Listen to My Message From Sunday, January 12, 2024 New Covenant Church Vision for 2025 - "Each One, Reach One."   Mark 10:46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Mark 10:49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. 51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”The blind man said to Him, “ Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” This is a beautiful story about the compassion of Jesus and the boldness of a blind man in that time in region. It was culturally inappropriate for a disabled person to be seen and heard in the fashion in which Bartimaeus cried out, they were thought to be cursed by God. It was presumed that they would accept their lot in life to accept their insignificance because of disability. Poor people, disabled people, lesser people should not speak up, even less demanding the attention of an important person.  In the midst of the crowds who followed Jesus many were desperate, some sincere, some just curious. He was thronged with people and many were calling out. When blind Bartimaeus called out, there was something different in his voice, not only desperation, but faith and trust. And I love this part of the text where it said, "Jesus stood still." He stopped walking to pay attention to this solitary voice. In doing this, Jesus broke a cultural norm that required him to not regard people like Bartimaeus. He dignified a man who had been disrespected his whole life. The story goes on as we read, "Jesus called for him, asked what he wanted." Bartimaeus said," I want to see," to which Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well."  Among all the people crying out to Jesus, Bartimaeus was a voice of faith. This story highlights a vision statement we've made at New Covenant Church this year.  That statement is simply is "Each One, Reach One." It's a very simple statement, somewhat cliche, but the profound truth behind it is this: We need to see people, stand still, pay attention, and let God work through us and on behalf of people who are willing to be helped. As we enter a season in our country where we're likely going to see a continued disrespect toward the poor, the less powerful, a likely a continued diminishing of Black history and neglect of the true values that d