Calvary Church Live | 9:00am | September 20, 2026

Hallelu

Jesus

victory

praise the one who Set me free. Death

has lost it on me.

Hallelu.

Jesus rose in victory.

He's alive.

Hallelu.

Heat.

Hey, Heat.

Hey,

hey,

hey.

Hey,

hey, hey.

Hey, hey, hey.

Oh my god.

Oh hey oh hey oh hey oh hey oh

feel

to me. Heat.

Heat.

Good morning, Calvary. Would you stand

with us as we sing this morning? We sing

about his trustworthiness. He is worthy.

>> [music]

[music]

>> I say your word is

your [music] word

is a lamp [singing] unto my feet.

[music] Your way

is the only way for me.

>> [music]

>> It's a narrow road that leads to life

and I want to be on it. It's a narrow

road. It's a narrow [singing] road, but

the mercy's wide. Cuz you're good on

your promise.

[music] Take you at your [singing]

[music]

I believe it. See how

[music and singing]

good it lasts. beside

it. You complete it. I take you at your

[music] end.

You spoke [music]

in a chaos [singing] fell in line.

I [singing] know [music]

cuz I've seen it in my life.

It's a narrow [music]

road that leads to life. And I want to

be [music and singing] on it.

It's a narrow road. The tide

[music and singing] is high. You're

parting the waters

to take [singing] you at shore. [music]

You said it. I [singing] believe it.

[music]

I see how good he was.

You started [music]

[singing] your complete.

I take you at your end.

[music] You said I'll be leading.

I see how [singing] good it was.

You started [music]

your complete.

I take you at shore. [music]

You said your love would never give up.

You said your grace is always [music]

enough. [singing]

You said your heart would never [music]

forget or forsake me.

You said You said I'm

[music and singing] saved. You called me

yours. You said my future's

[music and singing]

full of your hope. You've never failed.

So I [music] know that you'll never fail

me.

You said your love will never

[singing and music] give up. You said

your grace is always enough. [singing]

You said your heart would never forget

or forsake me.

>> You said I'm [music] saved. You call me

[singing] yours. You said my future's

full of your hope. You never fail.

[singing] So I know that you'll never

fail me. I'll take you extra. [music]

If you said [singing] it, I'll be

leaving.

I see how [music and singing] good it

works.

You start it, [music] you'll complete

it. I'll take you.

[music] You said I'll be [singing]

I see how good it was. [music]

You started your complete

take you at your

[music]

Oh. [music]

[music]

>> [music]

>> Good morning. It's such [music] a great

opportunity to gather together this

morning. Lift our voices to him. Let him

have his way in our hearts this morning.

If you're new with us this [music]

morning, we're so glad that you are

here. We just hope and pray that you

feel welcome among us as we gather as a

community to sing, to open God's word,

and let it impact our hearts. If you are

new, we have a hub in the back of the

atrium. At the end of the service, you

[music] can head back there and we have

a welcome team that would love to meet

you and love to give you more

information about Calvary. So, head back

there at the end of the service. Now,

we'd love you to give you an [music]

opportunity this morning to greet each

other. I got a question for you as we

launch into fall. Talk about your

favorite [music] fall beverage. Favorite

fall beverage.

See? Sing. I want to dance like David.

[music]

I want to dance like David. I want to f

like Paul. I want to sing like Silus

[music] tearing down the prison walls. I

want to face that fire. Won't burn

[singing] me though. God's got [music]

my back. Shadrach, Meshack, Abedo.

I want to walk like Moses. [music]

Run through [singing] the waves. One day

I'll see that promised land no longer

slaves. [music] Well, the fear is

talking. No, it can't [singing] take out

my faith.

I'm going to praise. I'm going to

praise. [music] I praise the mountain

moving body raing breaker a chain. Going

[music] to praise. I'm going to praise.

I praise the heaven seated and the feet

highest of name. That's

[music and singing] who I praise. Yeah,

that's who I [singing and music] praise.

That's who I praise.

I want to give like Mary.

[music and singing]

I want to break my face. I want to see

like Daniel, even in a lion's [singing]

cave. I'm going to get that promise just

like Jericho.

Yeah, I know [singing and music] what'll

make it fall. I'm going to praise. I'm

going to praise. I praise [music] the

mountain moving body [singing] raising

breaker a chain. Going to praise.

[music]

I'm going to praise. I praise the heaven

seated and defeated highest. [music]

That's who I praise. Yeah.

I praise the God [music] who's proven he

can do impossible things. That's who I

praise. Hey,

that's who I praise. That's who I

[music and singing] praise.

He is the lion of Judah.

He is the lamb that was slain. [music]

The only one who's worthy, worthy,

worthy of all of his [music and singing]

names. That's who I praise. He is the

risen [music] Messiah, the ancient. He

is the ancient [singing] of days.

The only one who's worthy, worthy,

worthy [music and singing] of all of his

names. That's who I praise. I'm going to

praise.

