WELCOME
Communion Worship Service
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144).
Songs
Call to Worship
Luke 24:13–35 | Hidden in Plain Sight
Leader: Sometimes we wonder where God is.
People: Yet He may be closer than we realize.
Leader: Sometimes we walk through disappointment and
can’t see beyond it.
People: Yet Jesus walks with us on the road.
Leader: Sometimes our hearts are troubled and our eyes
are closed to what God is doing. People: Open our eyes, Lord, to Your
presence.
Leader: Come, let us worship the God who meets us on
the road,
People: who listens to our questions, walks with us in
our doubts, and reminds us of His promises.
Leader: Our risen Jesus is here.
People: May our hearts burn within us as we hear His
Word.
All: Lord, open our eyes to see You, even when You are
hidden in plain sight. Amen.
Good Morning FBK & Welcome to Worship!
Songs
Prayer
CONFESSION:
Gracious God, we confess that, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, sometimes we don’t recognize You when You’re right beside us. We get so caught up in our disappointments, our questions, and our worries that we miss what You are doing. We focus on what hasn’t happened and forget what You have already promised. We look for You in the big and obvious moments and overlook the quiet ways You are working around us.
Forgive us for the times we’ve assumed You were absent when You were walking beside us all along. Open our eyes, Lord. Help us notice Your presence in the ordinary, hear Your voice in Your Word, and trust You even when we don’t understand the road we’re on. Give us hearts that are ready to recognize You and courage to follow wherever You lead. We pray in the name of Jesus, our risen and living Lord. Amen.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Hear the good news: The disciples didn’t recognize Jesus on the road, but Jesus never left them. He walked beside them. He listened to them. He opened the Scriptures to them, and He stayed with them until they began to see. He does the same for us. Even when we don’t understand, Jesus is with us. Even when the road is difficult, Jesus is with us. Even when we can’t see what God is doing, Jesus is still at work. So, take heart. You are not walking this road alone. The risen Christ is near, His grace is enough, and His presence is sure. Thanks be to God!
Hidden in Plain Sight
Eyes That See
Today's Message: Pastors Marlee & Dave Page
Looking Is Not the Same as Seeing
Over the past several weeks, we have been listening to the stories Jesus told about the Kingdom of God and one of the things we have discovered is that Jesus rarely described the Kingdom using spectacular images. He did not usually point toward palaces, armies, monuments, or powerful institutions. Instead, Jesus said: Look at a farmer scattering seed. Look at the soil beneath your feet. Look at the wheat growing among the weeds. Look at a son walking home and a father running down the road to meet him.
The Kingdom of God, Jesus taught us, is often hidden in plain sight. It is present and it is active. However, we do not always recognize it. One of the reasons we do not always recognize it is because looking at it might not be the same as actually seeing the Kingdom. Here’s what I mean by that; we can look at a field and see only weeds, while God sees wheat that is still growing. We can look at a seed and see something insignificant, while God sees what that seed can become. We can look at someone who has wandered and see only failure, while the Father sees a beloved child coming home. It is possible to look directly at something and still miss what is really there. That has been the invitation running through this entire series: Listen carefully. Look again. Pay attention. Ask God to give you ears that hear and eyes that see.
Today, as we bring this series to a close, we come to a story about two disciples who were looking directly at Jesus but could not see him. They walked with Jesus.
They spoke with Jesus. They listened as Jesus explained the Scriptures, but they did not recognize him. Jesus was hidden in plain sight. Their story is found in Luke 24. It takes place on Easter Sunday and ends around a table, where Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to them. Here’s how Luke writes about this:
Scripture Reading: Luke 24 The Road to Emmaus
The Road to Emmaus
13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
17 And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
19 And He said to them, “What things?”
So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. 23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”
25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
The Disciples’ Eyes Opened
28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.
30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
1. Eyes That See Beyond Disappointment
Now put yourself in the context of the moment. It’s the first Easter morning, some of the women had gone to the tomb and discovered that it was empty. They returned with the astonishing report that Jesus was alive but not everyone knew what to believe. Two disciples had left Jerusalem and began walking toward a village called Emmaus. As they walked, they talked about everything that had happened. Jesus himself came near and walked with them but they were kept from recognizing him. Jesus asked what they were discussing, and they began telling Jesus the story of Jesus. Then, they revealed the disappointment beneath everything they were saying: “We had hoped that he was the one.” “We had hoped.”
