Good morning, everyone, and delighted to share in Johnny's welcome to you this morning as
we journey with Jesus.
We've been doing that for a number of weeks now, going through Luke's Gospel.
Two purposes in journeying with Jesus.
One is to learn about Jesus, who he is, why he came, what he did, and the other is to
learn from Jesus, both from his example and from his teaching.
So if you've got a Bible, you might like to turn to Luke chapter 11, no, chapter 7, sorry,
and we're going to read verses 11 to 35.
It will also appear on the screen in front of me, Luke chapter 7.
Verse 11 says,
Soon afterwards Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.
As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out, the only son of his mother,
and she was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her.
When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her, and he said,
Don't cry.
Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still.
He said, Young man, I say to you, get up.
The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
They were all filled with awe and praised God.
A great prophet has appeared among us, they said.
God has come to help his people.
The news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
John's disciples told him about all these things.
Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask,
Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?
When the men came to Jesus, they said,
John the Baptist sent us to you to ask,
Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?
At that very time, Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits,
and gave sight to many who were blind.
So he replied to the messengers,
Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard.
The blind receive sight, the lame walk.
Those who have leprosy are cured, the dead hear,
The dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.
After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John.
What did you go out into the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?
If not, what did you go out to see?
A man dressed in fine clothes?
No, those who wear expensive clothes and endowed in luxury are in palaces.
But what did you go out to see?
A prophet.
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written,
I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.
I tell you,
among those born of women,
there is no one greater than John.
Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
All the people, even the tax collectors,
when they heard Jesus' words,
acknowledged that God's way was right,
because they had been baptized by John.
But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves,
because they had not been baptized by John.
To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation?
What are they like?
They're like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other.
We played the flute for you, and you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, and you did not cry.
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine,
and you say, he has a demon.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking,
and you say, he is a glutton and a drinker,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
But wisdom is proved right by all her children.
Thank God I'm sure we'll bless his word as we consider it together.
Let's take time just to pray now.
Open our eyes, Lord.
We want to see Jesus.
To reach out and touch him and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord.
We want to see Jesus.
Amen.
As I've been preparing for this morning,
there is one question that has been going through my mind time and time again.
I just couldn't get away from it as I was thinking about this passage.
And that question is,
is my perception of Jesus based on my personality and my perspective?
Or put it a bit more simply in a way I can pronounce,
do I want Jesus to be like me?
Now you look at that and you immediately think that's the wrong way around.
It's not that I want Jesus to be like me,
I want to be like Jesus.
But isn't it much easier to think that we can be like Jesus
if we start by thinking Jesus is a bit like me,
only without all my flaws?
Jesus has the same kind of view on life that I do.
He has the same preferences.
He has the same priorities in his life.
And perhaps even he has the same what people would call my prejudices.
If Jesus was here today, he would share the kind of lifestyle that I have.
He would probably have the same political views that I do.
And it's very easy for us to build a picture of Jesus
that is essentially an image of ourselves,
but made perfect because we know Jesus was sinless.
And I think in this passage,
what Jesus is addressing is the kind of attitude that is like that.
He has people who want Jesus to be like them.
So we've got John the Baptist,
who wants Jesus to come with a message of judgment
and actually to institute that judgment in the land.
We've got the scribes and the Pharisees,
teachers of the law,
who want Jesus to be like them
and to keep well away from anyone who is sinful
or isn't in the same way of thinking as they are.
And so the challenge this morning, I think,
for me, and there'll be lots more as we go through,
but the key challenge for me this morning has been,
how much do I try to make Jesus in my image?
And how much am I willing to come to the Gospels
and to read the account of Jesus
and to understand from them what he is like,
what his priorities were,
how I should be in my life?
Yes, I want to be like Jesus,
but to be like Jesus,
I need to really understand what Jesus is like himself
and not just transfer onto him
everything that I think is important in life.
So let's take that challenge,
take it away with us
and think about what is my perception of Jesus?
Is it based on my personality
and my perspectives in life?
Or is it actually based on what I learn about him
from the Bible?
So in this passage,
we've got really four sections
and it's a bit of a preacher's dream
because without any difficulty,
I've managed both alliteration and rhyming
in my headings for this morning.
So it should be relatively easy to remember.