I praise the mountain [music] moving

body raising breaker of chain. I'm going

to praise. I'm going to praise. [music]

I praise the heaven seed undefeated

highest to me. That's who I

[music and singing] praise. Yeah.

I praise the God who's proven he can

[music] do impossible thing. That's who

I praise. Yeah. [singing]

That's who I praise. [music]

That's who I praise.

Praise you, Jesus.

I want to love like Jesus. I want to

love like Jesus. That kind of [music]

grace. I want to live [singing] like

I've got no more precious time to waste.

[music] Going to give him glory with all

my thanks cuz there's no greater,

stronger, higher name. That's who I

praise.

>> [music]

>> Great [singing] is thy faithfulness,

oh God, my [singing] father.

[music] There is no shadow of turning

[music]

with thee. [singing]

Thou changest not. Thy compassions they

[music and singing] fail not.

As thou hast been, there forever

will be. [music]

Summer [music]

and winter [singing] and springtime

and [music] harvest.

Sun, [singing] moon, and stars in their

courses above. [singing]

[music] Join with all naturature in

manifold

witness

to thy great [music] faithfulness,

[singing]

mercy, and love.

to wait. [music]

My life [singing] in your hands.

Great,

great is your faithfulness.

You never [music]

[singing] let go.

There's one thing I know.

Great. [music]

Great is your faithfulness. [singing]

Pardon for sin and a peace that

[singing and music]

endureth.

Thine oh dear presence to [music] cheer

and to guide.

Strength for today and bright

[singing and music] hope for tomorrow.

Blessings [singing and music]

all mine with 10,000.

[music]

Yes,

beginning to end

my life in your hands.

[singing and music]

Great,

great is your faithfulness.

You never [music] let go.

There's one thing I [singing] know.

[music] Great,

great is your faithfulness

[music]

to end my life [music] in your hands.

Great,

great is your [music]

faithfulness. [singing]

You never [music]

let go.

This one thing I know.

Great,

great is [music] your faithfulness.

Great,

great is your [music] faithfulness.

Great is [singing]

thy faithfulness. [music]

Great is thy faithfulness. [singing]

[music] Morning by morning,

new mercies [music and singing]

I see.

All [singing] I have needed,

thy hand has provided.

Great is thy [singing]

faithfulness,

Lord, unto [music] me.

Great is thy faithfulness.

[singing and music]

Great is thy faithfulness.

[music and singing]

Morning

by morning,

new mercies [singing] I [music]

see.

All [singing] I have needed, [music] thy

hand has [singing]

proided. [music]

Great is thy [singing]

faithfulness,

Lord, unto [singing]

me. [music]

Your mercies are new every morning.

Your compassions are new every morning.

You do not let [music] us get consumed.

You are faithful. Great is your

faithfulness. Lord,

we thank you for your faithful love that

goes on and on and on from generation to

generation. [music]

You are steadfast. You never let us go.

Lord, stir our hearts up this morning to

receive that love from you. Sometimes we

forget.

Help us to know our identity is in you.

that you sent [music] your son Jesus to

die for us. You rose again. You give us

new life. You are the fountain of life.

Thank you for that Lord.

Praise your name this morning.

Amen.

Thank you for singing with us. Please

have a seat.

Heat. Heat.

I would love to invite the ushers to

come forward this morning as we take

this morning's offering. You just saw a

video of our jam-packed summer of God

moving. Whether it was camps or our

kidfests or our amazing baptisms and so

much more, God moved in amazing ways

this summer. And more than a thousand

kids and teenagers encounter Jesus in a

real and amazing way. So, there's a lot

to celebrate and really be amazed by how

God was moving this summer. And your

generosity is what helped fuel those

opportunities and those trips for those

students to connect. So, we thank you so

much for your generosity. And if you're

new this morning, we want you to know

there is no pressure to give. We're just

so glad you're joining us here this

morning and worshiping with us today.

See, alongside that generosity is lots

and lots of adults, hundreds of adults

who took time this summer to invest in

the lives of kids and teenagers. And God

used those volunteers to change lives.

And I know that firsthand for myself.

See, one of the most important volunteer

growing up for me was a guy named Tony.

I didn't grow up in the church. I met

Jesus when I was in my sophomore year of

high school. And when I first came to

youth group, I was totally out of water.

I didn't know where I was at or what I

would be what I would be doing. But I

met this volunteer named Tony. And Tony

was a little bit older. He had a family.

