This morning my friend Tony Ling spoke at the morning service on the story of the unknown man and Jesus at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-14). He brought out some very good points on the two different men at the center of this story. The unknown man had been ill for a long time. He had no friends to help him, and he was very frustrated by seeing others being healed while his suffering was still the same.

Jesus came with a different attitude and expectation. He came for a celebration – He came to feast. He came with his friends, and he came to fashion or transform life.
Every time we gather as the people of God we have reason to celebrate and can feast on every contribution given by our brothers and sisters. It is always good to bring friends with us and meet with friends. Friendship is very basic to being a follower of Jesus. When he wondered what to leave to his disciples to help them remember him, he left them with a meal!
Every time we meet with brothers and sisters and share with one another a transformation takes place. The word of God in our mouth is powerful. We need to create hope and faith through our words and let them be dream seeds to release the creative power of love to change every situation.
It is very exciting to serve God in the small things in life and bring out the best in people through words of encouragements.