The first is slightly separate from the following three
and I've called that compassion.
So this is the incident
of the raising of the son of the widow of Nain.
The first time in the Gospels
that we read of this greatest of all miracles
of Jesus bringing back to life
someone who had died.
Now, if we look at the flow of the chapter in Luke,
it's always good to see things in context.
It's fairly easy to see how this follows on
from what we were looking at last week.
Last week was largely about authority.
It was about the authority the centurion had
and how he could see from that
the insight he got into the authority of Jesus
and particularly the authority of Jesus over illness
that he was able to cure the servant from a distance.
This passage in some ways takes that concept further
because it says Jesus not only has authority over illness,
he also has authority over death.
And the thought of authority comes out again in the passage
because it's the first time in Luke's Gospel
that he refers to Jesus as the Lord
rather than saying Jesus.
He talks about him as the Lord representing his authority.
So from that point of view,
it's easy to see where it fits in.
But as we look at this incident,
there's a key phrase which I think explains it much better.
And the phrase in the NIV says that
Jesus' heart went out to her,
that is the son's mother.
In other versions it says Jesus had compassion on her.
This miracle is unusual for another way,
not just because Jesus raised someone from the dead,
it's also unusual because most of the miracles Jesus performed,
certainly the miracles of healing,
he did because someone came to him and asked for it.
So again, a good example in last week's account
of the centurion who sent these people to Jesus
to ask him to heal his servant.
And that happens regularly through the Gospels
and quite often Jesus will say,
your faith has saved you.
In other words, because you took the initiative
and trusted in me,
that is why I performed this great miracle.
There's nothing of that here.
It is entirely Jesus taking the initiative.
No sign that anyone asked Jesus
to raise this man from the dead.
Indeed, probably most people would think
it would be impossible
if he was beyond any help.
But it was Jesus who takes the initiative.
And he takes the initiative
because he had compassion on the widow
because his heart went out to her.
Let's take a minute to try and get the scene in our minds.
So Jesus has been going around,
he's been doing these marvellous miracles
and the healing of his centurion servant
was probably the most dramatic so far in his ministry.
And he's got a great crowd of people
who are following him.
And there's a real buzz about it.
There's a real excitement about the fact
that Jesus is doing things which are different,
that he's standing up to what they see
as the establishment that oppresses them.
We can see it to some extent kind of mirrored
in some of the things that have been happening
in the political world
over the last months and years
in terms of people like Donald Trump
and what's happened with him in the States.
Some of the things that have happened in the UK
in the Labour Party, for instance,
with Jeremy Corbyn.
And people saying,
here's someone who is on the side of the common people
and who's not afraid to stand up to the establishment.
And even though the people didn't see beyond that,
some of them probably didn't
in terms of Jesus at that point,
that was the kind of impression people had.
Here is someone who's different,
who's on our side,
and who's not afraid of the religious leaders
who've been putting us down.
And so around Jesus,
there's a real buzz,
there's a real excitement.
And then they come towards this town of Nain
and coming in the opposite direction,
there's a funeral procession.
And with all the sadness and the grief
in that, a particularly powerful one,
it's a widow who's there.
She's lost her husband.
Now she's lost her only son.
And her situation is absolutely desperate.
And in those days,
the burial,
or still today in the Middle East,
indeed the burial would have been on the same day
that the young man had died.
His body would be on,
it says a coffin in the NIV.
It was more like a plank,
I think, a bire,
some people call it.
It would be exposed.
You would literally be looking death in the face
as you looked at that scene.
And Jesus, looking at that,
his heart goes out to the woman.
He has compassion on her.
And he does three things.
First thing he does is he says to her,
don't cry.
So he goes and he comforts her
and reassures her.
He then touches the coffin or the plank.
Now that would,
in the sight of the Jews,
make him richly unclean.
So this was a departure from convention
that Jesus was doing that.
And then he tells the young man to get up
and he talks with him.
Jesus goes into the situation.
He sees something happening.
He's not filled with embarrassment
that his people are all happy
and these people are mourning.
He sees something there.
He has compassion on the widow
and he acts upon it.
And if we're wanting to be like Jesus,
if we want to understand
what Jesus is like,
then understanding the compassion of Jesus
and having that ourselves
is really, really important.
