PASTORAL PRAYER
Gracious and Loving God,
We come before You this morning as seekers, gathered in this sacred space, hungry for Your word and thirsty for Your presence. In this season of Lent, as we journey together toward the cross and the promise of new life, we pause to acknowledge the soil of our own hearts.
Father, You are the Master Gardener who tends to us with patience and unfailing love. You know the areas where we feel barren, where growth seems slow or stalled. You see the places where we’ve tried to force fruitfulness on our own terms and the times we’ve been quick to judge ourselves and others for not measuring up.
Forgive us, Lord, for the ways we’ve been impatient—impatient with ourselves, with those we love, and even with You. Forgive us when we’ve tried to assign blame for the hardships we face, seeking simple answers to complex questions.
In our uncertainties and unmet expectations, teach us to trust in Your timing. Help us embrace the grace that gives us space to grow, turn away from the need for immediate results, and lean into the slow and sacred work of transformation that only You can bring about.
Open our ears now to hear Your voice speaking through the words of Scripture. Open our minds to understand the deeper truths You have for us today. Open our hearts to receive the message You have planted, that it may take root and bear good fruit in our lives.
We lift up to You the burdens we carry—the worries about our families, the pressures we feel in our workplaces, the hidden hurts that weigh on our spirits. May we lay them at Your feet, trusting that You care for us with a tenderness beyond our understanding.
As we reflect on the parable of the fig tree, may we see ourselves in its story. Cultivate within us the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Teach us to be nurturers of growth in others, extending the same grace and compassion that You so generously extend to us.
We pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the source of our hope and the author of our salvation.
Amen.
SERMON
POINT: Safety and security are the foundation on which we thrive as humans.
POINT: Many of us carry the burdens of guilt or blame that keep us from truly experiencing life.
POINT: Jesus confronts our beliefs about suffering and shows God’s patient, grace-filled way of fostering our growth.
Luke 13:1-9 NRSV
At that very time, there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way, they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still, I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; if not, you can cut it down.’”
POINT: Our obsession with instant results and growth makes Jesus’ message of patient growth countercultural.
POINT: The question is not if we will experience barren seasons, but how we will respond to them.
POINT: When facing challenges, resist the urge to ask, “Why me?” and instead ask, “What now?”
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.