He was a coach. He had every reason to

be busy doing something else other than

spending time with me. But once a month

he would actually pick me up in the

morning before work and school and he

would drive me over to John Plain and

Fancy in Quakertown and we would have

breakfast together and we would just

talk. He would ask about school, my

family. And what was really amazing is

he helped me see how God was working in

my life and some of the hardest moments

for me in my journey in high school. He

was there walking alongside me. And back

then I just thought, man, Tonyy's such

an awesome guy who takes me out to

breakfast. He's such a cool guy. But

being an adult today, I realize the

sacrifice and the cost it was for him to

invest that time in my life. And to be

honest with you, I'm standing up here

today because of volunteers like Tony

who showed up week in and week out to

invest in my life. And every week I see

Tony's all around this building,

wherever it may be. adults coming in

after long days of work, busy schedules

to sit down with kids and tell them

about Jesus in our kids' rooms or

leading a small group in our student

ministry or being a buddy in bridge or

running tech all throughout our

building. See, most people vol start

volunteering because they feel like they

have something to give. But the reality

is along the way, they see that there's

so much more than that. The people that

you serve with, they become your

friends. They almost become your family.

It's like a small group that you get to

serve alongside of and make a difference

with. And the thing when you think

you're giving something away, you

actually realize you're receiving

something from it. And that's what

serving is all about. So maybe you

thought you thought about serving for a

long time but haven't made that decision

to actually do it. Or maybe you were

volunteering before COVID and haven't

been able to get back in the rhythm of

volunteering. Or maybe you feel like

you're not experienced that you're not

equipped. Or maybe you're too young or

too old to serve. Whatever it may be, I

would encourage you this fall to take

that step to make a difference because

maybe someone's Tony is sitting in this

room here today. You could be making a

difference because you don't have to be

an expert to be a volunteer. You don't

need to know all the answers. I know

Tony didn't. But you have to be willing

to show up to care and let God use you

to make an impact on someone's life. God

has all created us for a purpose and to

make an impact on others. Our kids,

students, and bridge uh teams all are in

need of volunteers. Whether it's small

group leaders, our buddies in our bridge

classrooms on Sunday mornings uh or even

running tech throughout our building in

our kids students environments or even

here in our worship space, there's

opportunities all around to serve. And

if family ministry is not your thing,

that's totally okay. There is I was I

went out to our volunteer board. There's

about 60 other opportunities to serve.

whether it's in our library or our

welcome team or wherever it may be,

there's a spot for you to make a

difference here at Calvary. So, if

you're interested in serving, you can

actually scan that QR code on the screen

or in the seatbacks in front of you, and

it's just a short interest form. Just

let us know your name and your phone

number, and we'd love to follow up with

you and help you get connected. Or you

can stop by our volunteer area in the

lobby after the service, and there'll be

someone there to talk to you and just

get you connected. And again, no

commitment, but maybe learn a little bit

more of how God might want to use you

and help get you connected in this

season because this is the reality.

Years from now, there could be someone

to tell your story of someone they met

that kept showing up for them. And that

person could be you. You could be that

person to make a difference. So,

something to pray and consider about.

And we'd love for you to partner along

because we want to be about a church

about getting connected, but also making

impact in others lives. So, as we're

looking back to summer and celebrating

what God's doing and looking ahead to

where God might want to use us, we're

going to continue to listen from Pastor

Charles this morning as we continue our

series, looking back and looking ahead.

Well, good morning everybody and welcome

to week two of the main thing living

like Jesus. And what we're doing in the

series, we're looking at a few select

passages, familiar passages from the

Gospel of Luke. And we're trying to

figure out how we can live for Christ

above all, making him the main thing

because in his ministry, he made us the

main thing that he was about. Now, this

morning, we're going to look back and

look ahead. As Frank said, and uh when I

was learning how to drive, and contrary

to what Kim says, I do know how to

drive.

We were always taught to look back. And

back then, you actually had to put your

arm over the seat, turn around, squint

your eyes a little bit, look out the

rearview mirror up front, look out the

look out the back window, and then

you're able to move forward. Well, you

don't have to do that anymore, right?

Because we have cameras all over our

cars. And so you can look at the front

and see what's happening in the back.

And if you're going to hit something,

lots of buzzers and beeps go off. In

fact, half the time I think I'm in a

pinball machine when I'm driving my car.

Um, but in order to safely move forward,

you have to look back. And that's a a

pretty good principle to keep in mind as

we read the Bible. In order to safely

move forward, you have to look back and

know what has come before. Now, let me

give you just a small snapshot of that

right from the Gospel of Luke. Last

week, we started by looking at uh what

and why what does Luke do? He's putting

together an orderly account. He's

putting together an account of Jesus

life, what he accomplished, and why is

he doing it? So that you and I and his

patron Theophilos would have this

account of what Jesus came to do, what

he taught, and what he accomplished. But

he quickly moves from the what and the

why to the who. And that's the main

focus of the first couple of chapters.

And at the end of chapter 2, we read

that um Jesus 12 years old is in the

temple and he's declared to be the son

because he says to Joseph and to Mary,

I've got to be about my father's

business. But his father obviously there

is his father in heaven and he's about

his business in the temple. The whole

idea of sunship becomes even clearer

when he's in the river. He's being

baptized. And as John the Baptist lifts

him from the water, God the Father booms

from heaven. You are my son whom I love.

