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This is the audio from the August 13, 2023 sermon, “Good News: The Powerful Word”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Luke 4:1-21

Today I continued a series from the gospel of Luke as we gaze deeply into God’s Word to find the good news of Jesus shared with us by Luke the physician.  As we continue our Good News From the Doctor series, we find the good news of Jesus as the powerful Word.  When we consider the example of Jesus in the way He handled temptation from the devil and public scrutiny from the crowds, we learn how to hold fast to the powerful . . .

• Writing: (Luke 4:4,8, & 12; Romans 15:4)

  • Jesus not only understood the writings of scripture, He used them to stand firm and resist temptation.  When we dismiss parts of God’s Word as being irrelevant or unimportant to today’s culture, we end up dismissing the power of the writing as the power then belongs with us rather than with God.  When tempted by the devil, Jesus responded with what was written because He not only knew the power of the word, He was the power of the Word!  When we need good news in the face of temptation and opposition, we find within scripture the power of the writing.

• Opportunity: — (Luke 4:13, Colossians 4:5-6)

  • Sometimes when we read the story of the devil tempting Jesus it is easy to think it was a quick victory for Jesus and after that He was left alone.  What we find in the text, however, is that the 40 days and nights Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness was filled with temptation and after this time the devil left “for a more opportune time”.  The good news is that while the devil looks for an opportune time to defeat us, today is always a powerful opportunity for victory.  The powerful Word which has been given to us is filled with opportunities to know God and live a life which honors Him.  When we need good news in the face of temptation and opposition, we find that each day gives us a powerful opportunity to know God and represent Jesus.

• Reading: — (Luke 4:18-19, 1 Timothy 4:13)

  • Jesus understood that the powerful word not only was a powerful writing and a powerful opportunity, it is unleashed through a powerful reading of what it says.  When we read scripture, we expose ourselves to the mind of God as all scripture came about not by man’s wisdom or intent, but by the moving of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus knew the power of reading scripture whether confronting the devil or standing up to opposition from what should have been a friendly crowd.  When we need good news in the face of temptation and opposition, we find there is power in reading the Word of God to ourselves and to those around us.

• Declaration: — (Luke 4:20-21, 1 Peter 2:9-10)

  • We can know the powerful writing, opportunity, and reading but the question we must consider is what will we do with it.  Jesus used the powerful word to declare who He is and we ought to be using God’s Word to declare Jesus to the world around us.  When we speak the truth of God’s Word, we declare to our co-workers, neighbors, family, and friends that we know Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promise to proclaim good news to the poor, captive, overwhelmed, and everyone who lives.  When we need good news in the face of temptation and opposition, we find a powerful declaration that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Today, what will you do with the powerful WORD?