Ryland Epworth United Methodist Church

September 20, 1998

Thought for the Week:

You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing.  All the Lord's ways are just, all the Lord's doings are kind.

Psalm 145:16-17

• Organ Prelude:

  Air and Variation                                                                                                                                Beethoven

• Postlude:

  O Sing Unto God                                                                                                                               Moore

Sermon Title:    Balm in Gilead

Scripture Lessons: Psalm 4; Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; St. Luke 16:1-13

Sermon Notes:  "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?   Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" (Jeremiah 8:22, King James Version).  Howard Thurman, in his Deep River: Reflections on the Religious Insight in Certain of the Negro Spirituals, says: "The slave did an amazing thing.  He straightened out the question mark in Jeremiah's sentence into an exclamation point.  There is a balm in Gilead!" Hear the rest of it.   "There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.  There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul."
            Friend, what's your conviction?  I'll share mine.  I tell you what I see today.  I see a question mark in the bitter trauma, toil, and tears of Good Friday and Holy Saturday, when "I couldn't hear nobody pray," straightened into an exclamation point in the triumph of Easter.
            You ask me about balm to make the wounded whole, to heal the sin-sick soul.  Come to Jesus, and let him have his way.  Come to Jesus, and  let him lead you all the way.  Would you really see Jesus? What you see is what you'll get. 
             Praised be Jesus Christ!  

• Anthem:

  I Sing the Mighty Power of God                                                                                                         arr. Pethel

  
  

• Offertory:

  I'd Rather Have Jesus                                                                                                                       Shea

Bulletin Archives

Back to Main page