if you would, Isaiah 61. And we're going to read from two passages this morning. We're going to read from Isaiah 61, verse 1 through 4. We're going to turn over to Luke 4 and read that, where Christ actually read from this passage. And then we'll turn back to Isaiah 61 to give the main points of our message. I've been thinking about ministry this week, and I felt like the Lord had led me to this passage. I know I have preached on this in the past at some time, but it's been a passage that the Lord has used on me many times to remind me about ministry and about keeping the gospel the center of ministry and how the gospel is the answer in all ministry we do. Listen, in our shared ministry, if we just give people food and clothes and send them out the door, we haven't done a whole lot. People need to know where to get the manna, right? They need to know Jesus Christ. People need to know where they get the garments of righteousness, right? Ministries of service where we're helping people are opportunities whereby we can tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we cannot ever lose that focus in our ministries, and so don't think that our ministries are just about getting people over the hump. That's part of it, but that's showing the compassion of Christ, and in that, showing them the gospel of Jesus Christ as well. And let's read this, Isaiah 61, verse 1 through 4. I tell you, this first phrase to start off with, it's been like ringing in my ears over and over and over again, and thinking about ministry. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Wow. I want that said about me, right? You want that said about you. Now this is prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to look at that. But there's a thought here that I want to drive throughout this message and weave it here is that how do we know when the Spirit of the Lord is upon us? I want to know that. How do we know when the Spirit of God is upon us? How do we know the Spirit of God is upon us in our life? How do we know when the Spirit of God is upon our church? And here's some things we want to see here. Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes. the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." Isn't that the purpose of all ministry? And if the Spirit of God is in a ministry and working through a ministry, who gets the glory in that ministry if the Spirit of God is in it? Christ, always, right? He shall be glorified, that they shall build the old waste, and shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. Let me tell you, spiritual ministry builds things up, doesn't it? At least it should. And that's what we want to be about. Turn to Luke chapter 4. Keep your place there in Isaiah 61. But the Lord Jesus Christ had, at one point, opened up the Scriptures and read part of what we have just read. I want to look at that because it is significant. It gives some interpretation of Isaiah 61 and tells us some other things as well where he stopped reading. Luke 4 and start with verse 16. And he, Jesus, came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up. And as his custom was, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for the reading. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, and to send at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. So he stopped there in his reading, And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all of them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. Now that's significant because he stopped reading right there before Isaiah 61 where it talked about the judgment. He stopped reading because the very next thing where he quit reading at was in the day of vengeance of our God. That day when Jesus was there before them, He's saying, this day, this is fulfilled. So He stopped reading right there to say, this is the time, this passage is being fulfilled. The day of judgment is coming, right? So that's going to happen in the future. So it says there that, and all bear witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, Is not this Joseph's son?" So he's having this great message, this fulfillment of who he is, and they're saying this is being fulfilled the day before you, and what are they concerned about? Well, where's this guy from? And so they're all wrapped up in that as far as where he's from. And it's a big stumbling block for them. And we see that later in verses 28 and 29. It's referred to again. It's a stumbling block for them because they know his mother. It's a stumbling block for them. And so it was confusing to them. So basically, how can he be this person whenever we know his family, whenever we know his background? You know what? They should have known by what he was doing that he was who he was. When he read, "...the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me," they should have been looking at the ministries that he had, the healing of the broken heart, the openness of the blind, should have seen the ministry of Christ, and they should have come to the conclusion, based upon the Scriptures of Isaiah, and they should have known that he was the Anointed. They should have known that he was the Messiah. Because of what he was doing, the ministry he was doing. They should have been able to see the Spirit of God upon him, rather they were wrapped up in the fact, isn't this Joseph's son? And so they should have been able to give testimony because of what He was doing in His ministry that the Spirit of God was upon Him. And see, that's for us today as well, isn't it? You see, we should be able to see that the Spirit of the Lord is upon us in our life, that the Spirit of God is at work in the church here by the ministry that we do. It should be evident by the onlookers. It should be evident, the testimony should be obvious, that the Spirit of the Lord is at work in our life. by the ministries that we do, and how we treat people, how we give the gospel, etc., which we're going to get into in just a moment. Listen, I'm not interested here at this church, and I hope you don't think that this is what it's about. I'm