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The Wounded Healer

Finding Strength In Our Brokenness

Tempted

March 1, 2020

Our world is broken. We are, too. What does it mean to live fully human lives in the face of all our temptations? The best human ever—Jesus—did this. He was tempted in every way as we are, but lived a perfect human life.

Betrayed

March 8, 2020 • Dan Kennedy

Sometimes it feels like we’re set up for failure. People betray us. Finances turn against us. Our own bodies hand us over to the grave. Being paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not all still out to get you, right? So what is the script? How do we live in the face of these treacheries?

Accused

March 15, 2020

Guilty until proven innocent. That is the case, isn’t it? We’re all guilty. We all stand accused and we’re guilty as sin! Only one stands before the judge blameless, and he was killed! What is our fate, then? Life! Abundant life! Justice is served and we guilty ones go free!

Denied

March 22, 2020

Imagine you’re in a crowded line with a shopping cart brimming over and you have no cash. You plug your credit card into the device only to hear that your card has been denied. The shame! The embarrassment! And if it was a system error and no fault of your own, the rage! Or none of these. MATTHEW 26:69-75 // Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Rejected

March 29, 2020

Every day is an altar call. Make a decision for Jesus, we’re told. Well, “We are the angry mob…. We like who we like. We hate who we hate. But we’re also easily swayed.” Who do you choose? Just consider who you last voted for! What does that mean? Watch and find out! MATTHEW 27:11-26 // Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and our children!" Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to be crucified.

Mocked

April 5, 2020

Can you love those who hate you? Frederick Buechner wrote: “And then there is the love for the enemy--love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world.” MATTHEW 27:27-31 // Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. Check out today's worship playlist here: http://bit.ly/3akbhce

Crucified

April 10, 2020

Sermon Discussion Questions: 1. Which of the seven devotions connected most with you? Why? 2. How does that devotion speak to your relationship with Jesus? Do any other people in your life come to mind as a point of application for you? What would the Lord want you to do? 3. How would you summarize the overall message from Good Friday for a friend who doesn’t quite get it in 1-3 sentences?