With you I am well pleased. Now, that

comes before the passage you're going to

read today. But there's one little

incident that if you're not looking

back, you're going to miss. At the

beginning of Luke chapter 4, Jesus is

Luke 4 · chapter mention

being tempted in the wilderness in the

desert. So, right after he's baptized,

the Holy Spirit says, "Now, you got to

go into the wilderness." And just like

Moses led the Israelites into the

desert, after God declared him to be

sons, they went into the desert to be

tested and strengthened. After Jesus

declared to be the son, he goes into the

desert to be tested. And where Israel

failed, Jesus succeeds.

But with the words of the father still

ringing in his ears, "You are my son

whom I love. With you I am well

pleased." Right? Looking back, you got

that.

What does this What does the devil say

to him when he shows up? First words. If

you are the son of God,

turn these stones to bread. If you are

the son of God, throw yourself off the

temple. Right? So there there's the

theme. God declares him to be son to be

the son. He then is tempted to not

believe his identity before the mission.

Well, you've got to know that going

before. Well, what did the son come to

do? What's the son's mission? What's he

all about? That's what we're going to

read today. So notice Luke is putting

together an orderly account. What and

why? who he's been tested. Now, he's

going to declare why he came, what his

mission is all about. And he does that

in his first sermon in his hometown of

Nazareth. That is a familiar passage.

We've actually looked at it before, but

if we're going to understand Luke, we're

going to look back and look ahead. We

have to visit it again. So, if you have

your Bibles, your phone, your iPad,

whatever, follow along as I read or just

listen as I read Jesus first sermon that

Luke presents in his hometown of

Nazareth.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power

of the spirit,

and news about him spread through the

whole countryside. He was teaching in

their synagogues, and everyone praised

him. He went to Nazareth, where he had

been brought up. And on the Sabbath day,

he went into the synagogue as was his

custom. He stood up to read, and the

scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed

to him. Unrolling it, he found the place

where it is written, "The spirit of the

Lord is on me because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor. He

has sent me to proclaim freedom for

prisoners, recovery of sight for the

blind, to set the oppressed free, to

proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it

back to the attendant, and sat down. The

eyes of everyone in the synagogue were

fastened on him. He began by saying,

"Today

this scripture is fulfilled in your

hearing."

All spoke well of him and were amazed at

the gracious words that came from his

lips. Isn't this Joseph's son? They

asked. Jesus said to them, "Surely will

quote this proverb to me." Physician,

heal yourself, and you will tell me. Do

here in your hometown what you what we

have heard that you did in Capernium.

Truly I tell you, he continued, no

prophet is accepted in his hometown. I

assure you that there were many widows

in Israel in Elijah's time when the sky

was shut for three and a half years and

there was a severe famine throughout the

land. But Elijah was not sent to any of

them but to a widow in Zerapath in the

region of Siden. And there were many in

Israeli in Israel with leprosy in the

time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one

of them was cleansed, only Non the

Syrian. [clears throat] All the people

in the synagogue were furious when they

heard this. They got up, drove him out

of the town, took him to the brow of a

hill on which the town was built in

order to throw him off the cliff. But he

walked right through the crowd and went

on his way. Boy, talk about the good

turning bad. What the heck happened?

Well, here's the scene. Jesus in his

hometown. Towns were small back then,

smaller than they are today. So that

means when Jesus goes to the synagogue

in Nazareth, everybody there knew him

and he knew everybody that was there.

They were all familiar with each other.

They had known stories. Maybe they went

to Joseph's carpentry shop and they

bought tables, chairs, maybe they

interacted with Jesus. They knew him and

he knew them. But this hometown kid was

making quite a name for himself. He's

traveling around and teaching. And so

this carpenter is kind of becoming a

preacher. Maybe really didn't want to

work for a living. So he figured he'd be

a preacher. And he's traveling around

preaching, but he comes back to his

hometown. He goes to the synagogue and

everybody's sitting on the edge of their

seats. They're pretty excited. We're

going to hear him preach today. We want

to hear how he's dazzling everybody

else. We We want to be mesmerized by his

words. We want to be impacted by what he

said. And so the attendant takes the

scroll, right? Big scrolls. takes a

scroll and gives it to him. And Jesus

takes the Isaiah scroll, probably two

scrolls actually, and he unrolls it,

unrolls it, comes to Isaiah 61, and he

reads uh the verses that we read. Now, I

have those verses on your outline in two

different places because there are

slight variation.

The verses at the bottom of the outline

are the verses from Luke. uh the verses

on the top of the outline under the

promises given that's from Isaiah now

it's basically the same little variation

probably a different translation right

probably Jesus is quoting Septuagent

we're not exactly sure little but it's

the same basic idea so Jesus says the

spirit of the lord is on me because he

anointed me to proclaim good news to the

poor he has sent me to proclaim freedom

for the prisoners recovery of sight for

the blind to set the oppressed free to

proclaim the year of the Lord 's favor.

The promise was given, but it wasn't

given in Luke. Jesus reads Isaiah.

