How Great Is Your Commitment?

People react differently to Jesus’ statement that he is God and the only way by we can be assured of a heavenly home. Often times it is not even the primary message being proclaimed in church. In this week’s sermon, we will evaluate the seriousness of our commitment to Jesus as our only Savior.

Scripture: Luke 4:14-30
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught 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. And he stood up to read. 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 preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
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, and he began by saying to them, “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 you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

“I tell you the truth,” 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 region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them were cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian.”

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Hymns
“Hail to the Brightness”
“The Church’s One Foundation”

Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon “Compelled to Act“ delivered on Christian Crusaders April 8, 2001.
Two people look at the cross. One can tell the story and have great respect for Jesus and what He did for the world. The other turns his life over to Christ. Jesus is more than a biblical character described on the pages of the Bible. His suffering, death, and resurrection is more than a dogma to which he gives lip service when confessing his faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed. Christ is a living person who raps at my heart’s door and offers me the forgiveness of my sins. I receive Him. He is mine and I am His for all eternity. We live in a personal relationship with Him.

On ChristianCrusaders.org
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On the Light Side
What is a Week Without God?
Without God our week would be:
Sinday
Mournday
Tearsday
Wasteday
Thirstday
Fightday and
Shatterday
Seven days without God makes one Weak!