Show Notes
Matthew 8:5-13
Pastor Stephen Lauer
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:08] Let's pray.
[00:00:14] O Holy Spirit, by you the Father raised the Son from the grave, broke the darkness of the tomb and brought forth the light of heaven not only into that tomb, drawing Christ into new life eternal and glory, but by his resurrection, you, O Holy Spirit, have drawn us, our dead hearts, into union with Christ.
[00:00:50] And so out of the darkness of our tombs, our dead hearts, you have drawn us to eternal life in Christ Jesus and into his kingdom of light.
[00:01:04] O Holy Spirit, we ask that as you worked new creation in that tomb, you would again work new creation in our hearts.
[00:01:17] As God spoke, and by the word of his power, light came into being. We ask that even this morning, by the word of your power, O Holy Spirit, you would bring the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ to shine in our hearts that we might be drawn to him and find in him all that we need, for we are truly needy.
[00:01:46] We confess that we have nothing in ourselves, only darkness and death and misery.
[00:01:52] But oh how we thank you that you, Lord Jesus, are full of resurrection life, that you are so full of that power, that you are overflowing, and that your overflowing power fills us, heals us, strengthens us, gives us faith, carries us forward through everything.
[00:02:17] Help us then this morning, as you promised to by your word and spirit. We ask Amen if you'll turn in your Bibles. We're going to hear God's word from the Gospel of Matthew.
[00:02:34] Our sermon text is from Matthew 8. I'm going to read first, however from Matthew 4 we're going to read two passages first from Matthew 4 beginning in verse 13 and then we'll turn and read Matthew 8 5.
[00:02:58] Here in Matthew 4 we find the very beginning of Jesus ministry.
[00:03:03] And Jesus is described as he comes as the king to bring his kingdom to his people. He's described as a light shining in the darkness of death.
[00:03:15] Matthew 4:13 Hear God's word and leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum, by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.
[00:03:29] The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.
[00:03:42] And for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
[00:03:48] From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[00:03:55] Then turning over to Matthew 8, this will be our sermon text, verse 5 through 13.
[00:04:03] When he had entered Capernaum. A centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.
[00:04:18] And he said to him, I will come and heal him.
[00:04:23] But the centurion replied, lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.
[00:04:31] But only say the word and my servant will be healed.
[00:04:37] For I too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, go.
[00:04:45] And he goes, and to another, come.
[00:04:48] And he comes.
[00:04:50] And to my servant do this.
[00:04:53] And he does it.
[00:04:55] When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
[00:05:06] I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness.
[00:05:22] In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
[00:05:28] And to the centurion, Jesus said, go, let it be done for you as you have believed.
[00:05:35] And the servant was healed at that very moment. Moment, please be seated.
[00:05:57] I had trouble picking a theme for this sermon. I'd like to try to pick a brief idea that captures the heart of the sermon. And I debated between the centurion's faith and the centurion's savior.
[00:06:17] You can write them both down if you're taking notes. And then at the end of the sermon, you can decide which one fits best.
[00:06:25] One of them the centurion's faith or the centurion's savior, who, of course, is the object of his faith.
[00:06:33] We're going to look at one of those themes under the following three heads or divisions. The three main points here, the centurion's servant. We'll consider him first. Secondly, the centurion's authority, and then finally, the centurion's feast.
[00:06:52] First, the centurion's servant.
[00:06:56] In the story here, we meet a Roman soldier.
[00:07:01] Not just a soldier, but an officer in the army, and an officer over quite a few men.
[00:07:09] He lived in Capernaum with at least one servant, probably many more, but at least this one servant.
[00:07:17] And he's very concerned for his servant.
[00:07:22] He comes to Jesus, he tells Jesus about his servant, and he pleads with Jesus for healing.
[00:07:29] All pretty obvious.
[00:07:32] Let's consider the servant's condition, his situation.
[00:07:37] He was sick.
[00:07:39] Some illness had taken a hold of him, and in a pretty bad way.
[00:07:46] I think the translation says that he was lying at home.
[00:07:51] Yes, lying at home.
[00:07:54] The Greek word here is literally that he was thrown, as though the sickness had thrown him into bed.
