Following Jesus is really what the Christian life is all about. Following Jesus makes life easy in many ways. You don’t have to figure everything out yourself, you simply need to do what Jesus tells you to do. To follow Jesus is to be like Him in your attitudes and thought life. To follow Jesus is to speak the truth in love as Jesus did. To follow Jesus is to do the things that Jesus did.

Today, our message is entitled “Does God Heal Today?” Some people say no. Others only through doctors. Yet others, say rarely. Today, we’re going to look at God’s Word to see how it answers the question.

Luke 4:40-41 (ESV) Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many,

This is one of many verses that describe Jesus’ healing ministry. People flocked to Jesus and He healed their diseases and cast demons out of them. As we’ve begun our journey through the Gospel of Luke, we’ve seen summary accounts of Jesus’ healing many. We’ve also read of detailed examples of Jesus healing people. As Jesus was healing people, His disciples were being trained by watching Him. Then Jesus decided it was time for His disciples to do the same things.

Luke 9:1-2 (ESV) And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Jesus’ disciples were given the same power that Jesus had to heal and cast out demons. Some would say, well that was the twelve apostles and we’re not apostles. If we disregarded everything that Jesus told His apostles to do, there wouldn’t be much of anything in the Gospels for us to follow. So, to make it clearer to us the Jesus desires for all His followers to heal people, let’s look at

Luke 10:1, 9 (ESV) After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. … Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

These are 72 unnamed other disciples who were instructed to do the same things. Not only did they heal the sick, but they also cast out demons, just as Jesus had done. Jesus instructed His disciples and us that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to do supernatural things, like heal the sick and cast out demons. The power of the Holy Spirit, called by Jesus the baptism in the Holy Spirit must be asked for in order to receive it. The Holy Spirit gives out specific gifts related to healing.

1 Corinthians 12:9-10a (ESV) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles

Here we see three gifts of the spirit mentioned, including gifts of healing. Some would say, well if God wants me to have it, He’ll just have to give it to me. But that’s not the way God works. The way that we receive gifts from God is by asking Him for them. If we don’t ask, we won’t receive.

1 Corinthians 14:1 (ESV) Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts,

This verse is a command, this is not an option for a follower of Jesus. Every follower of Jesus should earnestly desire spiritual gifts. What does it mean to earnestly desire spiritual gifts? It means to earnestly pray and ask God for them in your life. It’s not just asking once, it’s asking until God gives you the power to use them to show His love to others. And notice that there are gifts (plural) of healing, so there are different kinds of gifts of healing. If God commands you to earnestly desire something, do you think that He then wouldn’t give it to you? I don’t think so. If you seek, you will find. Yes, God still heals today and He wants to use you and me to bring His healing into our world. So, let’s learn how we can learn to follow Jesus in healing.

Jesus called people to follow Him. To believe in Jesus is not simply to believe He existed. To believe in Jesus is not a one-time event. To believe in Jesus is to become a follower of His, for the rest of your life.

This morning our message is entitled “Grow as a Disciple of Jesus.” We’re going to be talking about another biblical term for a follower of Jesus, which is a disciple of Jesus. A disciple is a follower or a student of a teacher or leader. As believers, we are to be students and followers of Jesus our leader and Lord. Therefore believing in Jesus is not a one-time event, as some think. Believing in Jesus is to become a disciple of Jesus for a lifetime.

Another common definition of a disciple is a personal follower of Jesus during his life, especially one of the twelve apostles. One we’ve learned so far today, indicates that this definition is not correct. Although Jesus’ followers during His life were disciples, the term disciples refers to followers of Jesus of all time, including today.

Luke 6:13 (ESV) And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:

From a larger group of disciples, Jesus chose the twelve apostles. Thus there were disciples in Jesus who were not apostles and the same is true today. Jesus instructs all of His followers in …

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As a disciple of Jesus, our purpose in life is to make more disciples or followers of Jesus. A disciple is a believer in Jesus who has been baptized and taught to obey everything Jesus commands His disciples to do.  In Jesus’ day, Jewish rabbis had disciples who followed them around, learned from them and looked to one day becoming a rabbi. Jesus, on the other hand, called people to follow Him and become His disciples.

