Healing – what does it mean?
Healing means to cure something that is painful or to fix
something that is broken. A major part of Christ’s life had to do with healing,
which is why our Gospels contain many of His miracles.
e.g. Jesus healed the sick
and cured the lame.
The leper came to
Jesus and asked to be healed.
Christ went from
town to town preaching, teaching, and healing the sick.
At Erin church, we say prayers for health and healing in our
worship services.
Why do you think we do this?
Who did Jesus heal?
The Gospels mainly give us stories and reports of Christ’s
three year ministry in and around the towns of Galilee. As well as teaching His
people new ideas about God and preaching the Gospel, Jesus also healed people
with different diseases, sicknesses, and illnesses. Sometimes He healed them
immediately; at other times He asked questions first. Sometimes Jesus touched
sick people and healed them; on one occasion a woman touched Him and was
healed.
How many healing stories of Jesus can you remember?
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Let’s read a healing story from Matthew’s Gospel: Matthew 9:1-8
Who comes to Jesus for healing? What does Jesus do at first? Who is
offended at this? What does Jesus do
next? What does this story tell us about Jesus and His power?
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Jesus healed people because He wanted to make people feel
better, in the hope that their healing would also restore them to God’s love.
Let’s a watch a video of Christ healing a leper
Jesus Heals the Leper
– The Bible – the Series
If the video is not available, here is the Gospel story:
Matthew 8:1-4
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.
A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are
willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am
willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of
his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell
anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses
commanded, as a testimony to them.”
What do you think of
this story?
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What was leprosy?
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Why did Jesus touch
the leper?
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What do you think
happened next?
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Based on the Gospel stories, why do we pray for healing in Church?________________________________________________________________________
Do our prayers work? What happens when healing doesn’t occur?
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Why do people get sick? Why do we feel pain? What things
hurt our feelings? What things make us sad?
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How does having faith help us? Where is God when bad things
happen or disasters occur?
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Have there been any painful times in our lives when we’ve asked God to
help, but we didn’t get it?
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Part of the
Statement of Faith in the PCUSA
In 1983 when the PCUSA was formed, our denomination created
a Statement of Faith for the whole church. It expresses our beliefs in Jesus
and includes a description about His ministry of healing, as well as His
identification with our pain. Here is what it states:
We trust in Jesus
Christ,
Fully human, fully God.
Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
preaching good news to the poor
and release to the captives,
teaching by word and deed
and blessing the children,
healing the sick
and binding up the brokenhearted,
eating with outcasts,
forgiving sinners,
and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,
Jesus was crucified,
suffering the depths of human pain
and giving his life for the sins of the world.
God raised this Jesus from the dead,
vindicating his sinless life,
breaking the power of sin and evil,
delivering us from death to life eternal.
What does this tell us about Jesus? Why did He suffer on the Cross? How
does this help us with our own suffering, illnesses, and pain?
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Any
other questions?
Your Bible assignment for this week is to read the chapters
5 & 6 of the Gospel of Mark, as well as completing the question sheet.
Bring it back to our next meeting. Our next meeting takes place on
Sunday February
21 at 4:45PM.
Finish with prayer.
