Worship
Please join us for Traditional Service on Sundays at 1:00 PM.
FCCC has resumed “in-church” services at 1:00 PM in the sanctuary on Sunday. If you can’t attend the “in-church” service you can still listen to the “in-church” service on the Conference Call Audio Service (909-318-7828) or watch live on your computer or smartphone by clicking on the link below.
(youtube.com/channel/UCNqojf_N467zRP66rpfvUAQ/live)
Also, the midweek Conference Call Audio Service continues every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Dial-in number: 909-318-7828. Please join us!
We are meeting at Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, 1550 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills, Mi,48309
Pastor Tom Sayers
586-703-6249
tommsayers@yahoo.com
Message for Sunday October 27, 2024
“Do You See What I See?”
Faith Community Christian Church
Pastor Tom
That’s a tragic situation for anyone, to be begging at the side of the road, hoping someone will notice and offer to help.
Have you ever been in such a situation?
Friends the truth is that at some point in our lives each of us is a “blind Bartimaeus” sitting at the side of the road praying that someone will notice us and care.
The good news is that Jesus does notice us and does care about us, just as he noticed Bartimaeus.
Jesus was moved by his simple plea, and he called for him. When Bartimaeus knew that Jesus was calling back to him, he jumped to his feet and cast aside his garment. He didn’t want anything to hinder him from coming into the master’s presence, so he got rid of it.
I wish you and I were that eager to come to Jesus.
Some of us would have to throw off so many outer layers, such as our conceit, or cynicism, and our preoccupation with material security that it is difficult for us to run to Jesus as Bartimaeus did. Jesus saw Bartimaeus in need, and he cared.
Friends, He cares about every one of us who is sitting at the side of the road.
You know that important truth in your heart, but have you ever totally accepted it with your mind?
It’s easy to have misgivings about God’s love for us. After all, it’s a big world. How could I possibly believe that God cares about me?
Well we may be a very tiny part of God’s creation, but we’re far from insignificant. We are the most prized creatures in it.
God knows every single person in the world by name.
He knows all of us by name.
God knows everything about every one of us. He’s the source of all knowledge and truth. He doesn’t see us as just a sea of humanity. He sees us and loves us as individuals.
Jesus answered, “Your faith has made you well.”
Our faith can heal those of us who are sitting by the side of the road today.
Would you eagerly cast off your garment and come to Jesus?
Can you believe that the God of this vast universe cares about your needs and will see you through whatever crisis you’re confronting? Friends, there is healing in faith like this.
There is a Christmas carol in which the shepherds of Bethlehem point out to everyone they meet on their way the marvel they have seen in the manger. “Do you see what I see?” they ask all those gathered in Bethlehem.
According to this Christmas carol, this birth, which had taken place under the most plain and ordinary circumstances, would surely have been overlooked were it not for those shepherds who called it to everyone’s attention by exclaiming, “Do you see what I see?”
Friends an epiphany happens in today’s Gospel. There we meet a blind man who comes to us with the same question asked by the shepherds in the Christmas carol: “Do you see what I see?”
Ironically, it’s from those places and people we least expect it that God often makes his most stunning revelations to us.
God uses shepherds, a blind man, and a crucified carpenter’s son from an out-of-the-way place, a sip of wine and bit of bread, a cup of cold water, the caring hands and firm embraces of ordinary Christians, to help us to see what is ordinarily hidden.
God uses them to help us see the most important thing in the world: His love for us in Jesus Christ.“Do you see what I see?”
In a world where there are always strings attached, where there is no such thing as something for nothing, where no one gives you anything without an expectation of getting something in return, here we receive the love and kindness of others, of God, with no questions asked. “Do you see what I see?”
Here prayer is not just crossing your fingers and hoping that things will turn out all right. Prayer is not the last act of desperation but the first line of attack. Here prayer is not just something you do because it makes you feel good but is something that actually changes things.
Here prayers are answered, miracles happen, and the blind see.
Here what previously was hidden is now revealed.
Friends there are some people in this church who are sitting by the side of the road crying out to Jesus for mercy. You’ve been hurt. Your situation is desperate. There seems to be little hope.
You thought you could control your life and keep yourself safe, and keep those around you safe. But it hasn’t worked out that way. And you are nearly at your wits end.
There are other people in this faith community who have already known what it is to be in Bartimaeus’ situation, but by the grace of God you have found healing and help. And you know it was because of Jesus Christ. And now you follow Jesus.
And you look around for others in pain you can reach out to, to show them the same grace that you have received.
You, like Bartimaeus, have moved from being a receiver to being a giver.
And, there are some of you who have moved through life somewhat unscathed. Life has been gentle with you so far.
You’ve seen others in pain, but so far your life has gone pretty smoothly. And you’re grateful. And you, too, follow Jesus Christ.
And because you follow him, you want to make a difference in someone’s life.
That’s one of the reasons you’re involved in Faith Community Christian Church.
When people work together in Christ’s name, we can do wonders for those who suffer.
You’ll discover that in reaching out to others you will build up resources for when the time comes, and it will come, when you’re the one sitting beside the road crying out.
Friends, here is the good news about faith. (And we heard some Faith journeys last Sunday) Faith makes a difference in life. Faith is important to us socially, intellectually, financially, physically, and spiritually. I say spiritually, because there are people who have their names on church rolls who don’t have faith. If you have faith, said the Master, you can move mountains. Not even a lot of faith, he said.
Even the faith of a mustard seed will do. (Luke 17:6). Faith can change your life. We see it in today’s Gospel lesson.
We’ll close with this: I wonder what I’d have asked for if I had the undivided attention of the Son of God. What would my request be? What would yours be?
Friends, God asking what our heart’s desire is for this life.
So what would you say?
Bartimaeus, the blind man that Jesus met on the road outside of Jericho that day, simply wanted to see what everyone else saw. But the real miracle that day is that, when he gained his sight, he chose to follow Jesus. He was not satisfied to merely see the sights, to find familiar faces and places in his hometown. He wanted to see the world from Jesus’ point of view, to see the people and the places and the problems and the possibilities that Jesus saw.
Once Jesus gave him his sight, he was no longer content to hang around Jericho. He wanted to see the world through Jesus’ eyes. And that brings me to the question: What do you want Jesus to do for you?
We have forgiveness for our sins, we have the promise of eternal life, and we have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What else is there? What else could we possibly want Jesus to do for us? Perhaps only this: to see the world as Jesus sees it. To see others the same way Jesus sees us, and then, to love them.
Friends, I want you to listen very carefully to what I am about to say: Until we come to faith, the gospel is always about us, and once we come to faith, the gospel is always about others.
You see, we are the blind beggar on that road to Jericho! Jesus has given us light and life. But once we see the world as Jesus sees it, we can’t sit on our couch any longer. What we do for the least of these, we do for Jesus.
I have a prayer for you: To ask Jesus to let you see your world with His eyes. There are a thousand things he might have done after receiving his sight. We only know one. He followed Jesus.
That’s what faith is all about. It’s a response to who Christ is and what He has done for us. To see and to act as the eyes and the hands, the heart and the feet of Christ. Amen.
*Reasons for joining the FCCC Choir:
“The collection plate is never passed to the choir.”
“When you forget to do your laundry, the choir robes cover dirty clothes.”
*Things you never hear in church:
“I volunteer to be the permanent Sunday school teacher!”
*Excuses for not attending church:
“The dog ate my offering!”
.Faith Community Christian Church