[00:08:02] That doesn't make sense in English. So we say that he was lying in bed at home. We say something similar to this in English. When we say that a person has been taken ill. It's as though the illness has gripped and. And thrown him in bed.
[00:08:19] He's sick and in a bad way.
[00:08:23] The illness has progressed to the point, whatever it is, that he can't move around, he can't get out of the bed. And so the text tells us that he was paralyzed, stuck in his bed, unable to get up, unable to move around, unable to do things for himself, arms and legs, immobilized, paralyzed.
[00:08:45] But he isn't just thrown in bed with sickness to the point that he's paralyzed and can't get out of bed.
[00:08:54] He's dreadfully tormented, or as our translation says, suffering terribly. I like dreadfully tormented better.
[00:09:04] He was dreadfully tormented by this paralyzing illness while stuck in bed, unable to help himself.
[00:09:13] The sickness leaves him in utter misery. Doesn't tell us exactly what that misery is. But whatever it was, it was pretty bad.
[00:09:22] Might have been physical pain, it might have been a burning fever you've experienced that whatever it was, he was in utter misery.
[00:09:36] And we can infer one thing from all of this.
[00:09:40] That if the centurion is coming to Jesus for help, Jesus, a preacher of the Gospel, a teacher of God's word.
[00:09:49] If he's coming to Jesus, there must have been no doctor who could help him. And that seems to be the case of just about everyone whom Jesus heals. Jesus heals the blind the doctors couldn't heal. He heals the lepers. He heals all sorts of people that the doctors weren't able to help. And so too with this man.
[00:10:09] He's sick, paralyzed, tormented, and without human hope.
[00:10:15] He can't help himself, and no one else can help him.
[00:10:21] That's the servant's condition.
[00:10:25] But there's something interesting.
[00:10:28] The centurion tells us that he understands something not just about his servant's miserable condition, but the centurion's words tell us that he understands something about his own condition.
[00:10:40] The Roman soldier, that is, he understands something about his own condition. And you see that in his words in verse eight, he says, lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.
[00:10:55] He humbles himself to help his lowly servant.
[00:11:00] He comes to Jesus seeking help from Jesus. Not just seeking help, but imploring Jesus help, begging for Jesus help, beseeching Jesus for help.
[00:11:14] He needs help.
[00:11:16] He can do nothing. He is helpless. And not only is he helpless, he. He is not worthy.
[00:11:24] The centurion lived among the Jewish people in the city of Capernaum.
[00:11:29] And from the Jewish people he had heard the teachings of the Bible.
[00:11:35] And he knew that he was unworthy.
[00:11:40] Why?
[00:11:42] Because he knew that he had a situation that was actually quite similar to his servants.
[00:11:49] His servant had a dreadfully tormenting, incurable condition of the body.
[00:11:55] The centurion knew that he had a dreadfully tormenting, incurable condition of the soul.
[00:12:03] He knew from the Bible of the Jews that they had taught him. He knew that he was unworthy, that his heart was full of evil desires.
[00:12:14] He knew that he lusted and coveted, that he had anger.
[00:12:19] And most of all, he knew that he didn't love and serve the living and true God as he had been created to do.
[00:12:27] He had the disease of sin.
[00:12:32] In the servant's condition we see a picture of the centurion's condition. And in the centurion's condition we see our own condition.
[00:12:43] Every son of Adam and daughter of Eve has this condition. We're all descended from our forefather Adam. And from him we received a sin nature miserable.
[00:12:57] Miserable because it's full of sin.
[00:13:01] That's what the Gospel of Matthew is all about. That's why Jesus came to Galilee, came to Capernaum. We read about that in Matthew 4.
[00:13:10] When Jesus came, he came to the darkest, most miserable, sin filled part of Israel.
[00:13:18] A place that was in the shadow of darkness, where the people were sitting in the shadow of death.
[00:13:26] So sin filled that they were incurable and without hope.
[00:13:32] The Jewish crowds that followed Jesus were born and raised in the church.
[00:13:39] They had the gospel written large in the lambs that were sacrificed every day at the temple. They knew about their sins. They knew that the way of salvation was through a Savior, a Messiah to come.
[00:13:52] They knew that Jews as well as Gentiles were all born with this miserable disease, sin.
