The Most Important Encounter of All

The reading from which the sermon is based today is Luke chapter 3, verses 21 and 22.

Luke 3:21

and Luke chapter 4, verses 14 to 21.

Luke 4:14–21

And let's read together the Word of God.

Now, when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,

the heavens were opened.

And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.

And a voice came from heaven,

You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.

In chapter 4, verse 14.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.

And a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

And he 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 to proclaim the 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 he gave it back to the attendant,

and sat down.

And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

And he began to say to them,

Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

This is God's holy word.

Well, I want to say a huge thank you to Corey,

and to you all for your warm welcome this morning.

It's such a privilege to be back here again today.

Both Una and I love, love the opportunity to come and worship with you.

And so many of you are such dear friends to us,

and many of you we have not met and got to know,

but it's such a joy to see you here,

and to get to know you as well.

So thank you so much for this opportunity.

It's such a privilege to be here.

And we're going to turn back to Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

And let me just read these verses that are on the screen.

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he'd 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's anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Over the summer, you've had a series called Encounters with Jesus,

and I was delighted to be part of that series back in July.

Today we come to the end of this series,

and we're just going to ask the question,

what's the most important counter of all?

Who is that encounter with?

That's what I want us to think about

as we look at God's Word together today.

But I need to explain that my sermon's not really going to follow the normal pattern.

My sermon's actually going to be very, very short.

My sermon's only going to be 10 minutes long,

but my introduction's going to be about 20 minutes long.

So it's going to be lots of introduction,

then super short sermon at the end of it.

Hopefully it's all going to make sense.

This is the target that we're trying to get to,

the most important encounter of all.

Now when I was here serving as assistant minister,

I was alongside Derek Lamont.

Many of you will know Derek.

He served here for over 20 years,

and Derek and Katina had a wonderful ministry,

blessed by the Lord.

Derek has many, many amazing gifts for ministry.

One of Derek's gifts is that he was very, very good at making up words.

And that rubbed off on me,

and I am going to introduce you to a word

that is going to form the basis of the big, long introduction that I'm going to give,

and I hope it's going to help us answer our question

about the most important encounter of all.

And the word I've made up is the word anointianity.

Okay?

So you're going to learn today all about anointianity.

It's a weird-sounding word.

Let me tell you what it means.

Well, it's just an alternative for the word Christianity.

And the reason I've made up this version

is because the word Christ in Greek

is the word that means anointed one.

So Christ is a Greek word.

It comes from the Greek word for anointing,

which is the word chrio.

And so in Greek, Christ and anointed,

it's more or less the same word.

It's exactly the same word family.

And you actually see that very clearly in the Bible.

Let me put up an example verse.

It says,

It is God who establishes us with you in Christ

and has anointed us.

Now, I'm just picking this word to show you the similarities

between the two Greek words.

We've got Christ and anointed.

If I put the last wee bit of that verse up in Greek,

I'm not amazing at Greek,

but I can read it out,

and you'll be able to hear what I'm trying to get at.

If I read the last few words,

the second half of that verse in Greek,

it says,

So, Christ on Christ,

Christ on anointed.

There you go.

It's the same word.

You can see that I'm not making it up.

I did make up the word,

but I'm not making up the connection.

And so all of this is telling us

that when we think about Jesus,

when we talk about Christianity,

behind all of that lies this concept

of being anointed,

and that's why we can call

the Christian faith anointianity.

And I hope that this is going to be helpful for us,

because in all of this series

and in everything that we do,

we're thinking about encountering Jesus.

But who exactly are we encountering?

And what is it that is so important about it?

Well, let's try and think about that together.

Jesus of Nazareth is known throughout the whole world

as Jesus Christ.

And that word Christ is not a surname.

It's actually a title.

So we could just as easily say Jesus the Christ.

And as I said, it's a Greek word.

It means anointed one.

The Greek word is the equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah.

So you'll hear these words related to Christianity.

Messiah, Christ.

All of it means anointed one.

It's all referring to the same thing.

It's telling us that at the heart of who Jesus is,

and at the heart of why Jesus has come,

is this whole concept of being anointed.

What does that mean?

And why is it so important?

Well, the explanation for it all

comes in the Old Testament.

That's where the roots of this lie.

And being anointed is connected to three key roles

that appear again and again throughout the Old Testament.

And these roles are prophet, priest, and king.

