Call to Worship
This day, as everyday before it, and each day to come, Jesus invites us to trust him.
Let us take Jesus up on his offer. Let us worship!
Reflection by Howard Thurman
Howard Thurman was spiritual advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr. and many other civil rights leaders, first black dean at a white university, and cofounder of the first interracially pastored church in the United States. This excerpt is taken from Meditations of the Heart and is titled, “God Seeks Me.”
“Again and again I am conscious that I am seeking God. There is ever present in me a searching longing for some ultimate resting place for my Spirit – some final haven of refuge from storms and upheavals of life. I seek ever the kind of peace that can pervade my total life, finding its quiet way into the hidden crevices of my being and covering me completely with a vast tranquility. This I seek not because I am a coward, not because I am afraid of life or of living, but because the urge seems to steady me to the very core.
With sustained excitement, I recall what, in my own urgency I had forgotten: God is seeking me. Blessed remembrance! God is seeking me. Wonderful assurance. God is seeking me. This is the meaning of my longing, this is the warp of my desiring, this is my point. The searching that keeps the sand hot under my feet is but my response to His seeking. Therefore, this moment, I will be still, I will quiet my reaching out, I will abide; for to know really that God is seeking me; to be aware of that now is to be found of Him. Then, as if by miracle, He becomes the answer to my need. It sufficeth now and forever that I am found of Him.
God is seeking me in this moment.”
Song – In Christ Alone
Prayer of Preparation
Lord, you know everything about me. You know the places I resist you. You know the places I long for you. You know my every need, and you know the things I think I need. Prepare my heart to be more and more open to your will. I know you are seeking me out. I want to be found in you. Amen.
Scripture Reading – John 5:1-17
After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
5 A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I don’t have anyone who can put me in the water when it is stirred up. When I’m trying to get to it, someone else has gotten in ahead of me.”
8 Jesus said to him,
9 Immediately the man was well, and he picked up his mat and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
10 The Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It’s the Sabbath; you aren’t allowed to carry your mat.”
11 He answered, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 They inquired, “Who is this man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?”13 The man who had been cured didn’t know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd gathered there.
14 Later Jesus found him in the temple and said, “See! You have been made well. Don’t sin anymore in case something worse happens to you.”15 The man went and proclaimed to the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the man who had made him well.
16 As a result, the Jewish leaders were harassing Jesus, since he had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 Jesus replied, “My Father is still working, and I am working too.”
Video sermon
Song For Reflection – Kyrie Eleison
A Prayer/Creed for Doubters by Bruce Prewer
When we expend great efforts on a good cause
and see little result for our labour,
God of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus,
We believe in you, please save us from our unbelief.
When we profoundly and faithfully seek the healing of a friend,
but to no avail,
God of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus,
We believe in you, please save us from our unbelief.
When we witness by word and deed to the Gospel
yet see no obvious fruits,
God of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus,
We believe in you, please save us from our unbelief.
When disasters happen to the faithful,
while unbelievers flaunt their prosperity,
God of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus,
We believe in you, please save us from our unbelief.
When we pray with anguish over a lost soul
but see no change for the better,
God of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus,
We believe in you, please save us from our unbelief.
When we get so frustrated with our own failures
that we become carping critics of others,
God of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus,
We believe in you, please save us from our unbelief.
When we seem tempted beyond that which any mortal should have to bear,
God of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus,
We believe in you, please save us from our unbelief.
When we are weary of body and soul,
and feel like retreating into a closed-off piety,
God of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Mary and Jesus,
We believe in you, please save us from our unbelief.
For yours is the kingdom of unlimited opportunities,
the innovative and resilient power of saving love,
and the surging glory of the love which never ends
Amen!
Song – Beautiful Things
Benediction
Debbie,
Thanks for the insights into this passage. It is a mystery as to why God chose to heal some people but not all during his ministry on earth. This mystery is the same today.
It is also interesting that some people with illness or disabilities were not welcome in the temple. However, it’s still the same today in our churches. Most of us still only feel like welcoming to the healthy and beautiful people. It makes us question what or who the church exist for.
People really haven’t progressed or changed. We still need Jesus.
Thanks Debbie. It is reassuring to be reminded that God’s mercy is not dependent on “where” I am. –B
Thank you, Debbie. Enjoyed hearing about Jesus’ miraculous healings.
Debbie, you are such a great story teller. I loved how you made this passage from John’s gospel so alive and relevant. God’s mercy is for everyone! Amen and Alleluia!