Sir, Give Me This Water

Meditation on John 4, selected verses, beginning at verse 5

Oct. 18, 2015

First Sunday at Merritt Island Presbyterian Church!

***

   “So (Jesus) came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
   A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’
     Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’
     Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him….
       Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.’”

***

    I can’t believe I am finally here with you! Worshiping with you in this place! So many hopes and dreams have come true with this call to ministry. I am unbelievably blessed! I know you, too, have waited and longed for your pastor. I thank you for your warm welcome to me, for all the people who have stopped by my office to give me a hug as I was moving in, and sent cards, emails and Facebook messages. Thank you to everyone who gave us groceries our first weekend here, left encouraging notes, and whispered kind words, words every pastor delights in hearing: “We are so glad you are here!” I am very excited about ministering to you and serving the Lord alongside you! I promise to do my very best as your pastor, with God’s help.

    I have to admit to you, though, all this attention, well, it isn’t what I am used to. When the chair of the PNC asked for a bio and photos to make a brochure to hand out to the congregation and a video of myself to show at the congregational meeting, I was more than a little intimidated. Friends, I am just an ordinary person, with many flaws and weaknesses. You have only been told the “good” things about me. I actually made a list of some of my weaknesses to share with you. I love candy and all sorts of sweets. That’s a problem for me, maybe it is for some of you, too, so we can encourage one another to make healthier choices. I sometimes talk with my mouth full and eat with my fingers. I will try to be neater! I tend to worry about things more than I pray about them. We can encourage one another to pray and meditate on God’s Word more. I am a perfectionist. When it comes to my own work, I have very little grace for myself. That is something I am praying about. I work more hours and days than I should and take on more than I should. Maybe some of you also have that struggle; we can lift one another up.

***

    When I was choosing the text I would be preaching on for my first Sunday at MIPC, several came to mind, but then I knew I was going to preach on the Samaritan woman at the well. My husband, Jim, asked me why I chose this text.  I said it was one of the passages that really made me want to be a Christian. It reveals most everything we need to know about Jesus’ character--and most of us will see ourselves in this unnamed Samaritan woman, a sinner, searching for truth and a deeper meaning in life. We learn that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, but he is also fully human, experiencing all that we experience. In verse 6, we read Jesus was “tired out by his journey.” He was hungry and had just sent off his disciples to go to the city and buy food. He was thirsty; it was the middle of the day in a warm climate. Jesus asks a woman at the well for a drink of water--and not just a woman, which would be scandalous enough to be alone with a woman to whom you aren’t married or related, but a Samaritan woman. Samaritans and Jews are enemies in ancient times. Further, this woman, as we read in verse 18, is not a respectable woman; she is an outcast. She has had 5 husbands and is living with a man who is not her husband. To be there at midday--the hottest point of the day-- reveals that she is trying to avoid contact with other people, who might ridicule or shun her or worse. Most who would come to the well would come in the early morning, when it was cooler, to draw the water for the household for the day.

    Through this passage, Jesus reveals to us the loving, merciful character of God who longs to forgive us, heal us, and live in right relationship with us--no matter who we are. Though we can’t hear the tone of voice in Scripture, Jesus must be speaking in a kind and gentle tone when he points out the sin in the Samaritan woman's life because she doesn’t respond defensively. She answers by asking some deep questions about religion, the proper place to worship God, and the promised Messiah, questions you might not expect of an uneducated woman of ancient times. You can tell she is searching for God, longing for her life to change, longing to hope for the future. She wants to be healed and made whole! Something about Jesus stirs her to trust Him and open up to him, though she doesn’t know, at first, who he really is. 

