THE FIRST LESSON Isaiah 40:21-31
THE SECOND LESSON Mark 1:29-39
SERMON "Healing and Wholeness for All Humanity"
Worship Notes
In our worship today, the central text is taken from the gospel of Mark recounting the many ways Jesus was encountered as a healer and preacher. Our Psalm for the day is Psalm 147 which is incorporated in our Call to Worship and celebrates how God heals the brokenhearted and binds up our wounds.
Our opening Hymn included the verse "Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find: may Jesus Christ be praised!" The Prayer of Confession reminds us that while we are called to be a place of healing, we often contribute to the pain of the world through our inaction and exclusion.
The profession of faith is taken from the Social Creed for the 21st Century, a new creed developed and approved by the National Council of Churches of the USA and by the Presbyterian Church USA. This creed is a reflection and update of the Social Creed of 1908 in which the public church attempted to address the social problems and inequalities that existed in the age of industrialization. This Creed reminds us that God heals not only our personal hurts but also the ills that plague our society. The hymn following the sermon evokes the image of Christ the Healer and the final hymn sends us out into the world to be healers ourselves. We sing the first verse of this final hymn which calls us to "heal the sick and preach the word."