[00:14:03] And it's still true today.
[00:14:07] We're all born with this incurable, paralyzing, dreadfully tormenting illness of sin. And don't tell me you don't know what this is.
[00:14:18] You've experienced it. You've hurt others with the things that came out of your mouth. You've hurt yourself with the things that you've done to yourself.
[00:14:29] You know the dreadful torment, the paralyzing nature of the sinful desires of your heart.
[00:14:37] Like the centurion servant, you need Jesus.
[00:14:42] Let's look secondly at the centurion's authority.
[00:14:47] He talks about his authority. He says, I am unworthy I. I'm a miserable sinner. I can't have you come near to me, Jesus, let alone into my home.
[00:15:00] But you, Jesus, you have authority. I'm unworthy. You have authority. With a word, you can heal my servant.
[00:15:10] What is this?
[00:15:12] Nothing less than a confession of faith. And Jesus acknowledges it. He marvels at the man's faith, faith expressed in his words.
[00:15:21] He's saying, jesus, let me tell you.
[00:15:25] Let me tell you, Jesus, what I understand about who you are and about the authority that you wield.
[00:15:34] I know about authority.
[00:15:37] I recognize it when I see it. And you have power.
[00:15:42] Centurion says, I know power.
[00:15:45] I know authority.
[00:15:47] I'm under authority. I have a commanding officer. He stationed me at Capernaum. He sent me here with my army.
[00:15:54] I fulfill the mission that he sent me to do. I know about authority because I'm under authority and I go wherever I'm sent and do whatever I'm told.
[00:16:04] But I also have power.
[00:16:06] I know how it works.
[00:16:09] When I send my soldiers here and there and tell them to go and come, they do exactly what I tell them.
[00:16:17] When I speak. People have no choice.
[00:16:20] They must go and do what they have been commanded.
[00:16:24] That's power. I understand power.
[00:16:28] My power, however, is different from yours. Jesus.
[00:16:34] Listen carefully to what he's saying.
[00:16:37] When I speak, people do things.
[00:16:41] My power is exercised through other people.
[00:16:47] They have to do what I tell them to do, and that's how things happen.
[00:16:52] My power is exercised through others.
[00:16:55] But, Jesus, you have a power. And you have a power that's very different from my power.
[00:17:02] Your authority is far greater than mine.
[00:17:06] Mine requires people to obey me, to do what I tell them to do.
[00:17:11] Jesus, your voice is different than my voice.
[00:17:15] Jesus, when you speak, things happen.
[00:17:19] When you speak, the very created order obeys you.
[00:17:26] Jesus, when you speak, this very creation obeys your command. That's a power I don't have.
[00:17:35] If you say the word, he will be healed.
[00:17:40] Jesus, when you spoke, let there be light.
[00:17:43] There was light when you spoke and commanded the waters to be divided.
[00:17:49] Some of the waters to be above the firmament and the clouds, and some of the waters to be below the earth. And some of the waters to gather themselves into the seas. When. Jesus, when your voice spoke those words, it happened. The waters obeyed. You only speak a word, Jesus, and my servant's body will obey your command and be healed.
[00:18:15] Jesus, command the disease and it will go away.
[00:18:21] He believes Jesus has the power of the Creator, that Jesus is almighty God in the flesh.
[00:18:29] That's what he's saying.
[00:18:33] And Jesus marveling at his faith confirms it. If his words weren't clear enough, Jesus confirms isn't just the power of the Creator, though, that he acknowledges here. As remarkable and as amazing as that is, I think there's something more.
[00:18:55] The other gospels tell us that the centurion helped to build the Jews synagogue.
[00:19:02] In other words, he was a supporter of the religion of the Jews. He was very concerned about the religion of the Jews. In other words, he'd come to adopt it. Like Cornelius in the Book of Acts.
[00:19:20] He believed in the God of the Jews. He believed in the Bible of the Jews.
[00:19:25] That's why he knew who Jesus was.
[00:19:30] He'd heard the Old Testament teaching, the Jews Bible.
[00:19:35] He'd heard about the true God of Israel, the creator God. That's why he knew that with a word Jesus could heal his servant.
