Nov. 20, 2021

Now the focus of the story moves to the man himself. Before this moment, the 
man was an object of  conversation.  Now Jesus’s eyes focus on the man. “Yes,
your hand is shriveled – it’s not what I intend  it to be – it’s broken. Will you keep 
hiding it, or will you reveal it and let me heal it? Will you show it  to this 
group as an act of faith in what I can do?” Jesus doesn’t force the man to show his 
hand – it’s an  invitation for the man to be honest and vulnerable about his 
brokenness – to not be afraid to admit it  to Jesus and those he’s with. We’ve 
talked about all of us being broken in some way. We’ve talked  about the fact 
that our brokenness does not make us less valuable to God in any way. Now, we 
must  decide if we really believe those things, and present our brokenness to Jesus 
expecting healing to be  given. Doug Witherup says it like this: “What we conceal, 
we continue to live with. What we reveal to  Jesus is exposed to his power and 
healing.” (Interobang Preaching, p.42)

Download the hand postcard here.

TAKING IT HOME 

Our readings for the week ahead are:

MONDAY, November 22    John 19

TUESDAY, November 23    John 20; Proverbs 1

WEDNESDAY, November 24    John 21; Proverbs 2

THURSDAY, November 25    1 John 1; Proverbs 3

FRIDAY, November 26    1 John 2; Proverbs 4

SATURDAY, November 27    1 John 3; Proverbs 5

SUNDAY, November 28    1 John 4; Proverbs 6