From Dirt to Sight: Worship in Ordinary Life

Aug 19, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Dirt as Divine Canvas

Worship begins by embracing the raw materials of our lives—the dirt beneath our feet. Just as God formed humanity from dust and Jesus healed blindness with mud, our ordinary struggles become sacred ground. The hydrangea’s vibrant colors depend not on the flower itself but the soil’s hidden chemistry. So too, God works through the unseen tensions of our circumstances to reveal beauty. To worship is to trust that even our messiest moments are fertile soil for divine creativity. [34:34]

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7, ESV)

Reflection: What “dirt” in your life—challenges, doubts, or ordinary routines—might God be using to cultivate something unexpected? How could seeing your struggles as sacred soil change your perspective today?

Day 2: Mud on the Eyes, Sight for the Soul

Jesus didn’t heal the blind man with a command but with dirt and spit, sending him to wash in a specific pool. The miracle required participation—a tangible encounter with earth, water, and trust. Like the man’s muddy walk to Siloam, our healing often comes through humble steps of obedience. Worship isn’t passive observation; it’s joining God in the gritty process of transformation. [36:17]

[Jesus] spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” Then he went and washed and came back able to see. (John 9:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: Where is Jesus inviting you to take a practical step—even if it feels messy or uncertain—to experience His healing? What might you need to “wash off” to see His work clearly?

Day 3: Blooms in Acidic Soil

Hydrangeas bloom blue in acidic soil, pink in alkaline—their beauty shaped by unseen conditions. Our faith, too, is colored by life’s tensions: grief, joy, doubt, and hope. Worship isn’t avoiding the ache of life’s pH imbalances but letting God reveal His glory through them. Every season, whether sweet or bitter, becomes a pigment in His masterpiece. [34:51]

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13, ESV)

Reflection: What current “soil condition”—a hardship or unexpected blessing—is God using to deepen your trust? How might this season be refining the color of your faith?

Day 4: Worship as Homemade Meals

God’s presence isn’t confined to sanctuaries but meets us in candlelit dinners, sunsets, and shared stories. Like the mother who pointed her son to grace in simple moments, worship happens when we taste God’s goodness in ordinary gifts. The divine isn’t hiding; He’s simmering in soup pots, humming in playlists, and painting the evening sky. [49:23]

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:8, ESV)

Reflection: Where did you unexpectedly “taste and see” God’s goodness this week? How could you cultivate awareness of His nearness in daily routines?

Day 5: Sent to Siloam, Sent to Serve

The healed man didn’t stay at the pool—he returned to testify, even when questioned. Worship propels us outward, turning private encounters into public witness. Like hydrangeas offering beauty to passersby, we’re called to bloom where we’re planted, our lives pointing others to the Gardener who tends our soil. [29:41]

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV)

Reflection: How has your encounter with God’s grace this week equipped you to serve someone in your “world”? What simple act of love could make His presence tangible today?

Sermon Summary

Worship is participation, not a show someone else puts on. Worship is engagement, a common space where community is being formed by the Spirit and held in the presence of the God known as love. Worship is offering, not after life gets figured out, but right now, with whatever came through the door. Worship is receiving, not taking, receiving the Word of God, the interpretation of that Word, and the free grace of Jesus Christ. Worship is also going, leaving the space to share the love of God in the world that is right there, in the ordinary place called “that state.”

The ordinary stuff of life becomes the place where God is noticed. Nature, food, music, sound, dirt, flowers, and all the things that look mundane can become movements of worship. Dirt becomes the image that holds the whole thing together. People fall in it, play in it, get covered by it, and somehow come from it. Dirt is not just mess. Dirt is good dirt.

Genesis gives dirt its first deep meaning. The Lord God forms humanity from the dust of the ground and breathes life into it. Dirt, the divine, and humanity belong together from the beginning. John 9 carries that meaning forward when Jesus sees the man blind from birth. The disciples ask who sinned, but Jesus refuses that whole setup. The man’s blindness is not a blame game. God’s works are going to be revealed in him.

