Corey Speer Teaching
Immanuel Sermon Audio
Luke (42:66)
Hey man, okay, I'm not gonna lie to you when Landon asked me to teach on this Wednesday night and he mentioned that, hey, guess what? You get to teach on the book of Luke. I was like, lovely. So as you may know, we've been in Luke for a very long time in church. So as I studied this week, I was looking for some things that were new and fresh. So hopefully some of what I will say tonight makes a little sense. If I rush towards the end, it's because I prepared way too much. So you'll just have to deal with me. So we're gonna start tonight, last week, Landon started with Mark, or he started Mark talking about action movies, okay? And as I studied the book of Luke, and I'll let you know what I'm talking about in a minute, but we're gonna start by looking at Chick-Flicks. How many of you like Chick-Flicks? All right, Chick-Flicks. So this is a random list of top 10 Chick-Flicks that I found online this week, okay? Number 10, are you ready? 10 things I hate about you. Never heard of it if you haven't heard. Now let me just say this, as a disclaimer before we move on, I do not endorse watching any of these movies, so if you've seen them great, if not, then I'm not saying you should go out and watch it. Everybody got it, okay. 10 things I hate about you. Number nine, pretty woman. Some of you are like, "Yeah, I'm guilty, I've watched it." All right. Number eight, anybody ever seen this one? Gone with the wind. If you look at the top, you can see 70th anniversary. I found that picture, so it's been out a few years. Number seven, wedding singer, anybody ever seen that? I've never seen it, so. Number six, dirty dancing. (laughing) Sorry, I had to do that. Number five, Titanic. Anybody seen Titanic? Okay, this one's gonna actually make my list here in a minute, and I'll tell you why in a second. Notice the picture, okay? That's that Titanic. Number four, you've got mail. Anybody ever seen that one? Oh, what a tearjerker. Number three, love actually. Never seen it. Number two, when Harry met Sally. At the bottom, it's wonderful, so it must be. And number one, anybody wanna guess? I would've guessed that one too, but here we go. The notebook, anybody seen the notebook? Anybody like the notebook? Like four people, okay. How many of you've never seen the notebook? How many of you've seen it, and you don't wanna see it? Okay, anyway. Okay, now here, we're gonna switch a little bit, and we're gonna talk about Corey's top 10 chick flicks. Are you ready? (laughing) Corey's top 10 chick flicks. Here we go. Half of them are cartoons, here we go. Number 10, Wally. 'Cause it's romantic. (laughing) It's a guy's chick flick, okay? You ladies, take notes, okay? Number nine, up. The first, like three minutes, it's a tearjerker. The rest of it, and who cares, right? Number eight, Beauty and the Beast. Just get you at you right there. Number seven, Rocky. It's a chick flick, I'm telling you. Number six, last of the Mohicans. See, the guys are like, yes. These are my kind of chick flicks. Number five, Titanic. Now, notice the difference in the picture. The boat going down. It's a great part. All right, it's the best part of the movie. Number four, the Princess Bride. Anybody? Yes. It's very, very good. If you haven't seen that, I recommend it. I'll go ahead and tell you that. Go ahead and watch it, it's good stuff. Number three, Groundhog Day. One of the best movies ever, okay? Groundhog Day. Yes. If you have not seen that one, I recommend it, okay? Number two, and this one's for Landon, Star Wars, episode two. Okay, it's the only one with the real love twist in it, but I had to throw some Star Wars in there. So, and number one, my personal favorite chick flick of all time is Fever Pitch. Anybody ever seen it? I like it. Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees. Anybody that beats the Yankees, it's thumbs up, right? So, so chick flicks. As we look at the book of Luke, you're going to see some themes throughout Luke. Luke that you will not see in any of the other gospels, okay? So, as we look at Luke, let's look at a few things about Luke. Luke was a doctor. We see that he's called the beloved physician in Colossians. He was a companion of Paul. In the book of Acts, we will see that Luke will spend a lot of time with Paul. He was also a Gentile. He was not one of the original apostles. He comes afterwards and he was a Gentile. More than any other gospel writer, Luke wrote his gospel based on historical investigations. We're going to see that here in a little bit. But as we start with Luke, it's best that we start in Luke chapter one. So, if you have a Bible, you can open up to Luke chapter one and we're going to start in verse one. Says this. In as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the themes that have been accomplished among us. Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seems good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you, most excellent theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught. So, we see Luke here starting off by writing a letter to theophilus. Theophilus was probably a very wealthy man of the day, whom is supporting Luke in writing this gospel. And we know that in Luke, we see that Luke and Acts go back to back, okay? It's like two movies combined. And we know this because if you look in Acts chapter one verses one and two, it says in the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. So, Luke and Acts are actually probably supposed to be one large book. But as we heard last week, and we heard Landen talk about this, many of the writers of the gospels started running out of room. They started running out of scroll, so they started cutting some things out so that they could finish their book. Well, Luke finishes Luke and he runs out of scroll, so he probably just starts another one. And it's to the same person, Theophilus. So, we see that Luke and Acts are probably supposed to be one large book together. So, what do we know about Luke? Luke gives evidence of being a careful researcher who talked with eyewitnesses, read other accounts. We see that he pulls a lot of stuff from Mark, and what we heard last week is Q. So, first things first is historical investigations. He investigated a lot of things and then put it into his gospel. Luke was not there, okay? He researched a lot of what other people had written, and he gave an account for what he had studied. Luke probably wrote the gospel of Luke in the late '50s, early '60s. We base this estimate on the fact that Acts concludes, Acts will end before Peter and Paul's death. And so, therefore, when they died, he had to have finished that, because if Luke was around when Peter and Paul had died, he would have added that into his book. So, that's where those estimations are based upon. Luke actually wrote more of the New Testament than any other author, more than Paul, more than John. Luke is the largest book of the New Testament twice as long as the gospel of Mark. While Matthew is often called the Jewish gospel, Luke is often called the Gentile gospel. So, it's pretty cool that we see that there. So, let's look at the outline of Luke before we get into the message that I have for you tonight. Chapters one through three, we see Jesus's birth, his boyhood, baptism, the genealogical descent, chapters four through nine, the teaching and healing ministry. This is where it will start, where Landon talked about in chapter nine, verse 51, where it says, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set, Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem. So, Jesus knew his time was coming to a close and he set his face to do what he had come to do. Chapters 10 through 19 is his trek to Jerusalem, where he talks a lot to the disciples about what it means to be a disciple. He actually talked to them about what he was going to Jerusalem to do. Chapters 19 through 21, Christ teaching in Jerusalem, 22 through 23, his arrest trial, crucifixion and burial. And then chapter 24, the resurrection, appearances and ascension. About 60% of Mark and Luke are identical. Matthew and Luke devoted some of the same attention on Jesus fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. So, what we want to look at tonight, what I want to touch on is something pretty cool that I kind of found out about Luke. And that's the midst of who Jesus is, okay? One of the things that Luke loved to teach about is who Jesus was and how he taught about who Jesus was was the types of people that Jesus encountered. The types of things that Luke is going to hit on is not found in a lot of the other gospels. That's why Luke is kind of set apart as different compared to the other gospels. So, number one, was Jesus a man's man? Obviously you kind of know the answer to this because we just got through looking at chick flicks, right? But we're gonna see something that Luke paints a different picture of Jesus than the other gospel writers did. Jesus was a man, his 12 disciples were men, all the New Testament was written by men. So Jesus clearly appreciated the importance of giving attention to men. However, Luke shows us a different side. So let's look at this. First of all, Jesus gives concern to women. Luke starts with attention at infancy, okay? He starts his gospel with the youth, the celebration of Elizabeth and Mary, Mary's song of praise. Luke will show us Elizabeth looking as if she has more faith in Zachariah, okay? That he will paint a picture of Elizabeth and Mary that the other gospel writers will not. He almost puts them up on a pedestal, chapter seven. Jesus' heart goes out to the widow who had lost her son. And again in chapter seven, a woman who had lived a sinful life came and washed Jesus's feet with her tears and with perfume. Jesus accepted this gift. This was not normal for a man to do that. Luke adds that in, okay? Chapter eight, several women help financially support Jesus. All right, look at chapter eight. If you have a Bible, turn to chapter eight. Starting in verse one, this is kind of cool. So that after this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The 12 were with him and some women who had been curative evil spirits and disease, Mary Magdalene from whom seven demons had come out, Joanne the wife of Kuzah, the manager of Herod's household, Suzanne and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. So we see that not only are these women helping financially support Jesus and his ministry, but Luke puts it into his gospel, okay? It would be one thing for it to happen. It's an entirely different thing for a man and a man's culture to write about it and to add it into the story. Chapter 10, Mary and Martha and their friendship with Jesus, inviting Jesus, inviting these women to sit at his feet and learn very radical for the day. Chapter 23, group of women who followed Jesus to Calvary, when the men abandoned, when the men ran off, when they hid in the upper room, these women were at the cross, these women were at