Those may be some of the saddest words in Scripture. They had hoped Jesus would redeem Israel. They had hoped he was the promised Messiah. They had hoped his arrival meant that everything was about to change. But now, at least from their perspective, that hope had literally been buried. Sure, they had heard that the tomb was empty, but they had not yet allowed the resurrection to reinterpret their disappointment.
All they could see was the cross and that everything had apparently gone wrong. But they could not yet see what God had done. That the resurrection had already happened. That Jesus was already alive. Victory had already been won and that Jesus was already walking beside them. They simply could not see it yet.
Disappointment has a way of narrowing our vision, doesn’t it? Sometimes, it causes us to focus so closely on what did not happen that we struggle to see what God may still be doing. We say: “We had hoped the diagnosis would be different.” “We had hoped the relationship could be repaired.” “We had hoped the prayer would be answered by now.” “We had hoped life would look different at this point.” Sometimes our disappointment becomes the lens through which we see everything.
The Emmaus road reminds us that disappointment does not mean that Jesus has disappeared. The disciples could not recognize him, but he was there. Notice again another example of how He did not wait for them to find their way back to him. He came to them. He matched their pace, and He allowed them to tell their story, even though they did not yet understand the story they were living in. Eyes that truly see do not deny disappointment. Eyes that truly see learn to look for Jesus in the middle of it.
2. Eyes That See What God Is Quietly Doing
There is an important difference between the presence of Jesus and our awareness of the presence of Jesus. Notice that Jesus did not suddenly appear when the disciples recognized him. He had already been walking with them, listening and even speaking to them. Ultimately, their recognition changed, but his presence did not. There are seasons when we sense God’s presence clearly. Prayer feels alive. Scripture speaks directly into our circumstances. Worship comes easily and, we can look around and quickly identify where God is working. But, there are other seasons. Seasons when God’s presence feels hidden. We pray, but nothing seems to change. We look at the field and see more weeds than wheat.
When our inability to recognize Jesus feels palpable, it does not mean Jesus is absent. This is one of the central truths Jesus has been teaching us throughout this series. God’s work is often quiet before it becomes visible. Sometimes, faith is trusting that Jesus is with us before we understand what He is doing. It is praying: “Lord, give me eyes that see beyond the surface.” “Give me eyes that see grace at work in the people around me.”
On the road to Emmaus, the disciples did not yet recognize Jesus, but something was happening within them. Jesus talked with them, Moses, and the Prophets, and explained how the Scriptures pointed toward him, to Jesus. He helped them understand that the suffering of the Messiah was not the end of God’s plan but that through the suffering redemption had been accomplished in a way they had not expected.
Look what they say later to one another: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road?” Their eyes had not yet been opened, but their hearts were already awakening. The yeast was working. The seed was taking root. Hope was beginning to live again. God was at work before they fully understood what he was doing. Eyes that see begin with hearts that are willing to listen.
3. Eyes That See Jesus at the Centre of the Story
We need Scripture because it teaches us how to see. Without Scripture, we may look at the cross and see only defeat. Scripture teaches us to see the love of God.
We may look at weakness and assume God is absent. Scripture teaches us that God’s power is often revealed through weakness. Scripture gives us eyes that see our circumstances within the larger story of God. Eyes that see are not eyes that understand everything. They are eyes that have learned to look for Jesus at the centre of the story.
5. Eyes Opened at the Table
As the disciples approached Emmaus, Jesus acted as though he was going farther but they urged him to stay. Evening was approaching and the day was almost over. Jesus went into the house with them. When they sat down to eat, something unexpected happened. Jesus took the place of the host and then, He took the bread. He gave thanks. He broke it. And he gave it to them. Luke tells us: “Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” They had walked several miles with Jesus. They had listened while he explained the Scriptures. Their hearts had burned while he spoke. But they only recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
Those actions would have carried memories. Jesus taking bread, giving thanks, breaking bread and giving it to them. Perhaps they remembered the hillside where Jesus had taken a small amount of food and fed a multitude. Something small placed in the hands of Jesus became enough. Perhaps they remembered the meal Jesus had shared with his disciples just a few nights earlier. He had taken bread, given thanks, broken it, and told them that it represented his body given for them.
Now, at an ordinary table in an ordinary home, they suddenly saw him. The risen Jesus was revealed through a simple act of hospitality and a broken loaf of bread. Hidden in plain sight. You one of the things that I marvel at about our God, He delights in filling ordinary things with holy significance. You’ve experienced this too: A meal can become a place of grace. A conversation can become a place of healing. A church in a small fishing village filled with ordinary people can become an extraordinarily visible expression of the Kingdom of God and a table can become the place where our eyes are opened.
