Calvary Church Live | 10:30am | September 13, 2026

Spirit of God, you're

all [singing] authority.

I pray over my heart and mind. [snorts]

I am healed by your stripes. Your blood

declares that I am free. In the mighty

name of Jesus

I pray.

Calling on the power of heaven.

I proclaim.

Hey, hey, hey.

Heat. Heat.

Hey, hey, hey.

[music]

Heat. Heat.

[music] Hey, hey, hey.

[music]

Heat. Heat.

[music]

>> [music]

>> Heat. Heat.

Heat.

[music]

Heat.

Heat. [music]

[music]

Heat.

[music]

Heat.

[music]

>> [music]

>> Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

His love endures forever. Please join

with us as we worship our good God here

this morning.

This is my story. I testify

blessings on blessings you've poured on

[singing] my life. When I start [music]

remembering

how good [singing] you've been.

Fear [music] turns to worship. Tears

turn to praise. Chains of depression

broken by grace. When I start

remembering

how good you've been.

>> You've been so [music and singing] so so

so

good to me.

You've been [music] so so so so

[singing] good to me. Enemy's

weapons [music] they fall to the ground.

>> Ene [music]

fall to the ground. Armies [music] of

heaven always [singing] around. But I

start remembering

how you carried [music] my cross. You

called me by name. You love me like a

ghost, but you didn't leave

[music and singing] me that way. was

dead, now alive. Yeah, that's what you

did. [music]

You've been so good. You've been so so

so so so

good [music] to me.

You've been so [music] so so so

good to me.

[music]

From morning to night, the lows and the

highs. I look back on [music] my life

and all that I see. You've been so so so

so so [singing]

good to me.

[music]

>> It's going to be a great morning.

Singing praise, opening his word, and

let it impact us. We'll sing together.

When I say God is good, you say all the

time.

Sing with us.

When I say God is good, you say all the

time.

>> When I say all the [singing] time, you

say

>> God [music] is good.

>> When I say God is good, you say

>> all the time.

>> When I say all the time, you say

>> God is [music] good.

>> When I say God is good, you say

>> all the time. [music]

>> When I say all the time, you say

>> God is good. Well, I say God is good.

[music] You say

>> all the time.

>> Well, I say all the time. You say God is

so so so [music] so

good to me.

You've been so [music] so so so

good to me. [music]

The morning and night, the lows and the

highs. I [music] look back on my life

and all that [singing] I see. From

morning to night, [music] the lows and

the highs. I look back on my life and

all that I see. You've been [music] so

so so so

good to me.

Oh, [singing]

sing. You've been so good. Reflect on

the ways he's been good.

Oh,

you've been so so [music] so so so

good to me. [music]

You've been so so so so so

good to me. [music]

You've been so so so so

good to me. [music]

You've been so so so so [music]

good

to me.

[music]

>> Morning.

>> Good morning. How are you guys doing?

>> Awesome. Awesome. Hey, you're gonna have

to pay attention to me today, okay? I

got some things you need to know about

first. After the service, you want to

head out and uh go to the different

tables there. There's small groups.

There's different ministries

represented. If you ever wondered what's

next, how do I get connected? This is

your chance to find out. So, you're

going to do that after the service. Next

thing,

all right, this is kind of important.

You might see the lights go off or on or

do some random things today. Yeah, we're

not being artistically creative. Uh, so

one of the chips in the board is messed

up. Uh, so if the lights go completely

off,

you'll see me come up and we'll walk out

of this room together very quietly. Very

fun. We'll have a blast. It's going to

be great. You guys are going to have a

good time. Um, but it didn't happen in

the first service, so second service is

going to be good, too. All right. So,

here's what I want you to do. I'm going

to give you an opportunity to get to

know someone around you. I see a lot of

football jerseys.

Some of them are nauseating.

[laughter]

>> I want you to go and share your favorite

football memory. Mine would happen to be

probably one of the four conferences

that the Eagles lost under Andy Reid.

That would probably be one of my

favorite. But go [music] share your

favorite football memory. Go find

something. If you don't have a favorite

football memory,

go and borrow one. Okay? Go meet someone

new.

Heat. Heat.

[music]

>> [music]

[music]

>> I've got a [music and singing] reason

to trust in the tribe.

>> [singing]

>> I've got a reason.

Face down the flames.

I've got a reason.

[music]

Fill these lungs with breath and sing

out. [music]

We'll sing. I've got a reason.

I got a reason

to dance in [music and singing] the

desert.

I got a reason

to walk [music] on.

I got a reason

with grace

and it's you. [music]

It's you, Jesus.

You are my joy in the morning. [music]

You are my song in the evening.

I you all my days.

I'm going to see my

[music]

Heat. Heat. Heat.

[music]

I got a freom, [music]

a heart that's forgiving.

I've got a future,

a pass. [music]

I got a savior

for me left.

[music]

It's you. It's you, Jesus. [music] You

are my joy in the morning.

You are my song in the evening.

I'll praise you all my

[music and singing] days are never

going to sing. Hallelujah.

Heat. Heat. Heat. [music]

[music and singing]

Heat. Heat. [music]

[music]

Our [music]

God is good. Amen.

Amen. We sing about his goodness and his

mercy endures forever.

Our [music] God is good and his mercy

endures forever. My [music and singing]

God is good. His mercy endures forever.

