PSALM 30 Hymn 181 "Come Sing to God"
THE FIRST LESSON 2 Kings 5:1-14
THE SECOND LESSON Mark 1:40-45
SERMON "Passion For and With the Broken"
Worship Notes
The Word at the heart of our worship this morning is Mark's account of a healing of a leper. What characterizes this encounter is the compassion and personal touch Jesus brings to this healing.
The Psalm for the day is Psalm 30 lifting up the ways God lifts us even out of the pit of death. We have incorporated this Psalm in our opening sentences as well as singing it this morning as part of our proclamation of the Word.
The opening hymn reflects the excelling love we encounter in Jesus as we sing "Jesus, Thou art all compassion, Pure, unbounded love Thou art..." 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 includes the reminder that when we come to God in a quiet place we can pray "You never said, "You ask too much, To any troubled soul. I long to feel Your healing touch; Will you not make me whole?"
