First Community Church 02.11.24 Glen Miles -Sermon, If

This Sunday, I am preaching the sermon "If." It is a keyword in the story of Jesus' healing of a leper in Mark 1: 40-45. Essentially, the man with leprosy (in antiquity, the word leprosy was a catchall for any skin disease) truly believes Jesus has the ability and will do so. A New Testament scholar says the verse could easily be read like this: "If you want to (and you do), you are able to cleanse me." The man with leprosy is challenging Jesus. Jesus accepts the challenge, knowing it will change his life. This story shows that Jesus is willing to go where the people are. As followers of Jesus, the church community is called to go to where the people are as well. It is often a difficult road to follow, but as the leper knows, we have the ability to go with Jesus. This is a challenging sermon, but it is almost always a challenge to follow in the way of Jesus. At the center of the challenge is a call to live with hope for today. I am looking forward to sharing this message with you.