Hello to the beautiful ladies of the Ford Clinic!

We missed those of you who were not with us today but we pray that you are well and blessed.
Today our lesson was centered around "How to be Pro-life". When we hear this term we normally only associate it in reference to abortion, but this lesson was more about how to use your life to serve others.
We looked at four snapshots from the life of Jesus where he served others. We were asked to look at four Want Ads and determined which one we would most be inclined to answer. As we discussed why we chose the one we did we determined it related to the experiences we have had in our lives.

Snapshot 1 – Jesus heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath
Mark 3:1-5
In this snapshot the Pharisees try to discredit Jesus, because they were jealous of his popularity and power. Jesus threatened their powerful, prestigious position in the Jewish community so they tried to show that He was breaking the law by "working" on the Sabbath. But Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath": to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" They remained silent because they knew that if they agreed with Jesus that it was lawful to do good and to save life then they would be agreeing to break the very law they wanted to hold him accountable for. If they answered that it was not right to heal the man’s hand then they would be siding with evil. Either way they would lose, so they simply remained silent. Jesus sought to serve the man by healing him. For us we should look for ways to help those that have a physical need.

Snapshot 2 – Jesus heals the woman with an issue of blood
Mark 5:25-34
In this snapshot Jesus was in the middle of a crowd when He felt power go out from Him. He knew someone had touched Him and had been cured. The woman had suffered for twelve years with a bleeding problem. Under Jewish law she would have been considered unclean and would not have been able to be around others and anyone who touched her would also be considered unclean. (Leviticus 15:25-27) She had spent all she had to be cured yet nothing changed. She believed that by simply touching the hem of Jesus’ robe she would be healed. Just imagine how you feel if you had struggled with a condition for twelve years and this condition also ostracized you from social contact with others because you were considered unclean, too dirty, too infected to be around others. I can imagine this woman being at her wits end. She was probably depressed and desperate. She probably felt like she was not worthy enough to present herself to Jesus yet she was desperate enough to put action to her faith. She probably felt this was her last chance at a normal life. Just imagine how she felt when Jesus called out to who had touched Him. She might have been able to sneak away but instead she came and fell down at Jesus’ feet and told Him what she had done. He told her that her faith had healed her. He had compassion on this woman with a chronic illness. There are so many that we come in contact with that need our compassion. How do you think the Pharisees would have reacted to the woman?

Snapshot 3 – Jesus restores a girl to life
Mark 5:35-43
A synagogue ruler, Jairus, came to Jesus to ask Him to come to his house and heal his dying daughter. While Jesus was speaking to the woman with the issue of blood some men came and told Jairus that his daughter had died. Jesus told him, "Don’t be afraid, just believe." When they got to the house the mourners laughed and ridiculed Jesus when He said that the girl was just asleep. He put them out and then approached the child and said, "Talitha koum!" (Little girl, I say to you, get up!) She stood up and walked. He told them to give her something to eat. As Lyn pointed out today, Jesus does what only He can do, yet expects us to do what we are able to do. We might not be able to bring someone back from the dead but we can be there to offer encouragement and support to those that have terminal illnesses and to their families as well.

Snapshot 4 – Jesus blesses the little children
Mark 10:13-16
People brought their children to Jesus for Him to bless them but the disciples rebuked them. The disciples thought that Jesus spent too much time with the wrong people. They thought He should be spending more time with leaders but Jesus wanted to be with the people that needed Him the most. Jesus wanted all people to believe in Him the way children did. Children have an innocence and purity about them that allows them to just believe and accept. As adults we are often jaded by our experiences. Yet it is the childlike faith that Jesus desires from us. Jesus sought to be with those He knew needed him the most and that is what we should seek to do as well.
As you identify people who need your help, what actions can you can take to help these people?
As we go about our life this week, let’s prayerfully consider those that we can serve and ask God to reveal to us how best to carry out that service.

*Special Note*
Prayerfully remember the Haitian people as they deal with the devastation of the earthquake. Also, pray for the organization of the relief efforts to get medical care, food, water, shelter, clothing, etc. to those in need. America’s #1 export is generosity and we are leading the world with money, supplies, and people helping in the relief effort. We are also providing the organization that is needed in the areas that the Haitian government has asked us to take over. This country needs our love, support, and prayers for their healing but also for their salvation.
God Bless each of you this week!
Becky

Welcome to our Blog!

Hello to the beautiful ladies of the Ford Clinic!

We are going to try a new addition to our class this year. We are going to attempt to "BLOG".
We will post our Sunday school Lesson as often as possible. If you miss class you will be able to catch up on our blog. We also hope that each of you will offer your comments, insights, questions, etc. to the blog.
So let's blog!:)
Becky

***Special Note***
Anyone who happens upon this blog know that we are members of a Sunday school class in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We are a group of ladies that range in age of 30 something’s to 60 something’s. After all what is age but a number. Our professions include nurses, teachers, salesclerks, homemakers, administrators, and many more. We are singles, divorcees, marrieds, widows, daughters, mothers, grandmothers, and on and on. Our original teacher's last name was Ford, she is a pharmacist and we laughingly refer to ourselves as "The Ford Clinic". (She was called away to teach in our youth department as her son has entered middle school. We hated to lose her but she is ever faithful to the call of God. The ladies in the class nominated Lyn and myself to take over as the teachers. We accepted on one condition; the class name had to stay the same. Our founder still joins us for some fun and grown up conversation. Notice I didn’t say mature conversation just conversation with adult women.) Well we love to study God’s word, eat, help those in need, eat, socialize, and did I mention we like to eat? LOL! We do have a great time together and with our Lord Jesus Christ. Being a Christian woman in today’s world may be hard at times but being with a wonderful group of ladies who support each other makes it a little easier. If you visit our blog I pray that you are blessed!