Greetings everyone and thanks for joining me for this edition of our Sunday School preview. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Called To Proclaim” and is found in Luke 4:14-22.
In many faith traditions preachers believed they are “called” to preach the gospel. They will announce their call and then begin their ministry by preaching what is called their “initial” or “trial” sermon.
Today’s lesson is an account of what many consider the announcement of the call to preach of the Lord Jesus. One Sabbath day, Jesus read a passage of scripture before the congregation. The scripture He read was from the book of the prophet Isaiah. In it, the scripture describes someone called or send on a mission for the Lord. Jesus told everyone that He was called to fulfill that mission.
The mission was specific as to what was to be done. Let’s take a look at them. The gospel or “good news” was to be preached or proclaimed to the poor. The poor here are not those who have little or no money which may be true of them.
But the poor includes all people who are the marginalized of society, including those who have no one to speak up for them or defend them and have little hope or means to rise much higher than their current station in life.
His mission was to heal the “brokenhearted”. Many of them are included in the “poor” group. They needed someone to reassure them that their best days are ahead of them and help them to forget all the things that sought to take away their hope.
Those who are the “captives” of circumstances and the consequences of sin, the mission was to let them know there is a way out. Similarly, those who have been “bruised” by the evils of this world now will have a choice as to how they shall respond.
And He was to give people the knowledge of salvation, grace and mercy of God that had been hidden from them. All of these things Jesus proclaimed He was going to fulfill. And from that time forth until He died upon the cross, He spent the rest of His earthly life fulfilling that mission. He, unlike anyone before or after Him, was uniquely qualified to answer this calling.
All of us today owe our salvation to Him and the work He did in accomplishing what He set out and proclaimed to do that day. As Christians, we are all called to continue this mission to the degree we are able to do it. Not one time did Jesus every mention what those He was sent to could do for Him. It was and still is about what He and we can do for others.
This is one of the primary reasons more people are not Christians. Christianity begins with taking up the mantle of Jesus’s ministry and living to fulfill it just as He did. Doing anything different reveals we still don’t understand our Christian purpose and calling.
Well, I hope you will be able to attend SS this coming Sunday. Invite someone to come and share your thoughts with the class. Sunday School at Flag Branch will begin at 9:00 am and you are invited to join us at www.fbmbc.org and clicking the online services link. You and others can also join us by dialing 508 924-2490. If you have any comments or questions before then, be sure to place them in the comment section of this preview and I will get back to you. So, as always remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
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