     In verse 25, she says, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called the Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus answers, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”  He tells the outcast, the “sinner” of her community, “If you new the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 

      Now people back then said “living water” when they were referring to a river or stream--water that flowed and was inhabited by living creatures. But this isn’t flowing water; this is just a well, with water that is stagnant. Jesus has gotten her full attention! “Everyone who drinks of this water,” he says of the well in verse 13, “will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The Samaritan woman says eagerly, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

     Their conversation is interrupted, then, by the disciples’ return and their astonishment that Jesus is speaking with a woman -- and a Samaritan woman at that! We know the woman is excited by her conversation with Jesus because she leaves her water jar and runs back to the city, the very same city that has marginalized her. She is a changed person after talking openly with Jesus. She risks persecution by declaring the truth, beckoning people to come and meet Jesus. “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!” she says in verse 29. “He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”

     The people of the city listen to her--see the changes in her -- and they come to hear and see Jesus for themselves.  Because of her testimony, many Samaritans come to believe in Jesus.  Then Jesus stays with the Samaritans for 2 days--something an orthodox Jewish man would never do in those days. Jesus, revealing more about the Heavenly Father, sees beyond where a person lives and their racial, ethnic, religious or socio-economic status. He doesn’t care about gender. He knows everything about us--each one of us, just as knew everything about the stranger at the well-- and he loves us all the same! He offers living water, “soul” refreshment for all who are broken, hurting and sinful! He beckons all to come to him and receive His gift of salvation. With His gift is the promise of a peace not like the world offers; a peace that surpasses all understanding, a peace found only through belief on Christ and hope in Him for eternal life.

    ***

    Friends, I am only a regular, ordinary person, with many flaws and weaknesses. Will you have grace for me? Let us learn from one another as we seek to be the people God wants us to be. My faith is real! The God I know is merciful and loving; the God of second chances. I am not the person I was 20 or 30 years ago. I am not creature even today. The Spirit is still working in and through me, changing me into the person God can use for His purposes.

     Like you, I am learning to trust, more and more. I am learning to cast my burdens on Him and not to try to do everything in my own strength or wisdom. If you remember only one thing from this message today, I hope it will be that it doesn’t matter who you used to be. In Christ, God doesn’t hold our failures against us. Return to the Lord who loves you enough to suffer and die for a world that did not love Him. Confess your sins and turn away from them. But then be like the Samaritan woman and share your testimony with your family and community--with everyone you know. Our gracious Lord who knows each one of us intimately is the Savior for the world. He offers to all His living water--a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.

     All who hunger for a deeper faith,

       a closer walk with God,

    a peace that surpasses all understanding…

Won’t you come and drink with me-- so we will never thirst again?

     Let us pray.

    Thank you, Lord, for your offer of living water, a spring that gushes up to eternal life. Lord, please give us this water, so we may be healed and made whole. Thank you for your love, mercy and grace. Thank you for your patience with us as we struggle with sin and sometimes stumble and fall and grow weary and discouraged. Thank you for not holding our past failures against us and seeing us through the lens of your redemption--when you have completed your good work in us and we see your beautiful face. Draw us nearer to you, Lord, each day. Teach us to drink deeply of your living water--meditating on your Holy Word and seeking you in prayer--so our souls may never thirst again. Lead us to share our testimonies with our communities, so that everyone will know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior for the whole world. So that everyone will have a peace not like the world offers, but your peace that surpasses all understanding. In Christ we pray. Amen.

   

“What were you arguing about?”

Meditation on Mark 9:30-37 

Sept. 20, 2015

Last Sunday with Ebenezer     

                                  

   They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

   Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

                        

***

    Friends, this is my last message to you. I can’t believe it! At this moment, it feels like I have been here forever and have always known all of you. At the same time, it feels like I just got here! Four years is both a long time and not nearly enough time to do everything I wanted to do with you or hoped to do in ministry here.

     I love you.  I will miss you.

     But we know this is the Lord’s will for us, though it may not always be comfortable. Change is rarely comfortable. Still, our calling as Christians is to seek out God’s Will for our lives and then seek the Lord’s help to obey. As Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!”

     Though I would rather take you with me, I leave you in God’s capable hands. I trust that the Lord will be faithful to carry you through this time of transition in leadership. You are NOT sheep without a shepherd. You still have the Good Shepherd! We are in an in-between time, and yes, it’s a little scary! But in this in-between time, you and I are, as always, a work in progress. We are not what we were yesterday. In Jesus Christ, the old has passed away! And we aren’t what we are going to be tomorrow, when God has completed His work in us.

