Lesson 03 - Healing - Where is God When It Hurts?

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   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvaoIqiJElg

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.

Lesson 01: Baptism - the beginning of our Faith Journey

Confirmation – what does it mean?

To confirm something means to verify the truth of a statement or action made by someone else.

e.g.        Harry confirmed that what Linda said was true. The dog belonged to her.

                The referee confirmed that the ruling on the field was right – it was a touchdown.

                The President confirmed the news that the hostages had been released.

In church, when we speak about Confirmation, we refer to a special event in the lives of our young people. Confirmation is the process of verifying the promises that parents made when their children were baptized.

So the process of Confirmation begins with Baptism.

What is Baptism?

People have been baptized in the Christian faith for almost 2000 years. When the first Christian churches were formed, people who believed in Jesus were baptized in local rivers, household pools, and even in the sea. Water is an essential part of baptism because it represents so many important things in our lives.

Think about what we use water for in our own lives and community.

We use water to:                    ________________________________________

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Water is essential to our lives. Without it, we would die. We drink water and use it to clean ourselves on a daily basis. It is basic ingredient in all of our food. It is used for building our homes, schools, and churches. Generations ago, most Christian churches were built over or beside small streams – can you think why?

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Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. Most people were baptized at that time to cleanse themselves of their sins, in order to make them clean and holy before God. Jesus was sinless, so why was He baptized? It was to confirm that He was the Messiah, the Son of God.

Let’s a watch a video of Christ being baptized

Baptism of Jesus – The Bible – the Series  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKr0HfruNBk

Where did the baptism take place?                       

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Why did John hesitate to baptize Jesus?                               ________________________________________

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Because Jesus underwent baptism, His followers believe that they should also be baptized. This special event is called a SACRAMENT in Christian churches. In the Presbyterian Church, we believe that there are two special sacraments because Jesus participated in them. One is Baptism; the other is _________________.

When Christians are baptized, they make promises to serve God and pledge their faith in Jesus. They vow to follow Him and to become servant members of His Church. In the PCUSA, when people are baptized for the first time, they are asked to make the following promises:

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      Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world?                         

Answer: I do.

2.       Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love?

Answer: I do.

3.       Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love?

Answer: I will, with God’s help.

Why are people asked to make these promises before they are baptized? How are they expected to keep those promises?

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When parents bring their children or babies to be baptized in church, they are asked these questions:

1.       Do you desire that your child be baptized?   

Answer: I/We do.

2.       Relying on God’s grace, do you promise to live the Christian faith, and to teach that faith to your child?

Answer: I/We do.

3.       Do you promise, through prayer and example, to support and encourage your child to be a faithful Christian?

Answer: I/We do.

After the parents make these promises, the minister asks the congregation to make this promise:

Do you, as members of the church of Jesus Christ, promise to guide and nurture this child and all other children in our midst, by word and deed, with love and prayer, encouraging them to know and follow Christ and to be faithful members of His church?

The congregation stands and answers: We do.

Why do you think we ask the congregation as well as the parents to make promises at a child’s baptism?

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How are those promises kept by the parents? How are those promises kept by the congregation?

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Do you remember how we defined the word ‘Confirmation’ at the beginning of our lesson?

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So, you see, the process of Confirmation begins with the promises made by your parents and the congregation at your baptism. By going through this special process, you are verifying that the statements which were made at your baptism have now turned out to be true.

For centuries, in every nation on Earth, millions of young people have confirmed the promises that their parents when they were baptized as children. If they were babies or infants, they really didn’t know what was going on; if they were older, they still didn’t fully understand what was really expected of them. You are going through the process of Confirmation in our church at a very important time in your life. We want you to understand that your parents, families, and your church love you deeply and wish to support, help, and encourage you as you go through this next big important step in your life.

Before we finish, we are now going to watch another video by a Confirmation class from Davidson College. The young people made this video last year and based it on the Apostles Creed, which is something we will also discuss during our lessons.

“I Believe” – Confirmation Class 2015 – Davidson College – The Apostles Creed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRy1vTDJ1b4

Your Bible assignment for this week is to read the first two chapters of the Gospel of Mark and to complete the question sheet. Bring it back to our next meeting.

Finish with prayer.