Isaiah was written in the 700s BC. So

like 700 years before Luke 4, before

Jesus reads in the synagogue, Isaiah

wrote his prophecy and Isaiah says,

"Here's what's God's going to do." Now,

Isaiah 61, Luke 4, and the text for

Jesus sermon is all about freedom.

Freedom's all over the passage. The

prisoners are going to be set free.

You're going to be liberated. Now, L,

excuse me, Isaiah 61 actually comes from

Leviticus 25. Now, Leviticus 25, it's

not quoted L. And Isaiah does not quote

Luke 25 or Isaiah

Leviticus 25, but he clearly presents

the pattern of Leviticus 25. What's

Leviticus 25 about? You read that today

before the eagles. Um, Leviticus 25 is

all about the year of Jubilee. And

what's Jubilee about? Jubilee is all

about freedom. And there were a number

of different freedoms that are mentioned

in Leviticus 25. In fact, uh from

Leviticus 25, we have the ba the basic

liberty freedom verse engraved on the

liberty bell to proclaim liberty

throughout the land. That's what

Leviticus 25 is about. It's about

liberty. It's about freedom. And there's

a four-fold kind of freedom there. So,

here's what Leviticus 25 is about and

what Isaiah quotes. You're going to be

free [snorts]

from the debt you've incurred. You ever

notice as you go through life, you incur

debt? All right, now we're among

friends, right? How many of you have

debt of any kind? Raise your hand,

right? And the rest of you are lying.

You have a mortgage, that's a debt. You

have a car payment, that's a debt.

You're still paying off school loans,

that's a debt. Maybe you owe money on

your credit card. Maybe you still owe

your grandmother 150 bucks. You have

debts. I have debts, right? We owe you

go through life and the way it works,

you know, you incur debts and you have

to you owe people things. You owe bank

things.

you incur debts. Well, you know what one

of the patterns of Jubilee was? When

Jubilee arrives, debts are going to be

paid. You will be free from your debt.

Debts are going to be paid off. Boy,

wouldn't that be a good thing, right?

Imagine if this afternoon was Jubilee,

right? After the Eagles win, freedom is

pronounced. Freedom from debt. No more

debt. Boy, we'd get out tomorrow morning

and start incurring more. Right? That's

how it works. Um, freedom from but not

just freedom from debt, freedom from

bondage, freedom from oppression,

freedom from people sitting over you

telling you what to do. Maybe some of

you right now thinking of your job,

right? I need to be free from my job,

free from my boss, free from the

management team. Or maybe you're

thinking, free from my employees. I need

to be or maybe it's worse than that.

Free from the parole you're sitting

under. Free from the prison sentence

that's on the way. What was the Jubilee

pattern? The Jubilee pattern down

freedom from debt, freedom from bondage,

freedom from oppression, freedom from

sub subjugation, freedom from anyone

being over you. Now, in Isaiah's day,

they were kind of under the thumb of

Assyria. Soon after that, they're going

to be under the thumb of Babylon. They

know what oppression's like. When Jesus

read Isaiah 61 in the Nazareth

synagogue, they were not under the thumb

of Assyria or Babylon, who are they

under the th under the th of in Luke's

Luke 4? Rome. Now Rome's oppressing

them. They're not free to do whatever

they want. Rome gives the orders and

Rome says jump. They have to say how

high. Freedom from oppression.

Not just that, it was announced on the

day of atonement. And so the year of

Jubilee was to begin, you kind of ring

the bell to start the year, right? Just

like they closed the market with the

bell or Well, the year of Jubilee would

always start with atonement. The

atonement's been freedom from sin.

What's Jubilee? What's the pattern?

You're gonna be free from debts,

free from bondage, free from loss.

Inheritance was going to be restored,

right? Because of sickness or stupidity.

Maybe you lost your inheritance. You

lost your land. Well, it's all going to

go back. You're going to be freedom.

Free from the loss. And you're going to

be free from sin. That's the Jubilee

pattern. You're going to be they're

going to be free. Isaiah wrote that 700

some years before Jesus.

Moses first wrote those words all the

way back in Leviticus. But yet from

Leviticus to Isaiah, they never really

experienced that freedom to the full,

did they? And in Isaiah's day, they

hadn't yet experienced it to the full

either. They were still in debt. They

were still being oppressed. They they

had still lost inheritance. They were

still under sin. And even though they

were offering sacrifices, they kind of

in the back of their minds, they knew

this really can't be the final

forgiveness that I need. And so Isaiah

says, 'Yeah, but one day, one day, one

day Jubilee's going to come and you are

going to be free. Free from debt, free

from bondage. You're going to be free

from loss. You're going to be free from

sin one day. And what does Jesus do? He

carefully selects that passage from

Isaiah from Isaiah 61 and he reads those

two verses and then Jesus announces the

promise being fulfilled.

Can you just imagine what that would

have been like that day? You're sitting

there. Isaiah 61's familiar, right? And

so they're sitting there listening to

this hometown kid and he reads, "The

spirit of the Lord is upon me. He's

anointed me to proclaim good news to the

poor." Let's look at it. Freedom for

prisoners, recovery of sight for the

blind, to set the oppressed free, to

proclaim the year of God's favor. this

pattern of Jubilee.

