CALL TO WORSHIP
OPENING PRAYER
OPENING COMMENTS
- The theme this week is the service of God. The selected passages that support that theme are Psalm 147:1-11, 20c • Isaiah 40:21-31 • 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 • Mark 1:29-39
- In our call to worship Psalm, God is praised as creator and for his care of those who are nameless and forgotten.
- Isaiah 40 speaks of God empowering the powerless.
- In 1 Corinthians, we see Paul elaborate on the paradoxical nature of service and freedom required in preaching the gospel.
- The gospel reading in Mark recounts Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law who then got up to serve.
FIRST READING
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.
5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.
6 The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God,
8 Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
9 He gives to the beast its food, And to the young ravens that cry.
10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.
20 . . . Praise the Lord!
OPENING SONGS
SECOND READING
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.
24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
SERMONETTE
Loving Us Without Walking Away
Greg Williams
This is one of my favorite pictures. It hangs in my office and I see it every day. My son Gatlin was playing college football, and this is a post-game scene.
Gatlin played the position of linebacker and his primary role was to shut down the opponent’s ability to run the ball in the middle of the field. That afternoon the game wasn’t shaping up like we were hoping for. In particular, the other teams running backs were coming through the middle and breaking off long runs. It was as if the other team was reading our playbook. The bad news is that all afternoon they exploited the part of the field Gatlin was defending and our team suffered a decisive loss.
In this moment captured by the picture, my wife Susan walked alongside my boy in silence. She held that moment for him, saying nothing, just loving him without walking away. The picture reminds me of a passage in Isaiah.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31 (ESV)
Perhaps the reason for this verse’s popularity is the weariness we can all identify with. Weariness of lost games and lost relationships, weariness of our own failures and the failures of those we love — fatigue in a fallen world.
That’s why this picture means so much to me. It’s my son having that existential experience of failure and his mother reaching out to stand up with dignity and grace beside him.
The Williams boys have their share of trophies and ribbons and championship rings — we did all that. But this picture is my favorite.
This is the tangible, never-ending love of God we meet in our weariness. Of Jesus — God with us — who not only experienced death but all the frustrations and the “nothing-to-say” disappointments of life as well.
Jesus never sinned, but he knew what it was like to have things go wrong. He had to learn to be a carpenter by way of hammered thumbs and uneven tables. Do we think of him that way? Do we think of him walking off the proverbial field with Mary by his side simply staying close?
He walks beside us. He suffers with us. He gives power to the faint and reminds us that love, joy, and grace — not defeat — will have the final word.
I am Greg Williams, Speaking of Life and reminding you that you never walk alone.
SERMON
Mark 1:29-39
Mark 1:29-39
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- Note the order … preaching … then casting out demons.
CONCLUSION
A. What do you do when you (or a loved one) doesn’t get healed?
B. Do you get upset? Disappointed? Angry?
C. All of those are possibilities … so it might help to remember that God didn’t send His only begotten Son to heal. Rather He sent Him to save.
D. As far as Jesus Christ was concerned … our spiritual healing is much more important than our physical healing. It might help if we remember that.
SONG OF RESPONSE
CLOSING PRAYER
- THANKS … for walking with us … for suffering for us and with us … for giving us strength to cope with our challenges and trials … for solving our problems.
- THANKS … for the times when you healed us
- For those times when You didn’t heal us … HELP US to remember, Lord Jesus, that You didn’t come only to heal …
- HELP US … to remember that You came to save — to heal us spiritually, not just physically.
- HELP US … trust in Your love and Your wisdom.
- Amen.
BENEDICTION … Numbers 6:24-26
24 ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you.
25 May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
26 May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’