My God is good. His mercy endures

forever. [music and singing] My God is

good. His mercy endures forever. My God

[music] is good. His mercy endures

forever. My God

is [music]

forever. My God.

his mercy [music]

forever. My God is

[music]

you are my joy [music] in the morning.

You are my song in the evening.

I'll praise you all [music and singing]

my days are never.

I'm going to sing hallelujah [music]

with every breath that you need.

I'll praise you [music] all my days

never.

My God is good. [music] His mercy

endures forever. My God is good. His

mercy [music]

endures forever. My God is good. His

[music] mercy endures forever. My God is

good. His [music] mercy

forever.

[music]

>> [music]

>> I love you, [music and singing] Lord.

Oh, your mercy [singing]

never fails me.

All [music and singing] my days

I've been held in your hands. [music]

From the moment [singing] that I wake up

[music]

till I lay my head,

I will sing of the goodness

of God.

[music] All [singing] my life you have

been faithful.

All my life you have [music] so so

every breath that I am

[music] I will sing

of the good

[music]

you have [music] me through the Heat.

Heat. Heat.

[music]

Heat. Heat.

[music]

Heat. Heat. Heat.

[music]

[singing]

Yeah.

[music]

Heat.

[music]

Yeah.

[music]

Heat.

Heat. Heat. [music]

[music]

Heat. Heat. [music]

[music]

Heat. [music]

Heat.

[music]

Yeah. Heat. [music]

[music]

[singing]

Heat. Heat. Heat.

[music]

Cuz

[music]

[music] all my [singing] life you have

been faithful.

[music] All [singing] my life you have

been so so good.

[music] With every [singing] breath that

I am in,

I will sing

of the goodness [singing]

[music]

of God.

[music and singing]

Heat. Heat. [music]

[music]

[singing]

Heat.

Heat. [music]

[music]

I [music]

[singing]

[music]

God, you are good.

And God, we thank you

that not only are you good, but you

pursued us with your goodness. We thank

you for your powerful love. We thank you

for the way that you did not give up on

us.

So Lord, I ask you that you would make

us aware of your goodness and make us

aware of your love today.

Pray this in Jesus [music] name. Amen.

Guys, can I have a seat?

One of the ways that

we get to experience

together a picture of that goodness, a

picture of that love is through

communion. Now, you should have gotten a

cup on your way in. If you didn't, you

can raise your hand. Someone will bring

one to [music] you. Here's what we're

going to do. We're going to peel off the

top and we're going to take off the take

out the bread.

I just want you to spend a moment

just thinking about God's goodness, just

remembering how it's shown up in your

life.

If you can't think of anything in this

moment,

you can think about exactly what this

bread symbolizes.

Jesus's death, his body broken,

his blood shed for you and me. Not

because he deserved it, but because we

deserve that punishment.

So spend a moment in prayer and when

you're ready, eat the bread and then

we're going to read from the book of

Luke and we'll take the cup together. So

spend some time in prayer.

Before

Jesus died,

he ate

supper

with his disciples, with his friends.

The church has known it as the last

supper.

It was a meal prepared for Passover.

In Luke chapter 22, it says, "When the

Luke 22 · chapter mention

hour came, Jesus and his apostles

reclined at the table. And he said to

them, I have eagerly desired to eat this

Passover with you before I suffer.

For I tell you, I will not eat it again

until it finds fulfillment in the

kingdom of God."

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and

said, "Take this and divide it among

you. For I tell you that I will not

drink again from the fruit of the vine

until the kingdom [music] of God comes."

And he took bread, gave thanks, and

broke it, and gave it to them, saying,

"This is my body given for you. Do this

in remembrance of me."

In the same way, after the supper, he

took the cup, saying, "This cup is the

new covenant in my blood, which is

poured out for you." With grateful

hearts,

let's peel back [music] the cup and

we'll take it together.

Lord, we thank you. We thank you for

your goodness. We thank you for [music]

your

love.

Lord, if there's anyone in this room who

needs a reminder of that love today, I

ask that you would do that today. That

you would open up their eyes to your

presence, [music] to the power of your

love.

And Lord, I ask you that you would just

stir in our hearts a passion for you.

We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Well, I said that one of the things that

we do uh together as we take communion,

another thing that we do is we invest in

what God is doing. Uh as a church, as

disciples of Jesus, we invest in what

he's doing. And so as the ushers come

down, one of the ways we do that is

through our offering. And that's how we

continue our worship and we just give

back to God and ask him to use in a way

to reach people with the good news of

Jesus. But another way that we invest in

what God is doing, another way we invest

in the church is by giving our skills or

our gifts or the things that God has

blessed you with by volunteering, by

serving.

And so we have had throughout uh the

summer, every week we've had Jamie out

there and uh we've had a board where you

can sign up to volunteer. Uh and we're

going to continue to do that. We're

going to just continue to mention that

because we believe that we want you to

get connected by being in a group and by

also volunteering. Uh those are the two

ways that we think that is the best way

for you to get connected here at the

church. So if you are not connected to a

volunteer team, uh get connected. Go

volunteer somewhere. If you're thinking

about, well, where should I do that?