There are lots of reasons
why as Christians we serve
and maybe serve well.
Some people serve
because they have a real zeal for the Lord
and that's good.
They want to serve the Lord.
They want to win others for him.
They want to do whatever they can
for the one who died for them.
Entirely commendable.
Some people are more motivated by duty.
They recognize Jesus as Lord
and they want to do whatever is needed
to serve him
and to serve others in his name.
And that is good as well.
Both of these are good reasons
for serving Jesus.
But alongside them,
we need to have a real compassion for others.
When we see someone who's got a need
and their circumstances are hard,
perhaps desperate,
our hearts should go out to them
and we should think,
what can I do to help in that situation
to show something of the kind of love
the Lord Jesus has?
Very easy when we come into church on a Sunday
to think everything's great here.
The music's wonderful.
There's good chat and company.
The preaching is generally very good.
And it's a good place to be.
But you don't have to look far in our church
or any other church
to find people who are really suffering.
Someone who is desperately ill
and who needs people to go with her,
to go to her and to pray with her.
Someone who's been housebound for many years
and needs people just to visit him
and to tell him what's going on in the church
and to make him still feel part of things here.
People who are suffering from poor mental health,
who need to believe that people understand
how things are for them
and are able to support and help them.
As we dig beneath the surface in our church,
there are many, many people
who need our compassion
and who need our help
as they seek to struggle
with the things in their lives.
I think the challenge to me
and I have to challenge to you as well
is not enough to be motivated just by zeal
or just by a sense of duty.
Ultimately, Jesus' business with us
is a people business
and it is seeing others in need
and doing what we can to meet that need.
We need to have the compassion that Jesus had.
So that's the first part of the passage.
The next bit I've called confirmation.
So this is the beginning of the bit about John the Baptist.
John the Baptist is in prison.
John has said just a little bit too much.
That was very uncomfortable for Herod and his family
and he's been thrown into prison for it
and he is facing the prospect
that almost certainly he will lose his life
for what he said.
We're seeing things that were perfectly true
and needed to be said
but he's probably in his final stretch of his life.
And John is in prison
and he's looking out
and he's saying,
I hear about Jesus.
I hear about the buzz there is around him.
I hear about the things he's doing.
But I'm no longer sure that he is the promised Messiah.
And maybe that's partly just John's situation.
He's lonely.
He's cut off.
He's imprisoned.
And it becomes very difficult for him.
But I think very much it's because John looks
and he looks at Jesus and he says,
this isn't what I expected.
Jesus isn't acting the way that I thought he would.
John's message initially was very much one of judgment.
That God was going to come
and to judge his people through the Messiah.
That he would take the axe to the tree
is the metaphor that John uses
as he preaches beside the Jordan.
And he looked at Jesus
and he thought,
here is the man who's going to do it.
Who's going to free the country
from the oppression of the Romans.
Who's going to make sure that her and his family
get the judgment that's coming to them.
Who's going to expose the hypocrisy
of the religious leaders
and make sure that they're deposed
from the kind of position they've had.
And to bring to our land,
to our nation,
the freedom,
the justice,
and the true knowledge of God
that it should have.
That is what John expected Jesus to do.
And he looks out and he sees Jesus doing great things,
doing great miracles,
very popular with the people.
And he's thinking,
have I got this wrong?
I thought he was the Messiah.
I thought he was the one
who's going to come and liberate Israel.
But there's no sign that he's doing that.
And so John sends his disciples to Jesus.
And Jesus doesn't immediately reply to them.
But he shows them what he's about.
He shows them the miracles that he does.
The curing of diseases, illnesses,
evil spirits, and so on.
And then he says to them,
look at what you've seen.
Go back and tell John.
Now Luke doesn't explicitly say it,
but as the disciples went back
and told John what Jesus said,
John would immediately be reminded
of what was said,
particularly in the prophet Isaiah,
but certainly in the Old Testament
about the Messiah who was coming.
He would be someone
who would have particular concern
for the ill,
and particularly for the poor,
as it is said at the end,
good news is proclaimed to the poor.
So in other words,
Jesus is saying to John,
don't doubt.
I'm not coming to do exactly
what you expected at this stage.
