Childrens Sermon Service

First Thoughts: Here we have an interesting combination of healing stories. First we see Jesus interacting with a Syrophoenician woman who requests healing on behalf of her daughter, and second we see Jesus healing a deaf man. When we look at the two of these together, we begin to see how the first story might inform the second. The first is a bit disturbing, as Jesus treats the woman with uncharacteristic callousness. He dismisses her as one of the "dogs" for whom his ministry is not a priority. But the woman is insistent; she requires that he hear her and act with mercy.