This Sunday has been a long time coming. We started studying Luke’s Gospel on February 26, 2012. 72 messages later, we will conclude this magnificent book (Lord willing) on Sunday, May 4. Conclude might not be the right word, because even though Luke’s Gospel has no more words written in it, the last verses are a commencement, not a conclusion. This is exactly how Luke intended it to be. As you move from Luke’s Gospel to the Acts of the Apostles, there is a purposeful flow. Once you’ve finished reading Acts, it’s obvious that the next chapters are yet to be written and, in a sense, they are limitless.
God intends His Gospel, this good news, to reach every major city, every country town, every distant outpost, and every remote village. And it is. There is still much work to be done. The latest statistics indicate there are 6932 unreached people groups in the world today. They range in population from over 30,000,000 to 10. Each one of these groups lacks any “indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize their people group” (www.joshuaproject.org).
Luke 24:44-53 has so much hope for this mission and for us. The greatest news the world has ever heard is written there. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived, died for the forgiveness of sins, rose again, and is now alive in Heaven. He intercedes on our behalf before the Father. He has sent the Holy Spirit to empower us for daily living and to herald the Gospel. And He will come again.
Thank you for journeying through this Gospel together with me. It has been long and good. If you have been half as blessed to listen to it as I have been to study and preach it, then I am confident God has used it mightily in all of our lives. Please join me to finish the book as we are charged to commence the mission this Sunday morning. I promise it will not be wasted time.
For the sake of His name,
Pastor Adam