There will be a day
when Jesus will come as judge.
I'm not doing exactly
what you expected at this stage,
but I am the Messiah.
I am the promised one.
I can give you that confirmation.
Yes, some of us at times have doubts.
Maybe all of us have times have doubts.
Our faith is weak,
and we look at things
and perhaps not as we would hope
or not as we would like,
and we begin to doubt our faith,
perhaps even begin to doubt
the basis for our faith
through the Lord Jesus.
And the way to address that,
I think quite clearly,
is to do what Jesus did,
is to say,
I want to look
and see what Jesus really is like.
Jesus said to John's disciples,
you observe me,
now go back and tell John
what I'm doing.
And it's the same for us.
We need,
if we've got doubts,
if we're not sure about things,
to get back
and to read about Jesus
and to do it with an open mind,
looking for God to guide us
as we do
and to reveal the truths to us.
In the vestibule at the front,
there are lots of copies
of Luke's Gospel.
If you're having any doubt
or if you're struggling
in any way with your faith,
can I suggest you take one of them
and just read through it
and see Jesus in it.
See what Jesus is like,
what he does,
what he says,
how he died for us
and rose again.
And with an open heart,
ask God to reveal to you
the truths of his word.
We confirm our faith
when we look at Jesus
and when we see
what he is all about.
Confirmation to John.
John's disciples then go away
and Jesus gives a commendation
for John.
Interesting,
he got the disciples to go away.
I'm not quite sure
where that was,
but he certainly wanted
the people who were around him
to understand John
and particularly, I think,
to understand
that this wasn't what John
was, someone really backsliding
and they shouldn't really
have bothered with him at all.
And so Jesus
then commends John to them.
And he said,
well, why did you go out
into the desert?
Why did you go to the place
where John was?
Was it to see a reed swing
in the wind?
Not interpreting exactly
what Jesus means by this.
Is it,
you wouldn't go to the desert
just to see the reed swing
in the wind, would you?
You can see them anywhere.
You weren't going
on a sightseeing tour.
Or perhaps it was
giving them the reassurance
that John wasn't someone
who was easily swayed,
that he was firm in his views,
that he was strong
in what he said.
So they shouldn't worry
about the fact
he'd asked these questions.
Then he says,
were you going to look
for someone dressed
in fine clothes?
No, they were going to someone
who was dressed in camel's hair
and probably looks
rather strange.
They went to find someone
who they believed
and rightly believed
was a prophet.
Someone who came
to bring them God's word,
to help them
to understand it
and to challenge them
from it.
And John,
Jesus said,
that's exactly what
you got with John.
Indeed,
you got a very special prophet.
You got a prophet
who had been prophesied
about himself
in the Old Testament.
The one who fulfilled
the Old Testament prophecy
of a messenger
who had come
before Jesus.
I think it's in that sense
that Jesus says
that John is the greatest
that has been born
of women.
There were many great prophets
in the Old Testament.
We could think of people
like Elijah,
the Elisha.
We could think of the prophets
who wrote many of the books
towards the end
of the Old Testament.
Great men.
But what was different
with John
was John was the immediate
forerunner
of the Lord Jesus.
He himself had been prophesied about.
He was the one
who introduced Jesus
to the world
as Jesus came,
particularly when he came
to be baptized
and also in the instance
we read about
in John chapter 1.
So Jesus said,
John,
there's no one born of women
who is greater than John.
And then he says
something very surprising.
He said,
yet the one who is least
in the kingdom of God
is greater than he.
So that if we believe
in the Lord Jesus,
that is you and me,
Jesus is saying
in some sense
that we are greater
than John.
Now it's not that
we are more zealous
for God
than John.
It's not that our message
and the way it produces
is more powerful
than John's.
I think the privilege
we have
is we have the full
understanding
of the Lord Jesus
as we do
if we read about him
in the scripture.
And we have
the relationship
with God
as our father
if we're trusting
in Jesus
in a way that
saints in the Old Testament
even the finest
of them
didn't have.
So it's a question
of privilege
that makes us
greater than John,
not our personality
or our character.
Jesus says,
I commend to you,
John,
he's a great man.
And some people say,
yes,
we identify with that,
we went out,
we were baptized
by John,
we confessed our sins,
we can see the greatness
of John.