      What’s left for me to say in this final message? To encourage you in your ministry in Christ’s name--to keep on loving and serving God and neighbor, daring to be different in thought and deed than the rest of society.

       I also want to say, “Thank you, Ebenezer.” I can’t say it enough! For it is such a privilege to be a minister. Thank you for calling me to be your pastor 4 years ago this month, and for sharing your faith and your lives with me. Thank you for allowing me to care for you and pray for you when you and your loved ones were in need. And thank you for all the times that you cared for and prayed for my family and me when we were in need.

       But let us not make today all about me and saying “goodbye.” After all, it’s not really “goodbye,” is it? In God’s everlasting Kingdom, it’s “until we meet again.”

***

    It’s wonderful that our last worship service together includes a baptism! What a great reminder of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ! God has claimed us as His own. The Lord has marked us and sealed us with the Holy Spirit, which, throughout our lives, fills us with all the gifts we need to be who God intends us to be! During the baptism, as we pray for and welcome the newest member of the Church, we are refreshed and renewed for service. We draw nearer to God and one another when we reach out to embrace a new lamb into the fold.

    When we baptize, we are being obedient to Christ’s call to “welcome the child.” In our Mark reading today, Jesus takes a “little child” into his arms and tells his disciples, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

     The kind of welcome Jesus is talking about involves more than a baptism or initiation into church membership. Jesus is addressing the larger society of his day, a society that did not value children. They are seen as possessions of the father in the household.  They are “nonpersons or not-yet persons,” as one commentary says. Mark does not name the child nor the parent in this passage, so we get the impression that this is just any small child, perhaps a complete stranger to the disciples, one of many such children who may have been tagging along after them, drawn to the love and mercy of Christ.

     The kind of “welcome” Jesus is talking about involves relationship-- caring for that child, any child, every “little child” who is a “nonperson or not yet person” to the wider society. Christ is saying, if you love God and you love me, then you will love and care for this little child, too. Conversely, he is also saying, “If you don’t love this child, then you also don’t love me or the one who sent me.”

     But there is a broader interpretation for this passage. The “little child” may represent all of the “little people” in our world--the voiceless, powerless, nameless, poor and vulnerable. For Jesus, when he speaks of life in his Kingdom, speaks of a world that is the opposite of our world today. It is truly an “upside down Kingdom.” People who are wealthy, arrogant, vain and powerful-- everyone wants to hear what they have to say in our society-- well, they have no place whatsoever in the Kingdom of God. And the people who are the “greatest” in God’s Kingdom are the humble, meek, poor and persecuted for Christ’s sake; they are those whom nobody in our society wants to hear! For the gospel is really uncomfortable, at times, to hear, isn’t it? Especially when Christ tells us that we have to love and care for the people that our society doesn’t like--the ones that we don’t want to know their names or their problems and share what we have with them. We don’t want to have a relationship with them. We don’t even want to live next door to them. They are the outcast, by definition, the undesirables.

    What is the context in which Jesus teaches this lesson? Jesus has just told his disciples that he is going to be betrayed and killed, and that he would rise on the third day. They don’t understand. On the way to Capernaum, they proceed to argue over who, of the 12 disciples, is the “greatest”!

    Then Jesus asks, “What were you arguing about?”

    And the disciples know they screwed up. Again. Their response to his question? Guilty silence.

***

 

    Friends, please don’t be distracted from your ministry to the community and the world during this in-between time. If you focus too much on what is happening inside your congregation, you will miss the blessing and spiritual growth that comes with reaching out with the gospel and caring for people in need. Ministry in Christ’s name is what will keep you together.

      May God’s Word continue to challenge and guide you. Our Lord urges us to be different--to respond to the prejudice, hatred, and selfishness of our society by being humble, meek, gentle, and kind. That takes courage and strength, doesn’t it, to be gentle and kind when others are rude and unkind?

      Keep welcoming the children and all the people whom society doesn’t like. Dare to be different! Speak up for those who have no voice! For whoever welcomes the children, welcomes the Lord. This welcome means relationship.