Well, I want to highlight one particular

area today. Uh, it's our worship arts

and tech team. So, if you are someone

and you're a musician, you're like,

"Hey, I know how to play the electric. I

know how to play the acoustic or drums

or whatever. I really love to sing. I'm

really a good singer." You know, reach

out to us. We'd love to uh get you

plugged into the worship arts and get

someone to talk to you there. But even

more so, uh can I just talk about our

tech team? uh the guys who do our

lighting, who do our camera work, who do

our sound, uh they come in week after

week and even when things are going

poorly, like when we had all I just told

you at the beginning that we have like a

whole bunch of things going on with our

lights and that the lights might go off.

You know what was really cool this

morning is as all those things are going

crazy, they just cluster together uh and

you just saw them. They're a team. Uh

they really just care about each other.

What happens is no matter where you are,

once you join that tech team, you're

part of that team and it just they

really have a great community. So if

you're like, man, I really want to be a

part part of a team where I can get

connected, you need to join the tech

team. And if you're just like, well, how

hard is it? Like, I've never really done

a soundboard or or or done a video,

we'll train you. If you're like, okay,

well, I'm really good at that. Then what

are you waiting for?

We want you to sign up for that. So if

you are uncertain of where to get

plugged in, we have different groups uh

for you to get connected. But one of the

ways that I say that get plugged in,

volunteer. So do that today. I encourage

you to check out our tech team

especially and volunteer there. Uh so we

are starting a new series today on the

book of Luke. So let's get ready to hear

what God has to say to us today.

Heat. Heat. [music]

[music]

>> [music]

[music]

>> Well, good morning everybody. Welcome on

this fall morning. I know some of you

think, "Well, Charles, it's not

technically fall." I know, but for all

practical purposes, it's fall. Fall's

the season of beginnings. And so, school

began and football began. How about

those Buckeyes? Huh? Was that enjoyable

or what? Watching them get beat. Oh,

sorry. [laughter]

And not only school, not only football,

the leaves begin to turn and that means

it's going to get colder and I hate

that. But things begin here at Calvary

Church. And so Carlos mentioned in the

atrium there are lots of things you can

go up and explore and possibly get

involved in. But kids ministries start

in earnest and students start and we

also have men's and women's are going to

be starting and this Wednesday we start

our Wednesday programming. Uh Wayne and

I will be teaching synoptics. And if

that word's uh not really familiar to

you, the synoptic gospels are the three,

Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And that would

be a great complement. We're looking at

Luke in the mornings. A great compliment

would be to look at the other two

gospels that have lots of similarities

with Luke. How did they come about? How

why are they different? How are they

different? That's Wednesday. Some of you

may have received an email that we're

starting on the 23rd. That is incorrect.

We are starting this Wednesday. uh you

can come the 23rd, but we're all

starting this week, this Wednesday, the

16th. So, lots of beginnings. And last

week, Carlos kicked off the fall by

looking at Acts chapter 1. And the book

Acts 1 · chapter mention

of Acts is Luke's second [snorts]

volume. And he mentioned, not sure you

caught it or not. He mentioned that our

series for the fall is going to be on

Luke's first volume. And the reason he

looked at Acts 1 is because the second

volume, the book of Acts, is all about

how the early church continued exactly

what Jesus was doing. So what we're

going to do for the next number of

weeks, we're going to look at those

things that Jesus began to do. And we're

going to do that by looking at Luke. And

so this morning, we're going to look at

what and why. That first few verses. And

then who, that's the second part. So, if

you know the what and the why and the

who, you basically know what we're going

to talk about today. We're going to talk

about the introduction to the book and

the identity of its primary subject. So,

if you have your Bibles, uh, you can

grab it or use your phone, your iPad, or

just kind of listen as I read. I'm going

to read the first four verses, and we're

going to look at the story of Jesus. And

Paul begins Paul Luke begins in a very

interesting way. He tells us what the

book's going to be about. How's he doing

and why he's doing it this way. Listen

to how he begins.

Many have under have undertaken to draw

up an account of the things that have

been fulfilled among us just as they

were handed down to us by those who from

the first were eyewitnesses and servants

of the word. With this in mind, since I

myself have carefully investigated

everything from the beginning, I too

decided to write an orderly account for

you, most excellent Theophilos, so that

you may know the certainty of the things

you have been taught. All right. So,

what's going on? Well, let me call your

attention to a few things in those

verses. And the last part that I just

read, he uh addresses this to most

excellent Theophilos. Well, who the heck

is Theophilos? And who would ever name

their kid that? Well, Theophilles is a a

compound word. It's a compound word that

means God lover. Theos and then fileto,

right? And so God lover. And there's

some debate about is it written to any

God lover or I think more likely it was

written to and commissioned by this most

excellent Theophosa Theophilos, a person

named Theophilles. Because you got to

remember to do all this investigation

was going to be an expensive endeavor.

And so usually usually a wealthy

high-profile person would commission the

research to perform a particular task.

And then the book of Luke and the book

of Acts, they would be the result of

what the patron commissioned. And so

probably the beginning Luke's saying,

"Hey, Theophilos, thanks a lot for the

commission and I'm writing this back to

you as a result of the investigation,

but not only to Theophilus, to all of

those God lovers or those who want to

understand uh what he's going to write

about. Uh in the first couple verses

there, let me uh mention a couple other

things that that will get you started.

Luke tells us that this is going this

book is going to be the story of Jesus.

And he says it's going to be the account

of those things that were fulfilled.

Now, isn't that weird? Why didn't he

say, "I'm going to write about the

things that happened. I'm going to write

about the things that occur." He doesn't

say that. He said, "I'm going to write

about the things that have been

fulfilled." Why do you think he said

that? Well, here's what I think. Do you

realize that a little more than 75%

of the Bible is in the Old Testament?

