Our scripture reading this morning is from Luke chapter 8. We'll be looking at verses 40 through 56.
If you would like a physical copy of the Bible, there are some in the back there, and the passage will be found on page 866 in those Bibles.
Luke chapter 8, verses 40 through 56.
Now, when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.
And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler in the synagogue.
And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about 12 years of age, and she was dying.
And as Jesus went, the people pressed around him.
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.
She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.
And Jesus said,
Who was it that touched me?
When all denied it, Peter said,
Master, the crowd surrounds you and are pressing in on you.
But Jesus said,
Someone touch me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.
And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling,
and falling down before him, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him,
and how she had been immediately healed.
And he said to her,
And while he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said,
Your daughter is dead.
Do not trouble the teacher anymore.
But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him,
Do not fear.
Only believe, and she will be well.
And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him,
except Peter and John and James,
and the father and mother of the child.
And all were weeping and mourning for her.
But he said,
Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping.
And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
But taking her by the hand, he called, saying,
Child, arise.
And her spirit returned, and she got up at once.
And he directed that something should be given her to eat.
And her parents were amazed.
But he charged them to tell no one what had happened.
This is God's Word.
If you have a Bible, please turn to Luke chapter 8, verses 40 through 56.
We're doing a series in the morning here at St. Columba's on encounters with Jesus.
And you'll notice in this passage,
there are, in fact, not just one encounter, but two encounters.
So, this morning, it's kind of two for the price of one.
Although, I'll try to make sure that the sermon doesn't last twice as long.
The film was called Desperate Measures.
Released back, I think, in 1998,
it featured Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia, Brian Cox.
And it told a story of a San Francisco police officer
who embarks on a frantic search for a compatible bone marrow donor
for his leukemia-stricken son.
And it's a Hollywood film.
In his desperation, he breaks into the FBI headquarters
to find a suitable donor.
He finds a match on the computer.
Unfortunately, it turns out to be some violent killer.
He's then plunged into a series of increasingly desperate actions
as he tries to save his son's life.
And the film really depicts the desperate,
the extreme measures that a person might go
in order to save their child's life.
We ourselves sometimes quote the proverb,
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
And in our text today from Luke chapter 8,
we're introduced to two desperate individuals,
two people who've been pushed to the very limit,
two people who've been taken to that place of utter desperation,
pushed into taking desperate measures.
And in their desperation,
with no one else to turn to,
they reach out in faith to Jesus Christ.
And sometimes that is the way of it.
It's in the difficult experiences of life,
in the desperate times,
that people turn and cast themselves on the mercy of God.
It's in the hard times that people turn to Jesus.
How often it is that God uses circumstances of desperation and difficulty
to break into people's lives
and to bring them hope and salvation.
C.S. Lewis famously put it like this,
God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks in our conscience,
but shouts in our pain.
It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
And here in our text this morning,
we find these two very different people
being awakened and stirred up by desperate times
that push them into taking desperate measures.
I want to look at this passage under three headings.
The first thing I want you to notice is this,
is that Jesus here encounters the faith of the desperate.
Jesus encounters the faith of the desperate.
And as I mentioned,
this passage at the end of Luke 8
centers around these two very different individuals.
The stories are entwined together
as each in their own way comes to Jesus for help and healing.
Two desperate people reaching out to Jesus in faith.
And the scene is set,
you'll notice it there in verse 40,
as a crowd of people throng around Jesus.
The crowd, when Jesus returned,
the crowd welcomed Him.
They were all waiting for Him.
And there came a man named Jairus,
ruler of the synagogue,
falling at Jesus' feet.
He implored him to come to his house.
For he had an only daughter,
about 12 years of age,
and she was dying.
So the first person we're introduced to is Jairus,
a ruler in the synagogue,
charge perhaps of arranging the services there,
a prominent religious leader in the community,
man of standing and status,
perhaps a man of wealth,
certainly a man of devotion to God.
Everyone would have known him.
They would have known who he was.
He was a man perhaps used to getting his own way,
used to being in control,
used to being in charge,
used to other people coming to him.
But here the tables are turned.
And as the crowd mills around,
this man Jairus approaches Jesus
and throws himself down at his feet.
