Luke - Sidelines to Headlines
When I mention Luke, most of us will think about his Gospel. Some may think about him as a doctor, or even a historian. But beyond that, we don't really have a lot of information in scripture that speaks directly about Luke.
When I mention Luke, most of us will think about his Gospel. Some may think about him as a doctor, or even a historian. But beyond that, we don't really have a lot of information in scripture that speaks directly about Luke. He was not one of the stand out apostles, or part of the inner circle. He is not mentioned much directly in scriptures, yet he wrote two books of the New Testament. As we look at Luke, ask yourself this question: "Are those in the spot light the only ones that can make an impact for Christ?"
Introductions
- Luke 1: 1-4
- Luke was a Doctor and a historian, so he was very educated.
- The Greek language allows for very long sentences, so it has been divided up into four shorter sentences for the English language.
- You can tell many things from just this opening of his gospel.
- What things can we gleam from these few versus?
- He acknowledges the fact that others have documented their accounts.
- He states that he was there from the beginning.
- He gives reassurance about what he is documenting is true.
- What things can we gleam from these few versus?
What do we know?
- Luke
- He gave very descriptive accounts of places and people's names.
- Time and Time again, the facts and details that Luke put in his scriptures (Luke and Acts) have been proven true.
- How important is the "details"?
- Colossians 4: 14 - Physician
- He traveled with Paul
- Acts
- Acts 1: 1-5
- This is Luke's second "account" or book.
- He documented the early church, and does so with detail that we come to find from him.
- Would things have been different if someone else wrote Acts?
- God's plan for us is sometimes hard for us to see when we live in the now.
- Is he preparing you for something that you can't quite see yet?
- Luke knew others had already accounted the Gospels, but he still wrote his accounts. What he had no idea about was what Luke and Acts would mean to us today.
- Acts 1: 1-5
When Luke wrote his gospels, he used the skills and talent God gave him. His education and eye for detail gives us scripture that is able to stand up to scrutiny. Luke's words live behind a description of the man he was. It is a lasting picture of not only the people and events he documented, but of the person behind the paper. He did this from the "sideline", not in the spot light. Often times, our best work is done when no one is noticing. But we should remember that we do our work for Christ not the headline.