Stories

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[2:59] Thank you. Some may have been to the beach but have never discovered the polished pieces of glass known as beach glass, but they will keep on seeking.

[3:39] Some may have combed the beaches and found the treasured glass. They consider its beauty and share it with others. In spite of when we do not see, we believe.

[3:51] In spite of when we do not find, we seek. And when we are gifted a treasure, we cherish and we share. In this way, the spiritual atmosphere within us grows and thrives.

[4:05] We are healed and healing when we too believe, seek, and share. Let us acknowledge our need to restore, repair, and renew these holy vessels we call you and me.

[4:21] Let us admit that our minds need healing just as our spirits and our bodies. So let us pray together. O breath of God, you gifted us with these amazing minds, capable of so many things.

[4:38] You gave us the ability to think, to form thoughts and expressions, give words to feelings. And yet our minds wander from you, from one another, from the needs around us.

[4:54] Our minds find blame with ourselves and others. Our minds turn off. It's too much. Help us, healer.

[5:05] Show us our capacity for compassion. Forgive our inattention. Move us one step closer to greater care for one another.

[5:18] Amen. Know this, you are accepted no matter what. Accepting our humanity can draw us closer to Christ, closer to the forgiveness that is for you, for me, and for all.

[5:32] Amen. Now I'd like to invite you all to... As we celebrate God's healing within us, He touched me.

[5:45] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

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[6:21] The Lord of guilt and shame Then the hand of Jesus touched me And now I am no longer the same He touched me, oh, He touched me And oh, the joy that floods my soul Something happened and now I know He touched me and made me whole Since I met this blessed Savior Since He cleansed and made me whole I will never cease to praise Him

[7:24] I'll shout it while eternity rolls He touched me, oh, He touched me And oh, the joy that floods my soul Something happened and now I know He touched me and made me whole And Andrea Gibson shares, sometimes the most healing thing we can do is remind ourselves over and over and over, other people feel this too.

[8:12] Please be seated. Good morning.

[8:24] Oh, that was loud. I'm turned up. A couple of things. One is that we sold 309 fish fries.

[8:36] Woohoo! Yay! Always grateful for the people who make that happen Behind the scenes and in front of the scenes And out in the parking lot and all of that And Carl Cole's always leading us into a time of success So we're very grateful.

[8:55] Thank you, Carl. And there's more. More fish fries to come. So have some. Invite your friends. Neighbors. The other thing is, as you know If you've been here and heard me say this before They put me in charge of begging Because they always feel like, well, you know If Pastor Kathy says so, then it must be an important thing And this is a really important thing And that's the youth mission trip How many of you think that's an important thing?

[9:29] Yay! So it is going to happen It may be a little different this year But it is going to happen And there's envelopes And you can put something in them Put them in the box Mail something to the church Whatever way you'd like to do that It's a life-changing event for many of our youth And for the adults who go with them So we're excited to continue to support that Also, if you didn't notice Hospice flowers are for sale So keep that in mind And you can talk to If you go out and come back in Maybe you can talk to Sandy I'm not sure I think that's it So I think On this beautiful day We thank God for signs of spring I've heard crocus sightings And if you haven't seen any

[10:30] Found any Discovered any I'm sure that you will Because one of the things we can always count on Is that spring will come Along with that So will more good news More recovery More rest More sense of the newness Of the life that we share together So as we come together For this time of offering Let us give thanks to God For all that is good And offer our hearts in prayer Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen

[11:31] Amen Amen Amen Amen Thank you.

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[13:45] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. and all watching we give you our praise and our offerings in the name of Jesus Christ please be seated one of the things that I am ever aware of is the fact that we need to pray more than God needs us to pray God wants us to pray God desires for us to pray because it is our way of saying to God we are not in control and we give into your keeping that which we cannot and will not ever control so I invite you as we come before God with our celebrations and with the longings and hurt places in our hearts let's pray

[14:55] Oh wonderful God as we are sometimes less often to pray we know that you are always present to hear us and to hold us we offer up to you the broken hearts those who this week are affected by suicide by kovat by death by illness by things that we do not often speak of for God there are those among us and those listening who have battled battles that they dare not speak in public who deal with the demons of depression anxiety and other mental health things Lord make us as a church more open to hear and less ready to be uncomfortable we offer up to you those who are facing tests this week and treatment that they might be comforted by the presence of your Holy Spirit celebrate good news we celebrate good news and we give you thanks wrap us in your arms your arms wrap us around in your Holy Spirit that we may be comforted that we may be encouraged that we may be called and that we may ever know your presence in this place in our hearts and in our lives for you are the one God the one Savior the one

