Given By Rev. Madison Shockley December 17, 2017

Rejoice! Our long period of suffering is over! Our punishment is over! This is the good news from our reading today. The spirit of the Lord was upon the prophet Isaiah. He brought a message of hope to the people of Israel. The oppressed will be relieved, the broken-hearted shall be healed, and the captives set free.  This message from Isaiah was used in the Gospel of Luke. Luke used it as the foundation of Jesus’s inaugural sermon in his synagogue as Jesus began his ministry.  We can relate with how the Israelites must have felt. Many people across this land have similar feelings of hope remembering that Jesus is real. This is the Christmas message. Just as Jesus was filled with God’s spirit, we can find joy and hope in God’s spirit too. We are to be about the work of God just like Isaiah and Jesus. Let this message of hope bring us courage and joy as we enter the coming year.