Now for such a man to abase himself in such a way,
that would have been, I think,
a shock and a surprise
to all who were gathered there.
He falls on his knees.
He begs Jesus to come to his house
because his 12-year-old daughter is dying.
And we're not told the nature of the illness,
only that there's not much time.
The implication here is that a quick and speedy response
is required if she is to be saved.
There are, of course,
many difficult and hard things in this life,
but there are not many more traumatic to a parent
than a sick or dying child.
I wonder if there is anything as hard
and difficult to deal with as that.
I know there are people here,
people listening,
and they know exactly,
you know exactly what that is like.
And in falling down at Jesus' feet,
you get a sense of this man's fear
and panic and desperation.
Jairus will do anything
to see his little girl restored.
He's terrified she's going to die.
He's terrified he's going to lose her.
And so driven by need and desperation
in a very public way,
he humbles himself
and he throws himself upon Jesus' mercy.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
And you can imagine how his hopes
start to rise
as Jesus agrees to go with him,
his insides churning with fear and anxiety.
Will they make it in time?
And so Jesus,
Jairus,
and the crowd
hurry toward Jairus' home.
There's a sense of anticipation
in the crowd.
Are they going to witness
yet another miracle?
And it's as they make that journey
that we're introduced
to another person
of desperate faith.
Verse 42,
as Jesus went,
the people pressed around him,
and there was a woman
who had a discharge of blood
for twelve years.
And though she'd spent
all her living on physicians,
she could not be healed by anyone.
She came up behind him
and touched the fringe of his garment,
and immediately
her discharge of blood ceased.
Here is a woman
of quiet desperation.
Unlike Jairus,
she had no social standing
or position in the community.
She's not even named.
She had lived
with a private medical condition
for some twelve years,
probably some kind
of menstrual problem.
It had rendered her
religiously,
socially unclean,
according to Levitical law.
She was in reality
in a perpetual state
of uncleanness,
socially isolated,
ostracized.
She perhaps couldn't even visit
others in their homes.
The synagogue services
were off limits.
For her,
it was physical debility
and social isolation
to the maximum degree.
And not only that,
but this ailment
had drained
all her financial resources.
She'd sought the help
of doctors,
but to no avail.
This condition
absolutely dominated her life.
In fact,
it was sucking
the life out of her.
It affected her
physically,
socially,
financially,
spiritually,
emotionally.
She lived
with an inner sense
of shame
and grief.
What an unhappy woman
she had become,
driven to the very end
of her tether
by this persistent
and apparently
untreatable
medical condition.
She longed
to be healed.
She longed
for a normal life.
She longed
to be made clean.
She longed
to be set free
from this illness.
And the shame
that she felt.
How many there are
in this world
just like her.
And many feel
for whatever reason
that they don't fit in,
that they're unacceptable,
that they're unclean,
that they're a disgrace.
Sometimes,
as I say,
through no fault
of their own.
Here's the words
of Ed Welch,
a Christian counselor.
He says this
about shame.
What is shame?
You are shunned.
Faces are turned
from you.
They ignore you
as if you didn't exist.
You're naked.
Faces are turned
towards you.
They stare at you
as if you were hideous.
You're worthless
and it's no secret.
You are of little
or no value
to those
whose opinions
matter to you.
And this unnamed
woman,
I think,
had a deep sense
of shame.
Not because
she'd done
something wrong,
but because
of this condition
that dominated
her life.
She carried
around with her
a profound
sense of dis-ease.
And those
kinds of feelings,
however they arise,
often cause people
to hide away,
to retreat.
Maybe to hide away
even in a marriage,
to hide away
from former friends,
to hide away
from church,
even to hide away
from themselves.
And this woman,
I think,
was used to hiding.
And here she was,
hiding in the crowd.
We're not told,
but some commentators
suggest she may
even have been
disguised.
But as she sees
Jesus in the crowd,
she devises a plan.
She'd heard of
the wonderful things
He'd done for others.
Maybe,
just maybe,
He could do
something for her.
If only she could
touch the fringe
of His garment,
then perhaps she too
could be healed
and be restored.
And she believes
that Jesus has the power
to do what others
could not do.
And yes,
in some ways,
her thinking is
quite superstitious.