[00:19:43] But because also he'd heard about the creator God of the Jews.
[00:19:48] He knew that he was unworthy. The two come together. His unworthiness and who it is that Jesus is, the creator God. They come together.
[00:20:00] They go together. He's confessing something as he confesses both your God. I'm unworthy. I'm unworthy for you to come into my home. I'm unworthy for you to be in my presence or me to be in your presence because I'm a wicked Gentile.
[00:20:20] As someone not a Jew, not God's people. He was separated from God.
[00:20:26] He was not allowed to go to God's temple and worship him.
[00:20:31] He had no fellowship with God. He wasn't a friend of God the way the Jews were. He was cut off from God.
[00:20:42] You see, why he humbled himself before Jesus, Why he bowed before Jesus and begged Jesus for a favor he knew he didn't deserve.
[00:20:52] Favor he knew Jesus could grant, but he knew he was unworthy of.
[00:20:58] He was an undeserving, wicked Gentile, cut off from God and from friendship with him.
[00:21:08] And the centurion says, you have authority. You have the authority that I heard about from the Jews.
[00:21:17] The Jews tell me that one day a child will be born who will have this kind of authority. A child who will come and set up his kingdom. That's what Jesus was doing.
[00:21:30] He said, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Because I'm the king and I'm here and I'm going to reign in your hearts.
[00:21:41] The centurion hears this and he says, you are the one who would be born, upon whose shoulders the government would rest.
[00:21:51] You are the one who the Jews say will be called Mighty God. Everlasting Father, Prince of peace.
[00:22:01] I understand authority. I see your authority, Jesus. And I know that yours is a kingdom and a government whose increase and peace will have no end.
[00:22:14] I'm an unworthy sinner. And Jesus, you are the king who comes to set up his kingdom and deliver sinners.
[00:22:23] The Jews told me, when this king comes, the people who walk in darkness will see a great light.
[00:22:33] When the king comes, the light shines.
[00:22:39] Arise, shine, for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen on you.
[00:22:46] Isaiah 60, verse 1.
[00:22:49] When this king comes, his light won't just shine on the Jews, the godly Jews. The light will shine on the lame, the paralytics, and it will heal them. Isaiah 30:5,6.
[00:23:06] Then the lame shall leap like a deer.
[00:23:09] Why did he know that Jesus would heal his servant?
[00:23:14] Because he knew the promises that God had given to the Jews, that when the king came, the lame would leap like a deer, his light would touch them too.
[00:23:27] And he knows about this authority and this light, that as it shines brightly, it won't just reach the Jews. It won't just reach the sick and the lame.
[00:23:38] He knew it would reach the wicked, filthy Gentiles, the Romans, just like this Roman Centurion.
[00:23:48] Isaiah 60:3. The Gentiles shall come to your light and kings rulers to the brightness of your rising.
[00:23:59] Jesus, you.
[00:24:01] This is what he's confessing. Jesus, you came preaching the kingdom of heaven because you are its king.
[00:24:09] Lord Jesus, say the word. And you can not just heal my servant.
[00:24:14] You can bring Gentiles into your kingdom.
[00:24:17] He has a hope that Jesus the king will receive him, a wicked Gentile cut off from God, because that's the kingdom he's bringing, a kingdom that will draw Gentiles to God.
[00:24:32] Jesus, you have the power.
[00:24:38] Thirdly, we want to look at the centurion's feast.
[00:24:46] King Jesus listens to the man and he marvels at the greatness of his faith.
[00:24:52] He says, I haven't seen faith like this in Israel.
[00:24:56] And he's saying that to his 12 disciples.
[00:25:00] He turns to his faithful followers who followed him up the mountain and down the mountain, who heard everything he had to say.
[00:25:08] And he says, you guys don't even believe about me what he believes and understands.
[00:25:18] But as king, as he considers this man, as he considers his people and their situation, he does something remarkable.
[00:25:28] The king looks into the future and he considers the day when he is going to come and set up his kingdom in all its glory, when the fullness of his kingdom is going to come in, when Everyone is going to know who he is. When all of his people will be gathered to himself.
[00:25:49] He considers what he's going to do on that day.
