Our scripture text has been used as a basis for many sermons. Bro. Hilton takes a little liberty with the fact that we do not know much about the woman that is the subject of our text. We do not know her age. We do not know if she is married. We do not know if she had children. We do not know how much money she started with, but we do know that she had expended all her savings trying to become cured. We can surmise that she suffered from her disease, and also from continual disappointment and perhaps lost all hope. Over the course of her twelve-year ordeal with this disease, she traveled from physician to physician and found no relief. We can imagine that she awakens each day and goes about her day trying to get through life. She sends her husband off to work with what she can provide for lunch. Then the children get up and go off for their day. In the quiet of the home after the morning routine, she sits down in her chair exhausted. We do not know the full nature of her illness, but we know that diseases that affect the blood can make those who suffer from them very weak. One day she hears a commotion in the street. She struggles to get outside and investigate and finds that Jesus was passing by. She had heard of this Jesus. She had heard that Jesus healed people. She began to say within herself “If I can but touch Him, I will be made whole.” Bro. Hilton describes how she pressed through the crowd seeking Him and how she did touch the hem of His garment. She was made whole that day because of her inspiration in side herself to seek Jesus. We do not know if it happened the way that Bro. Hilton supposes, but we do know that it did happen. Because of this woman’s faith and drive, many more were healed. If she had not had such faith, all those in chapter 14 would have missed their opportunity.

Bro. Hilton asks “What would have happened if she had not overcome her fear and weariness to seek Jesus?” Like this woman, when we finally get tired of living like we are living and dealing with what we are dealing with, we will finally step out and do something about it.

The story of Easter is familiar. Bro. Hughes jokes that the job of the preacher is much more difficult on Easter because we already know what he will preach. He however looks into the familiar story and finds four promises that Easter makes to each of us. It promises a refuge to those whose faith has been under assault. The women had gone to anoint a dead body, but they left with the greatest anointing of all time. Easter is a promise that faith can be restored in any heart. The promise of Easter is that there is life after death. God already has it taken care of. Easter also is a promise that no matter what the failure in life is, that failure does not have to be final.

The story of Easter is familiar. Bro. Hughes jokes that the job of the preacher is much more difficult on Easter because we already know what he will preach. He however looks into the familiar story and finds four promises that Easter makes to each of us. It promises a refuge to those whose faith has been under assault. The women had gone to anoint a dead body, but they left with the greatest anointing of all time. Easter is a promise that faith can be restored in any heart. The promise of Easter is that there is life after death. God already has it taken care of. Easter also is a promise that no matter what the failure in life is, that failure does not have to be final.

Most of us feel like we have a grasp on life, but Bro. Hughes speculates that we do not. Often we interpret the bad things that happen in life as being the worst possible thing that could happen. Just as often, we are wrong. It is hard to tell the truth about life because we all have such a limited view of it. We all only see a small segment of life.

The story of Naomi is one of the grandest stories of redemption recounted in the bible. Naomi and her family traveled to Moab to escape a famine in their homeland. While they were there, Naomi’s life began to unravel. Her husband died after they arrive. Her sons marry women who are Gentile. Then after ten years, both her sons unexpectedly died. She got word that God had visited her homeland and the famine was over. She makes the decision to return home. One of the daughters in laws stayed in Moab, but Ruth goes with her. She returns home a broken woman who had suffered great losses. Upon her return, those who had known her called to her to welcome her back and she responded by saying “Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara” which means bitter. She allowed the circumstances of her life to define who she was. At that moment, her life looked like a failure. For some of us, we might make the same assessment. Bro. Hughes asks, “Things may be bad, but are they really that bad?” Naomi made the same mistake that some of us do and compared her wisdom and knowledge of the situation to God’s knowledge of the situation. What Naomi needed in her life was perspective. If she could have just seen three months down the road she would have seen how blessed her life was about to become. We are not good judges of God’s unfinished work. At that moment, she judged herself to be a failure. She focused on the bad things in her life, but she didn’t appreciate the blessings that were already a part of her life and that would come into her life. None of us are good at evaluating the unfishished work that is each of our lives. We must trust in God and believe that our best days are yet to come.

Most of us feel like we have a grasp on life, but Bro. Hughes speculates that we do not. Often we interpret the bad things that happen in life as being the worst possible thing that could happen. Just as often, we are wrong. It is hard to tell the truth about life because we all have such a limited view of it. We all only see a small segment of life.

The story of Naomi is one of the grandest stories of redemption recounted in the bible. Naomi and her family traveled to Moab to escape a famine in their homeland. While they were there, Naomi’s life began to unravel. Her husband died after they arrive. Her sons marry women who are Gentile. Then after ten years, both her sons unexpectedly died. She got word that God had visited her homeland and the famine was over. She makes the decision to return home. One of the daughters in laws stayed in Moab, but Ruth goes with her. She returns home a broken woman who had suffered great losses. Upon her return, those who had known her called to her to welcome her back and she responded by saying “Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara” which means bitter. She allowed the circumstances of her life to define who she was. At that moment, her life looked like a failure. For some of us, we might make the same assessment. Bro. Hughes asks, “Things may be bad, but are they really that bad?” Naomi made the same mistake that some of us do and compared her wisdom and knowledge of the situation to God’s knowledge of the situation. What Naomi needed in her life was perspective. If she could have just seen three months down the road she would have seen how blessed her life was about to become. We are not good judges of God’s unfinished work. At that moment, she judged herself to be a failure. She focused on the bad things in her life, but she didn’t appreciate the blessings that were already a part of her life and that would come into her life. None of us are good at evaluating the unfishished work that is each of our lives. We must trust in God and believe that our best days are yet to come.

