n e w l i f e foursquare church

2007 - The Arrival, Part 4 (Audio)

published Jan 15, 2008 10:43

This week we end our series The Arrival with a look at Luke 4 where Jesus unrolled the scroll in the synagogue and read the words, "...to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."  Pastor Nate notices how this passage relates to an ancient Hebrew tradition known as the Year of Jubilee where all our debts are meant to be forgiven and our enslavement to become freedom.

Throughout human history, we see examples of our attempts to appease an intrinsic fear in our hearts that compelled us to sacrifice whatever we could to make God happy.  But it was never enough.  There was nothing we could do to bring us any closer to a knowledge of or relationship with God.  So God made a way to reconnect with us.

The gift of Christmas was that God made a way for us to receive His favor and know deep down that He isn't angry with us.  He loves us so much that He came into our world.  He took our sin and pain upon Himself so that we could know Him once again.  He gave us His Spirit so that we might be empowered to live in a holistically new way.  He gave us His favor and forgave all our indebtedness to broken ways of living.  The trumpet has sounded, the Year of Jubilee is here.

The Good News has arrived.

n  e  w  l i f e foursquare church