Prelude
Welcome
Call to Worship
Leader: In this season of turning, we come before God.
People: We come with our wounds and our weariness.
Leader: Christ asks us a question we cannot ignore.
People: “Do you want to be made well?”
Leader: We stand in the tension of that question.
People: Lord, give us courage to answer honestly.
Opening Hymn
Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days UMH 269
Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, we confess that we have grown accustomed to patterns that diminish us. We say we want healing, but we resist change. We say we want freedom, but cling to what is familiar. We blame our circumstances. We avoid responsibility. We numb ourselves instead of turning toward you.
Hear the silent confessions of our hearts…
(Silence)
Speak your restoring Word, and teach us to rise. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Leader: Christ does not shame the wounded or abandon the waiting. He speaks life even to those who have forgotten how to hope.
People: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, restored, and invited to walk in newness of life. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Passing of the Peace
First Reading:
John 4:46-54 [5:1-18]
Sermon:
Healing that Changes Everything by Pastor Kevin Rutledge
Hymn of Response
There Is a Balm in Gilead UMH 375
Tithes and Offerings
Offertory Response
Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow UMH 95
Offertory Prayer
Faithful God, the royal official trusted your Word before he saw the evidence. Teach us that kind of trust. As we offer these gifts, we do not yet see all the ways you will use them. But we believe you are at work. Multiply what is given for the healing of this community, for the strengthening of your church, and for the quiet transformation of lives. We place our trust in you. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer and Lord's Prayer
Announcements
Closing Hymn
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee UMH 430
Benediction
Said Each Week as A Communal Prayer:
Send to us all the people who feel unwanted and unloved in other places, and if they can't come to us, send us to them.
Postlude