Cultivate Forward - Harvest Sunday '22

CULTIVATE FORWARD – SERMON

ISAIAH 61; LUKE

AUGUST 14, 2022

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OUR MISSION: Bringing the LOVE and TRANSFORMING POWER of  Christ to all people.

OUR VISION: Seeing people SAVED, SET-FREE from the bondage of sin, and GROWING every day in their walk with the Lord.

#1. SEE PEOPLE SAVED

LUKE 4:18  ^"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor."

Isaiah 59:12-20 "For our sins are piled up before God and testify against us. ¹³We know we have rebelled and have denied the LORD. We have turned our backs on our God. We know how unfair and oppressive we have been, carefully planning our deceitful lies. ¹⁴Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed. ¹⁵Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked. The LORD looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. ¹⁶He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. ¹⁷He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion. ¹⁸He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds. His fury will fall on his foes. He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth. ¹⁹In the west, people will respect the name of the LORD; in the east, they will glorify him. For he will come like a raging flood tide driven by the breath of the LORD. ²⁰“The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem to buy back those in Israel who have turned from their sins,” says the LORD."

Romans 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life, No one comes to the FATHER except through me.”

1 Corinthians 12:13 "For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body."

#2. SET-FREE (from the Bondage of Sin)

LUKE 4:18 "He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,"

John 8:31-34 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. ³² And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³ “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’? ³⁴ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin."

Luke 10:19 "I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy ; and nothing will harm you."

#3. GROWING

Luke 4:18b "that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,"

Isaiah 58:1-8 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins! 2Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nationthat would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me. 3‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. 4What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD? 6“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. 7Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. 8“Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind."

#4. MULTIPLYING

Matthew 28:18 “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all of the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the ends of the age."