January 23, 2019

Dear Church of the Apostles,

This Sunday’s Gospel passage includes these words that Jesus read at his first sermon as recorded in Luke.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

We often read these words of Christ as spiritual truths. In other words, Christ will set our captive souls free and proclaim good news to those who are poor in spirit.

Our King is a both-and King; therefore, Jesus’s message definitely includes our souls and spirits, but he also definitely promises to bodily free those who are actually, bodily oppressed.

We’ll hear more about this both-and promise of freedom during the sermon this week as well as through two testimonies of how God is working in our community to free body, soul, and spirit.

We will hear from our brother Walter about how Christ has freed him through the listening and inner healing prayer ministry called Living Waters. (See more details about the upcoming Living Waters Intensive here.)

We will also hear from Maureen Fleming, a sister from Saint Luke’s Catholic Church in Westport, about the prayer and work that God is beginning in Fairfield County on behalf of those who are enslaved by human trafficking. (See details about an upcoming prayer and information meeting.)

I look forward to what God has in store for us at Apostles and the region.

See you Sunday!

Peace and Hope,
Brian+