God created every human being with a purpose in life, a reason that they were created. That includes you and me. In order to fulfill your purpose in life, you need to be a disciple of Jesus, a follower of His. Those who are not disciples of Jesus cannot fulfill their life’s purpose. Today we want to learn more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

Our message series is called “Following Jesus.” In this series, we’re learning from the Gospel of Luke what it means to follow Jesus. To be a follower of Jesus means more than just saying that you believe in Him. A true follower of Jesus actually follows Him. A true follower of Jesus becomes more and more like Him. Like Him in character, in words and in actions.

Today our message is entitled “Healing Power of the Spirit.” To begin, let’s look at how the Gospel of Matthew summarized Jesus’ ministry.

Matthew 4:23 (ESV)  And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

First of all, we see Jesus preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. He taught the people God’s Word and called on them to repent and believe. Secondly, Jesus healed every disease and affliction through the power of the Spirit. These were supernatural healing miracles.

Matthew 4:24 (ESV)  So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.

What was the result of Jesus healing people? Jesus’ reputation as a healer went viral and people began to travel to have an opportunity to be healed. Not only did Jesus heal people of various diseases and pains, but He also healed those oppressed by demons. So the third category of Jesus’ ministry was that of deliverance, casting out demonic powers from people’s lives. Jesus’ healing and deliverance ministry demonstrated that the Gospel He preached was not simply words. It had the power of God behind it. You might say, well that was Jesus, how does that apply to me? Jesus taught His followers to do the same things.

Mark 6:12-13 (ESV)  So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.  And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Jesus’ followers did exactly the same three things that He did. They proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, calling on people to repent. They cast our demons from people and set them free. Finally, we see that they anointed sick people with oil and healed them. These supernatural signs and wonders authenticated the message of the Gospel as being from God Himself.

When the Word of God is authenticated by the power of God, you have revival. Revival is when you have people responding to the Gospel and being saved. As well as the sick being healed and those oppressed by demons being set free. Revival is what we are praying for to see in our church and in our city. How many want to see these same three things happened here? I’m sure that we all do. Let’s see how we can grow as followers of Jesus as we continue our study of Luke 4. As a follower of Jesus, God desires for you …

Have you ever wondered why you were created? What is your purpose or mission in life? God didn’t create you with nothing in mind for your life. The Bible tells us that He had a plan before you were born for every day of your life. Now just because God has a plan does not mean that we will automatically follow that plan. No, we need to discover God’s plan or mission for our lives and follow it.

Our current message series is entitled Following Jesus. When Jesus called His disciples, He simply told them to “Follow me.”

Matthew 4:19 (ESV)  And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

To discover your purpose or mission in life, the most important thing is to follow Jesus. In this verse, Jesus said that if we follow Him, He will make us into fishers of men. So, what does it mean to follow Jesus?

John 14:15 (ESV)  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

To follow Jesus is to love Him and obey His instructions.

John 14:12 (ESV)  “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

To follow Jesus is to believe in Him and to do the works that Jesus did. What are those works? They are the supernatural signs and wonders that Jesus did. Now many people believe that that is not possible for you and me. Why? They argue that Jesus was God and we are not, so we don’t have the same power. That argument is not true, because we just read in John 14:12 that Jesus said we could do the same works that He did. So, why can we do the same things that Jesus did?

John 5:19a (NIV2011)  Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,

You see, when Jesus came to this earth, He laid aside His divine power and walked in this world as a human being, just like you and me. He was still God, but choose to become a man with human limitations. How then could Jesus perform supernatural miracles? He did supernatural miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit, who had anointed Him at His baptism. That same power of the Holy Spirit is available to every believer today.

Today, our message is entitled Jesus’ Mission, Our Mission. After Jesus was baptized by the Holy Spirit, He was empowered to begin His ministry. This morning, we’re going to study what Jesus said His mission was, to learn what our mission in life is.

This morning, we’re going to be talking about Overcoming Temptations. What is a temptation? A temptation is a desire or thought to do something contrary to God’s will. The Greek word for temptation means to either tempt or test. So, a temptation tests whether we will be obedient to God. If we resist or overcome the temptation, we pass the test. If we give in to temptation, we fail the test and sin. Sin has negative consequences in our lives. Sin interferes with our relationship with God and our relationships with others.