[16:48] Spirit healer and knower of all we offer you these our hearts and the thoughts that that are on each of our hearts we pause for a moment of silence Lord bless us and keep us hold us forgive us heal us cleanse us and always and always Lord love us in Jesus name Thank you good morning today's scripture is from the book of matthew chapter 9 verses 27 through 38 as jesus went on from there two blind men followed him calling out have mercy on us son of david when he had gone indoors the blind men came to him and he asked them do you believe that i am able to do this yes lord they replied then he touched their eyes and said according to your faith let it be done to you and their sight was restored jesus warned them sternly see that no one knows about this but they went out and spread the news about him all over that region while they were going out a man who was demon possessed and could not talk was brought to jesus and when the demon was driven out the man who had been mute spoke the crowd was amazed and said nothing like this has ever been seen in israel but the pharisees said it is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness when he saw the crowds he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd then he said to his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few ask the lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field this is the word of the lord thanks be to god thank you elizabeth we are in the middle of a sermon series about holy vessels and we're talking about healing and in preparing this sermon it made me think of the toronto science museum and i don't know if you've ever been there how many of you have ever been to the toronto science museum and there's this thing that you touch and electricity comes through you and your hair goes did anybody ever do that even this morning trying to mess with my microphone and my hair's so if you if it looks like it's electricity going through going through and you know how many of us have ever experienced

[20:52] you're walking on a carpet with um socks on it and you can get zapped or zap others it's like i've got the power i want to talk about spiritual atmosphere a spiritual atmosphere for healing internally and externally it says that as jesus was going on from doing other healings because in this chapter jesus has been healing and healing and he didn't do miraculous things and it's leading up to this point and it says as jesus went on from there two blind men followed him calling out have mercy on us son of david have mercy on us son of david their spiritual atmosphere was growing as they were chasing after jesus declaring believing acknowledging who jesus was son of david meant that they recognized that he was the messiah so they're acknowledging who jesus is and they are shouting it out and they are declaring that and they are believing for that they have a faith-filled expectancy that if they're going to be asking and seeking that jesus is going to answer them there's such a an important part of our faith which is an expectancy when i was in cuba it was one of the biggest things that struck me is that everyone coming into worship came in already expecting they're going to meet god they're going to encounter god god is going to come out and and they're going to have a wave of the holy spirit that is going to touch them it is an expectancy that's not only in worship but in everyday living expect that god is with you expect that god is going to heal you expect that god is going to lead you expect that god is going to move in this situation a life of expectancy because god will touch us and make us whole and you can feel it you can feel the expectancy and a spiritual atmosphere is so important you know it says in in the scripture that jesus went to his hometown and there was a spiritual atmosphere of unbelief that was so strong that he could barely do anything we have to make sure that our spiritual atmosphere is charged up you know we can intellectualize ourselves right away from the healing possibilities of our god atmosphere instead we need to have trust and hope with an expectancy because we know that jesus loves us we know that jesus has compassion for us we know that our god is jehovah rafa the god who heals us and makes us whole makes us whole in body in mind and spirit in soul in relationships in our finances in every area of our life and a lot of times when we're talking about healing people get really hung up on the body when we talk about healing don't we automatically think oh they're going to heal the body and i think god is like there's so much more i i have so much more to heal in your life than that i mean so we get hung up on the body and and the thing is we can get in the process of thinking about healing of the body we can run into a bunch of yeah butts yeah but yeah but but the thing is god naturally designed our bodies to heal you know if i reach out and i touch a stove and it's hot i'm gonna get burned and i will heal from that that's that's part of god's natural design but at the same time because it's a broken world our bodies these vessels are finite you know yes jesus raised lazarus from the dead but lazarus isn't still with us and so we understand that you know the bodies is in this broken world and it's finite but at the same time god does heal and sometimes