the burial site, they prepared spices for burial. Luke takes the time to add all of these details into his gospel. Luke has more women in the gospel and his gospel than all of the other gospels combined. So he gives great recognition to females, okay? So this shows us something about Luke, but it's also painted different picture of Jesus than we're used to. Next, Luke gives Jesus great concern for children, okay? So this starts again with Mary, a virgin, Elizabeth, a once-bearing woman, pregnant. Not a great way to start a book in this culture, okay? So Luke will record the only story of Jesus as a boy. We see this when he's 12 years old at the temple. This Luke is the only place in the only gospel that you will find this story. Jesus healed children. Chapter eight, he welcomed children in chapter nine. He describes the children as recipients of God's grace and understanding. Chapter 10, he says, "I praise you, Father, "Lord of heaven and earth, "because you have hidden these things "from the wise and the learned, "and revealed them to little children." Yes, Father, this was for your very good pleasure. We see Jesus giving importance to children. He will rebuke the disciples for keeping the children to come with, the keeping the children from him. He pointed to children as a model of trust. He says, "I tell you the truth. "Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God "like a little child will not enter it." So yes, Jesus was a man's man, okay? But clearly, Jesus was certainly a man's man, but that part of masculinity was expressed in his concern for women, and those who were vulnerable in his society. So I just wanna ask you as men, if you're a man in this room tonight, do you recognize and do you, are you familiar with this Jesus that Luke paints? And is that the type of man that you are, who gives concern to women, who gives concern to children? Because it was very important to Jesus and Luke painted that picture for us. So Jesus is a man's man. Secondly, Jesus, the culture's shaper. You know, one of the things that you would always think, if you think about the Son of God, and he's come to earth, and yes, he can cast out demons, and he can do all these miracles, but was he all about the power? Well, did he go after the people of influence? Maybe he could influence the people that had all the money, therefore he could gather more support for himself. But Jesus is concerned with a different group of people. So let's look at the first one. Jesus concerned for the poor. When you open up Luke, you will see a different picture here. And Mary, magnificent. You will see Mary seeing that God has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. You will see Jesus' own mother begin this, saying that God has filled the hungry with good things, but he has sent the rich away empty. It's kind of a difficult way. You know, when you think about Luke writing this, and he's writing this book to Theophilus, and you think that's kind of an odd verse to put right at the beginning, that he sent the rich away empty, because Theophilus was probably a rich guy to support this gospel, to write this book. So Mary and Joseph very poor themselves. We know this because in Luke chapter two, they brought a pair of doves and two young pigeons for their sacrifice. In Leviticus 12, it was very, very black and white that a lamb was needed for the sacrifice unless you were too poor, in which case you could bring two doves and two pigeons. And that's what they brought for their sacrifice because it was too much of a burden financially for them. Luke chapter four, Jesus would teach from the book of Isaiah and proclaim that the Messiah had come to proclaim the good news to who, the poor. Okay? Chapter 12, sell your possessions and gift to the poor. Chapter 14, the Pharisee hosting the party, and he tells him to what? Invite the poor. Chapter 16, rich man and Lazarus. The hearers' expectations were turned on their heads when we see the rich man in hell and the poor man, Lazarus in heaven. And then Jesus to his disciples in chapter 21. Jesus, and we just talked about this on Sunday morning where Jesus saw the rich, putting their gifts in the temple treasury, but he saw the poor widow and he put two little copper coins in, and Jesus says, I tell you the truth. He says this to his disciples. The poor widow has put more than all the others. All these people gave the gifts out of their wealth, but she gave out of her poverty all that she had to live on. So Jesus did not condemn her for her lack of preparation, her lack of ability to make her a financial planning, but she commended her for her devotion to God. And these are stories that Luke will paint that gives us a different view of who Jesus is. Not only does he show that Jesus has a concern for the poor, he also shows that he gives a warning to the wealthy. Okay, he gives a warning to the wealthy. "Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God." And 6'20, he says, "Woe to you who are rich, "for you have already received your comfort." Jesus speaks to a man who's worried about the inheritance and he wants his money now. And he says, "A man's life does not consist "in the abundance of his possessions. "The parable of the rich fool, rich in stuff, "poor towards God. "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." These are all things that we've heard. So Jesus, Luke will paint a picture that Jesus is highly concerned with those who were poor, but he also gives a great warning to those who are