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This is the audio from the September 24, 2023 sermon, “Good News: Go and Do Likewise”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Luke 10

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.  We also set apart one of our young men as we ordained him into Christian ministry.   As we consider the importance of what we did in setting Alex apart for Christian ministry, we must also recognize that sharing the good news of Jesus is a task every believer is called to.  When Jesus asked his followers to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers, His answer to their prayers was to send them to declare the good news of the kingdom!  We, however, are often like the teacher of the law who wanted to justify himself and tried to limit his obedience to what he knew God required.  As we gaze into God’s Word today, may we hear Jesus telling us to go and . . .

• Declare Likewise: (Luke 10:8-12)

  • When the followers of Jesus were sent out by Him to the surrounding towns and villages, their task was to declare that the kingdom of God was near.  When people would welcome them into their homes, they were to stay and declare the kingdom of God was near.  When people did not welcome them, they were to shake the dust off their shoes and also declare to them that the kingdom of God was near.  Many times I think we want an invitation, or at least a welcome, before we share the good news of the kingdom but God’s desire is that we would declare that good news to all and allow Him to deal with the response.  We live as those who go and do likewise when we choose to declare Jesus as we go about life.

• Obey Likewise: — (Luke 10:25-29, 37)

  • When Jesus is approached by a teacher of the law wanting to know an answer that should have been within his area of expertise, Jesus turns the question back on the man in order to get his answer.  The man gives an answer which Jesus pronounces as the correct answer and admonishes the man to do what he said and he would live.  The problem was that the man wanted limits to how much he had to love God and love people so the Bible says that in an attempt to justify himself the man asked Jesus who his neighbor would be.  Jesus tells the story we know as the story of the Good Samaritan and again turns the man’s question back to him for an answer.  Once again, the man gives a good answer in that the neighbor was the one who showed mercy — something God had commanded His people to do from the very beginning.  We live as those who go and do likewise when we live as those who choose to obey God in everything, especially in the way we show mercy towards others.

Today, will you choose to go and DO likewise?