And you see, if you look in the Old Testament,

that for each of these roles, prophet, priest, and king,

an individual was anointed for the task that was given to them.

So I'll pop some examples up onto the screen.

Prophet, you can see Elisha anointing.

Sorry, you see king.

Sorry, I put the wrong verse there.

You see Elisha being anointed to be prophet.

And yes, sorry, I'm reading it wrong there.

So you see that there's an anointing of the king

in the first verse,

and an anointing of Elisha as the prophet.

The instructions given to Elijah.

Priest there, Exodus 40.

Aaron and his sons, you shall anoint them.

And then you see Saul being anointed to be king.

So we see this throughout the Old Testament.

Anointing is associated with these three roles.

Prophet, priest, king.

And each of these was crucial in the life of Israel

in the Old Testament.

So what did a prophet do?

A prophet functioned as God's spokesperson.

So a messenger who communicated the word of God.

And often that was to issue warnings.

And alongside those warnings would come an offer of salvation.

The priest functioned as the people's representative before God.

And so they would serve in the temple.

They'd offer sacrifices.

They would intercede on behalf of a sinful people.

And the king functioned as God's vice regent.

Or to use the imagery that comes up a lot in the Old Testament,

the king functioned as an under-shepherd.

Given responsibility, delegated by God,

to care for the people.

So a king stood under God, over the people.

Exercising care and protection.

So you've got all these things fitting together.

A prophet spoke from God.

A priest came to God.

And a king reigned under God, over the people.

These three roles were crucial in the Old Testament.

But the big emphasis of the Old Testament

is that all three of these failed.

So the prophet's messages fell on deaf ears.

The people didn't listen.

The elaborate sacrificial system of the temple

was actually never able to take away the people's sins.

And the king's constantly failed.

And by the time you reach the end of the Old Testament,

God has stopped sending prophets.

The temple has been destroyed.

And the king has lost all his power.

And instead, God's people are under the rule

of foreign empires who have conquered them.

So the story of the Old Testament,

always remember this,

the story of the Old Testament

is not a story of success.

It's always a story of failure.

And it's meant to be a story of failure.

Because all the time,

the Old Testament is telling us

that we need something more.

That the prophets, the priests, and the kings

we've got just now

are not what we really need.

And that's why the Old Testament

is also always looking forward

to the coming of a Savior

who's going to be all three of these things.

There's the anticipation of a prophet

being raised up.

This is Moses speaking.

God will raise up for you a prophet like me

from your brothers.

You shall listen to him.

There's the expectation of a priest,

of a great high priest

who will be able to serve forever.

You see that in Psalm 110.

And there's great anticipation of a king

who will be wonderful counselor,

mighty God, everlasting father,

the prince of peace,

and of his government.

There shall be no end.

And so the Old Testament

is looking forward

to a prophet that's going to come,

to a priest that's going to come,

to a king that's going to come.

And actually, as you get

to the very end of the Old Testament,

you see that there's a recognition

that all three of these roles

are going to be combined

in one individual.

The prophecy of Zechariah

is fascinating for that.

I can only give you

a couple of wee snippets,

but if you do read

the prophecy of Zechariah,

look out for the ways

in which it will combine

prophet and king,

or priest and king.

And you see examples here.

I'll just read the first one

because I'm already going

to start running out of time.

My introduction is going

to be even longer

than I planned.

It says,

Thus says the Lord of hosts,

Behold the man whose name

is the branch,

for he shall branch out

from his place,

and he shall build

the temple of the Lord.

There's priestly language.

It's he who shall build

the temple

and shall bear royal honor.

There's kingly language,

and shall sit on the ruler

on his throne.

There's king language again.

There shall be a priest

on his throne.

The council of peace

shall be between them both.

Same emphases

in Zechariah 9,

and throughout that book,

prophet,

priest,

and king combined

in the one person.

And of course,

you know who all of this

is talking about.

It's all fulfilled

magnificently

in Jesus Christ.

And so,

when Jesus speaks

about him being anointed,

there is a ton

of Old Testament theology

behind that term.

And it's telling us

that he is the one

in whom everything

that the Old Testament

is looking forward to

finds its fulfillment.

And the rest

of the New Testament

confirms this again

and again and again.

A good example

is Hebrews 1.

Sorry that it's

a long passage,

but let me just whiz through it

because you're going

to see all three.