Jesus does not do a magic trick. Jesus grabs dirt, spits in it, makes mud, puts it on the man’s eyes, and sends him to wash in the Pool of Siloam, the pool that means “sent.” The healing has process in it. Dirt, spit, water, obedience, and sending all belong to the work of Jesus. The man comes back able to see, and he does not hide what happened. He says plainly that “the man called Jesus made mud,” sent him, and gave him sight.

Hydrangeas help show what good dirt can do. Same flowers can bloom in different colors because the dirt has a different makeup. Human lives are like that too. Different places, different soil, different journeys, different blooms, but all still able to show something beautiful from God. Life is not all peaches and cream. The journey has potholes and blown tires, but Jesus still intervenes, still sends, still gives grace, and still brings beauty out of good dirt.

Key Takeaways

1. Worship is not a performance Worship calls every person into participation, not passive watching. Musicians may lead, but they are not doing the holy work on anyone else’s behalf. True worship asks for presence, engagement, offering, receiving, and then going back into the world with the love of God made tangible. [27:22]
2. Grace meets unfinished lives Worship does not require a person to arrive with life figured out. The grace-filled moment of Jesus Christ receives people as they are, not as they pretend to be. That means brokenness, confusion, and need are not barriers to worship, but honest offerings within it. [28:30]
3. Dirt is good dirt Genesis gives dignity to dirt because God forms humanity from the dust and breathes life into it. John 9 deepens that image when Jesus uses dirt and spit in the work of healing. The thing often treated as low, messy, or ordinary becomes the very place where divine life and restoration are seen. [38:18]
4. Healing can have process Jesus does not merely snap his fingers over the blind man. Jesus makes mud, puts it on his eyes, and sends him to wash in a named place. The healing carries movement, obedience, vulnerability, and testimony, showing that grace often works through ordinary means and real participation. [39:38]
5. Different soil still blooms beautifully Hydrangeas bloom in different colors because the dirt differs from place to place. Human lives also carry the marks of where they have been planted, formed, and weathered. God can still bring expressive, gifted, beautiful witness out of every kind of soil touched by Jesus.

## [34:12]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[25:04] - Opening Thanks and Bible Tabs
[26:17] - A New Space for Worship
[27:22] - Worship Means Participation
[28:30] - Offering Life As It Is
[29:03] - Receiving Grace, Then Going
[30:13] - Finding God in Ordinary Things
[31:18] - Landing in the Dirt
[33:31] - Hydrangeas and Good Dirt
[35:14] - John 9 and the Blind Man
[37:53] - Genesis, Dust, and Breath
[39:18] - Jesus Makes Mud and Sends
[42:43] - Get in the Dirt
[45:25] - The Journey Gets Rough
[48:09] - Sensing God in Daily Beauty

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

John 9:1-12
“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘It is he.’ Others said, ‘No, but he is like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ So they said to him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” So I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’” [35:34]

Genesis 2:5-7
“When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” [38:08]

Observation questions

In John 9, what question do the disciples ask about the blind man, and how does Jesus answer them?
What physical things does Jesus use in the healing, and what does he tell the man to do next? [39:38]
After the man receives his sight, how do the neighbors respond, and how does the man explain what happened?
In Genesis 2:5-7, what two things does God use to bring humanity to life, and how does that connect dirt, God, and human life? [38:47]

Interpretation questions

Jesus refuses to treat the blind man’s suffering as a blame game. What does that suggest about the way suffering should be viewed when people are quick to ask, “Whose fault is this?”
Jesus heals through dirt, spit, washing, and sending. What might this show about how God often works through ordinary things instead of dramatic display? [39:33]
The pool of Siloam means “Sent.” What might it mean that the man is not only touched by Jesus, but also sent by Jesus before he sees?
Hydrangeas bloom in different colors because the soil is different. What might that image suggest about how different backgrounds, places, and experiences shape a person’s life without canceling their beauty before God? [34:12]