6. Communion Gives Us Eyes That See the Cross Differently
This morning we come to the Lord’s Table. And what will we see? Bread. A cup. Ordinary things. Things we could easily overlook. But Jesus has taught us to look again. The bread tells us that the body of Christ was given for us. The cup tells us that a new covenant has been established through his grace. The table tells us that sinners are welcome, that forgiveness is available. We come because Jesus has invited us.
On Friday, the cross looked like the end of hope. The disciples saw weakness and loss. Recall they said, “We had hoped.” But God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ. Even at the cross, God’s victory was hidden in plain sight.
When we take the bread and the cup, we are not pretending that life is simple but we come to the table trusting the One who is at work even when his work is hidden. And so before we receive Communion together, perhaps we could encourage a question of reflection for you: Where might Jesus be present and working, even though I have not yet recognized him? Perhaps you have been focused on the weeds, and God wants to show you the wheat that is still growing. Perhaps you have been discouraged because change has been slow, and God wants to remind you that the yeast is still working beneath the surface. Perhaps you have been walking a road of disappointment, saying: “I had hoped…” And today Jesus is quietly drawing near and saying: “I am still here.”
The disciples, once their eyes were opened, could not continue walking in the same direction. They immediately returned to Jerusalem to tell the others: “We have seen the Lord.” Today, we come to this table with the same prayer: “Jesus, open our eyes.”
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread. He gave thanks. He broke it. He gave it to his disciples. Those same actions opened the eyes of the disciples at Emmaus. He took the bread. He blessed it. He broke it. And he gave it to them. So today, as the bread is taken, blessed, broken, and given, may our eyes be opened again. May we see the grace that has been present all along. Take the bread now.
And then Jesus took the cup. Because grace is not only something we are invited to see. It is something Jesus was willing to give everything to make possible. He said: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” The disciples could see the cup. What they could not yet fully see was what it represented. But Jesus knew. And he gave them the cup as a way of saying: When you cannot yet see what God is doing, remember what God has done. So today, as we receive the cup, may our eyes be opened again. May we see the new covenant, the promise that in Christ, we belong to God. The cup of Christ, poured out for us. Take the cup now.
Communion
Prayer
Risen Jesus, Thank You for meeting us on the road. Thank You that when we’re confused, disappointed, or unsure of where we’re going, You don’t leave us to figure it out on our own. You walk with us. Just like those disciples on the road to Emmaus, sometimes we don’t recognize You. We’re so focused on what has gone wrong, what we thought would happen, or what we can’t understand that we miss the fact that You’re right beside us. And yet, You keep walking. Thank You for Your patience with us. Thank You for listening to our questions. Thank You for reminding us of Your promises.
And thank You for what we’ve shared around Your table today. As we’ve taken the bread and the cup, remind us again of Your love poured out for us. You gave Your life for us, You conquered death for us, and You are still with us. Lord, open our eyes. Help us see You in the ordinary moments of our lives. When we’re at work, when we’re at home, when we’re having coffee with a friend, when we’re caring for someone we love, when we’re walking through something difficult. Help us recognize the ways You’re already at work, even when we don’t see the whole picture.
Lord, we pray for those who are walking a difficult road today. For those who are grieving. For those who are lonely. For those who are waiting for an answer. For those who are carrying a burden they haven’t told anyone about. For those who feel like they’ve lost their way. Meet them on their road. Walk beside them. Give them hope when they can’t see the way forward. And remind them that they are never walking alone.
And Lord, as we leave this place, don’t let us forget what we’ve heard today. Give us eyes to see You and hearts ready to respond. Maybe You’re already at work in the life of someone we know. Maybe there’s a conversation You’re asking us to have. Someone You’re asking us to encourage. Someone who needs us to simply stop and listen. Help us notice. Help us slow down enough to recognize You when You’re hidden in plain sight. And when we do see You, may our hearts burn within us with the joy of knowing that the risen Christ is with us. So send us out with hope. Send us out with courage. Send us out knowing that wherever the road leads this week, You are already there, walking beside us. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, our companion on the road, and our hope. Amen.
Song
Benediction
As you leave today, keep your eyes open. Jesus may be closer than you think. He may meet you in an ordinary conversation, a quiet moment, a helping hand, or somewhere along the road you least expect. So go with open eyes and open hearts. Look for where God is already at work. Listen for His voice. And trust that you never walk alone. The risen Christ goes with you. Go in His peace. Amen.
Blessings and have a great week.