Only about 25% in the New Testament. The

Old Testament gives the foundation,

gives all of the building blocks. The

New Testament gives the climax and the

culmination. But you really can't

understand what's happening in the New

Testament unless you understand

something about the 75% from the Old

Testament. You have temples and priests,

sacrifices, you have prophets. You have

descriptions, you have rituals, all this

stuff, but they're all like signposts.

They're all signs along the road

pointing to something in the future. The

something in the future is Jesus and his

ministry. So, we often say the Bible's a

point and a purpose. The point is Jesus.

The purpose is leading to him. But for

75% of the Bible, the foundations being

laid, the signposts are being put in

place, and then Jesus shows up. Luke

says, "I'm here to tell you, I've done

my research. I'm here to tell you about

the point and the purpose. You need the

container and you need the content." I

was thinking about this that this

morning as I went to get my Starbucks.

And by the way, Starbucks and Giant is

closed. Closed yesterday. Very sad day.

A lot of tears. So, I had to go to

corporate Starbucks today. And that was

fine, too. Um, but as I got my

Starbucks, I was walking to the car and

I thought, you know what? This is kind

of what Luke does.

Uh, how's that work? Well,

you need a container

and you need the contents.

Um, it would be ridiculous to get the

cup without the contents. Yet, the only

reason for a cup is to deliver the

contents. The only thing worse than

having a cup without the coffee is

having the coffee without the cup. You

see, they both have to go together. You

need the container in order to have the

content delivered. That's what Luke's

saying. So, I've done my investigation.

I put together I'm lay I'm building on

the foundation. I'm giving you the

content story of Jesus in the container

of this gospel. Just like we could

extrapolate and say the whole Bible is

the container. The primary content in

the container. The only reason for the

container is to deliver the content of

Jesus, the things that were fulfilled

among you. He then says to them, I'm

going to report to you what the

eyewitnesses have seen and heard. Now,

you need to remember Luke was not an

eyew witness of the things that Jesus

did and said, huh? But he interviewed

lots of eyewitnesses and he takes their

accounts. He investigated thoroughly and

he writes this gospel based on the

eyewitness accounts. And that's really

important. The Gospel of Luke was

probably written in the early 60s as

best we can tell. Jesus was crucified

and rose from the dead. Say 30. So, uh,

it's about 30ome years between the

events that Luke's recording and the

actual document that he's producing.

Well, you know what? LRO's eyewitnesses

are still living. It's one thing to

fabricate a story that happened like a

zillion years ago and there no

eyewitnesses around. It's another deal

to say, "Hey, this happened and there

are eyewitnesses around that can

contradict and correct your story." So,

for example, suppose you were to say,

"But if Flyers have been terrible for a

while,

I don't think they'll ever win, and they

have never won a Stanley Cup."

That's not true.

I was there.

I went to the parades. I saw the wins. I

saw the Stanley Cup. And even though it

was like over 50 years ago, it happened.

And then if that's 50ome years ago,

there were still eyewitnesses eyewitness

around 30 some years. You can't tell a

story. You can't present things that

aren't true if there are eyewitnesses

still running around. We also know from

the book of Acts that even though Luke

was not an eyewitness, he traveled with

Paul on his missionary journeys. And

just like he lays just like um Luke lays

out in Acts, Judea, Samaria to the ends

of the earth. That was kind of Luke's

itinerary. Judea, Samaria, the ends of

the earth. Luke had lots of opportunity

as he traveled with Paul to interview

people that were eyewitnesses. Luke

gives us the most detailed account of

Jesus birth with the shepherds and Mary

and all. Where did he get that? He

probably talked to Mary. He probably she

was probably one of the eyewitnesses. He

said, "Mary, what'd you feel? How'd it

go? What did the angel say?" He's

recording what the eyewitnesses said. So

even though he was not an eyewitness, he

interviewed people that were still

alive. They were eyewitnesses. He put

all this together into an orderly

account so that now he can communicate

the content, the point and purpose of

Luke and of the Bible as Jesus. Now

there's one other thing I want to say

about those verses. Notice it says, "I'm

going to report to you the things that

were fulfilled among us." So Luke is not

a record of all the teachings of Jesus.

It's not a collection of the Now there

are teachings in there and it's not a

collection of all the things Jesus said

even though there are lots of sayings in

there because you ever realize

we are not forgiven. We don't experience

salvation because of what Jesus taught.

We experience salvation or forgiven

because of what Jesus did.

Now, what he said illustrates and

explains what he did. But if you were

saved by what Jesus taught, that means

you would be f you would you would save

yourself by doing what Jesus said and

you kind of earn your way. That's not

it. We're not saved by what he taught.

We're saved by what he did because we

cannot do what he taught. Therefore,

Jesus came to do what we couldn't do so

that we can then experience what we do

not deserve. So Luke begins by telling

us what and telling us why he put all

this together. So we will have the

contents of g of Jesus, the point and

purpose of scripture. Uh but that's kind

of the who and the what excuse me, the

the what and the why from chapter 1. Now

we're going to look at a couple sections

from chapter two and chapters two and

three that tell us the who. Now some of

you are thinking, so are we going to

talk about Christmas? We're not talking

about Christmas. In fact, I'll kind of

lay out the next few months for you.