[24:52] god doesn't just heal naturally but also supernaturally sometimes god does reach in and touch the body which is what happens in this case but as we read through all of this think about not only the body but every area of your life that needs healing these are going to be examples of healing of the body and yes that can happen but there's healing in every area and the same things apply so god is our healer and these two blind men are following with spiritual vision they can't see physically and it doesn't say that anyone is guiding them anyone is leading them anyone's pointing the way they're asking directions no they sense jesus their spiritual atmosphere is heightened and they sense jesus and they are following crying out the terms that they're using in this in the original language basically means that they are shouting out crying out they are hollering after jesus hollering and hollering and hollering after jesus and this is the part that i really struggled with jesus kept on going he kept on going i was like what's up with that i don't you know they're hollering after jesus and they kept on going and how many of us have ever had that experience when it feels like we're we're hollering out to jesus and and it feels like he just keeps on going and so we have a decision to make at that point what's our spiritual atmosphere going to tell us to do you know we can create a negative spiritual atmosphere as we internalize that and we instead go into doubt and discouragement and defeat thinking to ourselves you know god can't or rather god won't but instead if we stay spiritually charged knowing god always hears us god always has compassion for us god always loves us and god is always working for our good we are in a broken messed up world but god is always working for our good it's hard sometimes to understand and comprehend the big picture but we need to trust in god to believe in god's promises and continue to seek healing through jesus these blind men were sensing jesus and creating a spiritual atmosphere for healing expectant faith to keep on going even when they did not receive their answer yet messages we keep on hollering you don't have your answer yet we're going to keep on hollering we're going to keep on believing until and unless god says otherwise we keep going we keep believing i'm going to keep on believing for that i'm going to keep on believing for healing i'm going to keep on healing with an expectation that god is going to reach in and heal this brokenness ephesians 3 20 through 21 says now to god who is is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us to god be the glory in the church by jesus christ to all generations forever and ever so these two blind men they're continuing they're continuing to follow jesus and there's no answer son of god have mercy on us son of david son of david they kept following nothing was going to stop them they were building their faith with every step that they took boldly following him knowing that there is an answer knowing that there is a promise matthew 7 7 through 8 says ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and the door will be open to you for everyone who asks receives the one who

[28:57] seeks finds the one who knocks the door will be open well these blind men they did more than knock on the door they went through the door they have a bold faith they have a strong faith their spiritual atmosphere so charges like i know a promise is coming to me i know a healing is happening for me and i'm gonna go right they walked into his house that's some bold stuff going on there they went on right through the door to jesus and jesus responds their faith is supercharged jesus responds god's time god's way god's will okay that's the faith that was built to that when they gone indoors the blind men came to him and he asked them do you believe that i'm able to do this now it almost seems insulting you know of course they believe they've been hollering haven't they they've been chasing haven't they haven't they been going and going and going but he asked it anyways an absolute declaration what do you believe and it's important to say it to say it out loud to speak it out loud declare it to speak it faith comes by hearing and it really builds our faith a spiritual atmosphere within ourselves building up when we hear ourselves declaring the word of the lord when we hear ourselves declaring the promises of god when we hear ourselves praying out loud so for those of us who are just you know we're not good you're quite some of my best praying's in the shower some of my best praying's while i'm driving you don't have to be around other people when you're speaking out loud but speak it speak the word speak your prayers speak the promises and that will build the spiritual atmosphere within you it's an expectancy and a knowing of who god really is and who you are with christ and so they respond and do you believe and they said yes lord and so we say yes lord let's hear it again yes lord yes yes yes lord do you believe yes lord i do believe yes lord i'm following you yes lord i'm not going to stop yes lord i believe you can do this and jesus touched their eyes he said according to your faith let it be done to you not like you have this much faith i'm going to give you this much healing but because you believe i am going to reach in and touch you i'm going to reach in and heal that brokenness within you in this instant it was physical healing but that's true in so many areas of our lives their physical sight was restored and so moff and tau our our intellectualization gets all messed up and and we start saying ah but you know that's back then no i i have seen this you've heard the story before many of you when i was in cuba and we would have ministry time at the end where we would pray over people and there was a man there who was blind he had been blinded for years after an accident and he was prayed over he came with an expectancy for healing he came forward for healing he was prayed over and his eyes were opened and he could see and he started shouting out i can see it i mean it was in spanish so i didn't know until they were translating we heard the shriek from the back of the congregation as his wife heard that he had had his sight restored and she comes running over and everybody's sobbing because god had healed his eyes god can heal your relationships god can heal the things

