SCRIPTURE:

Luke 4:17-18 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
 ¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
      because he has anointed me
      to preach good news to the poor.
   He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
      and recovery of sight for the blind,
   to release the oppressed,
    ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

OBSERVATION:

Jesus was born in a little fishing village called Galilee. At the time Israel was under military occupation by Rome. Rome’s rule was that the Jews could own land and continue to make a profit in business, as well as continue to worship God in the temple. However Rome imposed taxes on just about everything,(no wonder tax collectors get a bad rap in the bible). They heavily exported goods out of Palestine for their own use and to make a profit. What typically occurred is that certain favoured Jewish families were granted special status and were employed by Roman authorities to be involved in business and export. (Think of the Rich Young Ruler.) Because of this many Jewish fishermen and their families were not able to get work as individuals and were very poor. As well this would have caused common food shortages in Palestine.(Why did Jesus multiply so many fish, if Palestine’s waters were filled with enough to feed God’s people?) Because priviliged groups ruled over the temple, poor families were commonly not able to bring their own offerings for worship. Instead temple priests would force them to buy “good” animals to sacrifice at very high cost. This created a market for temple lenders. These were people who loaned money to poor families at extremely high interest rates so that they could buy the animals. This would send families into debt. (Forgive us our debts.) Debt was common in Jesus’ time and place. This was the world that Jesus came into. This is “the world” that Jesus calls us not to be like.  

APPLICATION: WHen Jesus called the rich young ruler to forsake what he had, he wasn’t doing this because he wants us all to be poor. He did this because the rich young ruler was able to get rich by exploiting others. Jesus was calling him to an allegiance to justice. He was calling him away from the systems of greed of the day. When Jesus said forsake your father and mother, he was condemning the rich families who stored up more than their fare share of the wealth that God had blessed all his people with. He was calling people out of the corrupt system. He called them to a different way of life. Acts 2:42-47 tells us that the early Christians shared all their possessions in common. Those who had, gave to those who did not. This is what God had wanted for Israel all along. Jesus came to bring about this. The ‘favourable year” Isaiah talked about and Jesus proclaimed had come through him, refers to the OT rule that every 50 years Israel was called to celebrate the “Jubilee”. In this year all money debts would be forgiven even if the party couldn’t afford to pay. All land would be reclaimed by the original tenants, so that everyone would own the land that God had given each family in the first place. All slaves would be set free. In other words if there was poverty in the land it would be no more.

Today, injustice still exists and we are called as Christians to proclaim the favourable year of our Lord.

Today’s Roman Empires - Canada? the United States? China? Europe?

Today’s Rich Young Rulers - Walmart? Apple? The Church?

Today’s Temples - Square One? Scarborough Town Center? Future Shop? Television?

Today’s Poor Fishermen - South American and Asian textile workers? Immigrants? Sex Workers?

Today’s proclaimers of the Jubilee?  Me? You?

PRAYER:

Dear Jesus let us proclaim your liberty and your salvation. Let us live as one person put it ‘more simply so that others may simply live.” Jesus may we abandon the ways of the Kingdoms of this World that wage war against each other in a violent game of power and greed. Jesus fill us with your Spirit so that we may live out your mercy and justice and grace. May this generation come together in the spirit of John the Baptist, to question the powers of this world and to put them to shame by living out a radically different calling. May we remember those who were exploited and do our part to bring about God’s way

The 90-Day Tithing Challenge is coming to an end at the end of July ‘10.  The 90-Day Tithing Challenge was meant to encourage those who are not consistently giving one tenth of their income to Christ to test it out over a 90 day period and see what would happen.

If you’re life isn’t significantly improved financially over the 90 Days of tithing to the church you will receive our money back guarantee!  Not something you hear from a church every day but we thought why not?  Give it a try and see how God will bless your faithfulness.

So if you haven’t participated in the 90-Day Challenge it’s not too late, start today!

We want to remind of you that this ministry is supported through the generous donations of people like yourself that catch the vision and take on the financial challenge.

There are many ways to donate to Liberty International Church:

1.  Follow the link to begin your online donation today!  DONATE NOW.

2. Cash or Cheque written to: Liberty International Church

3.  Soon we will be providing another great option pre-authorized monthly payment, which will make it much easier for you to automatically give.

4.  Personal tithing envelopes (box set of 52 weeks)- make sure you visit the resource centre and ask for your personal I.D. #.

Take a few minutes to watch this funny video, it’s a great way to remind yourself of your responsibility.

Thank you for support in making a difference in the lives of the families in the city of Toronto.

Be Blessed,

Dave

S – cripture: 18 A certain leader asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to have life forever?” 19 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. 20 You know the commands: ‘You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not tell lies about your neighbor. Honor your father and mother.’ ” 21 But the leader said, “I have obeyed all these commands since I was a boy.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” 23 But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “It is very hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God. 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:1-8 Contemporary English Version)

O – bservation: Here, a big crowd from all walks of life are around Jesus - men, women and children, young and old, rich and poor, Pharisees, teachers of the Law and many more. Jesus continues to teach them about the Kingdom of God - who can enter it. Notice this certain leader who walks away from Jesus feeling sad because he couldn’t trade his great wealth for eternal life. Clearly, wealth, positions, achievements, titles, etc. will not get anyone into the kingdom of God.

A – pplication: This passage reminds me that what’s important to man is of no value in God’s kingdom. Holding on to my “stuff” (or anything that hinders me from truly following Jesus) while at the same time trying to get into the Kingdom of God is just not possible. On the other hand, if I obey Jesus I will have a secure and lasting relationship with Him. God gives me everything I need to live right. I must make a choice to do what Jesus is personally asking me to do to enter his kingdom. Eternal Life is for the rich and the poor – it is for everyone. Jesus in the center of the Kingdom and my living in the Kingdom put everything in my life in its rightful place. Never trade Jesus for anything – never say “no” to Jesus or reject anything Jesus says because if we do, we will go our own way and end up destroying ourselves. We cannot serve or love both God and money. Jesus will not bargain. Jesus does not run after people – if we want to walk away from Him, we can. But we can imagine how sad that story ends.

P – rayer: Father in Heaven help me, by Your Spirit, to live serving and loving YOU alone, to say NO to anything that will hinder me in following YOU.  Thank you that you have given me everything I need to live right.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

junn

S - scriptures: ³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  ³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ^35’For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ (Matthew 25: 31-36 NIV)

O - observation: These passages remind me that God cares for the poor, the foreigner, the sick and the lonely. So much so that when we care for them it is just as if we did it to Him. (Read also James 2:15-16, James 1:27; Acts 4:32-35) God will separate those who will obey this mandate and those who will not. And He is ready to give His Kingdom to those who will.

A - application: Our lives can be filled with so much concerns as well, but in this passages, I am reminded of those that Jesus cares about.

P - prayer: Father God, may I never be caught up with so much worldly concerns to the point that I forget those who are needy around me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!

junn

I don’t know about you, but I have been astounded by the meltdown in the financial sector of the US economy. It seems like every day I turn on the radio, there is another major financial institution going down, and I if I hear the word Armageddon on the news one more time, I’m going to scream!

While politicians are all saying that they warned us about this impending crisis, I think no one really expected any of this to happen. And now, the scary thing is that it doesn’t really seem like there is an end in sight. (more…)