Yet such is her
sense of desperate need
that amidst
this bustling crowd,
she reaches out
in secret
to touch Jesus
and be healed.
Desperate times
call for desperate
measures.
It's the briefest
of touches.
It's only
the fingertips
of faith.
But it transpires
that this is all
that is needed
for her
to be delivered.
So here are these
two very different
individuals,
both coming to Jesus
in desperate faith,
conscious of their
weakness,
their frailty,
their powerlessness,
and they reach out
to Jesus.
they reach out
the hand of faith
to connect with him.
Jesus encounters
the faith
of the desperate.
And that brings me
to the second thing here.
And that is that
Jesus tests
the faith
of the desperate.
This unnamed woman
did not want to
grab the limelight.
She was perhaps
a private person,
her medical condition,
the shame that she felt
about it,
probably had reinforced
that outlook.
For a woman
in her condition
to touch a rabbi
was a great taboo.
And ashamed,
she didn't want
to be in the spotlight.
Like many people,
she preferred
to be in the background.
She wanted
to keep hidden.
And that's why
she resolved
to reach out
to Jesus in secret.
She thought
she could be healed
quietly and then
just steal away.
What transpires
is that Jesus
is not prepared
to let her do that.
And Jesus said,
verse 45,
who was it
that touched me?
When all denied it,
Peter said,
Master,
the crowds
are surrounding you
and are pressing
in on you.
But Jesus said,
someone touched me.
For I perceive
that power
has gone out from me.
Jesus is conscious
that in some way
power has proceeded
from him.
And the touch
he asks about
is not simply
a physical touch,
but a touch
that sought help
and found it.
And he determines
that the silent
and secret faith
of this woman
needs to be exposed.
Perhaps we might
think that was
a kind of cruel thing
for Jesus to do.
Why didn't he just
let her slip away
unnoticed into the crowd?
Why does he embarrass
her in this way?
It must have been
very frightening
for the woman.
Why did he make
her go public?
Verse 47,
when the woman saw
that she was not hidden,
she came trembling,
falling down before him,
declared in the presence
of all the people,
why she had touched him
and how she had been
immediately healed.
The woman actually
comes forward
of her own accord.
She saw that she
was not hidden.
Trembling,
she comes,
and like Jairus,
falls at Jesus' feet.
She's afraid
of public exposure.
She's embarrassed
at being the center
of attention,
but she comes clean.
She gives her testimony
nonetheless.
And whatever fears
her fears might have been,
they are soon dissolved
as she hears
these words of Jesus.
And he said to her,
Daughter,
your faith has made you well.
Go in peace.
It's the only time
in the Gospels,
I think,
that Jesus uses
this term daughter.
A word of tenderness
and affection.
It's interesting,
isn't it?
We've got Jairus' daughter
on the one hand
and this daughter
on the other.
Jairus' daughter
is 12 years old.
This woman
has had a medical condition
for 12 years.
And Jesus underlines
this point
that it's her faith
that has made her well.
As I said,
she appears to have
a somewhat superstitious
understanding
of Jesus' powers.
She thought that she
could be healed
on her own terms.
That is never the case.
And that's why Jesus
makes her publicly
identify herself.
It wasn't the touch
of His garment
that had healed her.
It was her faith
in Him.
Her healing
was not about
superstition.
It was about faith
in Jesus Christ.
It's very important
to see that distinction
because,
unfortunately,
superstition
still rules
the lives
of many,
many people,
often giving
the illusion
that we're in control
because of
certain artifacts
or rituals
or ceremonies
and confusing
these outward signs
with real faith
and trust
in Jesus Christ.
And real faith
is the hand
that receives
the blessing.
It may be
a shaking hand,
it may be
a trembling hand,
yet Christ
feels that touch
though a whole world
of need
presses upon Him.
And so the woman
comes clean
and falls trembling
at Jesus' feet.
Her secret faith
made public.
And she and the crowd
are reminded
the wholeness
and healing
and salvation
come
by faith
alone.
And yet,
if this woman's
faith is exposed
and in some way
tested by Jesus,
so too
is that of Jairus.
because this whole
incident with the woman
seriously interrupts
and delays
Jesus coming
to deal
with His daughter.