     Don’t get caught up in arguments with your brothers and sisters in the faith. The root of all arguments is, when you think about it, vanity or pride. Wanting your own way. Don’t be like the disciples, who each wanted to be the “greatest,” even after Jesus had taught them about the upside down Kingdom and how to be servant of all. Be of one heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Let go of old hurts. Be merciful, for God has forgiven you!

    Give of yourself, and give some more.

    Thank you, again, dear Ebenezer, for your kindness and love to me. May God bless thee and keep thee --until we meet again!

Let us pray.

Loving Lord, we thank you for what you have done for us! Thank you that your Son, Jesus Christ, gave us the example of being the greatest in your Kingdom when He gave his all. Forgive us for becoming distracted from our gospel mission at times, forgetting the call to reach out to the world with your mercy, grace and love. By your Spirit, give us ears to hear your Word and really understand what it means for our lives today. Remind us that if we love you, then we will care for the children and the people whom society despises or ignores. Prepare our hearts and minds for the new thing you are doing with Ebenezer and with me. Get us ready, Lord, and give us courage and strength to do your will. In Christ we pray. Amen.

       

“For the Sake of the Gospel”

Meditation on Mark 8:27–38                                        

Sept. 13, 2015: Rally Day

       Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

***

        I can’t think of another question more important for the Church than our Lord’s, “But who do you say that I am?”

   What we believe about Jesus gives us our purpose and identity as the Church. Our faith shapes our ministry, leading us to do and be for others what we wouldn’t consider doing if we didn’t believe with all our hearts that Jesus is the Messiah, the one coming again in the glory of His Father and with the holy angels.

   If we didn’t believe that Jesus is the one who came to suffer and die and be raised again to rescue us from our sins--then every good thing we do for others, including our trip to Spirit Lake Indian Reservation this summer, is just a “good thing.”

   In the months leading up to our mission trip in August with Marylynn Aalderks and her team from First Pres, Rochester, we had to consider WHY we would go. We went because of Jesus, to serve Him by being kind and generous, because He was willing to take up His cross and give Himself for the world that did not know him. In Mark, Christ urges us to join Him in giving up self-interest and seeking a life of comfort and ease. But we can’t say that we have picked up our crosses and followed Him, as the Lord invites us, if the motivation for our mission work and giving is just trying to do good things to boost our own self esteem. 

      I can say with all confidence that those who went on this trip wanted to bring the love and compassion of Christ to people who lacked hope. We went with a little fear and trepidation, not having gone before or done anything like this. But we knew it was the right thing to do. It was like Marylynn Aalderks told me 4 years ago when I asked her why she went to Nicaragua every year on a mission trip, though she put her own health and safety at risk and often came back sick. She said that it was the one thing she did that wasn’t about her or for her.  So much of her life was comfortable and safe--and she used the word “selfish,” which I would never use to describe Marylynn!

     Our conversation made me think hard about Christ’s call to discipleship. Friends, we can talk ourselves out of taking risks, such as doing hands on mission that involves traveling to minister to strangers living outside our community. We can say that we should just take care of our near neighbors or that we don’t have to do hands-on work and actually have a relationship with the people we help. We can just give some money, right? But that’s not what Christ did. He traveled outside his community and outside his people, culture and religion! He reached out to strangers in desperate need, without worrying about his own comfort or safety.  Taking up a cross for Jesus is being willing to suffer and possibly die for Christ’s sake. But most of us are more like Peter than Jesus. When Peter rebukes Jesus for speaking prophetically of His death that would be a self-giving example to us all, Christ says, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

    The 20 or so volunteers who traveled to Spirit Lake had faith that God wanted us to go and give of ourselves. We went in obedience to Christ’s Great Commission of Matthew 28-to make disciples of all the nations-- and to show Christ’s love by meeting basic needs, which included feeding the children breakfast and lunch each day. They were hungry! We went in the name of Christ to share God’s Word, teaching them Joseph’s story in the Old Testament and Christ’s story in the New. The children learned of Christ’s promise in Matt. 28:20. “And I am… with you always…even to the end of the age.” We can say that our work at Spirit Lake was truly a mission because we went, not for our own sakes, but for the sake of the gospel. And we were blessed!

