The Healing Congregation - Sermon (part 1)

Introduction

Times just now are not easy, we don't know how the world situation will develop so it is going to be more important than ever that we hear what James has to say to the Churches. We read from James 5 because here is a model for helping the body of Christ to be whole and effective.

In between our discouragement, our frustrations with society, our feelings of being in a minority group (in the UK!)as a follower of Jesus, God is there and is still speaking today, to us. In verse 10 James mentions the prophets as examples of men who suffered severe persecution you have seen what the Lord finally brought about... the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. To know that others have suffered before is not always helpful but to know that they got through does matter. We need that reassurance. So what is God saying in these days?

As I refer to healing through this sermon I need you to think wider than physical healing. Although physical healing is included we are referring to the whole that makes up a person and to the various areas of wholeness in our spiritual lives.

We can summarize what James is saying by making three points which say that...
There's a relationship between: the healing congregation, the healing mission and the healing gospel. The three go together and when one or more suffer there's pain and frustration, and the Church's calling is not being fulfilled. We would all like the perfect congregation, maybe pastors dream about having one, but they are not going to ever find one. Yet we can all aim at
being an effective church in these days, even with all our imperfections.

It is said that...
Together with the blessing of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit, three things make inevitable the fulfillment of the Church's calling to be a place of healing and to bring healing to the nations:
1 - their openness to their own healing and their journey towards wholeness ( healing congregation)
2 - their commitment to, and work on behalf of, Christ's healing mission (healing mission)
3 -the compassion of members for the hurting world for whom Christ died and rose from the dead (healing gospel)

The Healing Congregation - An Up-to-date Testimony

Click here for the story
of someone who received healing

Groan, Groan, And Groan Some More! - Worship activity

Activity During Morning Worship for everyone including children!
Ascension Sunday
(Based On Idea By Sue Relf)

Ask children to come out and stand in a line facing the congregation

Ask them to moan and groan as if feeling very cold - are they convincing?
as if feeling hungry - give them sympathy!
as if having a tummy ache - all girls together to groan
as if being bored - all boys together to groan

When do adults groan?...
when hearing a bad joke
when listening to a politician speak
when at a pantomime
when running in a marathon

We usually moan and groan when things are bad or difficult,
when as we said earlier we are in pain or suffering.

Romans 8:22 says We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time

The Bible says that not only the world around us is decaying physically but spiritually it is also infected with sin.

When we are in any kind of trouble we have two choices, either we do something about it or we don't! As you listen to the story of how Jesus, after his resurrection, was taken up to heaven notice how the disciples go about their predicament - having to live without living with Jesus anymore.

In Acts 1:11 we see a scene where the disciples are told off by angels for doing something daft...they stood looking at the sky trying to see Jesus! In verses 12 and 13 they do something more sensible, they are recorded as going back to Jerusalem and praying together as Jesus had asked to do anyway.

When you face a dilemma, a difficult task, don't stand around hoping it will all get sorted but make sure you pray about it.

John will speak to us more about it later but for now, lets remain firm in the faith for one day Jesus will come back for us and then he will turn our tragedies into triumphs, our poverty into riches, our pain into glory, our defeat into victory. We who love Jesus will be reunited with him and will be safe and secure for ever.

The Healing Congregation - The Bible Reading

Introducing The Bible Reading: James 5:1-20
(comments based on the Life Application Bible)

One of the purposes of this book - James - is to teach right Christian behaviour. James, who was the brother of Jesus, is by now a leader in the Jerusalem church, is writing to the first century Jewish Christians.

With energetic style and crisp, well chosen words, James confronts the conflict head on, that we can profess to trust God and to be his people, yet we still cling tightly to the world and its values.

At times we might possess all the right answers but contradict the gospel with our lives. James urges us to talk the Christian faith without forgetting to live it. In these verses we will certainly hear the point that, the proof of the reality of our faith, is a changed life.

This book has been described as a how-to book on Christian living and it is full of confrontation, challenge and commitment. Bible passages such as this one are very important and helpful at a time when being a Christian is very hard. We are persecuted in ways we might not realize.