Long ago,

at many times,

in many ways,

God spoke to our fathers

by the prophets,

but in these last days,

he's spoken to us

by his son.

There's prophecy,

prophet.

He appointed

all things

through whom

he also created

the world.

He's the radiance

of the glory of God,

the exact imprint

of his nature.

He upholds the universe

by the word of his power.

After making purification

for sins,

there's priestly language.

He sat down

at the right hand

of the majesty on high.

This is pointing us

towards kingly language

and that gets emphasized.

I'll skip out the bits,

but you'll see

at the end of the sun,

it says,

your throne,

O God,

is forever and ever.

There's king language.

Prophet,

priest,

and king,

all fulfilled

and accomplished

in Jesus.

So, you need to remember

these categories.

Maybe you've known them

a long, long time,

but they're so important

to the whole concept

of Jesus' identity

as the Christ.

He's prophet,

priest,

and king.

And the reason

they're so important

is that it's these offices

that come together

to enable Jesus

to serve

as the mediator

between God

and humanity.

Now, that word mediator

is a big,

big theological term

for us.

It's so important.

It's what Jesus does.

So, he's the prophetic revelation

from God.

So, information,

communication,

revelation from God

comes to us

through Jesus.

He's the priest

who gives us access

to God.

So, you can see

both directions

at play here.

And he's the king

of God's kingdom.

So, every aspect

of our lives

is under his rule.

And, of course,

the reason why Jesus

can do this,

why Jesus can be

the mediator

between God

and humanity,

is because he is God

and he is one of us.

And that's what's captured

again in the New Testament.

There's one mediator

between God and man,

the man,

Christ,

Jesus.

That's what makes

Jesus unique.

Only he can fulfill

these roles.

The prophets,

priests,

and kings

of the Old Testament

failed.

And,

the false prophets,

false priests,

and temporary kings

that humanity

has chased after

and put their hope

in throughout history

have failed.

Only Jesus

can fulfill

these roles.

But,

what's even more

important to recognize,

maybe,

is that Jesus

doesn't just take up

these roles.

He takes them

to a whole new level.

Because,

Jesus doesn't just

communicate on God's

behalf as a messenger.

No,

Jesus' very words

are the words of God.

When he speaks,

God speaks.

And,

Jesus doesn't just

offer a sacrifice

on behalf of the people

like the priests did.

Jesus is the sacrifice

on behalf

of his people.

people.

And,

Jesus doesn't just

rule with a delegated

authority from God.

He is the one

who has all authority.

He is king of kings

and lord of lords.

And,

these roles,

prophet,

priest,

and king,

are so important

for understanding

Jesus as we look

at him in the gospel.

All the different people

we've seen encounter

Jesus are meeting

the great prophet,

priest,

and king.

And,

in Jesus' ministry,

you actually see

what we could call

a progressive intensification

of these roles.

And,

so,

Jesus the prophet

engages in a ministry

of proclamation.

And,

so,

he goes around

preaching,

teaching more

and more

and more.

And,

that message

is accompanied

by miracles

which function

to attest

the authenticity

of what Jesus

is saying.

Jesus the priest

sets his face

towards Jerusalem.

And,

so,

as you go through

the gospels,

you discover very quickly

that actually the whole

of these gospels

are focused

on Jesus reaching

the cross

when he's going

to accomplish

the great work

of atonement.

And,

then,

the whole of the gospels

culminate

in Jesus rising

from the dead

and in the resurrection

we see Jesus the king

rising from the dead

with unstoppable power.

The king has conquered.

He's victorious.

He rules over all.

And,

so,

what he was anointed

to accomplish

becomes his perfect

finished work.

And,

maybe the best summary

of this comes

in one of the most

famous Bible verses

of all

when Jesus said,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life.

No one comes

to the Father

except through me.

Jesus the priest

is the way to God.

It's through him

that we get to God.

Jesus the prophet

reveals the truth

from God.

And,

Jesus the king

gives us eternal life

in his kingdom

and there is no other.

No other mediator

between God

and humanity.

No one comes

to the Father

except through him.

Now,

there's loads more

that we could say

about this.

These are massive

theological topics.

I'm only halfway

through my introduction

so we've got to

keep moving forward.

In all of this stuff,

why is this all

being placed

under the framework

of being anointed?

Like,

why is anointed

the thing that God

wants to do

in revealing Jesus?

Well,

I think there's two,

at least two reasons

why this is so crucial.

