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Healer of Our Every Ill |
2006-01-30 |
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“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Ps 103:1-5)
We all need healing at one time or another. I am still recovering from surgery in December to improve my hearing. Our oldest daughter is recovering from a bruised meniscus (knee joint) she suffered in a basketball game three weeks ago. Back in October I was with my parents at the Mayo Clinic while my mother sought a second opinion on a chronic blood disorder she has suffered from for several years. Those are only the “highlights” from our family over the past four months. You have your own similar experiences. Becoming sick or injured is unavoidable, but even if we somehow do avoid those we cannot escape old age and inevitable death. The best doctors and most cutting-edge medical technology can only win some of the battles or achieve an occasional truce, but cannot win the war. We die.
The Gospel according to Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist and his temptation by Satan in the wilderness for forty days. Jesus then begins his ministry and calls his first disciples. (We haven’t even reached the end of the first chapter yet). Mark then tells several stories where Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit, heals crowds of people, cleanses a leper, and heals a paralytic who is lowered down to him through a hole in the roof. These are the stories we will hear in church during the next several Sundays. Health is a gift from God. Jesus never explained the causes of diseases. John tells us that when they once encountered a man born blind, the disciples asked Jesus, “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.” God’s purpose is wholeness and salvation. Disease is not punishment sent by God, even though our illnesses can sometimes result from our own unhealthy choices. Disease is the effect of the power of evil in this broken and sinful world on our body, mind and spirit. Jesus has come to cast out demons, to destroy the power of sin and evil, and to win the war against death.
Jesus’ healing ministry shows his power over the forces that wear us down and destroy us. Satan is not just interested in our bodies, but wants to separate us from God forever. If Jesus were only a great healer, then he would not matter to us. All the people he healed eventually died. But “surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases.” Jesus did not come to win a few battles in a losing war. Jesus came to achieve total victory. Jesus won that victory on the cross, in his own death and resurrection. The risen Jesus gives us the ministry of healing. God has given doctors and other caregivers wonderful tools to heal. But God has given each one of us the mission to proclaim the healing power of Christ to cast out the demons that destroy our hope in a restored and complete relationship with God both in this life and the next, beyond disease and death.
Come hear about the healing ministries of the church, and the healing power of Jesus, in church this month. We will even have a healing service on February 19th. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit!”
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Summer: starting Memorial Day Weekend
9:00 am Worship Service KMSD Broadcast
10:00 am Coffee and Fellowship
WOW (Worship on Wednesday) 6:30 pm
Winter: starting after Labor Day
8:30 am Worship Service KMSD Broadcast
9:35 am Educational Hour
9:35 am Coffee and Fellowship
10:45 am Worship Service
WOW (Worship on Wednesday) 6:30 pm |
Click Here
401 South Flynn Drive
Milbank SD 57252
605.432.5566 |
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