not interested. My focus is not to build a big church. If God wants that to happen, that's God's purpose, that's God's plan, that's up to the Lord. But that's not my main focus. My main focus is to give the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's first and foremost. And as we minister to others and the gospel is the center of our ministry, if God saves and adds to the church, that's up to Him. I'm not going to try to make that happen, okay? But if it happens as a result of giving the pure gospel of Jesus Christ and ministering to people where they're at, and it happens like that, that will be a healthy growing church. Or that will be one thing to assist in a healthy growing church. We need to remember that one of the reasons we meet is to be strengthened of the Lord, that we might go out there and minister to people. We come in here for worship, to be encouraged, to be strengthened in the faith, to be guided in the faith, and to become mature in the faith for the building up of ourselves in the Lord for what purpose to what end. So that we may go out there and do ministry. So that we might reach the brokenhearted. So that we might go out there with the gospel of hope that gives man hope wherever he is at. Our purpose of ministry in life should not be anything short of that it might look like the life of Jesus Christ. In other words, when we look at the life of Christ and see Him ministering to people, that's a model for us. Did He help the poor? Absolutely, He helped the poor. He fed them, didn't He? I've actually heard sermons preached against feeding people. Really? Give me a chapter and verse for that one. I would like to see that. Jesus was all about that, wasn't He? But did He also talk to them about Himself? Absolutely. See, we've got to keep the gospel in the center of all ministry, or like I said at the beginning, we've missed the mark. We must be focused, if you would, on giving the Gospel first and foremost, which is what we're going to start with here. Turn back to Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, He said, but what's the first thing He gives reference to? Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. Now, when Jesus Christ quoted this in our translation in the book of Luke, what does it say? To preach the Gospel to the poor. Jesus is reading from here, so here in the New Testament, the translation is a little different, but it carries the same idea. The gospel is the good news. And the meek here speaks of the poor. Every time the Scriptures do talk about poor, it isn't always talking about poverty-stricken people. There is a poor in spirit. The lowly in spirit. So you've got to understand that sometimes when you hear the word poor, the Scriptures isn't always talking about those that are poverty-stricken. So that's important to realize that. But listen, people can spiritually be poverty-stricken, bankrupt. And you know what? That's where all of us were. All of us were poor when Jesus Christ arrested us, and when Jesus Christ came to us. What do I mean by that? We were spiritually bankrupt, weren't we? We were in spiritual poverty. And so, yeah, the Scriptures do talk about ministering to the poor, and it's actually talking about those in physical poverty, but oftentimes the Scriptures talking about poor talks about those that are lowly, or those that possibly are spiritually poor. But it's not only applied there, and I don't have time to make all these distinctions, but sometimes it's actually talking about the humble. The humble. And that's why it says meek. But here's what we want to focus in on here, is that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, first and foremost, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings. Listen, when we have the desire to preach the gospel of good news, and to preach the pure gospel of Christ, I assure you that that is what the Spirit of the Lord would have us to do. That's first and foremost is the preaching of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The gospel is the center of all ministry. Now, Christ is the good news. And what we see in the following passage here that we have read is a couple things. One, that the gospel must be center to all ministry. But also, the gospel is power unto all ministry that we do. In other words, the gospel can do what it talks about in the following. And so yeah, there's a sense where we can help a person financially, temporarily, but we must also give him the gospel of Jesus Christ, which helps him eternally, which is far greater. And so we cannot leave that off. But notice though, here he starts off talking about preaching the gospel of good news, the good tidings into the meek. And what we're going to see unfold here is really that the gospel does all of these things. And so therefore, the gospel needs to be the center of all ministry. When you're ministering to the brokenhearted, when you're ministering to those captive, when you're ministering to those that cannot see their way out of their situation, when you're ministering to those who are in mourning, when you're ministering to those who are, if you were, in ashes, when you're ministering to those who have a spirit of heaviness, You must always, through that, wherever they're at, as you are lending that helping hand, you are also going to, first and foremost, point them to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we don't get that, we're not helping that much. I know sometimes there might be opportunities where things spring up and you just help people instantly in our current situation and there's not an opportunity to preach Christ to them and show them Christ. I get that. Those things happen, okay? So I'm not dismissing those times that, you know, you just ran into somebody, you thought, well, this person really does need help, you help them and go on. that doesn't mean that you haven't done them any good. Listen, God can work through that kindness, etc. But when we're talking about when we're with people and we're trying to help people, we cannot leave the gospel out of that and always