[33:08] that are troubling you god can heal the brokenness within it can happen in cuba their sight was restored hallelujah these two blind men their sight is restored hallelujah but then the spiritual atmosphere shifted drastically negatively and i believe jesus sensed the change the shift and he addressed it it says that jesus warned them sternly see that no one knows about this but what they do instead they went out and spread the news about him all over that region and you know we can wrestle with this and there's lots of commentaries about this but let me just put it out there that there's things that god's going to ask us to do that we may not understand we may not agree with it we may think it's hard and impossible unreasonable and yet god says do it anyways and jesus has his own reasons and we are called to obedience whether we agree with it or not whether we like it or not whether we want to do that or not we are called to obedience obedience builds our spiritual atmosphere these two blind men had spiritual sight but couldn't physically see now they can physically see and it's as if their spiritual sight was diminished the response to healing in any area of our life is discipleship which includes obedience we continue to follow jesus even when we don't understand and even when we don't agree we say yes lord can we say that yes lord yes lord yes lord acknowledging jesus as lord and living that way with obedience creates that spiritual atmosphere within god's power supercharging us within us that changes us and changes and charges the atmosphere around us as well have you ever gone into a room after two people have been fighting and they're not there anymore but you can sense it you can feel it you can feel the atmosphere i was talking with joshua about this too and he was talking about times when he would come home from school and the difference of walking in where i had been baking cookies and there's music playing versus when he would come home and it was real clear that i had spent the whole day cleaning okay the atmosphere is totally different when you're walking in the room and there's an expectancy that goes along with that with both what is the energy what is the atmosphere what are we doing because what we are doing influences others we have to be supercharged in our spiritual atmosphere and people then are drawn to the healing of presence of jesus within us so while those previously blind men are leaving they're going out there was a man who was demon possessed and could not talk who was brought to jesus now a couple things with that it says he could not talk the actual language says he couldn't hear as well it's just the way the language is he couldn't hear he couldn't speak and it says that he was demon possessed in the original language it's demonized so we recognize as christians that there are spiritual forces of wickedness in the world that demons are real and demons seek to attack and oppress us and can christians be attacked and oppressed by the demonic yes absolutely we pray for protection we can be influenced there's spiritual forces working that we have to be really mindful of and seek healing from and the thing is you know these men i suspect these people that brought this man to jesus

[37:13] didn't even recognize that there was that spiritual matter i mean this was written after he had been healed healed so he was brought there thinking that the real healing was going to be the release of the ears and the release of the mouth but instead jesus saw something much deeper it was a spiritual issue he needed healing spiritually delivered first and then the body followed and then the man spoke and that can happen sometimes i actually it had it happened to me one time when i was going to go pray for someone who was experiencing a lot of pain a lot of pain and in the and in talking and praying discovered that they were carrying a lot of unforgiveness and that unforgiveness had to be dealt with that's a spiritual issue and we prayed and prayed for for her to release this unforgiveness and to be set free from that and as jesus healed that part the pain went away spiritual things that affect our mind our heart there's a mind body connection and it's all connected we want to heal the whole person the whole person jesus delivered first he saw that what they were seeking this wasn't really the real issue went after that instead and he was completely restored he had not only the demon released but also eyes restored or not eyes but ears restored and mouth restored he was able to speak and the religious leaders saw that and they're really quick to dismiss it it's by the prince of demons that he drives out demons he acknowledged that the healing occurred they acknowledged it but they said that it was only because of darkness that it actually happened they attributed it to to demons themselves that somehow the prince of demons was in their control and so they were spiritually blind to what jesus was doing later on jesus actually calls them blind guides and they created within themselves and with others a spiritual atmosphere of doubt so we have the crowd the crowd that just saw all of this the person they brought there completely healed and they have to make a choice what's my atmosphere going to be what choice am i going to go with am i going to be amazed and take that amazement into something that causes me to follow and be obedient or am i going to take that amazement and say oh it must have been whatever it's a choice we have to make it's a choice we have to make and i hope and pray that they said yes lord yes lord and we have to ask how are we doing what are we doing is our spiritual atmosphere within in alignment with who our god really is our god is great our god is strong our god is awesome in power our god is healer our god is compassionate our god is loving our god is forgiving our god is our god is ruler over all our god is light in the darkness are we saying yes lord yes lord jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in the synagogues proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness and when he saw the crowds he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd that's still true today and he said to his disciples the harvest is plentiful plentiful but the workers are few ask the lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field see god wants to touch us and bring us healing throughout our entire life and into eternity god wants to bring healing into the world

