It's been quite a week in Douglas County. Flooding like we've never seen. Tomorrow morning at 8, folks will begin being helped at The Pantry (if you get the SOTH emails you know the details). A Gift of Love and Faith in Action are also working hard to help those in need and SOTH will support their efforts 100%. The future will hold mission teams and wonderful stories of the way that God works.
Wednesday night we gathered and had a powerful time of prayer for the community.
This Sunday we'll be having services of healing at both 9:30 and 11:00 am. Now really, anytime that Christians gather for worship, what happens should have a healing quality. I'm very excited about this Sunday. God's timing is amazing. We planned this service weeks ago --- little did we know how much healing our community would need after these floods.
So, here's a peek at some of the songs, the scripture, the sermon and a time of prayer and anointing.
See you Sunday!
Adam
James 5:13-15 (NRSV)
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
Sermon thoughts: what's this anointing with oil all about? Do prayers in church somehow work better than when I do it on my own? Why do some folks not get better? How does forgiveness really work? What does it mean to let someone pray for me?
If you've ever had those questions...they're the ones we're diving into this Sunday.
Some thoughts on the United Methodist healing service from Daniel Benedict, former worship resources director with the General Board of Discipleship:
Ours is a hurting and broken world. It is no wonder that there has been a very positive response to opportunities for healing prayer and anointing.
Many United Methodist congregations now include healing prayer in worship services. Some offer healing prayer as part of services of Holy Communion. Some schedule weekly, monthly, or quarterly services of healing, depending on the needs of their particular church and community.
Basic Understandings of Healing and Worship
The Bible affirms spiritual healing.
"Are any among you sick? They should call the elders of the church and have them pray for them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord" (James 5:14).
When pastors and laity pray for people with the laying on of hands or anointing with oil, they are not claiming that they are doing something for the sick. They are not claiming that God will make everything better. They are seeking to be faithful to continue Christ's threefold ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing.
The Bible clearly calls disciples to pray with and for one another, and this faithful ministry of touch with prayer pleads and performs (enacts) the grace of God. This touch bridges alienation, swallows isolation, breaks suffering, and opens discouraged human spirits.
Services of healing are not services of curing. Rather they "provide an atmosphere in which healing can happen." (See The United Methodist Book of Worship, 613-614.) All healing is God's work, and worship settings where God encounters people are intrinsically healing.
When people are hurting, and when there is an invitation to share the pain, people respond. It is very natural and an act of hope in God. The ritual practices of healing prayer in the context of worship do not embarrass or expose people. United Methodist healing services use a simple sacramental approach to healing that expresses compassion, hope, grace, and a quiet confidence in God. There we can bring our insufficiencies to the all-sufficient Christ, who understands our need for wholeness.
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