Now,
you know,
we all know
what it's like
when we're anxious
to get somewhere.
Perhaps it's for
an appointment
or a meeting
and then we're detained
or we're delayed
unexpectedly.
You know,
there's a traffic jam.
Every light
turns to red.
We're stuck
behind a slow-moving
vehicle
or a cyclist.
If you're here
in Edinburgh,
the city council
have suddenly
created roadworks
overnight
that you didn't
know they were there.
And it can be
hugely stressful
and incredibly
frustrating.
Well,
just imagine
how this whole
encounter with the
woman must have
affected Jairus.
He's desperate
to get home.
He's desperate
for Jesus
to heal his daughter.
Time is short.
It's an urgent
situation.
They must get
home before
she dies.
And yet,
Jesus keeps
both Jairus
and his daughter
waiting.
And it must have
seemed to Jairus
and the disciples
that Jesus was
delaying,
really,
for no good reason.
This was actually,
this was a matter
of life and death.
Why doesn't Jesus
hurry up?
Why does he delay?
And sometimes
we can feel the same.
We question God.
We wonder why
things are taking
so long.
Why doesn't he
just sort things
out now?
It can be very
difficult.
Maybe God is
delaying something
in your life.
How are you
responding?
Are you just
going to give up,
throw in the towel?
Are you frantic
and impatient
for some kind
of resolution?
Or do you
trust him?
And there comes
the news
that Jairus
must have been
dreading,
how his heart
must have sunk.
Verse 49,
while he was
still speaking,
someone from
the ruler's
house came
and said,
your daughter
is dead.
Do not
trouble the
teacher
anymore.
But Jesus,
on hearing
this,
answered him,
do not fear,
only believe,
and she
will be
well.
A test
of faith
for Jairus.
Jesus looks
into his eyes
and says,
trust me.
Do not fear,
believe.
Maybe he's
looking at you
today and
he's saying
the very same
thing.
Despite the
way things
appear,
just now,
trust me.
Have
faith.
William
Cooper's
famous hymn
has the
verse,
judge not
the Lord
by feeble
sense,
but trust
him for
his grace.
Behind a
frowning
providence,
he hides
a smiling
face.
When he
came,
verse 51,
to the house,
he allowed
no one to
enter with
him,
except Peter
and John
and James
and the
father and
mother of
the child.
All were
weeping and
mourning for
her,
but he
said,
do not
weep,
for she
is not
dead,
but sleeping.
And they
laughed at
him,
knowing that
she was
dead.
Jesus
eventually gets
to the
house,
he encounters
the scene
of profound
grief and
loud mourning
in the
Jewish culture
of the day.
Mourners were
only called
after death
had been
established.
And in the
midst of this
tumult of
sorrow and
anguish,
Jesus calls
on those
present to
stop their
lamentation,
because he
says the
girl is
not dead,
only asleep.
But his
words prompt
not faith
and obedience,
but just
laughter and
derision from
those who
are gathered.
They
consider Jesus'
statement to
be utterly
ludicrous,
a fantasy,
a fiction.
This girl is
now beyond
all human
help.
What else
is there to
do but
grieve and
mourn?
Jesus'
hope and
Jesus
sometimes
tests the
faith of
the desperate.
That brings
us to our
third point.
Not just
Jesus encounters
the faith of
the desperate,
tests the
faith of the
desperate,
but thirdly
here, Jesus
rewards the
faith of
the desperate.
The miracles
of Jesus
in the
Gospels,
it's important
to understand
what they
are.
And these
two miracles
here of
Jesus are
really pictures
of what
Jesus has
come to
do.
They're
windows into
the work
of salvation
that He is
bringing to
His people,
visual aids
designed to
help us
grasp just
what Jesus
and His
in-breaking
kingdom will
accomplish.
The New
Testament
commentator
Darrell
Bopp writes
this,
these miracles
are audio
visuals of
important truths
related to
Jesus'
sovereignty.
As important
as each
event is
in itself,
even more
important is
the picture
involved.
The overcoming
of disease
and death
in this
passage is
but a
foretaste
of the
ultimate
comprehensive
overcoming
of disease
and death.
These events
point beyond
to eternal
realities.
And it's
important that
we bear that
in mind.
