"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me
to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty them that are bruised," (Luke 4:18, KJV).
This is Jesus' description of His ministry. The Holy Spirit within Jesus, empowered His anointing--His ministry (see Eph 4). The
church which followed after Him in the book of Acts, filled with the Spirit--empowered in their anointing--their ministry--in the very
same way...
1. To bring the Gospel to the poor..........
2. To heal..... (all manner of sickness and disease)
3. To bring deliverance..... (power to cast out the devil and every demonic stronghold)
4. To set at liberty.....(the Greek: apostello"--to freely release people to serve God)
Ministry is: The Christ within a Christian, reaching out and serving others--in the same way that Jesus demonstrated to us in His life
in the earth. Preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, casting out the devil, releasing others to serve God--all in the name of Jesus the
Christ. The purest definition of the "church" is a group of people who work together to carry on Jesus' ministry.