[00:25:52] He's going to take his church, his bride, and he's going to wed himself to her. And he's going to have a wedding feast, the marriage supper of the lamb, it's called.
[00:26:04] That's what Jesus is considering here as he looks forward into the future and as he contemplates that marriage table, that wedding feast.
[00:26:18] It's his table, the king's table.
[00:26:23] The only people that get to sit there are the people that he's invited, the people that he has brought into his kingdom and made fit to sit at his table.
[00:26:35] He's the king.
[00:26:36] He has the power.
[00:26:39] And first he considers the sons of the kingdom.
[00:26:46] I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel.
[00:26:50] He considers those who are outwardly anyway, in his kingdom, that is a part of the nation of Israel.
[00:26:58] They have received the invitation to his wedding feast.
[00:27:03] They were born into the church.
[00:27:05] They received the signs and seals of the covenant of the king, marking them out as his own. They were circumcised.
[00:27:14] They had the offerings right.
[00:27:17] They had the Passover.
[00:27:19] They lived in relative light compared to the Gentiles, who were in darkness. They had the light of God's Word shining on them, the promise of the Messiah.
[00:27:29] Outwardly, the sons of the kingdom don't appear paralyzed.
[00:27:35] They appear to go about freely.
[00:27:38] Freely. They enter God's temple freely. They offer sacrifices. They go about wherever they wish.
[00:27:44] They even freely follow Jesus up and down the mountain and then back into Capernaum.
[00:27:51] They're born free.
[00:27:53] They seem free to move about, unlike the paralyzed Gentile servant.
[00:28:01] But the sons of the kingdom, Jesus warns, are paralyzed in their hearts.
[00:28:07] Their hearts are sick with sin, just like the Gentile centurion.
[00:28:12] And unlike the centurion, they do not believe in their king.
[00:28:16] They do not accept him as their Savior. And Lord Jesus says, I have found no faith like this in Israel.
[00:28:29] Jesus has warned them. If you read through the chapters leading up to chapter eight in Matthew, Jesus has warned them. O you of little faith.
[00:28:39] You hear by words, but you do not do them.
[00:28:42] You even see my miracles. You wonder at them, but you do not believe.
[00:28:51] What a terrible situation Jesus looked out upon as he looked at the sons of the kingdom and considered where they would be on the final day.
[00:29:03] Today, the church is similarly filled with with sons of the kingdom.
[00:29:10] Generation after generation of Christians are born into the church, baptized, raised in the church. They memorize the catechism. They make their profession of faith, and yet they grow up in unbelief.
[00:29:25] That's what Jesus is warning about here.
[00:29:31] If you think I'm being too harsh, just talk to parents whose children have been raised in the church and walked away from it.
[00:29:41] No. The king declares his verdict on these sons of the kingdom who do not believe. He says, you will be cast into outer darkness. The servant was cast, thrown by the illness into his bed.
[00:29:56] The sons of the kingdom will be thrown out of the kingdom and into the darkness of God's wrath. Wrath.
[00:30:03] The servant was tormented briefly by his illness, but unbelievers will weep forever, gritting and grinding their teeth in pain, in fury and frustration, without end.
[00:30:21] That's what the king is warning to those raised in the church, but who do not accept him from the heart.
[00:30:30] But then he looks to another group of people, the Gentiles, those who come from the east and from the west.
[00:30:40] And what does Jesus see? He sees many of them. Many will come from the east and from the west.
[00:30:47] Many will come from the east like the magi who came at his birth.
[00:30:52] Many will come from the west, like the Roman centurion who came from Rome to the west.
[00:30:59] The Gentiles will stream into his kingdom and fill the seats at his marriage table.
[00:31:09] How can that be possible?
[00:31:12] How can a world filled with wicked sinners pour into Christ's kingdom and fill the seats at his marriage table?
[00:31:25] What the king is saying here as he contemplates that glorious celebration on the last day, he is saying, I have the power.
[00:31:38] I have the power to change the nations.
[00:31:43] Now that's remarkable. If you've ever looked into your heart and consider how powerful the grip of sin is, how impossible it is for you to set yourself free from sin, you know how impossible of a task it is to change all of the nation, all the people around the world in their sin, to set them free from it and to change them and make them worthy to sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
[00:32:09] That's an impossible task for us. But Jesus says, I have the power.
