Sermon Central
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Year Of Jubilee
Contributed by Christine Forehand on Oct 22, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: Year of Jubilee -- year of liberty every 49 years and on the 50th year it was one big party—it was the great equalizer!
(sing: Days of Elijah)
I. Introduction: Peanuts cartoon (Lucy goes up to Charlie Brown with a paper and pen and says, “Here, sign this. It absolves me from all blame.” Then she goes to Shroeder with the same paper and says, “Here, sign this. It absolves me from all blame.” Finally she comes to Linus and says, “Here, sign this. It absolves me from all blame.” As she walks away Linus says, “Gee, that must be a nice document to have.”
II. Scripture Reading: Leviticus 25: 8-17
A. Year of Jubilee -- year of liberty every 49 years. On the 50th year it was one big party—it was the great equalizer: Rest for the soil, reversion of landed property, and redemption of slaves. It was like having a re-set button. Even though things might be in a total mess, they returned to proper order during the year of Jubilee. [History of our church—1971]
B. yôbêl yôbêl (yo-bale’, yo-bale’)
Apparently from H2986; the blast of a horn (from its continuous sound); specifically the signal of the silver trumpets; hence the instrument itself and the festival thus introduced: - jubile, ram’s horn, trumpet.
III. Let’s take a closer look at the Year of Jubilee:
A. Freedom—from slavery, from debt, from toil of the land. Liberty was proclaimed.
B. Pardon—forgiveness of debts, pardon from sin and the debt we owe for our sins. Do you know anyone who is “Debt-free?” I don’t! Wouldn’t you love for someone that you owe money to come up to you and say, “I decided to forget the debt you owe me—you do not have to pay me back!” WOW—that would be so great!
C. Restoration—of families, of land, and of relationships. How many of us need to have a family relationship restored?
IV. Read Luke 4:18-19. Jesus—provided Year of Jubilee for every believer—freedom, pardon, and restoration! We have freedom from the slavery of sin, from bondage, from darkness, from oppression. For “he whom the Son sets free is free indeed!”
No matter what our current circumstances may be, God is calling us to Celebrate--celebrate salvation, celebrate, restoration, celebrate new beiginnings, celebrate HIM! Can we proclaim 2008 as the year of Jubilee for Lakeside, for our home, for our community?