And some people
hadn't got involved
in all that stuff.
They said,
no,
we don't believe in John,
we're rightly in prison,
he's a man who should
be locked away
and they would have
nothing to do with him.
And so Jesus then
turns his attention
particularly
to those in this
latter category.
And we get this
little parable.
I was quite struck
by one book I was reading
which called it
The Parable of the Brats.
I quite like that,
The Parable of the Brats.
So you've got these children
that are sitting around
and they're kind of
thinking about playing.
And some of the children
say,
we want to play funerals,
let's play sad tunes
and we'll pretend
we're in a funeral procession,
some of us will be
professional mourners.
Other people say,
no,
we really want to play weddings
and let's play nice
cheerful tunes
and the flute
and we'll dance along
with one another.
And neither group
is willing to compromise
or to go along
with whatever the game is.
If things are not
being done in their way
and how they think
it should be,
then they're not going
to get involved in it.
And Jesus says,
that's exactly
what the religious leaders
of his day were like.
Unless people
were exactly like them
and followed exactly
the way that they felt
things should be done,
they weren't going
to get involved,
they were going
to condemn them
and they were going
to do whatever they could
to get rid of them.
So John the Baptist
came with this great
message of judgment.
He lived a very ascetic
life out in the wilderness.
He ate locusts and honey.
He had this camel hair cloak.
He was very different.
He didn't get involved
in the normal
social things of life.
And they said,
well, he's mad.
He must have a demon
or something.
Jesus comes and takes
exactly the opposite
position in some ways
to John.
He gets involved
in the social life.
He even goes
and associates
with those
who would be regarded
as sinners.
As those whom
the religious people,
the people who thought
they mattered
would really look down on
and say,
we can have nothing
to do with them
because they're not
following the law of God
as we see it.
And they could have
John on the one hand
because he was too
austere
and too stern.
And Jesus on the other hand
because he was too
relaxed,
because he came with
too much
willingness
to associate
with other
people.
And they would
never be happy
unless
Jesus
and John
were exactly
as they were.
Again, it's this thing
I started with.
Do I want
Jesus to be
like
me?
And perhaps
we need to
sometimes examine
ourselves and say,
well, do we have
something of the attitude
of these religious
leaders and Pharisees
in the way we look
at things,
in the way we look
at the work
that is done
for the Lord Jesus?
It's not quite the way
we want it to be done
and we don't think
it's appropriate
or are we willing
to see God at work
and to rejoice in it
even though it may
come in very different
ways from different
people at
different times.
Sometimes God
would condemn us
for our attitudes
towards his work
and by inference
towards the Lord Jesus.
Let's just finish
with three phrases
from the passage.
Hopefully we'll bring
home some of what
we've been talking
about.
So the first one
is in verse 17
and the crowd
say as they witness
Jesus' miracle
God has come
to help
his people.
Literally it says
God has visited
his people.
And this is about
recognizing Jesus
as the one
who came from God,
who came with
God's word,
who came with
God's power,
who came with
God's compassion.
salvation.
And particularly
in our day
as the one
who came with
the compassion
of God
for our sins
and our
helplessness.
The raising of
the widow of
Nain's son
is very much
in many ways
a kind of
acted out version
of what
salvation through
Jesus is all
about.
Someone who is
dead,
completely oblivious
to things,
no hope because
it was gone for
them.
And Jesus
comes into that
situation and
he brings hope
and he brings
life.
And through his
death on the
cross,
God has come to
help his people
through Jesus
as he took on
himself the
punishment that
was due to us.
So if we simply
trust in him,
we can have
eternal life,
we can have
hope,
we can have a
real future.
God has come
to help his
people.
Have we all
taken advantage
of that help
that's offered,
that salvation
through the Lord
Jesus, the new
life that Christ
can give us.
Second key
phrase is at
the end of
the encounter
with John's
disciples.
Verse 23,
Jesus says,
blessed is anyone
who does not
stumble on
account of me.
Some versions
say blessed is
anyone who is
not offended
by me.
I saw a
bit of a
paraphrase,
blessed is the
one who doesn't
feel let down
by me.
And maybe
there's a sense
that John felt
let down.
