Today is the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost as we continue our Summer Sermon Series!
As Just like Jesus author Max Lucado says: “God loves us just the way we are, but refuses to leave us this way. God wants us to be just like Jesus.” I pray you will enter into this with me, and open your own hearts for God’s liberating work. Please invite a friend to come with you to church, or feel free to share the videos on your own.
Every Sunday until August 15th, we will look at the various aspects of having a heart like Jesus. Three weeks ago we looked at what it means to have a forgiving heart, then a Compassionate Heart. Last week it was a Listening Heart, and this week it’s Chapters 5 & 6 God-Intoxicated and Worship Hungry Heart!
Today in Mark’s Gospel story Jairus and a woman who had been ill for 12 years encounter Jesus and are healed. Jesus is our healer, having died for us and risen from that darkness to eternal light. We are in love with God who loves us always.
To further take a “deep dive” into this material our Wednesday night Zoom Bible study at 7 p.m. for both churches, friends, neighbors continues. We will review what it means to have a A God-Intoxicated and Worship Hungry heart!
The Spirit will lead and guide us which is symbolic of this Pentecost Season. This is also called “the long green season” as the color for Pentecost is green, and the season goes well into October! We celebrate and honor, as we did on the Day of Pentecost and Holy Trinity Sunday, the Holy Spirit of God moving in, with and through our lives.
I firmly believe that we must do our part to keep our spiritual lives stirred up! I know it’s hard and I know we are all busy, yet I believe God is calling all of us as a family of faith to grow to be more like Jesus.
Introduction
A woman finds healing by touching Jesus’ cloak, and a girl is restored to life when he takes her by the hand. In both cases a boundary is crossed: in Jesus’ time the hemorrhaging woman was considered ritually unclean, polluting others by her touch, and anyone who touched a corpse also became unclean. In Mark’s gospel Jesus breaks down barriers, from his first meal at a tax collector’s house to his last breath on the cross as the temple curtain is torn in two. We dare to touch Jesus in our “uncleanness” and to live as a community that defines no one as an outsider.