We're going to look at the main thing,

right? Who is Jesus and how we can

follow him. And we're going to do that

by looking at select passages in Luke.

We're not going to go verse by verse.

We're going to kind of select passages.

We'll work with the passage. And we're

going to skip over all the Christmas

stuff. You know, Luke has the most

detailed Christmas stuff. Why are we

going to do that? Because in December,

we're going to do the beginning of Luke.

Because if you understand the point and

the purpose of what it's about, then

we'll go back and look at how Jesus

entered our world and you'll see that

all of those details are actually given

to us in in minuscule upfront as he's

about to do it. Well, what do we learn

about the who? We learn all about

sunship. Chapter 2 and three of Luke is

all about Jesus, the son of God, right?

He's the son. And he gives us two

examples of what Jesus did and and what

happened and they're really interesting.

The first of those is in the temple

temple sunship in the temple. Now, we

don't have time to read that whole

account, but let me kind of tell you

what's going on. You read it later. So,

here's what's going on. Mary and Joseph,

as good practicing Jews, every Passover,

they would take the family, right?

Jesus, the oldest son, they would take

them and they would travel to Jerusalem

to celebrate Passover.

Well, we don't know anything. And Luke

only tells us when Jesus bore nativity.

And then it fast forwards and at the end

of chapter 2, we have this one weird

incident when Jesus was 12. Fast forward

from birth to 12. Then we get these few

verses about 12. So when Jesus was 12,

the family travels from where they

living, Nazareth. They travel down to

Jerusalem and a really weird incident

happens. They go, they celebrate

Passover and they're heading back home

and they're heading back home and after

a day or so on the journey, they realize

um they're missing something

like there's some where's Jesus? Now,

that's kind of easy to some of you

think, boy, they're terrible parents and

Mary and Joseph. Wow. How how can you

leave your son, right? You have to Well,

it it's easy to understand if you think

of it like this. The men probably

traveled together and the women probably

travel together and the men would talk

about, you know, the eagles and work and

their aches and pains and the women

would travel alone. They would talk

about the men and so they're traveling

separately home. And so Mary probably

assumes Jesus is with Joseph and Joseph

probably assumes, well, Jesus is with

Mary. And lo and behold, after a whole

day, they maybe get together for dinner.

And Joseph says, "Well, where's Joseph?"

with Mary says, "Well, I thought he was

with you." No, he's not with me. Uh-oh.

Where is he? They go back to Jerusalem.

And after two more after three days,

they find him. He's in the temple

debating, arguing, and talking to the

religious leaders, the priests, and the

teachers.

And that they're like amazed at what

this 12-year-old kid knows. And he's

kind of, well, that's not true. He's

correcting what their interpretation is

about the Bible. They're arguing and

debating. Mary then says, "Let me uh

read these verses to you."

Mary says, "As soon as I find it,

when his parents saw him, they were

astonished. His mother said to him, now

check this out, son, why have you

treated us like this?" Typical mom. Your

father and I are anxiously searching for

you. You kind of throw the dad name in,

right? To add weight. to her father. Um,

why are you searching for me? Jesus, why

are you searching for me? He asked.

Didn't you know I had to be in my

father's house?

That's not just an interesting way and

turn of phrase. What does Mary say? Your

father. What's Jesus say? My father.

Huh? Now, so what's going on? Uh, there

are some people that write books and

they don't know what they're talking

about. They'll say, "Well, this is Jesus

bar mitzvah." Bar mitzvah doesn't come

to the middle ages. There's nothing

about bar mitzvah. But we do know this

as Jewish kids were being raised. Um

they kind of had a two-prong approach to

education. One was much you learn how to

read so you can read Torah. You learn

how to understand the Bible, right? And

so you did that part time. But the main

purpose of education was to learn the

family trade. And so Joseph is a

carpenter. And so Jesus would go to

school and he'd learn how to read. So he

could read Torah. And he would learn

from Joseph how to be a carpenter.

Two-prong. But when you hit your early

teens, you know, kind of when you're uh

you're done with school and there are no

middle schoolers here and that doesn't

work in our culture, but back then you

got to hit your early teens and you

don't you that one prong's done. You

know how to read, you're done. Now

you're full-time learning daddy's trade.

You're learning the family business. And

so Jesus is right at that point. Not

exactly sure how to hand a handoff

works, but the one thing is clear. Jesus

is transitioning from a two-pronged

education to a singular prong of educ

education where he's going to learn the

family business.

Matter of's words ring a little

differently. Mary says

Jesus your father

family trade. You got to get home to

learn the family business. What's Jesus

say? My father.

Mom, I am learning the family business.

Joseph's family business is carpentry.

Tables, chairs, doors.

My father's business is redemption,

salvation.

I'm learning that. And in the very next

chapter, it begins the ministry where

Jesus has learned the family business

and he's commissioned then to fulfill

the family business of redemption and

salvation. not carpentry and making

tables.

Isn't it also amazing? Mary says my your

father. Jesus says my father. And at the

beginning of the sermon on the mount,

Jesus says, pray like this, our father.

That's where this is going. You kind of

know where the end of the message is.

So, we got sunship in the temple where

Jesus says, "I am the son. I'm learning

the family business. I'm sitting here

with the scholars. I'm sitting here with

those who understand and those that are

supposed to lay this out for people. I'm

learn. Can you imagine? He's correcting

what their what their understanding of

the Old Testament was. Well, guys, let

me explain to you what that really

means. Um, and they're dumbfounded.

