Upside Down Kingdom: April 2013

April 21, 2013 – Brook Hill UMC

Acts 9:36-42 (NIV) - In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

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Many of us have been following the events in Boston and Texas this week. Some of you have no doubt been praying for victims of the tragedy. There is an immense reservoir of good will left in the world.

I saw this post on Facebook from Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers): “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me: ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” I thank God that many of YOU want to be the helpers.

This was true of Tabitha, the woman mentioned in today’s scripture: A godly woman. A doer of good deeds. A helper of the poor. Then she became sick and died.

Her friends sent for the Apostle Peter, 10 miles away in Lydda. “Come quickly!” they said. (The faith of Tabitha’s friends astounds me: “If we can get Peter here, maybe God will raise Tabitha from the dead!” I want to hang with people like that!)

Peter arrived on the scene. Widows were weeping all around. Peter asked them to leave.

He prayed, then spoke to her: “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes. She sat up. Peter helped her to her feet, and presented her alive. What a great miracle this was!

It’s the only known time that Peter raised a person from the dead. Peter had been with Jesus several years before when Jesus had raised a young girl from the dead in a similar way.

(1) JESUS CHRIST IS AT THE HEART OF HEALING AND WHOLENESS.

He said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

He said that this prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in Him: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

You need to know Jesus as the Center of your life, your Savior, your Leader. If you’re in need of physical healing, you need welcome Jesus to mend the other parts of your broken life as well.

(2) HEALING IS REAL, AND RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD IS REAL (though rare).

There is divine medicine for our ailing bodies and broken spirits.

First of all, we were created so that we recover from many illnesses without needing medicine or medical care. This is nature at work.

Second, the Bible emphasizes healing in both the Old and New Testaments. God told the Israelites, “I am the God who heals you.”

In the Old Testament several barren women were healed and enabled to bear children. Several persons were cleansed of leprosy. On several occasions God delivered Israel from plagues. Both Elijah and Elisha prayed for children who were raised from the dead.

And when we come to the New Testament, especially in the ministry of Jesus, there is an explosion of physical healings. The New Testament mentions 41 situations where Jesus healed people. Those afflicted by demons were set free. Lepers were cleansed. People with crippling infirmities were healed. Blind men were made to see. Three persons were raised from the dead. One fifth of the verses in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are taken up with Jesus healing and resurrecting people. It was not a minor part of His ministry, but rather a sign of His divinity.

And throughout church history, down to the present day, we have eye-witness accounts of healings and resurrections. (Though, as I said, resurrections from the dead are rare.) My Nigerian friend Chib Mbubaegbu speaks of being at a funeral where a person was raised from the dead or resuscitated.

In his book Like A Mighty Wind, the Indonesian evangelist Mel Tari speaks of the resurrection of a man in the village of Amfoang – a man who had been dead for two days, long enough that you could smell his body decomposing. The resurrected man told many people what had happened, and 20,000 people in the area believed in Jesus through his testimony.

Whether we believe these reports or not, we must wrestle with the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians ch.15: …If Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless… If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.”

We call ourselves EASTER PEOPLE. Whatever else that means, it means we believe that Jesus Christ died and was buried and was raised to physical life by the power of God.

It’s two months now since our friend Roger left this earthly existence. I did not want him to go. For 12 days before his death I was fasting from meat and desserts, asking God to heal him. During those 12 days, 15 pages of my Journal were filled with prayers for Roger. I thought he was healthier than he was. I believed that God would heal him and spare his life. I was wrong.

I still believe in divine healing. I’ve seen it. I still pray for people to be healed. But there are just things we don’t understand about healing.

But I’m going to keep on praying for God to heal people. And sometimes they will be healed. I think they are more likely to be healed if I pray for them than if I don’t.

(3) GOD HAS USED OTHER PEOPLE TO HEAL US AND HELP US.

God used Peter (another person) to raise Tabitha from the dead.

We are not islands. We have been blessed and healed and helped by the love and grace of others. You were probably raised by parents who did the best they could to rear you and raise you and teach you and encourage you. You have probably been ministered to by doctors and medical professionals over the years. You have received cards and letters from friends that have encouraged you.

You have been a dollar short at some time, and a nearby person has made up the difference so you could get that ice cream cone or tee-shirt.

I hope that you are married or related to those who love you deeply and who have sacrificed generously of their time and attention and affection, and have made up the difference when you were “a quart low”.

If we have any spiritual sense about us, we realize that all these things are gifts from God. He is using other people to enrich and heal and bless us.

Life is a communal event, and you are in a bad way if you are not open to receiving the love and generosity of others.

(4) GOD WANTS TO USE US TO HEAL AND HELP OTHERS.

Here at Brook Hill, we believe that God wants to use us to help others.

That’s why the Endowment Committee wanted to give away $27,000 this year to worthy causes.

That’s why a Brook Hill Work Team went to Crisfield, MD, earlier this month, to work on the flood-damaged home of an African-American couple. Melvin Young is 85 and his wife Marguerite is 79.

WE BELIEVE THAT GOD WANTS TO USE US TO HEAL AND HELP OTHERS.

That’s why the women of Brook Hill’s Team Nicaragua wept and prayed with a number of women last June. Among those women was Maria, who had breast cancer and now has a new baby.

Also among those Nicaraguan women was another young woman who suffered continuous bleeding (perhaps similar to the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment in Mark chapter 5.) The bleeding stopped two days after the Brook Hill women prayed for her. In the months since then we have helped her to get ongoing high-quality medical care.

WE BELIEVE THAT GOD WANTS TO USE US TO HEAL AND HELP OTHERS.

That’s why 20 of us will be in Knoxville, MD next Saturday with Rebuilding Together, working to upgrade the home of an elderly woman.

WE BELIEVE THAT GOD WANTS TO USE US TO HEAL AND HELP OTHERS.

I can’t even name all of the outreach efforts by Brook Hill volunteers over the years, but they include Appalachian Service Project, Frederick Food Bank, the Soup Kitchen and many more.

WE BELIEVE THAT GOD WANTS TO USE US TO HEAL AND HELP OTHERS.

That’s why for the past four years we’ve sent mission teams to Guatemala to work at Mi Refugio School. There, poor students receive an education and two nutritious meals every day. There, they hear about the love of Jesus, and they see God’s love at work every day.

(Here, several people from the Guatemala Mission Team shared thoughts about their recent trip to Mi Refugio School.)

If I can help somebody as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,
If I can show somebody he is traveling wrong,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,
If I can bring back beauty to a world up-wrought,
If I can spread love’s message that the Master taught,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

Upside Down Kingdom

Thursday, April 25, 2013

sermon: God's Healing Touch (9:30 service)

Monday, April 22, 2013

God's Healing Touch (podcast)

God's Healing Touch