Healing Service
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:1-3, KJV)
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"And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised , To preach the acceptable year of the Lord . And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears . And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?" (Luke 4:14-22, KJV)
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I’d like to welcome you today to this service. For us it is an
unusual thing to do on a Sunday morning. I’m not sure that it should be.
I have this desire to be a part of a church that sees God work “fully” in every avenue of people’s lives. God is present here today as he is in every other church in which the gospel is preached. And He is willing today to work as mightily in our midst as He would anywhere else. This place is filled with His children and He loves you today and is anxious to give “good gifts” to you.
"My dear brothers and sisters, do not be fooled about this. Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows. God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made." (James 1:16-18, NCV)
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Today as children we come to our Heavenly Father as He has instructed us to do. He is enough your Father today to sort out the motivation for your asking. You don’t have to second guess yourself and wonder whether or not what you desire is selfish. He tells us:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7, NIV)
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Let’s let God do the sorting out today.
This morning we will have three separate invitations and we will have people here to pray over you according to the pattern of James 5.
The First invitation will be for emotional healing and deliverance from spiritual bondage.
The second will be for healing and Sheila McCrea-MacCallum with an exhortation and the final invitation today will be for spiritual healing.
There will be prayer teams at the front this morning to pray with you as you come forward. Remember that people who seek healing, seek the Master and they respond quickly and without hesitation..
" Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5:13-16, NIV)
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The model begins with:
q Acknowledgement of need.
q Call for help
q Confession of sin
The first invitation will be for those who desire “emotional healing”. There may be those here today who hold long term hurt that has curdled to bitterness or unforgiveness and you find yourself extremely unhappy or unfulfilled. You have held on to those feelings because you believe that because you have been wronged, you are then allowed to hate or to refuse to forgive. Your relational life is in disarray and there are people that you do not speak to or those that you avoid. There may be those issues that you have chosen to short-circuit. I remember when my parents were divorced and my home disintegrated. I was powerless to do anything about it as a teenager struggling with God’s will for my life. I felt as though someone had located the emotional circuitry panel in my psyche and had opened it a reached in and grabbed a handful of wires and wrenched them free and then re-closed the panel. I was unable to “feel” for years relative to my parents and my home. Where once I was very attached I was very detached. It has taken years for this to heal in my own life. There may be those who would like to acknowledge the need today and to come for help, to begin the healing process or perhaps to find the culmination of a process that you have been engaged in for years and today you realize that it is your time to have that issue settled. We invite you to come today during the first call.
There may be others today who suffer from addictive behavior. Somehow, I believe that this is related to emotional healing. It seems to me many times that we seek out self-destructive behaviors when there is disorder in our lives. In the teenage years it comes because we doubt our worth. When we are in this time we find it difficult to say “no” because acceptance is conditional based upon our participation in things that the crowd proclaims to be “cool”. So we give in – not so much because we seek a habit as it is because we seek acceptance. Many today who have these behaviors have carried them from these days. You still doubt your worth today and the habit rather than providing deliverance has just produced further doubts. We invite your today to come and we will pray with you for your acceptance and the unconditional love of God so that your habit will fall from you today.
When you come this morning, please feel free to ask a good friend to come with you. It is not necessary for you to confess your specific sin to those who pray for you but I believe that it needs to be confessed to God and to another living breathing human being, someone that you can trust and someone who will diligently pray for you, again according to the model in James. The devil delights in causing us to “hide” our sin. As long as he can keep you in the shadows, he can prevent the light from bringing God’s deliverance to your life.
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:8-21, NIV)
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The greatest miracle in the world is spiritual healing. It is for this express purpose that Christ laid down his life on the cross. It is the single most important message for the church top preach and practice.
What can possible keep a man or woman away from God?
q The fear that God will take something away from me.
q The belief that it is not a manly thing to do or that it expresses personal weakness.
q The choice to disregard or unbelief
My Dad is sick in the hospital this morning. I’ve had a call that they believe that he is dying and has little time left. He gave me this unfinished poem that reveals the heart of a man who longed for God for many years but never reached out without reservation to find him.
While taking a walk one fine spring day
As I so often took,
I followed a shadowy woodland path
Which chanced to cross a brook,
The path was long and the day was warm
So I chose to rest a bit,
And in a patch of shade beneath a tree
I found a place to sit.
Perhaps twas the charm of this woodland glade
That really cast a spell
Or perhaps I slept or dozed somewhat
I really cannot tell
But it seemed that I could hear a voice
So full of joy and glee
Did it really come from that little brook
Right there in front of me?
I sat bolt upright the better to listen
And above the song of the birds
In a carefree and gay and wonderful way
I could make out a few of the words
This brook had a story to tell me,
And it came through as clear as a bell
And in the very same way as twas told that day
I'll relate it to you as well
My source is a pond way back in the hills
Where God and nature combine
To bring beauty and grace to this wonderful place
And everything is peaceful and fine
Where water lilies grow and cat-o-nine tails blow
Caressed by the soft mountain breeze
Where the little birds sing and find rest for the wing
In the boughs of the friendly trees
Where few men have tread, too busy instead,
In a drive for their own special goal
But those who've come through
Have left there tis' true
Enriched in both spirit and soul
Clifton Ingersoll
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[1] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[2] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[3] The Holy Bible : New Century Version , containing the Old and New Testaments. 1991. Dallas, TX: Word Bibles.
[4] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[5] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[6] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.