But then we get another sunship passage

in chapter 3. Now, in in chapter 3, it's

not sunship in the temple. Now, it's

sunship in the river. Fast forward

again. So, the first couple chapters of

Luke, Jesus is born, nativity. Fast

forward to the end of chapter 2, Jesus

is now 12. Fast forward again to chapter

3, Jesus is now 30. So, this is not a

biography like biographies we read with

every detail spelled out of a person's

life. Luke's hitting the highlights.

He's investigated everything. He's

laying out what must be fulfilled and

how it's going to fit together.

Now, it's sunship in the river. So Jesus

comes to be baptized and uh a strange

incident happens as Jesus is being

baptized. Now here's what God says.

Jesus is baptized, John the Baptist. And

as he's being lifted from the water, a

voice booms from heaven.

You are my son. Oh, there we are again.

Right? Sunship in the temple, my father.

Sunship in the river. You are my son

whom I love.

With you

I am well pleased.

Now those words probably sound familiar

to you a little bit.

And maybe you're thinking, "Yeah,

they're familiar because I've read that

a few times before, right? Matthew has

in mind there. I've read it before."

Others are thinking, "No, no, no. I

remember I didn't sleep that Sunday

morning, Charles, when we did Psalm two

and we talked about sunship in Psalm

two." because you realize um you are my

son. That's a quote from Psalm 2. Psalm

2 is a messianic psalm. And what's Psalm

2 about? In a nutshell, Psalm 2 is all

about God saying, "One day, I'm going to

send my son, the Messiah. He will be the

conquering, victorious king. He's going

to come to make things right." Yeah, you

live in a broken world. Things aren't

fitting together. I'm going to send my

son. He's going to be a king and he's

going to make all things right. Justice

will rule. Psalm two. So, as Jesus is

being baptized, God says,

he's here.

He's here. Remember that promise? I'm

going to I'm going to send my son. He's

going to be the Messiah. He's going to

be the king. He's going to bring

justice, makes it great. He's here. Here

he is.

But that's not the end of the quote.

That's not even the end of a sentence

from Luke 2. But here's the weird thing.

The second part of the sentence, with

you I am well pleased, that does not

come from Psalm 2.

It does come from the Old Testament part

of that 75% but not Psalm 2. You know

where that comes from? Isaiah 42.

Huh? Isaiah 42 is not about the Messiah

as the conquering king to bring justice

and make things right. Isaiah 42 is a

servant song, a suffering servant song

that finds its climax in Isaiah 53. And

we learn from the servant songs that God

is going to send a servant, a suffering

servant, and he is going to take the

guilt of all of the world, the guilt of

those that trust in him, and he's going

to pay. He will bear the punishment that

that guilt deserves.

Because if the conquering king comes to

bring justice and make things right,

well, there's not a human being that's

ever lived that will then be able to

stand. So then God says, "Yeah, but I'm

going to send my suffering servant." And

the suffering servant realizes not

everybody has their acts together. In

fact, nobody does. But those who admit

their problem, admit their sin and hand

their guilt over to the suffering

servant, the ser the suffering of the

servant will actually pay for the for

those that trust him by taking the guilt

away.

What does Luke say?

One Messiah,

conquering king who comes to make things

right,

suffering servant who comes to bear our

guilt. Not two, one.

The conquering Messiah is the suffering

servant. And what does Luke say? The

voice booms from heaven.

He has arrived.

The conquering king to bring justice.

the suffering servant to pay for guilt.

He has arrived. He is now here. That's

the who. That's the content. And right

at the beginning, Luke says um who the

who the climax is Jesus. He's the one

that is all of the content. He's the one

that all the signs point to. Now,

before we continue, let let me just make

a point here that sometimes we we mix

up. Do you understand the order?

Remember what Luke said? I've

interviewed all these eyewitnesses and

I'm putting together an orderly account.

That doesn't mean everything's

chronological in the book, but it

doesn't mean it's an orderly account.

Here's an order of first importance.

Sunship precedes ministry.

Jesus hasn't done anything yet.

What does he need

as he goes into the desert to follow and

he's tempted by the devil? What does he

need as he engages with people who won't

believe? What does he need as he begins

his ministry? What does he need as he's

going to take our sin and suffer for it?

What does he need as he's going to raise

from the dead? He needs to know above

everything else who he is. He's a son of

God. Identity precedes ministry. That's

true for us. You don't become a son by

doing lots of ministry. You do lots of

ministry because you're a son. Sunship

precedes ministry.

But Jesus didn't go through his min. You

read Luke and tell me if this is right.

Jesus didn't go through the rest of his

ministry saying to people, "I'm God's

son and you're not." He doesn't do that.

What does he do? He said, 'I am God's

son, God's unique son, and by trusting

me, you can be sons and daughters of

God, too. Right? Your father, my father,

our father. That's how the transgression

go or that that's how the transition

goes.

So, what's our sunship in Jesus? Well,

Luke's going to lay that out through the

rest of his gospel. But maybe a place

for you to see that real clearly was

written by Paul. And Paul, in my mind at

least, Paul's thinking about the river.

He's thinking about Jesus sunship in the

river as he records these words.

Now, Paul's writing to the people in

Romans, but he's also writing to us.