He rolls up the scroll, hands it back,

sits down. Now he's ready to preach.

And here's the whole sermon.

Here it is.

Today,

this scripture

is fulfilled in your hearing.

What?

Today, this scripture is fulfilled in

your hearing.

They waited and waited

week after week, month after month, year

after year, decade after decade, century

after century. They waited and waited.

And this kid from Nazareth stands up in

his hometown. He reads about the Jubilee

pattern and all this liberty, all this

freedom that God promised. And he says,

"Today

this scripture is fulfilled in your

hearing." translation. Jubilee

has arrived.

I am Jubilee.

Now, you think the congregation would

have liked that? Sure they did. They

love that. We can't believe it. We're

Now, again, think in your minds, um,

what's the Jubilee pattern? It's all

about freedom. All about liberty. It's

all about freedom from debt. It's all

about freedom from bondage. It's all

about freedom from loss. It's all about

freedom from sin. What are they thinking

Jesus is promising? Well, he's promising

he's going to cancel all their material

debts. He's promising that all the

prisoners will be set free. He's

promising that Rome's going to be

defeated and all the inheritance is

going to come back to them. And you know

what? They love that message. Yes. Bring

it on. They're ready to pick up their

swords and follow him to Can you

understand what they were thinking? What

they were wanting? Now, here's a

principle you uh you have to know.

The Bible often

uses physical realities,

problems and positives. The Bible often

uses material advantages and

disadvantages. The Bible often use uses

physical and material realities

to communicate spiritual and eternal

realities.

We even talk about, right, the debt of

sin that Jesus took. We talk about the

bondage that we're under because we live

under the enemy and we're still

contaminated and infected with sin. We

still talk about the inheritance that

God entrusted to us because we're made

in his image that he wants us to

experience, but that was squandered

because of our sin. We talk about the

bondage that we're in of sin and how

we're oppressed by our sin and that sin

needs to be removed. We even use those

physical material words to describe the

spiritual reality. Now, make no mistake,

the physical elements of salvation are

coming. Let me point out something to

you. Here's the reason I put both of

those uh verses on your outline.

Look, look at the Isaiah passage at top

right under the promises given. Go back

and look at those verses. How do those

verses end? Let me read the third from

the last line all the way through the

last line. So, here's what Isaiah

writes.

Spirit of the Lord is upon me to

proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

That's not where Isaiah 2 ends, though.

And the day of vengeance of our God to

comfort all who mourn. That's how Isaiah

Isaiah 61:2

61:2 ends. Now look at the bottom of the

page where Luke 4:18 and 19 are listed.

Luke 4:18

Notice

Jesus stopped short.

Who does he think he is cutting off a

Bible verse? Oh yeah. Well, it's his

book, right? How does he end it to

proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

end? Now, why is that?

Well, I think Jesus is communicating a

pause. A pause that Isaiah never

anticipated. A pause that most in the

Old Testament never dreamed of. Jesus

says, "What you don't understand is

the pattern of Jubilee

and the end of the story of vengeance

and justice." There's a pause in

between. Jesus comes to bring all the

benefits of Jubilee,

the curses and consequences of judgment.

They come later.

We live in that in between time. We live

in that pause. We live in between in

between the announcement of freedom but

not the culmination of freedom and the

defeat of all evil and wickedness. We

live in the pause. So the promise is

given all the way back in Isaiah. And

Isaiah [clears throat] brings to mind

the pattern of Jubilee all the way from

Leviticus 25 back in Moses day.

Um Jesus says, "Jubilees arrived. I'm

here."

The congregation likes it so far, but

the sermon's not quite over.

Jesus now extends the promise. The

promise is now extended. He extends it

with two illustrations. Two

illustrations. Now, we don't have time

to read the illustrations, but I would

encourage you to read them. You go back

and check out Elijah

and the widow from Zarapath. And you go

back and check out the illustration of

Elisha

and Non the Syrian. Now, let me tell you

the two stories briefly. And now you'll

see all of a sudden why the congregation

turned from applauding the message to

wanting to kill him. Jesus extends the

promise. So here's the story of Elijah

and the gentile widow. Elijah um lived

under King Ahab was Ahab of Israel in

the north. Ahab married the daughter of

a priestess who comes from Siden. Comes

from Siden. Oh yeah. Zerapath is in

Siden.

Now there's a famine in the land because

Aha. Ahab and all the people are kind of

living off the rails. And so God says,

"Until I get your attention, until you

come back to me, there's going to be a

great drought. For three and a half

years, there's a drought. There's a real

serious drought."

Well, God says to Elijah, "Hey Elijah,

um, I need you to stay alive so you can

continue to be a prophet. So, I got an

idea. You go to Zerapath in Siden." Huh?