And in both
these instances
we discover
that faith
in Jesus
is rewarded.
He said
to her
daughter,
verse 48,
your faith
has made
you well,
go in peace.
The word
translated,
made you
well,
same word
Luke uses
of salvation.
You could
read verse
48 as
your faith
has saved
you.
Her
desperation
gives way
to salvation,
to healing,
to wholeness.
She is
rendered whole
and happy
and complete.
read.
Friends,
it's important
to understand
faith is
not magic.
It is
a laying
hold
of Jesus
Christ.
It is
the key
instrument
in receiving
the salvation
that God
offers.
Without
it,
we will
never
find
wholeness.
We will
never
find
deliverance
and we
will
never
find
peace.
We
can
be
moral,
we
can
be
religious,
we
can
attend
church,
we
can
be
devout,
we
can
become
conscientious,
we
may
do
may
all
manner
of
good
works.
And yet
one true
believing
touch
of
Christ
is
worth
more
than
all
these
things
put
together.
Our
pride
may
not
like
it,
but
it
is
true
nonetheless.
We
have
no
claim
upon
Jesus
Christ.
We
can't
control
Him.
We
can't
manipulate
Him.
We
have
nothing
to
offer
Him.
We
have
nothing
to
give
Him.
We
can't
bend
His
will
to
ours.
faith.
Simple
faith,
naked
faith,
faith
alone
in
Christ
alone.
And
you'll
notice
here
that
Jairus'
patient
and
trusting
faith
is
also
rewarded
as
Jesus
raises
His
little
girl
from
the
dead
amidst
the
scorn
and
derision
of
the
faithless.
Taking
her
by
the
hand,
verse
54,
saying,
Child,
arise,
and her
spirit
returned.
She
got up
at
once.
He
directed
that
something
should
be
given
her
to
eat,
and
her
parents
were
amazed,
but He
charged
them to
tell no
one
what had
happened.
With
tender
love,
Jesus
takes
the
little
girl
by
the
hand
and
bids
her
to
get
up.
In
one
sense
here,
the
death
of
this
young
girl
issued
a
challenge
to
the
power
of
Jesus
Christ.
Here
is
death
throwing
its
gauntlet
down at
his feet,
as it
were.
When
faced
with
death,
must
Jesus,
like every
other
person,
bow the
knee and
surrender?
By no
means.
For here
is Jesus
facing the
greatest
enemy,
the most
formidable
of opponents,
the strongest
of foes,
God
of
God
is
God
of
God.
For if
Jesus
has us
by the
hand,
nothing
can
ultimately
destroy
us or
hurt us,
not even
death.
Even
death must
bow the
knee before
Jesus
Christ.
He is
King of
Kings,
Lord of
Lords.
how vital
it is
that we
understand
and grasp
that truth.
The old
commentator
J.C.
Ryle
writes this
in his
expository
thoughts on
the Gospels.
Death is
indeed a
cruel enemy.
He makes
no distinction
in his
attacks.
He comes
to the
rich man's
mansion
as well as
to the
poor man's
cottage.
He doesn't
spare the
young,
the strong,
and the
beautiful
any more
than the
old,
the infirm,
and the
gray-haired.
Not all
the gold
of Australia,
not all
the skill
of doctors
can keep
the hand
of death
from our
bodies
in the
day of
his power.
Death will
come to
our houses
whether we
like it
or not.
Death will
take each
of us
away despite
our dislike
to hearing
about it.
Surely
it is the
part of a
wise man
to get
ready for
this great
change.
Why should
we not
be ready?
There is
one who
can deliver
us from
the fear
of death.
Christ has
overcome
death and
brought life
and immortality
to light
through the
gospel.
He who
believes on
him has
everlasting
life.
Though he
dies, yet
he shall
live.
Let us
believe in
the Lord
Jesus,
then death
will lose
its sting.
Some years
ago, the
vicar of
St.
Andrew, the
great church
in Cambridge,
a man called
Mark Ashton,
he was
diagnosed with
an inoperable
cancer.
And he
wrote a
book about
his experience
called,
his little
book, On
My Way
to Heaven,
Facing
Death with
Christ.