Listen to what he says about sons and

daughters. The spirit you received did

not make you slaves so that you live in

fear again. Rather, the spirit you

received brought about your adoption to

sunship. And by him we cry, "Aba,

Father." The Spirit himself testifies

with our spirit that we are God's

children.

Now, what does that mean? I would say it

like this.

If you've admitted that you need a

savior and you're trusting Jesus for

forgiveness and acceptance, if

you need to hear the father say over you

what he said over Jesus in the river,

you are my son.

You're my daughter

whom I love.

With you I am well pleased. Not just to

Jesus, but as we trust him. God says

those words over us. Sunship precedes

ministry.

All right. Well, uh, what does that mean

practically? Well, let me tease out a

couple things and then we're done. First

of all, it means intimacy. It means

intimacy. Do you realize that, um, your

kids

can do, say, and request things of you

that nobody else can? Uh, let me give

you an example.

Uh, [snorts] a few weeks ago, it's kind

of late one evening. Uh, I'm lying in

bed watching a game. Kim's kind of

cleaning up, getting ready to come to

bed, and the phone, her phone rings, and

I can tell from Kim's end of the

conversation

that this is going to be a long night.

The conversation goes something like

this. Well, how did you do that? What do

you want me to do?

I'll see what he's doing.

Well, anyway, here's what I find out.

Megan took the two French bulldogs for a

walk. Mike's at work and the door locks

behind her.

Not the strong door, you know, wood,

right? The screen door.

She said, "I come back, the screen door

is locked. I can't get in. I pull the

screen door. I'm pushing. I can't get

in." Um, Kim says, "We'll be right

over." I'm think What do you mean we? We

what? Um,

so I got out of bed

and I put on my shorts

and I found Kim's utility knife

and we jumped in the car and we went to

Megan's and in a very short order, I cut

the screen out of that door. We reached

in, opened the door, they went in, and I

went home.

Now, what's the moral of that story? If

you ever get locked out of your house,

do not call me. I'm not coming. But

Megan, even though she's 37, she got mad

when I said that. Even though she's 37.

She can call me and Kim can say, "We'll

be right over." Because it's different

if your kid calls and says, "I need

you." And if you call and I'm not even

answering.

See how that works?

Well, through Jesus, God has become our

father

24/7.

He waits to hear from us even more than

we want to talk to him.

Time, energy, priorities at our disposal

because through Jesus, we're his kids.

Intimacy, 247

access.

That's pretty amazing, isn't it? the

king of the universe.

You have him on speed dial waiting to

listen. Not just intimacy, but also

safety. Now, safety, protection, Jesus

is our shepherd. All those things we

learn. I was reminded of that yesterday.

Two grandsons had their first little

league game yesterday. So, we show up,

there must be thousands of people at the

Hardiesville Fields. And a lot of the

kid, first game, right? The little kids,

six, seven years old, they're all

nervous and I don't know what to do

until dad shows up. Dad's behind the

batting cage. All of a sudden, the

seven-year-old thinks he's he's been

just been inducted to the Hall of Fame.

He walks up twirling the bat. Watch. The

one kid said, "Watch this, Dad. I'm

going to nuke it." Yeah.

And dad being there kind of makes all

the difference, doesn't it?

Well, our heavenly father being I'm the

present and I'm the He's always with

you. Always. Well, there's kind of an

upside and downside there. Always with

you. He sees what you're doing, but also

always with you to protect you, take

care of you. We're safe. Isn't it a

maybe one of the most sobering days of

your life is the day you realize that uh

your father can't fix all your hurts,

can he?

And your father can't make all the

problems go away,

but your heavenly father can. There's no

problem beyond his ability, no situation

he can't handle. He's your dad. Intimacy

and safety. Well, there's one more and

that's community. Some Yeah, I knew you

were going to get here, Charles. I comm

Well, if God's our father and we're sons

and daughters of God through Jesus, that

means we're brothers and sisters. Um,

you don't always like your siblings,

right? But they're blood.

Now,

most of you in this room are parents.

And so, let me uh at least mention a

hypothetical situation that you probably

have never experienced, but in my

wildest imagination, I can think of

something like this happening with

little kids. Mom, he wore my shirt and

didn't ask me. Dad, he took my iPad.

Now, I can't get back to where I was.

Mom, he wore my shoes. No, I didn't.

Your feet stink. I don't want to wear

your shoes. Mom, he's in my room mess.

You've ever heard those conversations,

right? I often wonder why the uh parent

when I hear them or in my mind. Um I

feel like a parent should walk in and

say

your shirt,

your iPad,

you you own nothing. You don't have a

job. You didn't pay for it. It's all my

stuff. You know what? They're my shoes.

That's my shirt. That's my iPad. And you

know what? I'm lending it to you because

I'm kind and gracious. I brought you in.

I can take you out. It's my stuff.

Have you ever

wonder if God thinks like that?

It's all my stuff and you brothers and

sisters down there fighting about yours

and mine and hoarding. It's all mine.

I've graciously given it to you. And

here you are hoarding my stuff, acting

like somehow you deserve it, somehow you

earn. It's my stuff. And what pleases a

parent more

than siblings who lovingly share. I I

know you imagine that, right? In your

wildest dreams, it may happen. They

share. They generously give. They help

each other. If that pleases you as a

parent,

that's got to please God as our father.

So this whole sunship thing preceding

ministry,

not just an exercise in understanding of

cool principles from the beginning of

Luke,

it's all about intimacy with the King of

Kings. 247

access.

