MINISTRY NOTES

Hi Everyone,

Last fall, a neighbor, with banana trees, gave me several trees, a few days before the first freeze. One of the small trees went in a pot in a room over our garage, where there is a small window. All but one of the leaves died and the one left was torn, broken but still had some green. In April of this year, the tree started growing quickly with large beautiful leaves, challenging the ceiling. After the third leaf, I moved it outside under the widow of my home office and within two days the wind had broken all three leaves and they were hanging limp, lifeless, and turning brown. For weeks the only leaf left was the original partial one from last year and then a new one started out. It grew much slower, blowing in the wind constantly. Today, there are three big leaves and it looks like a banana tree again. God built in a system when He created the tree that would consider the environment and the wind and make each leaf stronger as it grew. As the new leaves grew more slowly, they grew stronger and thicker. The mature leaves even developed splits that don't seem to hurt the leaves and make them more aerodynamic. Our awesome God who created everything, created the banana tree to be able to adapt to the environment. Yes, the smallest tree we got is in a pot in the atrium area by the front door of our Church and it is now the largest with many beautiful leaves and yes it would probably not survive out in the wind. God, who also created us, created us to adapt and grow stronger.

Message Notes:

How is your healing ministry? For many of you that question will inspire laughter and thoughts like, "What healing ministry?" or "A healing ministry is just for some special people." The thinking or teaching that suggest that only a few people can have a healing ministry is common in Christianity. There is a statement that Paul wrote1 that helps promote this belief. Paul's friend, Luke, gives us good guidance regarding what other people write or say when he wrote, "… every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was really true" 2. No matter, if a teaching comes from Paul or some well-known person or an unknown like me, we must always see how it lines up with what God and Jesus teach. It would appear that Paul didn't have access to most of what Jesus taught.

In comparing to what Jesus, the Son of God3 who claimed that what He said came from God4, said, "Believers will … place their hands on sick people, and these will get well." 5 I think most of you are believers. Therefore you potentially have a healing ministry. So let discuss your healing ministry. First and most important is to understand that the healing comes from God. Frequently when Jesus healed someone, they praised God6. One great illustration of this was when we read, "At once he was able to see, and he followed Jesus, giving thanks to God. When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.7" The way you get started is to do it - start laying hands on people and asking God to heal them in Jesus' name8. Don't be discouraged. A man last century, who had laid hands on many thousands of people praying for their healing, once shared that only about 5% of them were healed. 5% is 1 out of 20. More than likely you will see people healed before you have prayed for 20 people. Don't be discouraged if you see a lack of faith. Unlike a big ministry, you will pray for people you know like family, friends, co-workers, etc.. Some of their comments could be discouraging. Like a disabled person, who was totally supported financially by different Government programs, after receiving prayer expressed concerned, that if she was healed, how she would get money to live. Remember God is in charge of the healing and God gets the glory. When one of my sons was a baby, a medical person said he had a problem that would need surgery but that we needed to wait a few months, until he was older and stronger. A few months later, we were hoping for confirmation that God had healed him but the medical person denied he ever said that he had a problem that would need surgery. Yes, that was confirmation that God healed him but it is frustrating when people change their diagnosis. Remember not to limit God, by remembering that God can use medical people9 or by not praying because someone said it was hopeless10.

One final suggestion for your healing ministry is to persist. Jesus said, "Continue to ask, and God will give to you…". 11 Jesus once prayed for a man twice12, before he was healed. Jesus told two stories encouraging us to persist13. The cliché "practice makes perfect" is appropriate. Pray for head colds or sprains, so when God gives you an opportunity to pray for someone with a life-threatening problem, you are comfortable with praying for healing.

"Dear God, our creator, help each of us develop a more effective healing ministry and help us have the strength and courage to exercise our healing ministry in every opportunity You provide, thank You, in Jesus name, Amen."

1. 1 Corinthians 12:8-9

2. Acts 17:11 TEV

3. John 10:36

4. John 12:49

5. Mark 16:17-18 TEV

6. Mt 15:31; Mk 2:12; Lk 7:16; Lk 13:13; Lk 17:15

7. Luke 18:43

8. John 16:26; Luke 10:17

9. Mark 2:17

10. Mark 10:27

11. Matthew 7:7 ICB

12. Mark 8:22-26 13. Luke 11:5-8; Luke 18:1-7