seek as an opportunity to point them to Christ as much as possible. Now, in Isaiah 61, after he talks about preaching the gospel unto the meek, he says, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. And when I read those, I don't just think about people out there that are brokenhearted, I think about myself. That was me. I was broken within. Was that not you? Well, what is it that made the difference for you? It's the Gospel, right? It's the person of Christ that makes that difference. That word broken, it literally speaks of being in pieces. To rend violently, to crush. And you know what? All of us, I think, who give testimony in our lost condition, that was us. We were crushed within. Broken hearted. And maybe you're here this morning and you have felt the blow of sin, and all of your sin in your life, and destruction, and you realize that you have fallen prey possibly even to Satan. Or maybe you feel like as though you are torn in pieces, that your life is in havoc going all different directions. We as ambassadors of Christ, we have a ministry to minister to the brokenhearted, and we have the answer of the One that can bring healing. That is the message of the Healer. The Lord Jesus Christ, who can bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted. Jesus Christ, He binds up the heart of the inner man. And listen, it doesn't always mean that people's life outwardly is going to be all great once they come to know Christ. But inwardly, they can know that they have peace, that they're at one with God. And they don't have to think that everything is completely broken, but they can begin to see through the gospel that their life can begin to be put back together. And through Christ, they can have a peace in the midst of the brokenness that only the gospel can give. So no matter where you're at this morning, as a broken-hearted person, if you think that this is me, I want to point you to Jesus Christ. Pastor, you don't understand. That word broken completely describes my life. I feel like it's a mess. I feel like I'm shattered. I feel like I'm just scattered everywhere. I have no purpose. I feel broken before God. Let me point you to the Healer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who went to the cross of Calvary and died on the cross, that we might be reconciled to God through His death, burial, and resurrection. You mean trusting in Christ can help my life as well as my soul? Yes, it can. But first and foremost, your soul has been broken. It is crushed by sin, and there is healing through the blood of Jesus Christ. A lot of people turn to God in times of brokenness just to try to help their life out a little bit. Make things a little bit better in their life. Yes, that happens. But we don't know who all that is, do we? We don't know who that might fall upon. But we need to give the Gospel and pray that they truly want their soul to be mended by the blood of Jesus Christ. But see, Jesus Christ, when He comes upon the scene, He preached the Gospel and He bound up the broken. How many times did the Pharisees and the religious leaders see people who you would say were broken by sin come to Christ and leave a different person? That should have been testimony to them that He was who He said He was. And that He had the Spirit of the Almighty. As I sought to be involved in counseling ministry and another way of ministry through our church, which I really want to try to encourage, is a counseling ministry of our church, through our church. And anyone that's going to be interested in that, I really would like to talk to you, if you really pray about that, because I think we could have a counseling ministry to our church. And let me tell you what, you'll reach the broken. And through that, you will be pointing them to Christ. That's a glorious thing and what a great ministry opportunity of our church to be involved in. And so I'll be sending some material out on that before too long. If you're interested in that, please talk to me and let me know. Notice next. He says to proclaim liberty to the captives. Now what captives is used, it's a war term, isn't it? It's when people were taken captive, right? They are entrapped by their enemy. They're taken captive by their enemy. Let me tell you what, there's a lot of people out there that you're going to minister to. No, they may not be prisoners of war in the sense of what we think of prisoners of war, but let me tell you what, there are many prisoners of war out there. There is a spiritual battle going on, isn't there? You want to talk about some POWs that need rescued? We've got all kinds of them in our county. We've got all kinds of them in our family. Prisoners of war. What did Paul talk to Timothy about? About those who were taken what? Captive by Satan's will. Listen, are there people taken captive? Yes. And we have the message of the gospel that sets people free. There are people that are taken captive by their sin. Sometimes we call it addiction. And they are addicted to it, and they are taken captive by it. They are entrapped by it. They are enslaved by it. And we have the answer, the Lord Jesus Christ. In all addiction ministries, what needs to be first and foremost? The gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why I'm not a fan of some things that try to help people out of addiction if Jesus Christ is not the center of that program. Right? We need to make sure Christ is the center of the program. Can some programs without Christ help people to reform a little bit? Help them to see the danger of their bad decisions and help them to maybe reform a little bit? Yes, they can. I'm after more than a little bit of reform. And I hope that's what all of us would want. We want transformation within, and that only happens through the gospel of Jesus Christ. So any kind of ministry that involves helping people with addiction, Jesus Christ must be the center of that. And people must be pointed to Him as the only One that can change heart and set them free from their addictions. We proclaim liberty. What a message we have. We see the workings