Discipling Life

This is a manuscript of the sermon I preached on March 15, 2026 (Fourth Sunday of Lent) at Ebenezer and Black Creek. The scripture lessons for this are: 1 Samuel 16:1–13, Psalm 23, Ephesians 5:8–14, and John 9:1–41 . As we move deeper into the season of Lent, the focus shifts from the internal discipline of the wilderness toward a profound revelation of the character of Christ. This sermon weaves together the anointing of David, the guidance of the Good Shepherd, Paul’s call to live as children of light, and the healing of the man born blind. We see how God’s vision redefines our own reality and our own way of seeing God, ourselves, and others. The intent is to move the listener from a surface-level perception of the world toward an “anointed” vision that recognizes the image of God in all people, particularly those whom society—and our own prejudices—would prefer to overlook. Introduction: The 40-Day Journey Toward Clarity I was talking to someone recently during an Emmaus weekend, ...

Today we begin by looking at this week’s Old Testament text ( 1 Samuel 16:1–13 ). It talks about how we look at others and how different that is from the way God looks at others. Do you sometimes make snap judgments about people by: the way they dress? the way they talk: their grammar, their accent, the way they pronounce words? whether they are overweight or underweight? Sometimes the way we judge people is so quick and so shallow that we hardly notice we are doing it. We size people up by what we see—how they look, how they speak, how confident they seem. But Scripture reminds us again and again that God sees differently. Consider this old description: “ A man small in size, bald‑headed, bow‑legged, in good bodily condition, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked. ” Not exactly the picture of a great leader. It is a description of the Apostle Paul from the  Acts of Paul and Thecla.  Even the Bible says,  “ His letters are weighty ...