Without opening up the notebook you take with you when you go to church, can you remember what your pastor’s sermon was on last Sunday? How has the Truth from the Word of God impacted your life so far this week?

In Luke 4, we find that Jesus had come “home” to Nazareth where He’d been brought up and went to the synagogue to preach. The people listened and then were amazed as they listened to His words. Then verse 22 reads, “And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?” They were impressed with the “grace-filled” words which He spoke, yet many of them weren’t letting the Word change them into a follower of Christ. They didn’t heed the Word that was spoken. We read just seven verses later that they thrust him out of the city and cast him down the hill headlong! What happened to their initial response to His preaching? They heard words, but they didn’t allow it to change them!

If we were to translate this to last Sunday at your church, we would see your pastor standing at the church door greeting the congregation after his sermon. As the people passed by they would be saying, “That was a good sermon, Preacher!” “Good talk, Pastor!” Then, heading home to dinner and into the rest of their week, they would totally forget what they had just heard, and the changes they need to make. Continue reading “Gracious Words” →