Acts 9:36-43 | 11 May 2025
Pastor Jacintha explores the story of Dorcas (Acts 9:36-43), offering three powerful insights for navigating difficult situations in our lives.
Present - The first key insight is the importance of being present during challenging times. When Tabitha died, Peter immediately travelled to Joppa to be with the grieving community, unlike Jonah who ran away. This teaches that God's calling is about obedience and being present with those suffering, not location. In our distraction-filled world, we often turn away from pain rather than facing difficult moments. Jesus consistently modelled turning toward suffering, showing that when we're present in pain, we discover God has been there all along.
Power - When Peter arrived in Joppa, he knelt down and prayed before commanding Tabitha to rise. Jacintha points out that some in the congregation may have been praying for months or years for God to resurrect something dead in their lives. Jacintha also notes that God responds to prayers in three different ways: sometimes with a "yes," sometimes with a "no," and sometimes with a "wait." She emphasises that all healing, even temporary healing, points to the ultimate healing believers will receive in resurrection. To illustrate God's power over death, the sermon highlights ten resurrection stories from Scripture.
Purpose - Jacintha says that while many people struggle to identify their specific purpose in life, at its heart our purpose is simply to follow Jesus and love others as he did. Peter was fulfilling his purpose by supporting the widows and pointing them to God's power. Similarly, Tabitha lived out her purpose through a life of good works and service to others. Jacintha ends with St. Teresa of Avila's powerful reminder: "Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours... Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world." This quote emphasizes our responsibility to be Christ's presence in the world by showing compassion, doing good, and bringing hope to others.
So, we face life's difficulties by being present with those who suffer, trusting in God's transformative power, and living out their God-given purpose as bearers of hope in a hurting world.