Make yourself available today.

safety.

You can trust God to take care of your

schedule, take care of your bank

account. You can trust him. Again, he

gives us a part to play. You can trust

him with all that. Oh, yeah. In

community, when we stop hoarding and

start lovingly sharing, being generous

with our brothers and sisters,

sunship precedes ministry. out of the

well of all that we have through Christ

now live as sons and daughters of God

through him. That's kind of the whole

message of Luke in like 30 minutes.

That's not bad, right? Let's pray.

Father, we give you thanks for all the

work that Luke did. We're not exactly

sure about the hours he sat down with

the eyewitnesses. We're not sure about

the headaches he may have gotten or the

problems he may have experienced.

Putting it together, wrestling over

words, allowing your spirit to move and

maybe erasing some things that he put

together.

But Lord, we're thankful for what the

spirit energized him to write

because he tells us what and why.

Most importantly, he tells us who. Lord,

help us to view the Bible accurately.

just a container.

You only need the container to deliver

the contents. But without the container,

you can't get the contents. The point

and the purpose is Jesus. Lord, help us

to uh see him more clearly, follow him

more closely, and may this fall be a

really key step in that whole process.

We pray in his name. Amen.

Please stand as we sing about Jesus'

amazing love for us.

[music] Amazed

[music]

in the presence

of Jesus the last [singing and music] of

me.

I wonder

how he could love [music] me. [singing]

A s

of me.

[music]

How

[singing] wonderful [music]

shall ever

be.

[music] Heat. Heat.

>> [music]

>> My sins [music]

and my sorrow. [singing]

Yeah.

[music]

Heat.

[music]

Heat. [music]

[music]

Heat.

[music]

>> [music]

>> Heat. [music]

Heat. Heat. [music]

[singing]

His face I

shall see

[music and singing]

will be my joy through the ages [music]

to sing all [singing] his love for me.

[music]

Heat. Heat.

[music]

Heat. Heat. Heat.

[music]

Heat.

[music]

>> [music]

[music]

>> What an amazing reminder this morning

from God's word that sunship precedes

ministry. Thankfully, he knew his

purpose and who he was called to be

before he began ministry. And I'm just

struck by this passage this morning that

we read. I'll read it again for us from

Romans 8 verse 14 and 15. We have that

Romans 8:14

same story. For those who are led by the

spirit of God are the children of God.

The spirit you receive does not make you

slaves so that you live in fear again.

Rather, the spirit you received brought

about by your adoption to sunship.

We know what our purpose is is to be

sons and daughters

because of him and who he has sent to

allow us to live a life for him.

So as we finish this morning be reminded

that we have really steps for us to take

next. We ask ourselves what's next.

One really great opportunity for us is

to become part of a small group. As we

talked about intimacy, safety, and

community, God calls us to live in

community and be a part of something

that is bigger than us. And so this

morning, all of our small groups have

tables to represent themselves. Go out

and meet them. Consider becoming a part

of a small group. Another great

opportunity is for you to consider uh

jumping in and being a part of one of

our serving teams. We have a couple of

uh the teams available that would love

to talk to you as well. So consider that

this morning is you let the spirit tell

you what's next for you. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you so much for your

presence. We thank you that

you knew your purpose

and then in turn you ministered out of

that purpose. And we thank you for that.

I pray that as we go this week, we would

be reminded that our purpose as sons and

daughters is to

rest in you, to lean into the intimacy,

to remember that you keep us safe

and to strive for community. And as we

go into this world that we are a part of

this morning, as we interact with family

members, as we interact with people

[music] at school, at work, would you

help us to be Jesus to them as we

interact? In your name we pray. Amen.

Have a great week, church. It's worth

the living.

>> I wasn't made to be ted in a grave. I

was called by name. Born and raised back

to life again.

I [music] was made for more.

>> So why would I [music and singing] make

bed in my shame when a fountain of grace

is running my way? I know I am yours and

I was [music]

made for more.

>> I know who I am.

I know who you are.

The cross of salvation

was only the start.

Now I am chosen,

free and forgiving.

I have a future

and it's worth living.

I was made to be the tender grave. I was

called by

born and raised back to life again.

I was

more

Why would I make

[music] my shame when it

is running my way? I know I am yours and

I was made for more.

You call out my name. I'll sing out your

praise.

Hallelu.

You buried my past. I'm not going back.

Hallelu.

You call out my name. So I'll sing out

your praise. Hallelu.

You bury my past. I'm not going back.

I wasn't made to be tended in a grave. I

was called [music and singing]

by

born and raised back to life [music]

again.

I was made for more.

So why would I make a bed in my shame

when a fountain of grace is running my

way? I know I am yours. I was made for

more.

>> I wasn't made to be in a grave. I was by

raised back to life again.

I was made for more.

So why would I be in my shame when

my

hallelujah

I'll sing out your

Hallelu.

You bury my past. I'm not going back.

You call out my name. I'll sing out your

name. Sing it.

You my

back.

I was

in a grave. I was by

raised back to life again.

I was

more.

>> Come on, sing it over yourself.

>> I

shame with

[singing] grace. running my way. I know

I am yours. I was [music] made for

I just want to speak the name of Jesus

over heart and mind.

I know there is peace within your

presence.

I speak Jesus.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

Till every [music]

dark addiction starts to break

declaring there [music] is hope and

there is freedom.

I speak Jesus.

Your name is power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is