First of all,

we need to recognize

that the Bible's,

that anointing

is the Bible's way

of saying it's him.

Anointing is the Bible's

way of saying it's him.

In other words,

it's a key mark

of identification.

Now,

we still do the same thing.

We just don't use oil.

We use other stuff.

So,

when somebody wins

the Olympics,

we anoint them

with a gold medal.

When you become

the captain

of a football team

or a sports team,

you get anointed

with an armband.

And when you're

the bride at a wedding,

you get anointed

with a dress

that no one else

is wearing.

And all of these

are ways in which

we say it's him.

It's her.

Anointing identifies

who we are.

And the key point

with Jesus

is that when it comes

to finding answers,

when it comes

to finding hope,

finding healing,

finding purpose,

finding truth,

finding eternal life,

the anointing

of Jesus

as the Christ

is all there

to tell us

it's him.

it's him

that we need.

He's the one

that we've been

waiting for

and it's telling you

that if you look

past Jesus

or if you look

somewhere else,

you're making

the wrong decision.

You're picking

the wrong one.

And alongside

that mark

of identification,

the Bible

also associates

anointing

with power.

You see that

in Acts 10 38.

There's just a summary

about Jesus.

It says,

God anointed

Jesus of Nazareth

with the Holy Spirit

and with power.

He went about

doing good

and healing all

who were oppressed

by the devil

for God was with him.

Jesus,

the anointed prophet,

priest,

and king

has the power

to accomplish

everything

that he came

to do.

His power

is unlimited.

It's unstoppable.

It is completely

effectual

in accomplishing

everything

that God the Father

wants him to do.

So that means

that the gospel

doesn't just say

it's him.

The gospel also says

it's him

and he's done it.

He's done everything

that is needed.

And all any of us

needs to do

is rest on him

and his perfect

finished work.

Now this is so important

because there are

many people

who,

when it comes

to the big questions

of life and truth

and salvation,

many people look at Jesus

and think,

it's not him.

And they'll look

somewhere else.

They'll pick

a different option.

And all around us

that's what people

are doing.

People are looking

for wholeness

and completeness

and answers

and truth

and stability

in other stuff.

Lots of people

will look at Jesus

and think,

it's not him.

There's another problem

that people have

that I think

maybe more of you

might have.

It's not so much

that you look at Jesus

and you think,

it's not him.

It's more that

you look at Jesus

and you hear

that he is a savior

and you know

that he is the Christ.

You don't doubt that

and you think

about salvation

and then

you look at yourself

and you think,

he's not going

to do it for me.

So I know it's him

but he won't do it.

Or maybe you think,

I know it's him

but he actually

can't do it

because I've made

too many mistakes.

I've stuffed up

too much.

Maybe you know

it's him

but you just think

he can't do it

for me.

That is never true.

That is never

ever true.

And this whole concept

of being anointed

is proving that.

It's telling you

it's him

and it's telling you

he can

and it's telling you

he will.

No one

who ever comes

to him

will be cast

out.

Now,

my introduction

is almost over

and then we need

to start our

five minute sermon.

there's loads

loads more

that I want

to say about this.

I had wanted

to say a wee bit

about

the baptism

of Jesus.

That's a great

example of

how you see

God,

Father,

Son,

and Holy Spirit

all working

together

in this

anointing.

And so

let me just

summarize what I was

going to say

very, very briefly.

In the baptism,

do I have it on the screen?

It's there somewhere.

There we go.

There's the baptism.

I just want to say

what you have here

is you have

God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Spirit

united in this

concept of anointing

because you have

the Father

anointing.

You have the Son,

the anointed one,

and you have

the Holy Spirit,

the oil of anointing

that empowers

and enables Jesus

to accomplish

his ministry.

So you have

the anointer,

the anointed,

the anointing.

You see the same

passage here.

God anointed Jesus

with the Holy Spirit

and with power.

The anointer,

God,

the anointed,

the Son,

the anointment,

the Holy Spirit,

the anointing,

and it's all

telling us

that God,

that God

is utterly

determined

to accomplish

his purposes

of salvation.

And it's beautiful

that it ties in

with the baptism

because in the baptism,

Jesus was identifying

himself with us,

saying that he's

come alongside us

in order to help us.

It's teaching us

that the triune God

is fully invested,

wholly involved,

and utterly committed

to your salvation.

There's a ton of stuff

I missed out.