For example into our personal life we might bring our rights, our wanting things quickly...to our fellowship we might bring pressure from health and safety so we end up having no outings which used to build fellowship...into our community life we might take help only to those who only help themselves... the list goes on.

Before we know it our connection with God gets blurred and we might not even realize it because it is how the rest of the world lives. In chapters 1-4 James outlines some of the characteristics of the Christian life. We will join his writings in chapter 5 as he begins to talk about our responsibilities to God, to others and to our own church fellowship.

The Healing Congregation - Theme of Service

Dried Or Revived?

Image taken from Google Images

These daffodils in my hand are very dry - see above for a picture of dry daffodils. Instead of throwing them away after Easter I kept them but no longer watered them. Look at them now. At certain times in my life I have felt as tired as these flowers look. Spiritually there have been times when I have felt as dry as these flowers are.

Those of you who have experienced such times will know how wonderful it is when you begin to feel better, revived, or as the dictionary states you recover new vigour. God is good and his Spirit knows how to help us. There is always hope, and just like this beautiful fresh daffodil taken from our garden this very morning, we too can feel revived once again, if not physically, at least spiritually.

Daffodils taken from Google Images

The only problem that I have is that I have cut this flower from its stem so it does not matter how much water or sun it gets it will not last long. Having had difficult times in my own life, and having observed other peoples' lives I now know from experience that we cannot last long without the Lord in our lives.

We try, we try very hard but at some point, sooner or later, we will end up like these dried-up daffodils. We really need to be connected to God. The thing is that we are meant to be connected to God, we are actually going against the grain, the tide when we attempt to detach ourselves from him.

That's why it is better to stay close to the Lord. I encourage you, urge you to connect with God, to let his Spirit revive you, transform you into a deeper level with him than ever before in your life.

The Healing Congregation - Worship Programme

Pre-meeting: Band

Welcome and Notices

Anecdote from Box of Delights (26b)
Jesus is in my heart

Song 335 (SASB 833/This is what the Lord has done)
I want to tell what God has done

Dried-up daffodils
Songs of Fellowship 365
Lord we long for you (Vol5 CD2 Track3)

Prayers

Song 324 (SASB 429/ Bethany)
I Believe that God the Father

Introduction to Bible Reading

Band

Bible Reading - James 5:1-20

Offering

Songsters - Master Speak

Message - The Healing Congregation

Songs of Fellowship 311
Jesus, You Are Changing Me

Songs of Fellowship 389
May we be a shining light
(Volunteers to read verses out while piano plays)
Testimonies - time to share with others how you feel about your faith just now!

Song 324 (SASB 429/ Bethany)
I Believe that God the Father
Verses 2 & 4

Prayer

Benediction: Songsters

What Kind Of Wounds Do You Have? - Nooma

What kind of wounds do you have?
How have your wounds shaped who you are today?

Bible Reading - Romans 12:19 (MSG) "Don't insist in getting even; that's not for you to do. I'll do the judging", says God. "I'll take care of it"

Have you ever really gotten revenge? If so, how did it make you feel afterwards? If we take revenge when we get hurt, do you think it's like saying to God, "I think I can handle this better than you"?

Bible Reading - Proverbs 15:3 (CEV) The LORD sees everything, whether good or bad. If God's right there when people get hurt, why do you think he doesn't step in to stop it from happening? Do you trust that God is ultimately going to take care of everything? Why is God's forgiveness of us so crucial to our forgiveness of others?

Bible Reading - Luke 6:37 (NIV) Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Can we forgive somebody without being able to be around them? Do you have people like that in your life? Do you believe forgiveness is really more about the one forgiving than the one being forgiven? Does that view on forgiveness make it easier to forgive? Are there people you need to forgive? If someone you need to forgive died before you made amends, what kind of regrets would you have?

Concluding Words by Rob Bell... So may you forgive as you've been forgiven, may you give to others what's been given to you, may you set someone free and find out that it was you, and may you do it today, because you might not have the chance tomorrow