And this was
very much
addressed to
John and
his disciples.
Relevant to
us as well.
Because what
this says is
it is possible
to be offended
by Jesus.
It is possible
to stumble
as we look
at him.
We could be
like these
Pharisees and
these religious
leaders and
come to Jesus
with our
perception of
what he should
be like.
And if he's
not like that,
then we reject
him and say,
no, I don't
want anything
to do with
that.
A lot of
people around
about in
our world
would say
I don't
want anything
to do with
Christianity
because.
And it's
very often
to do with
what they
would see
as prejudice
or can
be to do
with why
doesn't God
do more
about his
pain in
the world
and so on.
And Jesus
doesn't
necessarily do
everything as
we expect.
And that
can be a
stumbling block.
But Jesus
says we need
to look beyond
the superficial
and look
beyond our
prejudices,
our perspectives
in life
and to get
God's view
of the world
and to see
Jesus through
that lens
and not stumble,
not be offended
because of him.
Jesus,
particularly at the
end of the
passage,
in some ways
he always went
out of his way
to offend
the Pharisees,
certainly to bring
them to a head
and to help
them to understand
just how different
they are from
him.
And sometimes
Jesus will
challenge us in
that kind of
way and we
need to be
honest with
ourselves and
say,
well,
is that a
challenge I
need to
address and
to do
something about
or am I
just going to
be put off
Jesus by
it?
And then
right at the
end,
Jesus says
wisdom is
proved right
by all her
children.
The equivalent
of the
passage in
Matthew says
wisdom is
proved right
by her
deeds and I
think that
gets the
same sense
across.
Jesus is
saying the
wise person
is the one
who trusts me
and who
follows me.
who doesn't
get put off
by all the
things that
go on
round about
him,
but particularly
by their
own views
and their
own attitudes.
Who recognizes
that true
wisdom is
found in
the Son of
God who
came into
this world
to be the
saviour of
the world.
And how
is that
proved to be
right?
How is it
proved to be
true wisdom?
It is
proved to be
true wisdom
by the
effect it
has on
those who
follow Jesus.
By the
effect that
comes from
knowing him,
from loving
him,
by sharing
his priorities,
by having the
kind of
compassion that
he talked
about and
showed earlier
on.
Wisdom is
proved right
by all her
children.
I guess the
challenge from
that for those
of us who are
following Jesus
and who want
to serve him
is can people
look at us
and say yes I
can see that
there is something
different about
them, it is
something that is
good because
they have a
real care and
compassion for
others and
they love the
Lord Jesus and
want to serve
him and then
they are attracted
to the Lord
because they see
that there is
truth in what
is said because
it makes that
real difference
in our lives.
The three things
take away.
God has come
to help his
people.
Blessed is
anyone who
does not
stumble on
account of
me.
Wisdom
has proved
right by
all her
children.
Let's examine
our hearts
today.
Let's think
about how
much are
my attitudes
towards Jesus
based on my
feelings and
my comfort,
what feels
right to me.
How much is
it based on
what I learned
from Jesus
in the Bible
and from
sincerely wanting
to know and
to follow him.
And if we
need to, let's
make the
appropriate changes
by trusting in
him or by
rededicating
ourselves to
him or by
showing more
of his love
to those
round about
us.
Let's pray
together.
Father, we
thank you for
your word.
We thank you
for the power
with which it
comes to us
from the
Lord Jesus
that he is
not afraid
to be
controversial,
to condemn
those who
are not
following your
way.
But we
thank you
too for
the real
compassion
that we
see for
the raising
of the dead,
for the
healing of
the sick,
for the
hope that
is given
to the
poor.
Help us
all to
understand
who Jesus
is,
why he came
to this
world,
and how
we can
have
complete
forgiveness
and hope
through
him.
And as
we do
that,
help us
to build
up our
knowledge
of him
based on
your word,
and help
us to
become more
like the
real Jesus
that we
may show
to others
the love,
the compassion,
the care
that he
had.
We thank
you for
our time
together.
We pray
you'll be
with us
now as
we join
together in
remembering
more about
Jesus and
particularly
what he's
done for
us on
the cross.
Be with us
in our time
of communion,
we give
you thanks
and commit
ourselves to
you.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.