Just,

I'll come another time

and do that bit

of the sermon.

I want to get to

the question

that we started with.

Introductions over

sermons about to start.

We've got five minutes.

What's the most important

encounter of all?

Or really,

the question I really

want to ask is,

who's that encounter with?

So you've seen

Jesus encounter Nicodemus,

you've seen him

encounter the woman

at the well,

you've seen Jesus

encounter Peter

after his failure,

and the passages

that we read,

you've got Jesus

at the baptism,

there's tons of people

watching him,

you've got Jesus

at a synagogue,

his whole hometown

is watching what he's doing.

There are loads and loads

of people encountering Jesus.

What's the most important

encounter of all?

Or the real question

I want is,

who is that encounter

with?

I think you know

what I'm going to say.

You.

The most important

encounter of all

is Jesus' encounter

with you right now.

And that's what

the whole of the gospel

is about.

That as our new week begins,

as we gather publicly

to worship,

Jesus is calling you

to come to him,

to come and encounter him,

and to meet with him.

And I want to say

that that's the most

important encounter

of all,

because it is the most

amazing encounter

of all.

And I'm going to just say

two very short things

in our five-minute sermon

at the end of our

ridiculously long

introduction.

The two things I want

to say is that

encountering Jesus

as the anointed one

means that our needs

are met,

and our possibilities

are transformed.

Our needs are met,

and our possibilities

are transformed.

In terms of our needs

being met,

theologians over

many centuries

have connected

the threefold office

of Jesus,

the anointed one,

prophet, priest, and king,

they've connected that

with what they've called

the threefold misery

of humanity.

And they've summarized

that under three headings,

which are going to sound

very depressing.

Ignorance,

guilt,

and tyranny.

Now,

these are the kind of words

that sound instantly

offensive,

but they're very important

theological terms,

and the truth is

these are the things

you and I encounter

every single week

of our lives.

And so,

ignorance,

we find that offensive.

We think that's,

and it's a horrible thing

to say to somebody

you're ignorant.

And I don't mean it

in that kind of

insulting way,

but just as a concept,

not knowing things,

not knowing everything,

not knowing the whole story,

that is something

we encounter all the time.

So,

sometimes we receive it

from others.

People judge us

when they don't know

what's going on

in our lives.

We see people

that we love

walking down

a terrible path.

We can see it,

they can't.

And often,

you'll find people

speak with supreme confidence

when all the time,

you know,

they're just making it up.

They're talking rubbish.

And so,

we'll sometimes

encounter ignorance

among others,

but maybe even more so,

ignorance is something

that we struggle

with ourselves.

Because how often

do we find ourselves

saying,

I don't know what to do?

We're facing a situation

with studies

or with work

or with family

and we think,

I don't know what to do

in this situation.

I don't understand

why this is happening

to me.

I did not think

it would turn out

this way.

That's all part

of that theological category

of ignorance

whereby we just

don't know everything

and we can't

understand everything

and we can't

hold it all together.

And maybe,

maybe the worst of,

worst encounter

we can have

with ignorance

is when we're hurt

by people

that we thought

we knew

and then we realize

we didn't.

Guilt,

again,

we don't like that word,

but we can't escape

its shadow.

It's like,

it's just,

it's like,

it's just always there,

just niggling at us.

The mistakes that we've made,

the regret that crushes us,

that consciousness

of our sin,

and that no matter

how many times

we try to be a better

version of ourselves

and to put things right,

we can't escape

our sense of guilt

before God.

And maybe we can mask it

and lots of people

are trying to mask it,

but the whole reason

we mask it

is because it won't go away.

And tyranny,

that's another unpleasant word,

another inescapable

aspect of life

this week.

We live in a broken world.

We've got hearts

that gravitate

towards bad choices.

And we've got,

we've got bodies.

All of you in here,

and many of you

maybe very,

very,

very much know this

right now,

the tyranny

of a body

that is getting old

and that you cannot beat.

And it's all

pointing us

towards

the merciless power

of sin and death

and how that power

has been a brutal

oppressor

of humanity

ever since

our first parents

fell.

And theologically,

this is the plight

of humanity.

Experientially,

this is what you and I

experience

every single week.

That's why life feels

like it doesn't make sense.

That's why there's

always a negative voice

in your head

accusing you of failure.

That's why death

and illness

wrecks people's lives

and all too often

we feel

completely helpless.