Jezebel is the crazy queen who's killing

all the prophets, right? go to Jezebel's

hometown. I'm sure he's saying, "What?

Like, did he get his directions wrong or

what?" So Elijah goes, he goes back and

when he gets to Zerapath in Siden, he uh

he notices a widow. And the widow's out

in the street gathering sticks. And so

God, ask her ask her for a drink and

something to eat, you know. So he says,

"Um, excuse me, miss.

Would you do me a favor? Would you give

me something to drink?" and uh you know

would you would you bring me like a

biscuit or a cake or something? No hot

dog or anything just a roll. Can can I

have something? And she says, "Huh?

You're asking uh the wrong person here.

Do you know why I'm gathering these

sticks? I'm gathering these sticks

because all we have all my son and I

have my husband's dead. All we have is

like a little a half a handful of flour.

That's all we've got. I barely have

enough to make a cracker for my son and

me. We're gonna eat the cracker after I

cook it and we're gonna wait to die.

Elijah says, "Yeah, okay. Would you

still bring me a biscuit, you know,

before you guys eat, right?" I mean, the

guts he has, right? And just a little

water. Bring me a biscuit. And then, and

um

she does.

And you know what happens?

She has enough flour and oil to make it

through the drop.

And she and her son

make it through. Huh? The point of the

illustration is

um Jesus says, you know, there were lots

of widows, lots of widows in Israel

during Elijah's time. Isn't it

interesting? He sent Elijah to the

gentile widow to a gentile widow in

Zerapath in Jezebel country. And God

saved the widow in from Jezebel's

hometown. Not a lot of the widows in

Israel. What do you think about that?

Huh? Now remember, what are they? Wait a

minute. This Jubilee promise is supposed

to be for us. And here's the point. And

us only.

We don't want any filthy creepy Gentiles

in here, right? We don't want We don't

certainly don't want any we don't

certainly don't want any widows from

Jezebel's hometown.

And Jesus, but I'm not done. I have one

more illustration for you guys before we

finish here. Let me tell you about non.

Now, in a lot of ways, non and the widow

are entirely different. The widow's dirt

poor. Non is filthy rich. The widow has

nothing. Non has everything. The woman

being a widow without her husband, she's

disconnected. Non isworked to the hilt.

He walks into the king and asks for a

request and the king does what it what

he wants. They're they seem Yeah, but

they both have a problem.

The woman is hungry and has no bread.

Non has leprosy.

And you know what? If you have

everything

but you have leprosy,

you've got nothing.

The woman needs bread

and she can't afford to get it.

Non needs healing

and he can't afford to get it. They're

both desperate.

They're both hopeless and helpless. And

what does Jesus say? Oh yeah, remember

Elijah? He went and brought God's grace

to the widow of Zerapath. And all the

widows in Israel, a lot of them just

died. And you know what? A lot of people

in Israel, they had leprosy. But God

sent Elisha to bring healing to non the

Syrian general.

Huh? You see how the promise is being

extended?

And the people in Nazareth

hate that.

That Jubilee stuff, that's for us.

That's not for them. We don't want them

experience God God's grace.

God, do you know who they are? Jesus,

you don't know these people. You haven't

lived that long. Where do we tell you

about these people in Syria? Where do we

tell you about these people in in Sidon?

They're the bad guys. God's grace only

comes to the good guys.

Interesting.

Remember I said we're looking back and

looking ahead.

So, here's an interesting thing.

As you read through the le rest of

Luke's gospel,

you're going to see that grace, that

gospel expanded, expanded, expanded. Let

let me give you a couple um things to

look for as we go. Number one, the

author of the book,

old Dr. Luke.

Dr. Luke

is a gentile. He's not a Jew.

I'm guessing those two illustrations of

the widow and non

sunk into his heart pretty deeply, don't

you?

Grace, the gospels, not only for Jews,

even Gentiles get in, huh?

Not only that, as you read through Luke,

women are lifted up in Luke like none of

the other gospels. Women follow Jesus.

Women are taking care of the disciples.

Women, women all over the place. Women

see Jesus first after he's risen from

the dead. Women, what? Women back then

were outcast. And we got Samaritans,

right? The good Samaritan parable. Oh,

yeah. That's a Luke. And so you get

Gentiles, you get women, you get

outcasts, you get Pharisees come. And so

you get the really good guys

but are hopeless and helpless. You get

the outcasts, those that have nothing.

And they're all invited to come in.

The promise is given throughout the Old

Testament. That's the cup, right? The

promise is given. Jesus says, "Jubilee

has arrived." He fills the cup. I am

Jubilee. I'm going to bring this. But

then he extends it and says, "It's not

only for us."

Well, you can kind of tell where we need

to end here.

Where does God's grace uh

stop with you?

Huh?

people of your political party, people

of your race, people of your

socioeconomic level,

people of your uh graduate school level,

people of your neighborhood, people who

believe like you, people who look like

you. You know, isn't it interesting?