In life things can become lost. Some of these things are valuable. Our text highlights the loss of a piece of silver and likens the finding of this valuable piece to the salvation of even a single sinner. Heaven does not rejoice when we have financial success in the market. It does not rejoice over weather we have won or lost at earthly endeavors. There is only one thing over which heaven rejoices and that is when a soul seeks to recover what it has lost spiritualty. Heaven does not rejoice over great monetary success, but in overcoming and getting up after great failure. In our text, the woman lit a candle and got out a broom. She began to clean her house to find, that which was lost. The bible implies that she did not find it on her first effort. It says she swept until she found it. The coin was valuable, but it was useless to her until she found it. God gives us things in our life that are useful, but if we lose it, it is of no value to us. It is possible to lose things in life that can make us unable to be thankful for the blessings that God provides. We do not always manage life well. God gives to each of us talents and gifts to help make our life complete. The coin that this woman lost was part of the economy of her life and it had a negative impact. The coin was essential to her living. We can lose things in our life that are essential to us, and the loss of one of those things can be damaging to us. The bible tells us that the lost coin was one of 10 pieces she had. The bible also describes nine fruits of the spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Long Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance. Bro. Hughes likens these 9 gifts to the coins. The tenth coin is not mentioned as fruit of the spirit, but it is evident through out the bible. It is given only to humanity. It is the gift to dream; to envision a better future. Dreaming will save us from giving up and quitting. It will save us from despair.

If we lose one of these things, we must do as the woman in the story and get out a broom and sweep until we find it.

In life things can become lost. Some of these things are valuable. Our text highlights the loss of a piece of silver and likens the finding of this valuable piece to the salvation of even a single sinner. Heaven does not rejoice when we have financial success in the market. It does not rejoice over weather we have won or lost at earthly endeavors. There is only one thing over which heaven rejoices and that is when a soul seeks to recover what it has lost spiritualty. Heaven does not rejoice over great monetary success, but in overcoming and getting up after great failure. In our text, the woman lit a candle and got out a broom. She began to clean her house to find, that which was lost. The bible implies that she did not find it on her first effort. It says she swept until she found it. The coin was valuable, but it was useless to her until she found it. God gives us things in our life that are useful, but if we lose it, it is of no value to us. It is possible to lose things in life that can make us unable to be thankful for the blessings that God provides. We do not always manage life well. God gives to each of us talents and gifts to help make our life complete. The coin that this woman lost was part of the economy of her life and it had a negative impact. The coin was essential to her living. We can lose things in our life that are essential to us, and the loss of one of those things can be damaging to us. The bible tells us that the lost coin was one of 10 pieces she had. The bible also describes nine fruits of the spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Long Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance. Bro. Hughes likens these 9 gifts to the coins. The tenth coin is not mentioned as fruit of the spirit, but it is evident through out the bible. It is given only to humanity. It is the gift to dream; to envision a better future. Dreaming will save us from giving up and quitting. It will save us from despair.

If we lose one of these things, we must do as the woman in the story and get out a broom and sweep until we find it.

It is not possible to get through life without bumps, bruises and scars. For most of us nice clothes and carefully fixed hair cover these scars and wounds. We come to church and put on a nice face and try to hide our pain and suffering. Bro. Hilton reminds us that no matter what pain or problem we may experience in life, God is more than enough to see us through it. Through the pain and wounds of life, we learn to rely upon God and give us the experience to minister to others who may be going through a rough time in life.

It is not possible to get through life without bumps, bruises and scars. For most of us nice clothes and carefully fixed hair cover these scars and wounds. We come to church and put on a nice face and try to hide our pain and suffering. Bro. Hilton reminds us that no matter what pain or problem we may experience in life, God is more than enough to see us through it. Through the pain and wounds of life, we learn to rely upon God and give us the experience to minister to others who may be going through a rough time in life.

According to Martin Luther it takes three things to make someone a child of God: meditation, prayer and temptation. Few would quibble with the first two, but the final point seems to be out of place. Bro. Hughes speculates what Martin Luther meant is that it is the trials, struggles, and temptation of life in order to make us strong. Our text tells us that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are and yet without sin. When we think about our natural life, we can question how Jesus could have been tempted as we are when His life was so different than ours. The bible tells us that he was tempted in all POINTS as we are, not in all situations as we are. So the question becomes how was He tempted in ways that relate to our modern life. Bro. Hughes lists three areas where he was tempted as we are. The first is the temptation to avoid. From the beginning of His ministry, the Devil tempted Jesus to short circuit, sidestep or otherwise change God’s plan for His life. He was tempted to avoid the process and go straight to the prize. It is human nature to try to take the easy way. Bro. Hughes tells us that often the easy way is not the right way. The second way He was tempted to hurry the plan of God. We too are tempted to interfere with God’s plan by acting on our own without waiting for God. Our society has fostered an attitude of get it now. God’s plan is always slower than our flesh wants it to go. Lastly He was tempted to come down. Our world tempts us to lower our standards and expectations. The problem is that once we lower our selves, the world will want us to lower our standards even more. The devil will not quit until we debase ourselves to the lowest we can go. If Christ had come down from the cross as they taunted Him to do, they would not have believed. The glory was in His enduring until he could say “It is finished.”