Application questions

Worship is participation, not a performance. What helps a person move from watching to truly engaging when gathered with God’s people? What usually gets in the way? [27:22]
Grace meets people before life is figured out. What did each person bring into the room this week that still feels unfinished, heavy, or unresolved? What might it look like to offer that honestly to God instead of hiding it? [28:30]
Ordinary things can become places where God is noticed. Where has God seemed easy to miss lately—in meals, music, weather, work, walking, studying, or rest? Which ordinary part of daily life might need slower attention this week? [30:24]
Good dirt can still grow something beautiful. How has the “soil” of a person’s life shaped them for good or for struggle? Where can beauty already be seen that might have been overlooked? [43:47]
Healing can have process in it. Is there an area of life where Jesus seems to be leading step by step rather than fixing everything at once? What does it look like to obey the next step, even if the whole outcome is not clear yet? [40:11]
The man who was healed did not hide what Jesus had done. When has it felt risky to speak plainly about Christ’s work in one’s life? What kind of courage is needed to speak simply and honestly? [40:41]
Life’s journey includes potholes and blown tires, yet Christ still meets people there. Where does life feel rough right now, and what signs of God’s presence might still be there, even if they are small? [45:46]

Sermon Clips

62s

#DirtToDivineMiracle

“There we have is the first the first, movement of this relationship with dirt, the divine, and humanity. What does Jesus do? In this passage, Jesus is with this man. What does he do? He he grabs some dirt. He grabs some dirt. I want you to keep in mind here, we're all from dirt. Good dirt. I want you to keep that in mind as I move forward. What we see in the gospel message is that Jesus performs a healing miracle. And it was a process. Right? Not a magic trick. This is a process.”

80s

#GraceInCommunity

“And who are we? We are folk that need intervention from Jesus. Maybe even making salves for our eyes and sending us to wash to remember the beauty that we are. And who are we? We are in need of acknowledging and accepting the grace offered by God through the sacrificial acts of Jesus Christ. And in doing so, my friends, we begin a day after day journey of showing the beautiful blooms that come from living in communion together and the holy spirit. And with that, I say this. Our lives are not gonna be all peaches and cream, we have together a place to participate, to engage, to offer, to receive, and to go.”

80s

#DailyBloomingInGrace

66s

#SoilToSoul

“So why do you care about this? I think about hydrangeas. It's about the dirt. is good dirt. All dirt is good dirt, and all dirt is different. And because of its goodness and because of its differences, it produces something outwardly on these hydrangeas. Same flowers, different colors. All because the dirt has a different organic makeup. If you go on and read more about these flowers, depending on the acidity level of the dirt is how they produce the different colors. Now you can read into that metaphor for our own lives and relationship with God as you see fit for you. But where do we participate with God in the dirt?”

61s

#DirtColorsFaith

51s

#SentToSiloam

“He takes the dirt. He spits in it. Makes some mud. In the South, we would probably say instead of, like, Jesus made up some salve and put some salve on the man's eyes. Right? But that's not it. Right? That's not the end of the story. He doesn't just cover his eyes with this with this concoction he's made with the dirt of the ground and his spit. He sends him. He sends him to the water. And he sends them sends this guy to a specific place, the Pool Of Siloam, which even our scripture says, it it literally means the pool of scent.”

61s

#ActiveWorshipTogether

“We are all active agents in the movement of worship, not someone or something that is that's doing it on our behalf. Yeah. We we have great musicians, great singers that lead in worship. They're not performing for us. The other thing about worship is to engage, is to be with community. And we're forming that tonight. Right? We all don't know each other yet. But I can guarantee this one thing, that whoever is in this room and whoever's online, god loves you. And god's presence wherever you are right now in this time and space, mentally, physically, is with you. It's to engage in community with that. We don't have to do this thing alone.”

52s

#BoldToDeclareJesus

“I'm sending you to scent. The man comes back. He's healed. He's able to see. And here's the thing, he doesn't hide. He doesn't hide what has transpired here. He doesn't hide that he's been healed, and he doesn't hide from whom the healing came. He answers it. He answers it even in the possible fear of answering that. It was this man named Jesus. It was this man named Jesus.”

Ask a question about this sermon

App Wesley Media This sermon · AI assistant

What is true participation in Christian worship?

What does Jesus' mud miracle signify?

Where might we encounter God's presence daily?