Text: Luke 4:18-19 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

Some years ago a friend wrote to the Russian author, Turgenev, telling him that he felt that the most important thing in life was to put one's self in second place. Turgenev replied to his friend: "I suspect that the most difficult and important decision in life is to decide what to put in first place."

With the beginning of the ministry of our Lord, there was no question. Immediately after his baptism, which marked the beginning of his active earthly ministry, our Lord stood up in the synagogue at Naz…