sunday March15, 2026

Fruitland United Methodist Church
March 15, 2026

*(Please stand if you are comfortably able.)

Prelude: “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” by Charles Wesley and Carl Glaser

Welcoming the Light of Christ and inviting the neighborhood to worship.
Welcome and Announcements Pastor Jorge
Welcome to worship at Fruitland United Methodist Church. During this season of Lent
we are walking together through a series called “Come and See.” Lent is a time to
return, to open our hearts again to God, and to rediscover the light of Christ in our lives.
Today we are reminded that Christ comes to open our eyes and lead us from darkness
into light.

*Call to Worship Liturgist
Come and see what God has done.
God opens our eyes to the light of grace.
When we walk through dark valleys, God is with us.
The Lord is our shepherd; we shall not want.
Christ calls us out of blindness into new life.
We come to worship the One who gives us sight.
All: Let us worship God with grateful hearts.

*Sharing the Peace of Christ.
*Opening Hymn: “You Are My Hiding Place” TFWS 2055

Scripture Reading : Psalm 23 (Read responsively.) UMH 754

Time with Young Christians Jorge R.
Please write prayer concerns and celebrations on yellow notepads, to be collected.

Community Expressions Pastor Jorge & Liturgist
     Sing: “Holy, Holy, Holy” TFWS 2007
     Thanksgiving and Celebration
     Prayers for Healing and Wholeness
     Our Community and World
Let us pray.
Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by they name...”

*Hymn: “Open Our Eyes” TFWS 2086

Invitation to Generosity Rev. Jorge R.
     Offertory: “The Lord is my Shephard” by Jesse Irvine
     *Doxology: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . .” UMH 95
     All that we have is a gift from God.
     Let us offer our gifts with grateful hearts.

Gospel Reading: John 9:1-41
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
People: Thanks be to God.

*Hymn “Open My Eyes, That I May See” UMH 454

Sermon: “Come and See: When God Opens Our Eyes” Rev. Jorge R.
John 9:1–41

Our Lenten series this year has been an invitation: “Come and see.” Lent is a
season of returning—returning to God and rediscovering our own hearts in the
light of God’s grace.

In today’s Gospel we encounter a man who had never seen the light. He was
blind from birth. Imagine living your entire life in darkness—never seeing the
face of your mother, never seeing the colors of the sky, never witnessing the
beauty of the sunrise.

When Jesus and his disciples saw this man, the disciples asked a question that
sounds very religious: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind?” Their question reflects something very common in human thinking:
the desire to explain suffering by blaming someone.

But Jesus changes the focus. He says, “Neither this man nor his parents
sinned... this happened so that the works of God might be revealed.” Instead of
searching for blame, Jesus brings hope and transformation.

Jesus makes mud, places it on the man’s eyes, and tells him to go wash in the
pool of Siloam. The man obeys. He washes. And suddenly, for the first time in
his life, he sees.

It is a miracle.

Yet the surprising part of the story is not the miracle itself. The surprising part is
how people react to it.

The neighbors begin to argue: “Isn’t this the man who used to beg?” Some
believe it is him; others say it cannot be. The man simply keeps saying, “I am the
one.”

When God transforms a life, people sometimes struggle to believe it. Society
often becomes comfortable seeing someone in suffering, and when that person
changes, grows, or is restored, it can make others uncomfortable.

The man is brought before the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day. Instead
of celebrating the miracle, they focus on something else: Jesus performed this
healing on the Sabbath.

They begin questioning the man: “How did he open your eyes?” The man
answers simply, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and now I see.”

But some of the Pharisees insist that Jesus cannot be from God because he
broke the Sabbath rules. In that moment we see a tragic irony: a man who was blind can
now see, but those who claim spiritual authority cannot recognize the work of
God in front of them.

The man eventually responds with one of the most powerful testimonies in the
Gospel: “One thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see.”

He does not offer a theological argument. He simply shares his experience.
Sometimes the experience of God’s grace speaks louder than religious debate.
In the end, the religious leaders expel the man from the community. But Jesus
seeks him out once again. When Jesus finds him and asks if he believes, the man
responds with faith and worship.

Jesus then says something profound:
“I came into this world so that those who do not see may see, and those who
think they see may become blind.”

This story is not only about a man who was physically blind. It is also about
spiritual vision.

At times we may find ourselves like the blind man—needing God to open our
eyes. But at other times we may resemble the Pharisees—people who know
religion but fail to see what God is doing.

Lent invites us to look again. To see differently. To open our hearts to the
transforming work of God.
​
Jesus continues to walk among us.
He continues to notice those others overlook.
He continues to touch lives and open eyes.
The question for each of us is simple:
Do we want to see?
Because when God opens the eyes of the soul, life is never the same again.
Amen.

*Prayer of Confession:
Merciful God, you are the light of the world, yet we confess that we often choose darkness.
We become comfortable with what we already know.
We cling to our opinions and fail to see the new work you are doing among us.
Forgive us when our hearts are closed.
Forgive us when our religion becomes more about rules than about compassion.
Forgive us when we fail to rejoice in the healing and transformation of others.
Open our eyes, Lord.
Help us to see your grace at work in our lives and in the world.
Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Hear the good news:
Christ comes into the world so that those who do not see may see. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven, renewed, and called into the light.
Thanks be to God.

*Closing Hymn: “Amazing Grace” UMH 378

Benediction: Go now in peace. May the Lord who is our
Shepherd guide your steps. May Christ open your eyes to the light
of grace. And may the Holy Spirit lead you in faith, hope, and love.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

*Song of Blessing: “Go Now in Peace,” UMH 665

Postlude: “Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley” American folk song

Rev. Jorge Rodriguez [email protected]