How can we overcome the temptations that we are prone to give in to? The message series that we’re in is entitled Following Jesus. We want to learn how to overcome temptations by following Jesus’ example. Last Sunday, we saw how Jesus underwent two baptisms, water baptism and Spirit baptism. To follow Jesus’ example as believers, we need to receive those same two baptisms as well. These two baptisms prepare and strengthen us to face difficult temptations. We’re going to see how this worked out in Jesus’ life this morning. Let’s look at a wonderful promise from God’s Word about temptation.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV) No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

First of all, we all have temptations. Your temptations are no different or more powerful than the ones we all face. The promise is that God creates a protective zone around you. This protection ensures that you will not receive a temptation that is too strong for you. God will always provide an escape hatch for you to escape and resist that temptation. We can never say, the devil made me do it, I had no choice.

Temptations have and will test all of us throughout our lives. But we can overcome them with God’s Word and God’s Spirit. The result will be that rather then temptations destroying us, they will make us stronger. The devil’s aim in temptation is to weaken our relationship with God. When we successfully overcome temptation, they strength our relationship with God. Our story this morning begins in …

Luke 4:1-2 (ESV) And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.

After Jesus Spirit baptism, He was now full of the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit in a new and powerful way. He was led by the Spirit to be tempted, that is tested, in the wilderness. The one tempted Him there was the devil or Satan, our adversary. Jesus underwent a voluntary forty day fast in His warfare with Satan. At the end of the forty days, when He was the weakest and hungriest, the temptations begin. Satan always schemes to tempt us when we are at the weakest and most vulnerable. So, let’s learn how Satan tempts and how we can overcome him by following Jesus’ example. In order to overcome temptations you must …

Luke 3:7-8a (ESV) He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.

Apparently getting baptized by John was the in thing and many crowds came to be baptized. But just getting wet for public display was not going to do any good. John called out those who were outwardly saying they were repenting, but were not bearing the fruit of repentance. As we’ll see, repentance is not just saying the right words. Repentance is not simply saying sorry, forgive me so I won’t face any consequences. True repentance is evidenced by changed fruit in a person’s life.  We’re going to see examples from John shortly.

Luke 3:9 (ESV) Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The stakes regarding repentance are very high, a person’s eternal destiny is at stake. Jesus used this same imagery of those who claimed to repent and believe, but whose lives never changed. People who do not bear good fruit will ultimately be thrown into the fire of hell. What does it mean to bear good fruit? The people asked John “What then shall we do?”

Luke 3:11 (ESV) And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

The first fruit of repentance is to share what you have with others and not hoard it for yourself. John mentions two necessities of life, food and clothing are to be shared. So the first sin to be repented of is not sharing with those who have little. This is a sin of omission, the kind we rarely think about.

Luke 3:12-13 (ESV) Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”

Tax collectors of the time were notorious for collecting more than the government required to pad their own pockets. It was an accepted practice for tax collectors, but it made them hated by the people. Rather than trying to get rich by overcharging, they were to only collect what was required The third example was that soldiers extort money from people, but be content with their salaries. In all examples, the good fruit of repentance was demonstrated in how other people were treated. So, let’s see how we can better understand repentance for our own lives.

We are beginning to better understand repentance. Repentance makes a difference in the fruit of one’s life. Repentance changes the things that we do. Repentance involves both sins of not doing what we should do, as well as doing the things we shouldn’t do. This is how we draw closer to God for the first time and how we grow closer to Him after we’re saved. 

Sometimes, people tell those who aren’t saved that they can just believe in Jesus and not change their sinful lifestyle. That’s not true. The first step to become a follower of Jesus is repentance. Remember, repentance is a change of mind about our sin, leading to a changed life. Will God help you bear good fruit, absolutely. But you will need to make the decision to repent first.

For those of us who are saved, we are to confess our sins and repent on a daily basis. Jesus taught us to …Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. A lifestyle of repentance is the key to getting closer to God. Repentance leads the believer to …