of the Gospel. It heals the brokenhearted. The Gospel what? It sets free the captive. We're talking about the work of the Gospel in ministry. I want to reach the brokenhearted. I want to see them change. I want to help them. I want to help those who are captive by sin and by Satan. Listen, the Gospel is what does that. So we proclaim liberty unto those that are bound and those that are in addictions or whatever it might be, those that are enslaved by sin. Now notice next it says, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Now the opening of the prison there isn't talking about, you know, the gospel will break down the iron bars, you know, and let people out of jail. That's not what it's talking about. When Jesus quotes it over in the book of Luke, it's talking about the opening of the eyes. It's talking about so that people might see. People might see. You see, the gospel is a light to those who sit in darkness. And the gospel will show a way out. How can we help people to find a way out of their situation if we're not pointing them to the light of life? And so we have to be pointing them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Your life today might seem like a prison, a place where you feel entrapped. It might feel like a place of darkness where you cannot see a way out. Maybe you've made many bad choices and you sit in darkness and say, how can I get out of this prison that I have created for myself by my bad choices or by maybe the consequences of others possibly? Listen, there's only one way out. And that is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. He can make a way. I'm not saying that when you're ministering to people that there isn't practical instruction that you give for people when they're in addiction, or practical instruction that you give to people when they're broken. Absolutely. Or they're trying to find a way out of a situation. Absolutely. But if we're not giving them Christ in that instruction, we're not giving them much. Christ must be the center. When I think about what the gospel can do in setting people free, I always think about the, I don't want to say always, that's a term you don't use in counseling. Don't use the word always, okay? I'm trying to get out of that. Oftentimes, what I think about, whenever I think about people being set free, I think about the occasion where Peter is in jail. There's nothing he can do to get out. And God sends His angel there and gets him out. And I just think about, you know, there's people out there, and they're entrapped, there's nothing they can do to get out, but God can take His Word behind those doors, in the prisons of their life, how they cannot see a way out, and God can help them out, no matter how bad it may seem. When God saves a sinner, He will make a way for them to escape, and He will shine a light before them through His Word to guide them. Now notice next in verse 2. Now this is where Jesus quit reading. He read this part where He says, "...to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Now after that, Jesus closed the book and sat down and said, this day is this passage of Scripture fulfilled to you. We are taught in the Scriptures that today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time. And this gives us several thoughts, but one, it tells us there's no promise of tomorrow for those that we're ministering to. So there needs to be an urgency about us to go and minister and to give the gospel. And when we're talking to people, there needs to be a sense of urgency as well. They need to immediately turn unto the Lord. Now is the time to turn to Christ. Now is the time to call upon His name. Now is the time to behold the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, dying in the stead of sinners. Repent of your sins and believe upon Jesus Christ. Today is the day of salvation. And we need to give that message with some urgency. Peter preached in Acts 2.21, "...and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now is the acceptable year of the Lord. Now Jesus closed the book after that and sat down. But later, there's coming a time where the rest of that passage is going to be fulfilled. When it says, "...in the day of vengeance of our God." That one little phrase will one day be fulfilled when Jesus Christ comes back. And you don't want to be standing before the Lord, if you would, and Him read that part and say, now is this Scripture fulfilled? You don't want to wait, right? Now is the day of salvation. Now, the word year implies at least a couple of main thoughts. It implies, one, that there is a limited time. Limited time. And that's what next reads in the day of vengeance of our God. Listen, the day of mercy will end someday soon. We have a ministry of reaching out with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are ambassadors of Christ. Judgment is coming, and now we are sent to offer salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. What a message we have. And when I just think about this, I think about how much time sometimes I waste in frivolous things that don't even involve the ministry at all, or maybe I don't even think about it as often as I ought. There needs to be a sense of urgency no matter what we're doing or where we're at. Even if we're out fishing. I mean, if we run into somebody. We need to be thinking, how can I give them the Gospel? I mean, there needs to be a sense of urgency about us because judgment is coming. But thank God, today is the day of salvation. But today is only half. We can only promise salvation to the lost today. We cannot promise them that tomorrow. Now the gospel does so much for people, doesn't it? I love the next phrase there in verse 3, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion. You know, you have the opportunities to minister to people in mourning who may lament over maybe what's going on in their life. Maybe they face trials and hard times and all of that. Or maybe they're mourning over their sin because they know they've fallen short of the glory of God. Listen, in all of that, Christ is the answer. He comforts people. He comforts people. It's not the wisdom of our words. It's the Person of Christ that can truly give comfort. And His Spirit is called what? The Comforter. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, He said, and then to appoint them that mourn in Zion. Listen, when the Spirit of God, when we're operating in that ministry of the Spirit, God can help us to comfort those that mourn through the work of the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God by pointing them to the Person of comfort the Lord Jesus. Isn't it wonderful to be able to be used like that whenever people are broken, or people are entrapped, or when people just can't see a way out, or they're in mourning? And you can minister to them the pure gospel of Christ, and point them to Jesus Christ, and help them in their life with what they might presently need, something you can actually do, and to see God work and transform, and to know that God used you in that way. That's a great thing to know and to be used like that. What a message we hold for those whose heart and life is torn in pieces, who feel trapped, who see no way out, who mourn over what's going on in their life. We have Christ. He is the answer, isn't He? And verse 3, next he says, and give them, don't you love his phrase, beauty for ashes. Do you feel like your whole life is just a mess and everything's burnt down around you, there's just nothing left? And maybe you say, well, I've got my house, I've got this and I've got that, I've got things around me, erected, you know, that are there, everything's not burnt down. But within your soul, it's ashes. Nothing. Nothing left. Well, God can give you beauty for ashes. People would put ashes on themselves when they would mourn in the Old Testament to show that they were mourning. And He said He'll give them beauty. The word beauty there is also translated in ornaments in Isaiah 61.10. It speaks of being decorated with beauty. So instead of ashes to represent your mourning, Christ can change your heart to where you will then seek to put away the ashes, and you actually are putting on, if you would, the ornaments of joy. And that's why He says what He does next, where He says the oil of joy for mourning. So it's no longer ashes that represent mourning, now you have oil, which represents in the Old Testament, joy. You can put off the ashes, and you can put on the joy. And listen, we have the message of the Gospel that does that for man. Oil of joy for mourning. And then he says next, in the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Do you think we have any of that in our culture? Do we have to go overseas to find all this? No, we don't. Is there anything wrong with supporting missionaries overseas? No. But I just want you to know, you have a mission field all around you. All around you. Everywhere you go, I guarantee you, tomorrow you go out in the world, there's going to be people around you that are the broken hearted. Or that they are the captive. or that they are the people that cannot see a way out. Or they are the one that might put on a smile, but within they are mourning. Are we open to the possibility of ministry in our life? Are we even praying, Lord, help me to see, help my eyes to see the people around me that might be hurting, or who may be described here that I need to point to You? That maybe some way I can be a helping hand in that process, maybe help them where they're in need, and be sharing the Lord Jesus Christ with them. I don't know about you, but I know me. And I know my life can become so self-consumed with what I want, what I desire, what pleases me, that I'm not thinking too often, many times, about what do other people need. Where are the brokenhearted? Sometimes we don't want to see it, because then we might think we have a sense of accountability to want to help. I know that's me at times. I'm just being honest about that, because that's the way that flesh thinks, isn't it? When you think about the Samaritan there, often labeled the good Samaritan, but it should be the way all of us are. And the man was beaten and left half dead. You know, there was one priest that walked on the other side and didn't want to come close, didn't really want to see what he was going through. Because when we get up close and personal with it, oh man, we might feel accountable. I'll tell you what, one of the greatest things we can do is say, well, I don't have a burden for that kind of ministry. Well, pray to God to give you a burden. And one of the things you can do is go to places where people are broken. Go to places where people are broken. There's places of ministry where they're ministering to people where you can go and you can get a burden for people. See, oftentimes we don't want to get close to it. And oftentimes, it's because that we don't, oftentimes, don't say not always, but oftentimes, I know with me, it's because there was that sense of accountability. Well, now if I see it, I'm aware of it, now I feel like I gotta do something. We shouldn't be afraid of that. That's going to take a dying of self and being willing to be led of God. And maybe we just leave in prayer today, God, take me to the broken. Take me to those who need You. And whatever form I fall under here, whether broken or etc., but may we be at least open to the leadership of the Spirit of God in our life, that we might minister Christ the good news to them wherever they're at. Have confidence in the gospel that no matter who you're talking to, they need Jesus. So I can't identify with them. I haven't been through what they've been through. They need Jesus. Well, I've never been homeless. How can you talk to a homeless person? They may need Jesus, right? Hey, sometimes I find homeless people already have Jesus. We had a homeless guy come to church two weeks ago. Most of you didn't even know that. But he loves sitting in my office talking about Jesus Christ. So don't take that to mean that everybody that's homeless needs Jesus, okay, in the sense that they need saved. But you know what? They might be saved, but they