These are our

greatest needs.

All of them

are met

through the

anointed one,

Jesus Christ.

All of them

are met.

So Jesus,

the prophet,

brings truth

and light

and clarity

and knowledge

in a world

that's full

of confusion

and lies

and deceit.

The priest

cleanses

all your guilt,

all your sin,

every mistake,

all your scars

are healed,

all your mistakes

are forgiven,

all your regrets

are forgotten

and Jesus,

the king,

breaks the tyranny

and power

of death

forever.

And he rules

at the right hand

of God today

to defend

and protect

his people

forever

so that death

can never

harm you

again

if you are

trusting in

Jesus.

If you are

a Christian

or if you

become one,

that power

of death

cannot get you.

All it can do

is send you

to Jesus

where you will

be with him

forever

in paradise.

We desperately

need a prophet

to teach us,

we need a priest

to atone

and intercede

for us,

we need a king

to rule

and defend us

in Jesus.

You've got it all.

you've got it

all forever.

And is that

not everything

that you crave?

We crave truth,

we long

for forgiveness

and we're

terrified of

dying.

Anointianity

is such a

cool word

because it's

reminding you

that Jesus

deals with it

all.

Our deepest

needs are met.

And last of all,

all of this

is telling us

that in Jesus

our possibilities

are transformed.

So remember,

one of the key

aspects of this

whole concept

of being anointed

is that Jesus

is anointed

by the Spirit.

Through that

anointing,

he's able

to accomplish

all that God

has sent him

to achieve.

And he did it

and now he's

exalted

at the right hand

of God.

So Jesus

was anointed

to do an amazing

work,

he's done it.

Died,

rose,

again,

ascended,

he's at the

right hand

of the Father,

he's done

an amazing

work.

But the big

question is this,

has that work

stopped?

No.

That work

goes on.

And how does

that work

continue?

It continues

through his

people.

It continues

through his

church.

It continues

through you.

And that's

where we see

that there's

such a beautiful

teaching in the

gospel whereby

the risen

Christ,

the risen

anointed

Christ,

what does

he do

now?

He anoints

us with

his Holy

Spirit.

The same

Holy Spirit

that dwells

in him

dwells in

us.

That Holy

Spirit is

poured out

on you.

When you

become a

Christian,

the Holy

Spirit comes

to dwell in

you,

and as you

go on as a

Christian,

Jesus keeps

pouring his

Spirit into

you,

why is he

doing that?

He's doing

that to

empower you

to accomplish

his purposes.

Jesus has

made you

an anointing.

He's made

you a

Christian.

By faith,

we're united

to the

anointed

Jesus,

and when

that happens,

all our

possibilities

are transformed

because we're

no longer

slaves to sin.

We're no

longer paralyzed

by guilt.

We're no

longer blind.

We're no

longer living

by ourselves.

We are

indwelled by

the Spirit

so that we

can be led

by the Spirit

and bear

the fruit

of the Spirit

and witness

for Jesus

in the power

of the Spirit.

You'll remember

that when Jesus

died on the

cross,

the curtain

of the temple

was torn

in two.

Now,

at one level,

that was

beautifully

symbolic of

the fact that

the cross

means we

have access

to God,

but the

tearing of

the temple

doesn't just

allow access,

the tearing

of the temple

curtain also

allows outpouring,

and the Holy

Spirit is poured

out on His

people so that

they can serve

Him and that

He can accomplish

His purposes

through Him.

What does that

mean?

It means that

this week is

exciting for what

God can do

through you as

His anointed

people.

So what's the

most important

encounter of

all?

Right now.

who's that

encounter with?

It's with you.

If you're a

Christian,

you've come

here this

morning to

be renewed,

refreshed,

recharged,

and empowered

to go and

serve Him.

And if you're

not yet a

Christian,

or if you're

not sure,

the most

important moment

in your life

is right now.

because Jesus

is saying,

I want you

to be mine.

I want to

meet every

need that you

have.

I want you

to trust me

and follow

me.

I want you

to be an

anointing as

well.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we thank You

that You

are the

perfect

prophet,

the perfect

priest,

the perfect

King.

We love

You,

and we

thank You,

and we

want to

live for

You

through the

power of

Your Spirit

that You

have so

graciously

poured out

on us.

Help us

all to see

and understand

more of

just how

amazing You

are,

and of

just how

much You've

done for

us.

Amen.