Drew Zeiler continues this week’s sermon series The Gospel of Luke, Part III: A Journey through Galilee in Luke 13:10-21. Drew highlights a significant truth in this message: Jesus provides liberty. Jesus, the most significant person ever to walk this earth, impacts everything and everyone. The healing of this woman on the Sabbath, His response to His adversaries, and the teaching of the Kingdom of God afterwards all serve as evidence of His notorious impact on our broken and fallen world. His life-giving liberty, what that looks like in life, and our future hope are the focus of this sermon.

Preacher’s Main Points

• The Kingdom of God is for the broken and bent-over souls.
• The Kingdom of God works in subtle and powerful ways.

Key Takeaways

• Sickness can be physical, psychological, and spiritual.
• Sickness (disease, disability, etc.) can cause significant challenges to the most basic of things. (Note the effects of the woman’s disability in today’s passage.)
• Jesus seeks after us. He sees everything and is acquainted with all our ways, hardships included.
• Drew made mention of 39 man-made additional rules and regulations that were added to keeping the Sabbath. (The Pharisees disapproved of Jesus healing the woman on the Sabbath.)
• The Synagogue (Church) is for the broken-hearted and downcast. It is okay and fully expected for us to need and to get healing here. (Jesus is our Great Physician and Remedy.)
• Idolatry is blinding, devastating, and destructive. It captures and misdirects the affections of our hearts.
• Idols rob us of what is most important, namely our relationship with God. Idols rob us of holy affections.
• Idolatry suffocates our love for God.
• Keep coming to Jesus. (Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.)
• We are to expect the Kingdom of God to come into our lives, but it isn’t always in the way we expect it. (i.e. mustard seed and leaven examples – It often takes time and yields long-lasting Gospel transformations.)
• The Holy Spirit enables Gospel transformational power in the believer’s life.
• Significant healing and heart change result from the Gospel appropriately applied over a long period of time.
• Jesus impacts the trajectory of everything and everyone. (Think deeply about this truth.)
• If God has begun a good work in you, He is perfecting it. It is God Who works in you to will and act according to His good pleasure. (What a beautiful truth, reality, and promise for us all to hold onto and remind ourselves of each day!)
• Be intentional in life towards the Kingdom of God. Start small and trust in Jesus. Be fully present wherever you are. Shine the light of Christ in your life, wherever that might be. The opportunities to participate in the Kingdom of God are endless and always before us. 

Discussion Questions/Application

Personal application:

• What idols can I identify in my life? How can I make them less significant and ensure God and others are first?
• In what ways can I be more fully transformed by the Gospel in my life over time? Are changes necessary?
• Am I willing to be authentic and to ask others to keep me accountable?

Discuss with your community group:

• How has God liberated us? Is this something in the past, something in the present, and/or something in the future? Discuss freely with one another. Is the Gospel a one-time occurrence?
• How dependent are we on God each day? Are we fully aware of our dependence?
• Are we actively engaged in living and sharing the Gospel? What opportunities exist for us to participate in the Kingdom of God?

Encourage and pray for one another.

Passages Referenced

Luke 13:10-21; 1 John 1:9; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Luke 4 (Isaiah 61 quote); Matthew 11:29; Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 3:20-21

Worship Set List

As Loud As He Is Worthy (Psalm 47); Holy Forever; All Sufficient Merit; How Marvelous; No Other King