This morning we are beginning a fresh study in the Gospel of Luke. It has long been my desire to study our Lord Jesus’ life and only now has God’s leading taken me in this direction, and I am excited. I’ve been steeping myself increasingly in the third gospel with pleasure, allowing it’s words and accounts to wash over me in it’s ebb and flow. This morning I invite you into a fantastic faith building journey through the gospel of Luke.
Begin at the Beginning
Let’s begin with the first four verses of Luke, which in some respects is nothing more than an introduction but it also serves as an important statement of purpose.
Imagine receiving a scroll of some considerable length, fortunately it’s all rolled up so you begin by unraveling the first few inches just to see what’s in it. In fact you would be hoping that you’ll be able to figure it out in the first few inches or else it becomes a massive undertaking to unroll and re-roll the scroll to peruse the whole thing just to figure out what it was about. Not many would pick up a featureless book and read through several chapters to figure out it’s purpose. Fortunately for us, books have dust jackets, and scrolls like the one that Dr. Luke wrote begin with a quick introduction telling you what you can expect as you go through it.
Luke’s singular purpose is to reassure his reader of the exact truth of what he had been taught.
The Source of the gospel message
For starters, Luke sets his writing up against the many different accounts that were available in that day. Pay attention to what he lists here because it points to the trustworthiness of the gospel message.