still need Jesus, right? All of us do. No matter who we're talking to, no matter what people have went through, no matter what's caused them to mourn, we have the answer. Let us keep at the center of the answer. Jesus Christ crucified and risen again and coming back. My friend, no matter where you're at this morning, know I may not personally be able to identify with all you're going through, but I can point you to the One who knows everything about you inside and out. And He is the answer to your brokenness, to your blindness, to you feeling fear and entrapped maybe by sin or by others, whatever it might be. The Person of Christ is your answer. The answer does not lie in just being a church member, or being baptized, or just trying to be good. The answer lies first and foremost in the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. And when you come to Christ and know Him, I tell you what, your life will change drastically. There are many people who just want Jesus or religion as a band-aid for their problems, to help them get over their hump. But that can't keep us from seeking to minister to people where they're at in need and to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then lastly and quickly, he says there in Isaiah 61, that they might be called trees of righteousness. The planting of the Lord. So He can take the broken and make them something solid. He can take the one that's mourning and heaviness and make them a tree of righteousness, a place of stability, a place of protection, a tree, a fruitful tree if you would, that can minister even to other people. And that's what the gospel can do. It can take the brokenhearted, mend him up, and help him to minister to others. And all to what? That he, Jesus Christ, might be glorified. That's what this prophecy is about. It's about Jesus. All ministry must be about Him to give Him glory and honor in our life. We, dear church, have the message of hope. The same message Jesus brought we bring. We bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is to be the focus of all ministry, whether it's organized ministry within our church, or if you're ministering your community in some way, keep Christ always in the center. We are sent to take the Gospel into the broken heart of the captive, the blind, and the mourning, and Jesus is that answer. No matter what, in particular, has shattered people's hearts or lives, minds, whatever it may be, we can point them to the Healer, Jesus. And Jesus can bind them up. This is my hope. Because I have many family that is so broken. But I know there's only one that can heal their brokenheartedness. There's only one that can set them free. Jesus, please open your eyes to see you. Folks, we have the answer. Let's not hold it to ourselves. There's hundreds of ministry opportunities all around you. Do not come to the end of your life living for self-fulfillment and pleasure and entertainment. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with entertainment in your life. I'm not talking about that, but we get self-consumed with it sometimes. God, help us to see we are ambassadors for Christ. How should they have known that Jesus was who He said He was. They should have been able to see the Spirit of the Lord upon Him, and the message that He brought, and the works that He did. I pray that the world around us, our community, will see the Spirit of the Lord is upon us by the message we take and by the things we do and how we reach to the broken. God help us. Father in heaven, I pray, Lord, that you bless your Word this morning. Lord, I pray that you would help us to have a desire of ministry more so in our life. Father, I know I can be so selfish. I think more about times and opportunities that I may have to please myself than I do about times and opportunity to minister to the broken. I pray that you'd help me, that you'd take selfishness, pride, and arrogance from my heart and help me, Lord, to truly Be the example of Barnabas, to be a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. Oh, that much people might be added unto the Lord. God, help us work through the ministries of our lives, whether it's personal ministry we have to the people you've sovereignly placed, providentially placed around us, maybe at work, whether it's volunteering with gospel-centered ministries, or whether it's serving right here in our church, in the ministries that we have here, whatever it may be, God, help us to have some passion and compassion. I feel much of my passion, Lord, has been lost. My desire and drive sometimes is dry, and I pray for revival of my own soul. that I would reach this lost and dying world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. There's so many around us right here in our own little world that are broken, that are mourning, that are hurting, that are struggling, that might have a smile on their face, but their heart is full of pain. Lord, help us to be available. Help us to be willing. Help us to have eyes to see. and make us, Lord, be able to minister to those around us that you'd have us to reach. Even this week, Lord, help us to be prayerful and bring each one of us one that you'd have us to minister to this week. Help us to pray like that each week and help us to always be willing instruments in your hand. May your spirit be upon me and may it be upon this church. We can have a lot of I's dotted and a lot of T's crossed, but Lord, we need the power of your Holy Spirit to work mightily through us, that the gospel might go in power, that Jesus Christ might be glorified through the ministry of this church and through the ministry of our lives. Help us understand we have a great calling, each one of us, to be ambassadors, to be a voice to a lost and dying world, to tell them about the gospel and the acceptable time of our Lord is right now. Lord, help us to go forth with that message. And may You use us to glorify You. And I pray for the lost here today. Oh, that You might save them. In Jesus' name, Amen. I call you to come ahead and lead us in song, please. Let's all stand, please, as we sing.