[00:32:15] That's exactly what I came to do.
[00:32:20] Today they are in darkness, the shadow of death. Today they are hopeless in their sins.
[00:32:26] But I came to change all that.
[00:32:29] I came to purchase those nations with my blood. I came so that I would go to the cross and die in their place, and they would become mine. And I could make them worthy and fit. Washing away their sins cleans, clothing them in my righteousness, giving them the robes of those who can go to the marriage supper.
[00:32:50] The gown that makes you fit for entering into God's presence.
[00:32:56] The wedding clothes. Jesus says, I came to prepare those for my people today. They are unworthy, but I will wash them clean. I will clothe them and make them worthy. When I am done with them, the nations will sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at my table.
[00:33:17] They will be my friends.
[00:33:21] Now the king, King Jesus, turns to the centurion and he says, go your way. As you have believed, so let it be done for you.
[00:33:29] Dear friend, when you go home, your servant will be healed.
[00:33:33] And that is my sign to you. That I will do for you as you have believed in me. One day, when you leave this life and you go to your forever home, you will enter my kingdom.
[00:33:47] And one day, when I come in glory, in the fullness of my kingdom, you will be there with me and you will sit at my table.
[00:33:58] You have my invitation.
[00:34:00] And the proof of that is that I've healed your servant.
[00:34:07] Would you join the centurion at the King's feast?
[00:34:12] If you would. Then you need to believe in him as the centurion did.
[00:34:17] You need to believe that Jesus has the power to change you, to heal you, to forgive you.
[00:34:24] Friend. The question you need to answer this day is not, am I a son of the kingdom? It's not, was I born into the church?
[00:34:33] It's not, was I baptized? It's not, was did I profess my faith? Did I memorize the catechism?
[00:34:40] The question you need to ask yourself is, do I have faith in Jesus, the Son of God? And do I lean upon him and throw myself upon him for salvation of my soul?
[00:34:53] That's what matters.
[00:34:56] Are you paralyzed, tormented by your sin?
[00:35:00] Throw yourself at the feet of Jesus and from heaven on high, with a word, he will heal you. Come to him and hear his words.
[00:35:10] I will come and heal you. Let's pray.
[00:35:15] Lord Jesus, our great God and King, we confess our great misery and how desperately we need you.
[00:35:25] Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word, which so clearly shows us that you are able, that you have the power to heal, restore, forgive, cleanse, to draw us to you.
[00:35:39] And, Lord Jesus, we look forward to that day when you will come and set up your kingdom.
[00:35:45] And that day you will bring us not only to the marriage supper of the Lamb, but you will take us by hand and lead us to your father, Lord Jesus. We long for that day to behold you face to face, to see your smile, a smile we know that you already shine on us. But a smile we long to see with our own eyes.
[00:36:12] We ask that you would come quickly and until you come, we ask that you would continue to sustain and bless us, your people.
[00:36:21] Lord Jesus, we look to you for the spread of the gospel and of your kingdom around the world.
[00:36:26] Use your word proclaimed today to draw sinners to yourself, to build up the faith of your people, to make us into that glorious bride of Christ.
[00:36:39] Lord Jesus, we ask that you would care for all of our physical needs. Also we ask big things. We ask that you would bring an end to wars and peace in the Middle east and in Ukraine and in other places. We ask for your saints around the world, especially those who are in persecution, that you would be near to them, keep them holy, keep them pure, deliver them from persecution.
[00:37:05] And we ask that you would even convert their persecutors.
[00:37:09] Lord Jesus, we ask for ourselves that you would provide our daily bread and all of our needs. Give us strength for work, for our families.
[00:37:18] We ask for our children, that you would grant them saving faith.
[00:37:23] Lord Jesus, we ask for those in our midst who suffer, that you would heal the sick, that you would bind up the brokenhearted, heal those who are wounded. We ask that you would be near to those who are aged.
[00:37:38] We ask that you would be with those who are lonely and with those who are straying. Lord Jesus, bring them back to yourself and to your people and help us to minister to them.
[00:37:51] Hear us, we ask in Jesus name, Amen.
