Can you give me some good news?

How is God at work in the world today?

Hey, this is Shree at Bible Project.

In this episode, Tim is teaching us about God's commitment to renew the world.

We know this world is a mess, but God is on a mission to restore,

and we are called to join him.

Following Tim's message, Michelle will read from Isaiah 61,

and stay tuned, because at the end we'll have some time to reflect and pray together.

Listen in.

Hey everybody, this is Tim Mackey from the Bible Project.

And if you are trying to read through the wonderful and complex and beautiful

book of the prophet Isaiah, you eventually come to chapter 61.

The words of this chapter were very important to Jesus.

In fact, he used them in his first public speech in Nazareth,

where he launched his kingdom of God movement.

And you can read the story about that in the Gospel of Luke chapter 4.

Jesus lived in a time when his homeland was occupied by the Roman Empire,

and his people, this relates, were deeply divided.

Most people were very, very poor.

You can imagine lots of Israelites wondering,

where is our God who rescued our ancestors from the oppressors in Egypt so long ago?

Where's the God who rescued us when a Syria and their empire came to attack?

...