***

    Today, you will hear from some of Ebenezer’s mission team.  Not all of them were able to be with us today. But those who are here will share memories that touched their hearts and inspired them to persevere beyond what was uncomfortable, including the heat and relentless flies, the grime and noise of the rec center, and the strangeness of a different culture and place.

     I will always remember the energy and joy of the children, but also their uncertainty about us when we arrived. That first day, some of the kids looked at us and around the room decorated with Sharon LeGare’s scenery and props with wide eyes and blank expressions. Others raced around the room, wild and undisciplined, not accustomed to having adults organize activities for them at the rec center and being expected to sit and listen or learn new songs. Every day was challenging, and we would go back to our rooms in the evenings tired, sweaty, and dirty. The first day was the hardest, but we knew God was still in control amidst our frustration and disappointments, such as when the technology would not work when we tried to show a video clip. Then we discovered that once the lights were turned off, they would not immediately turn back on again. We were in a big, dark gymnasium with a mob of children screaming and running around. Thankfully, we had popsicles to lure them outside to play on the playground for the last 15 minutes--til it was time for them to go home.

    I will treasure the time of prayer with our teams at the end of each day, when we shared what we were thankful for and what had inspired us. I will remember the children’s hugs, laughter and moving stories of home life that brought tears to our eyes. Parents who had left them to be raised by grandmothers or other relatives. One boy whose father had just died in a car fire rumored to be suicide.

    Each of us seemed to have a “little buddy”--a child who claimed us as their own throughout the program. One such child was my Daizey, maybe 7 or 8 years old. She came the first day in a Hello Kitty dress. Of course, I had to show her my Hello Kitty cell phone cover and Hello Kitty water bottle holder. We were instant friends. We ate lunch side by side, and she told me that some day her mother was going to have a house. And Daizey would live with her and have a room of her own. And then we spent the next 15 minutes talking about what the room of her dreams might look like. One of Daizey’s favorite activities that week was jumping rope. She was able to jump forwards and backwards and turn herself all the way around in a circle, jumping rope. She drew many admiring glances from people walking by.

    Daizey, like many of the other children, enjoyed the face painting on the last day of VBS--just before the family program. Volunteers and some of the older children painted cheeks, foreheads, arms and hands--hearts, cupcakes, flowers, stars, crosses and more. One boy wanted his entire face painted green and then asked me to take his picture. I did!

   I was so proud of the children! They had come such a long way in just a few days! When they had just stared at us, ignored us, or even taunted us while we led the singing the first day, they now volunteered to say their memory verses, sang the motion songs with enthusiasm, and played tambourine, drums, sticks, triangle, and bells. Our songs included “The Doxology,” “Do Lord,” “Watching Over You,” and “You Never Let Go.”

    And I was proud of all our volunteers! They worked so hard and got along well together. Will we return to Spirit Lake to minister in the future? It’s up to the Lord, of course, and if there are people who feel led to go. The Rochester church is already planning another mission trip next June--and there are so many volunteers, there’s a “waiting list.”

     As we drove away on the last day at Spirit Lake, after Sunday worship with the Native American congregation, one of our volunteers texted me. She wanted to go back to see her “little buddy,” she said. One of the children who had claimed her as his own. She had taken a risk and gone not for her own sake--because it was uncomfortable for her, as it was for the others. In fact, when I first talked about the trip, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to go. But she went-- for the sake of the gospel. And she was blessed!

Let us pray.

Holy God, we thank you for the gospel -- the Good News of Jesus Christ, who suffered and died, and rose again so that we might be forgiven for our sins and experience new and abundant life with Him. Thank you, Lord, that He was willing to pick up His cross to rescue this broken and hurting world. Forgive us for wanting to be comfortable and choosing things to do for own pleasure, rather than taking a risk and choosing to serve you in ways we have never done before, in places we have never been. Help us to truly live out the gospel, to be kind and generous to people in need and to speak the Good News with love and boldness, never being ashamed to tell the world who Jesus really is--the Messiah. Give us courage and humility to take up our crosses and more faithfully follow Him. In Christ we pray. Amen.