Jesus will always extend that promise

way beyond where we want to draw the

limits. And so I think right up front

Luke's telling us who

and what have we learned? Jesus is the

son, the conquering king, the suffering

servant. What did he ca? What did he

come to do? He came to not just proclaim

but to bring freedom.

Freedom from debt, oppression,

loss and inh loss of inheritance

and freedom from the sin that weighs us

down.

Don't limit, don't draw the boundaries

of that promise where God doesn't draw

them. Anyone can come. Anyone.

They all have to come the same way, but

all are welcome to come.

What does that mean for you this week? A

phone call, a visit, prayers,

volunteering.

What's it mean to not draw the limits

but to live out the extension of the

promise that Jesus came delivered and

continues to deliver through us. Let's

pray.

Father, thanks for this first sermon

that Luke records.

It's kind of interesting and then it

becomes convicting.

It's interesting to see what Jesus does

and it's convicting to see what he calls

us to do and where we want to draw the

boundaries

because we resemble that congregation in

Nazareth a whole lot more than we're

willing to admit.

Wherever we draw the boundaries, Jesus

will extend them. Help us to experience

and live out that expansive gospel as we

follow Jesus, the one who purchased it.

We pray in his name. Amen.

Let's stand together and continue to

praise the Lord.

>> [music]

>> How great the [music and singing] chasm

that lay between us. How [singing] high

the mountain [music]

I could not climb.

In [music] desperation, [singing]

I turned to heaven

and spoke your name into the night.

[music]

Then through [singing] the darkness,

your loving [music]

kindness

tore through the shadows

of [music and singing]

my soul.

Beautiful savior. [singing]

The end is written [music]

Jesus [singing] Christ my living.

Who [music] could imagine

so great a mercy?

What heart could fathom [music]

such boundless grace?

The God of [music] aes [singing]

step down from glory

to bear my sin and bear my shame.

[music]

The cross has [singing] spoken.

I am forgi.

The [music] King of Kings calls me his

own.

and your Savior.

I'm yours [music and singing] forever.

Jesus Christ, my living. [music]

[singing] Hallelujah.

Praise the [music] one who set me free.

Hallelujah.

Death has [music and singing] lost its

grip on me. You have broken every

[music] chain. There's salvation

[singing]

in your name. Jesus Christ, my [music]

livinging

hope.

Hallelujah.

[music] Praise the one who set me

[singing] free. Hallelujah. [music]

Death has lost its grip on me. You have

[music] broken every [singing] chain.

There's salvation in your name. Jesus

Christ, [music]

my living.

Then came the morning [singing]

that [music] sealed the promise.

Your buried [singing]

body

[music] began to breathe.

Out of the silence, [singing]

[music]

the roaring lion

declared, "The grave [music] has

[singing] no claim on me."

Then came the [singing] morning [music]

that sealed the promise.

Your buried [singing] body

begin [music]

to breathe.

Out of the silence [music]

the ro.

Declare the king has no claim on [music]

me.

Jesus yours is the victory. [singing]

[music]

Oh, [singing]

hallelujah.

He's the [music] one who [singing] set

me free. Hallelujah.

Death has [music and singing] lost its

grip on me. You have broken every chain

[music]

and salvation [singing]

in your name. Jesus Christ, my [music]

livinging

hope. [singing]

Hallelujah.

He's the [music] one who set me free.

Hallelujah.

This has [music and singing] lost its

grip on me. You have broken every chain.

There's salvation [music and singing] in

your name. Jesus Christ my [music]

livinging

hope.

Jesus Christ my [music] livinging

hope.

Oh God, [singing] you are my living

[music] home.

[singing]

>> Well, thanks for joining us today. And

today's a special morning. [music]

If you're new to Calvary Church, or

maybe you've been coming for a while,

but you really haven't connected with

many people yet. you're still kind of

just coming and going without being

noticed or known. [music] We're having a

welcome gathering right after the

service. So rather than go out into the

rain, walk across the atrium to 218.

It's right out back. You'll get to meet

some people there. Some staff members

will be there. I think they have a

little bit of snack or something for you

to eat. So before you leave, stop in at

the welcome gathering. We would love to

meet you. If you have a question, you'd

like somebody to pray with, please come

forward and you can do [music] that as

well. Thanks again. Have a great

afternoon. [clears throat]

>> Jesus, you

words.

sing

of

every song

again and

It's all

singlelujah.

I've got

my arms wide.

Praise you again and again.

All that I have is a hallelujah.

[crying]

Thank you, Lord.

You got

the

soul

shift

and praise the Lord.

Come on my soul. Come on.

Lift up your

lion.

Get up and praise the Lord.

Come

on.

and praise the Lord.

Praise

the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

worthy

of our praise. You are you are

praise again.

Hallelujah.

heart single

single

single.

Holy Lord,

Holy Lord.

worthy

[music]

earth.

God,

God

forever.

Your kingom reigns.

God reigns.

your kingom

adore

Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Our

God

forever

forever.

Forever

King.

He reigns. He reigns

over the earth.