“On another day of worship, Jesus went into a synagogue to teach. A man whose right hand was withered/paralyzed was there. The Scribes and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely. They wanted to see whether he would heal the man on the day of worship so that they could find a way to accuse him of doing something wrong. But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So, he told the man with the withered/paralyzed hand, “Get up, and stand in the center of the synagogue!” The man got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you what is the right thing to do on a day of worship: to do good or evil, to give a person his health or to destroy it?” He looked around at them and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man did so, and his hand returned to its normal state.

The mission of our church is “We use our resources, tangible and intangible, to minimize human suffering and enhance human well-being. This is godliness to us.”

• Jesus had an eye for details, as revealed in how he dealt with people…
• Jesus treated everyone with dignity and respected people’s privacy…
• Jesus respected the marginalized, social outcasts, and misfits…
• Jesus rarely used prefabricated notions and remedies. He lived in the moment of a person’s circumstances…
• Jesus healed people but did not create dependencies…
• Jesus did not heal people to gain followers or be famous; he healed and helped people because they needed it… 
• Jesus does more than improve physical circumstances. He gives them a sense of identity and purpose and shows us how valuable everyone is in God’s eyes…

The healing of the man’s withered hand symbolizes God’s power to restore what is broken in and with our lives.

Regardless of how shriveled or damaged aspects of our lives may seem, we can trust in God’s ability to restore them.