[41:22] through you and through me with god's power and strength nothing can stand against that and if we have the spiritual atmosphere the power of god within us we can also change the spiritual atmosphere atmosphere around us and with others physically ministering to people but also through intercession praying for standing in the gap this man was brought to jesus either because he was unable to come himself or was unwilling but we can bring people to jesus for healing as well as we reach out but also as we intercede on their behalf the spiritual atmosphere within us empowered charged up to change the spiritual atmosphere within and around others you know it's like that beach glass you find a treasure you hold it tight and then you share it you show up and you share that around with others who are hurting physically yes absolutely but emotionally relationally those who never knew christ and those who've walked away think about everyone the prodigals in our life the people who are struggling in every area of our life there's not one person here who can say they haven't needed prayer or don't even need prayer now look around are we lifting one another up are we eat interceding are we having the people on our hearts and in our lives are we interceding and standing in the gap for people who cannot will not are unable to whatever it is interceding on their behalf standing in the gap because we have that power if spiritual atmosphere is charged up within us and we do that by answering the question continuing persistently consistently bringing people to healing for to jesus for healing and we answer the question do we believe that jesus is able to do this and the answer is yes lord yes lord yes lord and so until and unless god says otherwise i hope that all of us will continue persistently consistently stand in the gap intercede seek jesus believe seek and share together and together we will say yes lord yes one more time let's just say that together yes glory be to god amen yes one of the wonderful things more than wonderful things that jesus did was to acknowledge our humanity and the times when yes won't even come out of our mouths and so he offers the disciples communion we as a united methodist church offer everyone everyone everyone everyone holy communion because in this is part of the healing sins that we carry part of the healing of our body and our spirit as pastor sherry has shared the lord be with you lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the lord our god it is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you

[45:30] in the beginning you breathed life into raw materials creating and animating containers of beauty and goodness we your holy vessels were fired in the kiln of love until we shined with your light susceptible to shattering we find ourselves broken unable at times to remember your promise of repair you remind us time and again that though broken we are held in your presence and made whole by your grace and so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn holy holy holy lord god of power and might heaven and earth are full of your glory hosanna in the highest blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord hosanna in the highest holy are you and blessed is your son jesus christ holy are you for being a divine presence on earth your spirit anointed him as a container of grace in the form of preaching good news to the poor released to the captives recovering of sight to the blind setting at liberty those who are oppressed and announcing that the time had come when you would save your people. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with those considered too broken for company. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to the path of healing and recovery, delivered us from our despair and isolation, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. When Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always. In the power of your word and Holy Spirit, we are not alone. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread. He gave thanks to you and he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples and said, take and eat this all.

[47:53] You do this in remembrance of me. And when the supper was over, he took the cup. He gave thanks to you and gave it to his disciples and said, drink from this all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. And so in remembrance of the healing, life-transforming acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and cup. Make them be for us your healing spirit through Christ so that we may be for the world, the body of Christ, healing agents in a broken world, offering the lifeblood of hope. By your spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world until Christ comes in final victory in his heavenly banquet. Through your son,

[49:18] Jesus Christ, with your Holy Spirit, your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, healing God, now and forever. Amen.

[49:30] And now let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[50:01] For thine is the kingdom and the glory and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. Isn't it amazing that God can use this, this little crunchy cracker, this little bit of grape juice, to bless us and transform our lives. So I invite you to carefully take off your mask, take the cracker, the body of Christ, broken for you.

[50:42] And likewise the cup, the blood of Christ, given for you. May we be healed. And may we be healers.

[50:59] Amen. Amen.

[51:29] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[51:42] Amen. Amen. Water you turned into white Open the eyes of the blind There's no one like you None like you Into the darkness you shine Out of the ashes we rise There's no one like you None like you Our God is greater Our God is stronger God who are higher than any other Our God is healer Awesome in power Our God Our God Into the darkness you shine

[52:54] Into the darkness you shine Out of the ashes we rise There's no one like you None like you Our God is greater Our God is stronger God who are higher than any other Our God is healer Awesome in power Our God Our God Our God is greater Our God is stronger God who are higher than any other Our God is healer Awesome in power Our God Our God Our God And if our God is for us

[53:55] Then who could ever stop us And if our God is with us Then what could stand against And if our God is for us Then who could ever stop us And if our God is with us Then what could stand against One could stand against One could stand against Our God is greater Our God God who are higher than any other Our God is healer Awesome in power Our God Our God Our God is greater Our God is stronger God who are higher than any other Our God is healer

[54:56] Awesome in power Our God Our God Our God God is healer Our God has compassion Our God is loving Our God is the one who touches our brokenness Who reaches in and heals Do you believe that?

[55:31] Yes Lord Do you believe that? Yes Lord So let's all walk together Being healed and healers Moving Following Being obedient And reaching out to others Y'all have a spiritual atmosphere right now You feeling it?

[55:51] You feeling super charged? Let's go out and heal In Jesus' name Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen.

[56:56] Amen. Amen.

[57:56] Amen. Amen.