And in
the book,
he recounts a
story of
going to
the
hairdressers,
I think in
Eastbourne.
And, you
know, in the
hairdresser,
there's a lot
of talk and
chat and all
the rest of
it.
This is what
he said.
When she
asked me how
I was, and
I replied that
I'd been told
that I'd just
got a few
months more
to live, the
ordinary
friendliness
and chattiness
of the
place ceased.
I could not
get another
word out of
her for the
rest of the
haircut.
I think that's
fairly typical.
Rather than
accept and
prepare for the
inevitable, we
try to close
our eyes to
the reality
of death.
Ashton wrote,
our age is
so devoid of
hope in the
face of death
that the
topic has
become
unmentionable.
And that's
true.
We don't
even want to
talk about
it.
And yet,
surely we
must.
Not in
some morose,
morbid
fashion, but
with the
hope that
only Jesus
Christ can
give.
Jesus said,
my sheep
hear my
voice.
I know
them.
They
follow me.
I give
them eternal
life, and
they will
never perish,
and no one
will snatch
them from
my hands.
According to
Jewish custom,
both the
little girl and
the woman here
were viewed as
being ceremonially
unclean.
Touching them
should have
rendered Jesus
unclean, but
the reverse
proves true.
cleansing,
healing, and
new life flow
from Jesus to
those who reach
out to him in
faith.
The good news
for unclean
sinners of
whatever hue is
that Jesus
Christ is the
contagiously clean
man.
In him the
unclean are
made clean.
That's what we
see at the
cross, where
Jesus took
upon himself
the curse of
our unclean
condition, and
carried our sin
all the way
down to the
grave and
buried it
there for
good.
Yes, at
times we
live in a
world full of
desperate people,
and sometimes
it's a quiet
desperation, like
the unnamed
woman in our
text.
No one really
sees or
understands, all
hidden away,
behind closed
doors, often
in a solitary
life.
And yet at
other times it's
like Jairus, it's
open, it's
public, it's
visible.
Maybe you're
someone in
desperation over
your sins, or
overwhelmed with
feelings of guilt
for the things
you've done, the
people you've
hurt.
Maybe it feels
as if life is
crashing down
upon you.
Maybe you're
filled with
anxiety over
the future.
Maybe you're
struggling to
make sense of
what's happening
in your life.
Maybe you're
hiding away from
others.
Maybe you're
consumed with
shame.
Or you're
concerned about
illness and
approaching death.
Friend, let
your desperation
drive you into
the arms of
Jesus.
For there is
abundant grace
and mercy for
the desperate
in Jesus
Christ.
He is a
great and
mighty Savior.
Let me
encourage you
to reach out
to Him
today with
the empty
hands of
faith, or
even with
the fingertips
of faith,
and discover
for yourself
His love,
His blessing,
and His
power.
Jesus Christ
is utterly
approachable.
He invites
all men and
women to
come to
Him, to
come with
your shame,
come with
your fears,
come with
your sin.
You don't
have to
unburden
yourself to
come.
In fact,
it's your
burden that
qualifies you
to come.
Come to
me, all
who labor
and are
heavy laden,
and I will
give you rest
as Jesus.
Take my
yoke upon
you, learn
from me.
I am gentle
and lowly in
heart, and
you will find
rest for your
souls.
Jesus loves
to welcome
sinners still.
He delights
to give strength
to the weary
and the worried
and the weak.
He is the
great physician
who took on
our sickness
to heal
and to make
us whole,
and who
tasted death
that we
might live.
And today,
He invites you
to reach out
to Him
in faith
and discover
for yourself
the God
who is in
Jesus Christ
already reaching
out to you.
For the Lord
is good
and faithful.
He will keep
us day
and night.
We can
always run
to Jesus.
Jesus,
strong
and kind.
Let's pray
together.
Amen.
God our
Father,
you know us
better than
we know
ourselves.
We may
hide from
others.
We may
even try
to hide
from ourselves,
but we
cannot hide
from you.
Lord,
we pray
that by your
grace and
the work
of your
Holy Spirit,
you may
help us
that we
may rest
our faith
and trust
in Jesus
Christ.
May we
find
in Him
salvation,
forgiveness,
and new
life.
As we pray
these things
in His name.
Amen.