Minister: Marcus Carlson

• We are in a new series about Jesus and who he is
• We are looking at Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and then the birth story of Jesus
• Today I am going to talk about the book of Luke.  Next week we will do John, and John is very very different than any of the other books I have talked about.
• Luke is one of the longer ones if not the longest one.  It contains some great stories of Jesus and elaborates on things more than some of the others do.
• It is actually part of a larger book that was divided into two…Luke and Acts where written as one book but divided to allow the story to be divided.  (Maybe they knew how ADD we would become)
• So Luke wrote Acts too…Luke was a doctor…he had money and was in good shape
• I like to call Luke the social gospel…
• It is about social issues and caring for the least, last, and lost
• Its where you see more than just healing and action (Mark) and more than just the history (Matthew) but you see how important the least are to Jesus.
• So, as a group…who are the least in our world today, the biggest sinners…the least liked people (GROUP QUESTION)
• You see, if Jesus were here today, it is those folks that he would hang out with and not at churches.  He would still go to church, but he would spend most of his time with the sinners.
• Read Tony bathroom story
• I love and hate this story as it breaks my heart.
• It reminds me that my faith has to be more, but it also reminds me of my own failures (tell Nicole story)
• You see God loves us so much we could never understand it…but he loves everyone that way, not just the rich, the white, the good, the Christian…he is madly and deeply in love with everyone, no matter how ugly, pained, screwed up they are.
• Imagine if every person you encountered loved you for exactly who you are
• Story of Good Samaritan—only shows up in Luke and is a great summary of how it is
• Luke 10:25-37 NIV
• Talk about this…this is what it is all about! 
• Hopefully you see a theme here…that some of what I have said each week is similar…Jesus was about few things, but he was really all about them.
• Reflection time…think of a person or group that needs to be cared for as a least, last, or lost…and write their name down on a card.  Put it in your purse or wallet or hang it on your mirror.  Take it out and look at it and see how God can use you.