wealthy. Now, in saying that, I'll just tell you, I don't think there's anything wrong with being wealthy, but what does your heart belong to? And Luke paints a very broad warning of the wealth that we have. So Jesus being the man's man, Jesus the culture shaper, what about Jesus the popular guy? Was Jesus a popular guy? You know, the guy that everyone wants to be with, maybe not the guy with all the money, but the guy that has all the influence. I mean, if you're Jesus, you know, one of the things that I was sitting in my office this weekend, I was thinking to myself, okay, if I was Jesus and I stepped onto the scene, here's what I want to happen. I want to get the most influential person in all of this area. And I want to say, I'm going to make them. I'm going to show them the truth of the gospel. I'm going to tell them the good news. And once they know, and once they have the truth, then they can proclaim it and everyone will listen because of their influence, right? It's like Tim Tebow, right? If you could just get Tim Tebow to put John 3 16 on his little eye things, then they said that after there was a national championship game and he put a verse on one of his things and they said, Google blew up with people searching what that verse meant. And that's what he meant. That's what he's kind of talking about, the popularity. Luke is going to show us the types of people that Jesus chose to surround himself with. And I promise you, it's not the popular. First of all, he surrounded himself with sinners, sinners, tax collectors, the Pharisees of the day in chapter 15 muttered this, this man welcomed sinners and he eats with them. They had to add that in. He doesn't just welcome them, okay? It's okay to welcome them, but then he goes and eats with them and that's just bad. So chapter 18, he kept company with the outcast from Zacchaeus, the tax collector, to the blind man that Jesus ordered to be brought to him. We see, even we see in the birth at Jesus' birth in Luke chapter one, we see the shepherds washing over their flock by night. Shepherds in ancient days were considered to be shifty, untrustworthy, thieving migrant workers. Yet these are who God chose to greet Jesus into this world. This is who the angels came to, okay? The shepherds working the fields by night, watching over their flocks by night. And this would be typical throughout Jesus' life. Jesus surrounded himself with sinners, he surrounded himself with outcast. A really cool quote that I found this week was from a 19th century English preacher named Charles Spurgeon, you may have heard of him. Here's what he had to say. Says, "You are the same sort of person "as those whom Jesus used to welcome. "They were good for nothing bodies. "They were persons that were full of need. "They could not possibly bring a price "with which to purchase his favor. "Are you not just like them? "Are you a special sinner? "I am sure I could find another special sinner "like you whom Jesus had received. "I will not go into detail, "but I will venture to ask you, are you a thief? "The dyin' thief rejoicing to see "cry salvation full and free. "Are you, have you been unchased?" God was a, David was an adulterer and was pardoned. Jesus forgave the woman that was a sinner who therefore loved him much. The untruthful, the unclean, the ungodly, are the sort of people that Jesus came to seek and to save. When we think about the people that Jesus surrounded himself with, we don't see the people of influence. We don't see the people with money. We see the sinners and the outcast. So Jesus was the man's man, the culture shaper, the popular guy, and then a myth, another myth that people want to put on Jesus, and you can see this a little bit in how some of the other gospels will paint a picture of Jesus, but we see Jesus the nationalist, okay? The nationalist. One way to begin a religious movement is to appeal to common boundaries and prejudices. So is that what Jesus did? Did Jesus just seek out and save those who he belonged to, okay? And that would be the Jewish race. Jesus came through the Jewish lineage. He came through the seat of Adam, the promise of Messiah that would someday crush the head of the serpent. So was this for God's promised people, the Jews? You may think that this portrait of Jesus is far-fetched, but think about this, okay? This is kind of the best way I could describe it. We all belong to a church, correct? Some of us in this room, we've been at a manual Baptist church for a very long time. This has been our church for many, many, many years. Some of us were very new to a manual, okay? It would be very common for someone who's been here for 20-plus years to go, this is my church. This isn't, you know, this isn't their church, this is my church. I was here during the good times, I've been here through the bad times, and some people are just here, and they're kind of enjoying what's going on here, and things are going well, but this is my church, right? And we get boastful about it, and we get very proud of it. And it's okay to feel a sense of belonging, a sense of closeness, a commonality, because when we have those types of feelings, it helps us to feel relaxed, it helps us to be comfortable, but this is not what we see in the Gospel of Luke. Luke is again going to turn this on its head. Yes, Jesus is the promised seed from Abraham on forward, but we're gonna see something different here. Jesus would affirm God's special concern for Israel, but he also clarified God's Israel's purpose