Let God

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.