What is the church for?
(Luke 4:16~21)

After being baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus went back to his home town and proclaimed what His calling was. This was a proclamation of Jesus’ calling and the church’s calling at the same time because the church is Jesus’ body and the temple of the Holy Spirit. As the church which welcomes the presence of the Holy Spirit, we must carry out what Jesus has commanded.

1. Preaching good news to the poor
After Adam was banished from Eden, humans lived in poverty. However, Jesus came and brought good news to the poor. We must believe and expect the riches God has allowed through our thinking, dreams, faith and words. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

2. Proclaiming freedom for the prisoners
Through Adam’s sin, all humans became slaves to sin and Satan. However, if we believe in Jesus we receive freedom through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:1~2)
　
3. Proclaiming recover of sight for the blind
Adam could see God. However, through sin his spirit died and he lost the ability to see God. Whoever believes in Jesus can be born again to open their spiritual eyes and see the world of God. (Ephesians 1:18~19)

4. Proclaiming release of the oppressed
Jesus cast out Satan behind diseases and healed our diseases. Diseases oppress our bodies and hearts, and rob our lives of freedom. Today if we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and casts out the devil and gives us freedom. (Matthew 9:35)

5. Proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor
The ultimate reason why we go to God is to receive salvation. Some people say that in order to receive salvation we must live holy and righteous lives. However, there is no one who can attain salvation by works. That is why Jesus came and died in our place so that through his death we could receive God’s grace and be saved. (Galatians 2:16)

Through Jesus’ proclamation of his calling, he revealed what the calling of the church was. Therefore we must share the good news to the poor, liberty to the oppressed, sight to the blind, and the year of God’s grace.