus come to those who are experiencing actual physical oppression by someone who is an evil oppressor? Yes. But that is only part of what this is describing, because the fuller — what this is describing is about spiritual life and spiritual death. Jesus comes to the person who is spiritually impoverished — they are spiritually broken. Jesus comes to the person who is spiritually in captivity. Jesus comes to the person who is spiritually blind. Jesus comes to the person who is spiritually oppressed — like the woman who had a disabling spirit and was bent over for eighteen years. And when Jesus comes and people experience that, he proclaims to them the year of the Lord’s favor.

This term, “the year of the Lord’s favor” — it is echoing back to the concept of the Year of Jubilee in the Old Testament, where a certain number of years would pass and then everyone’s debts would be canceled, and everyone who had sold into servitude or had become a slave would be freed, and everyone would experience freedom at the same time, and it would be a Year of Jubilee to celebrate their freedom. But what this is describing — it echoes that, but what this is describing is not that specific date and time of the Year of Jubilee. What this is describing is who the person is that does it. And this is saying, when God shows up on the scene to act, God proclaims the year of the Lord’s favor, because people’s spiritual debts get canceled, and people who are in service to sin — they get freed, and people who are enslaved and in bondage to sin — they get released. That is experiencing the Lord’s favor. It is being released from sin and death and darkness and walking in the light. This is what John 8:36 says: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” This is the mission of the Messiah. If the Son sets you free, you’ll be free indeed.

You Can’t Do It on Your Own

So you might be wondering, what would it look like to live in the freedom of Jesus Christ? How would that look in my life? You might be thinking, “I can’t. I can’t do it. I can’t live in the freedom of Jesus Christ. I’ve tried. I can’t do it. I can’t do it on my own.” And if you’re thinking, “I can’t do this, it’s too hard for me to do it on my own, I can’t do it on my own,” I just want you to know I totally agree with you. You can’t do it on your own. It’s not meant to be something that you would do on your own. You need Jesus to do this for you. It’s the mission of the Messiah. It’s not your job to free yourself. It’s the Messiah’s job to free you. It’s the anointed one’s job to free you.

And I want to challenge you: if you’re thinking that it is not possible for you to experience freedom from the thing that has had you bent over for eighteen years — or however long, or whatever it is that your ailment has been, or your spiritual struggle has been, or your addiction has been, or your bondage has been, whatever’s been going on in your life for a very long period of time — if you believe that it is impossible for you to experience freedom in that area, I want to challenge you with this: I have 157 friends who disagree with you. And those 157 friends have all stood right here on a Tuesday night and publicly shared their testimony — how they’ve experienced freedom from sin and death and bondage and addiction in Jesus Christ. And I want to challenge you to go check out my 157 friends. There is a link on our BVG news page — I had the team put it directly on there — so you can go to bvg.org/news; there is a link that goes directly to 157 videos. 157 people who stood very publicly — it’s on the internet forever — and they said, “Jesus has changed my life. Jesus has transformed my life.” And so I’ve got 157 friends to encourage you: your life can change also, because of Jesus. And if you’re interested, my story is 153, so if you want to hear mine, just go to the list and find 153. It is possible to live in the freedom of Jesus Christ because of the work he does to free us.

How Is Jesus Calling You?

So how is Jesus calling you to follow him today? Maybe Jesus is calling you to receive the good news of salvation in Jesus, and today’s the day that you’re going to start your relationship with the Lord. Maybe there is bondage to sin that you have been experiencing for a long time, and Jesus is calling you to finally experience the freedom that you have longed for for so long — to walk in peace, and to walk with your burden lifted, because it’s been very heavy and you’ve been carrying it for a long time. Maybe Jesus is calling you to see the truth of God’s word, because you’ve been spiritually blind and you haven’t seen what the truth is, and God is going to open up your eyes and he’s going to show you the truth of his word. Maybe Jesus is calling you to experience the light of a relationship with God — to walk in the light, where you no longer have to live in shame and fear because you are deathly afraid that someone will find out what has happened in your life — and maybe Jesus is calling you into a place of freedom, into the light, that you could walk in the light as he is in the light, and we would have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all of our sin — you’d walk in the light and relationship with God. Maybe Jesus is calling you to worship Jesus Christ as Lord, because God is doing a work like the woman who had a disabling spirit for eighteen years, where she was freed from that spiritually and physically, and it’s time for you to give God credit for the work that he is doing in your life.

Who Are You Calling?

This is what is so fascinating about when Jesus calls individuals. Jesus calls individuals to follow him, and then his followers call individuals to Jesus, and it’s this cycle that never ends. Jesus keeps calling individuals to follow him, and then his followers call individuals to Jesus, which means not only does Jesus call us as an individual, but we, as a follower of Jesus — we also reach out and we call individuals. And so my question is this: who are you calling? Who are you calling to be reconciled to God? And I want to challenge you to actually — I want to challenge you to pick a name right now. Who’s a real person that you are in relationship with? The name — the name of the individual that God is bringing onto your heart and your mind right now. Who are you calling to be reconciled to God? Because this is what we’re going to do: we’re going to spend time — we’re going to close by spending time praying for that individual. We’re going to enter into a time right now where the mission of this moment is to do business with God in prayer, and to take the name of the individual that is on your heart and your mind right now, and to bring them before God in prayer, that you would lay the groundwork in prayer for how God might use you to call this person to be reconciled to God. And so there’s going to come a moment, when I’m done speaking the sentence that I have just begun — and when I have finished it, that is going to be the time for you to begin praying for the individual. And that time is right now. Let’s enter into prayer.

(A time of prayer and music.)

Closing Prayer (2 Corinthians 5)

I’m going to close our time of prayer by praying a passage, so this passage is going to be our prayer to God: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. And all of this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

“Father God, help us as a church to live this passage out. Help us to call individuals to be reconciled to God. Give us bravery, give us boldness, give us action, that we might be obedient to you and glorify you, and that more individuals might experience freedom in Jesus Christ. We pray this in Jesus’ name. And all God’s family said — amen.”