2/4/2023
Sermon: Union Gospel (Women)
Text: John 9: 1-6
Topic: Let God
Opening Prayer:
God, we come to you today with
thankful hearts
You have protected us so that we
may have another opportunity to hear your scripture
Grant that we may hear, read, learn, and take in
your scripture
as spiritual food for our lives
We may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed
hope of everlasting life,
which You have given us in our
Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Text
: John 9: 1-6
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples
asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither
this man nor his parents sinned,” said
Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of
God might be displayed in him.
4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent
me. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of
the world.”
6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with
the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.
Last couple weeks we talked
about how Christ work through our sufferings, our difficulties, our hard times,
for the Glory of God. Our Challenge is:
Do not let our
sufferings stay in pain
do not let our pain
ended up in vain
open our heart so that
Christ reign
Redemption given for
our gain
At the end of my
sermon last week, I recommended solution process:
1. Salt
2. Light and
3. Compartmentalize
4. Let God takes the control
We talked about Salt
and Light last week. We take in as the salt as the connected power, that is what
preserved our faith and for the light is the outward sign.
We compartmentalize
our emotions so we can utilize the proper emotions at the appropriate situation
and time and the way to do this, is to “Let God”
The
Gorilla suit:
Man was looking for
Job and found one at the zoo; he is to wear a gorilla suit and act like a
gorilla. He took some training on how to talk and act like a gorilla. He put in
his cage next to the Lion cage. One day he swung over the top open of the cage
and fell over to the Lion cage. He lay flat on the ground as the Lion came near
to him. The gorilla holla “Help!” the lion said: “shut up, you’ll get us both
fire.”
Sometimes we have to
wear a gorilla suit in order to keep a job.
Our text: went along
the way, Jesus was heading out of town. He was hurried away from the temple
square. Although he was moving away from the crowd, but he had time to stop by
this blind man.
Disciples:
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind?”
-
(let this sink in, can
you tell me that you never heard this before, maybe directed at you?)
-
Prenatal sin by the
Jews
-
Plato duality of Form
and Essence
Sometimes we think we
got situation but today from our text, God gladly takes these situations as His
Situations. This young man blindness is not because of his situations, it is
not because of his sins nor his parents. Sometimes we have to wear a gorilla
suit in order to keep a job.
Sin is a problem, the
suffering in our world is because of sin. However, Jesus broke this down to a
personal level and individual level. That individual suffering is not a direct
result of a personal sin. In fact, he urges us to be mindful, that these
sufferings are not necessarily direct reflections of one’s sins. He offered and
explanation: “but this happened so that the works of God might be
displayed in him”
Of course, if you go
rob a bank and got shot, that is a direct result of your action. We have to
draw a distinction
Our essence stays the
same no matter where we at. We all were made in the image of God no matter what
happen to us. Nothing this world, nothing you can do (good or bad) can change
that.
We often judge folks
base on their appearance. God reminded us in our text today, you are who you
are so that God can be glorified through you.
We are who we are
because God has a purpose for our lives
We are where we at
because God has a purpose for our lives
Our friend is our
friend because God has a purpose in our lives
Our family is our
family because God has a purpose in our lives
But you have to “Let
God”
You have to “Let God”
break the curse
You have to Let God
lead you
You have to Let God
take your situation
You have to Let God
heal you
You have to Let God be
the light in our life
Conclusion
End Story
Father was saying
grace at family dinner, he lifted the family, blessed the food, and utilized
very thoughtful language. After he prayed, he complaint about how awful the
food. His young daughter asked (kids say the darndest things!): do you think
that God hears your prayer? With confidence, the father responded: of course,
Yes! Gods hear all our prayers. The young daughter asked again: do you think
God heard your complaining? Reluctantly, he said yes.
God hears all of our
Actions, those things that we do in our secretness and those things that we do
in the open—God hears them all.
Watch your thoughts, they become your words;
watch your words, they become your actions;
watch your actions, they become your habits;
watch your habits, they become your character;
watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
Instead of your, replace it with God:
This is the process:
Let God’s thoughts, they become your words;
Let God’s words, they become your actions;
Let God’s actions, they become your habits;
Let God’s habits, they become your character;
Let God’s character, it becomes your destiny.
“but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Invitation: If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, today is the day
Closing
Prayers
God, You are the Discerner of hearts,
God, You are the keeper of our souls
God, You are the eternal truth and love
God, we ask Your Word be inscribed inwardly on
our hearts.
You look beneath our outward appearance
and see Your image in each of us.
In the midst of our struggle, you show us your love
In the midst of pain, you provide us with healing
In the midst of our difficulty, you offered to take our yoke
In the midst of our Situations, you still want to shine through us
In the midst of our sinning, you died for us
Banish in us the blindness, the spiritual blindness
that prevents us from seeing and experiencing Your truth,
so we may see the world through Your eyes
and with the compassion of our savior in Jesus Christ
All this we pray and praise of Your name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the power of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