to be a light for all the nations, okay? Yes, Jesus did come for Israel and for the Jewish people, but he came so that Israel could shine bright for everyone else, for the entire world. So to those in Israel who understood his true purpose, Jesus would bring consolation, but there are also some in Israel who Jesus would bring judgment, okay? Very strict judgment. Simeon promised the young mother Mary, in Luke chapter two, verse 34, he says this, this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. This was a great prophecy in that he was saying, a lot of people are going to follow him and a lot of people are going to fall because of him, because he knew how some would take it. He knew how some of the Jewish people, the Pharisees of the day, the very legalistic people of the day, they knew how they would accept Jesus. And that's not, and for this reason, Jesus would bring judgment onto that part of Israel. So let's look at the judgment first, because we'll start with the negative and then get to the positive here in a second. Throughout his ministry, Jesus was a constant conflict with the Pharisees over the Sabbath. We see this in chapter six, we see it in chapter 13, we see it in chapter 14, very specifically in Luke chapter 13. Everybody open up to Luke chapter 13 if you're there. I feel like I'm running through this. Luke chapter 13. Says now he was teaching, starting in verse 10, I'm sorry. Says now he was teaching one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and behold, there was a woman who had been this, who had a disabling spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your disability." And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight. And she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, and dignit because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days "in which work ought to be done. "Come on those days and be healed, "and not on the Sabbath day." Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites. "Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie as ox "and donkey from the manger, "and lead it away to water it? "And ought not this woman, the daughter of Abraham, "who satan bound for 18 years, "be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day." As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced, and all the glorious things that were done by him. The Pharisees misunderstanding of the Sabbath is exactly how many people, how many people misunderstood Israel's role. God intended for Israel to be a means for reaching the entire world. And that is exactly why Jesus would describe the Pharisees as guests invited to the great banquet, but who ignored their invitation, and therefore would not get the taste of my banquet. That's in chapter 14. So, to some, Jesus was gonna be ultimately the judge, the judgment that would come down. But to many, Jesus is gonna be the consolation, to seek and to save the lost. The other Israel being the consolation of Israel, the ones that knew they were to be what God intended as the light of Israel to shine to the Gentiles. Simeon praise, praise God saying, "My eyes have seen your salvation, "what you have prepared inside of all the people, "the light for revelation to the Gentiles, "and for glory to your people Israel." John the Baptist, as he prepared the way for Jesus, says all mankind to see God's salvation. You know, it's very cool if you look in the other gospels, especially Mark, when they trace Jesus' lineage, it stops at Abraham, Father Abraham, okay? The father of the nation of Israel, we see that they trace the genealogy back to Abraham. For Luke, he will trace the genealogy back to Adam, okay? He doesn't stop with Abraham, he goes all the way back to Adam, because he knew that the Adam was the father of all nations, not just Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. And I'm very thankful that Luke inserts that. You know, one of the greatest parts about Luke is that he is a Gentile, so therefore we can, as Gentiles, relate with him. But I don't want us to miss the very important picture that Luke paints for us, and that Jesus was very concerned with people who were not of great value to the culture of the day. And I just wanna, I want us to think about who in our culture would we look at and say, well, they're not very popular in our culture, they're not very wanted in our culture. And is that the types of people that we should be relating to? You know, it makes me think that if Jesus were to step onto the scene today, in Odessa, Texas, 2015, who would he go to first? What types of people would he go seek after? If he was truly here to seek and to save the lost, if he stepped into Odessa, Texas, where would he go first? Would he even cast a shadow on the doors of a manual Baptist Church? Just makes me think. So two pictures of faith that I don't want us to miss here, as we finish up with the book of Luke. I'm way ahead of schedule. Ooh. (congregation laughing) Number one, and we just studied this a few weeks back. So if you were here a few weeks back in church, you'll remember this, but to some who were confident in their own righteousness and look down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable, okay? Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18, starting in verse nine. Two men went to the temple to pray. I want a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. And the Pharisee stood and prayed about himself. God, I thank you that I am not like other men, robbers, evil doers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all that I have, but the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look to heaven, but he beat his breast and said, God have mercy on me as sinner. Said, I tell you that this man rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. You know, we don't always understand some of the choices that we make, okay? This tax collector made a very bad choice in being a tax collector, but I want you to see the parable. And Jesus wouldn't just tell this parable unless he wanted it to mean something. But I want you to see how God used it, okay? How God used it to show him how sinful he was, and he walks away justified to God. God uses it. And probably my favorite picture in the book of Luke is presented after the resurrection. We have again, okay, this is, and this is kind of where as we wrap up, I want to just tie back to the chick flicks, right? So we see the women at the tomb, women at the tomb. Women at the tomb, they find it empty. They were told by an angel that Jesus had risen. The women returned to the disciples to tell them what they were told, okay? Only one disciple began to believe right away. Only one, okay? Says, but the disciples did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. This is in Luke chapter 24. And I don't want us to miss this part. Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Matthew, when we see, the last thing we see of Peter, in Matthew, we see him denying Christ and crying like a baby. In the gospel of Mark, we see Peter denying Christ and crying like a baby. That's how it leaves Peter. There you are. That's how we leave Peter, and he's there crying like a baby. Luke's gospel is different. It paints an entirely different picture. Like the tax collector, he was so desperate that he stood up in the middle of all the apostles and ran to the tomb looking for Jesus. He believed in him, he had faith in him, and he trusted him. You know, the storyline of Luke points to Jerusalem like a big arrow, you know? In Luke chapter nine, verse 51, where it says, Jesus, when he knew his time was come, he turned his set his face towards Jerusalem, and he went, okay? He knew what he had to do. And that's what Luke, I think, is really pointing towards Jerusalem, making it a point that what was about to happen, where an in Jerusalem, towards Jerusalem, this is where Jesus becomes as vulnerable to abuse as a woman or a child, where he was made poor than a beggar, where he was despised as a traitor, and where he was cast out like a Samaritan. You know, I joked with land in that I was gonna walk in and say, okay, we're all going to just recite. Luke 19, 10, because we've all heard it a million times between the last eight months, and the son of man came to seek and save the lost. And I was gonna say, all right, y'all got it? Let's go, let's pray, right? But when you really think about the gospel of Luke, and that is the picture that Luke will paint for us, that Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. And here's the deal, that's not just for the Jewish people, that's for all mankind, that's for you, and that's for me. And the thing is, now that we have this gift of salvation, we can't let it stop here, because God did not save us for our comfort, God did not save us so that eternity would be a little bit better for us. He saved us because he loved us, and because he wanted us, like it talks about in Matthew chapter 28, he wants us to therefore go and make disciples of our nations. So in the same way Jesus has come to seek and to save us, we are to go and tell people how Jesus came to seek and to save them. And guys, until every person knows Jesus, our job is not done. And I pray that we would do the best that we could to seek and to save the lost. And when we really think about who Luke paints a picture of that are important to Jesus, when we think about women, we think about children, when we think about the poor, when we think about the hungry and the people who are in need, I pray that we do not close our eyes to those around us that really do need Jesus, and who will be open to that. Let me pray for us, and then we have a video to watch. Jesus, we thank you so much for this night, and we thank you for the book of Luke, and how amazing of a gospel it is that it paints such a different picture than the other gospels. We thank for Luke, a Gentile, who loved you enough that he would study, that he would prepare, that he would take a very distinctive notes on who you were, and he would make an account, he would give an account for all the things that he had found, and Jesus, we thank you that you came to seek and to save us all, and I pray that we not take that for granted. Lord, as we've sang these Christmas songs as we talked about you're coming and your death and your resurrection, the Christmas story is such a beautiful story because this is your picture of you coming to seek and to save us. So Lord, I pray that we not forget, I pray that you would make our hearts uncomfortable until we do your will. I pray that we are not satisfied in this life until we are doing exactly what you have called us here to do. So Lord, I pray that you would give us boldness as we go into our world, and I pray that you would give us people, place people in our lives that need you, place them right in front of us so that we can't ignore it. So Lord, we ask that you would use us every day. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray all these things. Amen.