Sing verse 1
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fierc
est drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
We have a number of young people dressed up for TRUNK OR TREAT. I invite them to come up around the altar. [Identify various costumes: scary costumes
heroes
gentle characters]
It is fun to pretend to be something else or someone else. Sometimes I wish that I had super hero powers, or that I could scare away bad things from happening. But that is not possible. The reality is that many times bad things do happen to people.
[Ask kids: Can you think of any bad things that have happened to someone that you know. Elicit responses.]
In the gospel there was a story of man named Bartimaeus. He was blind. We don’t know if he was blind from birth, or that something happened to cause him to be blind. Unfortunately, blindness was common at the time of Jesus mostly transmitter by flies and poor hygiene.
We do not how he became blind but we know that he wanted to see.
Not only does Jesus heal him, but also he says that the reason he is healed is because of faith. Now this is not meant to say that anyone today who is not healed of something . . . has no or little faith. But that for all of us, what is going to help us get through any “dark times” is faith.
This is an important aspect in our own following of Jesus. For all of us will encounter a bad situation or a hard time. Some of us try real hard to pretend that we don’t have any difficulties. Some of us keep wearing a mask that tries to make other see us differently. For example, when we are hurting . . . sometimes we put on our “tough guy” mask. Or sometimes when we feel awkward or embarrassed, we put on a “funny guy” to hide our fillings.
The blind man, Bartimaeus, eventually follows Jesus on the way. That was the oldest description of the Christianity . . . it was called, “the way.” We also are invited to follow Jesus on the way, which means to have faith in Christ that no matter how dark our lives seems we are given hope. That no matter how difficult the situation, or issue, is we are invited to believe that it will get better. That is the basic meaning of faith, which saved the blind man in the gospel.
[instrumental begins]
And perhaps we each need a dose of having our eyes opened, for too often we get stuck with a doubt that good will come of this “mess.” Or that somehow God has forgotten us and we are doomed. Or that it is up to us ONLY to get better. Not so.
Whatever hurt or worry that you are carrying. You do not need to hide yourself or pretend that it is not a big deal. Instead. . . be like Bartimaeous, take courage and rise up . . . for the power of Christ is in us.
sing verse 2
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.