Healing Ministry at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 6165 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22044 703-532-8220 email: rev.richardbrooks@gmail.com Healing Ministry--What is it? Rev. Dick Brooks Minister of Pastoral Care and Healing We are offering a healing prayer service on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. Come join us and see what it is! This healing prayer service is part of our Healing Ministry. A healing ministry is God s work of healing on all levels, including physical, emotional, and spiritual healing as well as the healing of relationships. We believe God offers balance, harmony, and wholeness to heal whatever brokenness we may have in our lives through God s presence, love, and grace. It is God through the Holy Spirit who opens us to healing. The minister and prayer teams create and hold a holy, or sacred, space for healing to take place and focus God s healing power on the individual. People can request prayers for themselves or someone else and can act as a substitute for the other person. A healing ministry is an extension of what ministers do: praying for the sick in church and at home, visiting people in the hospital, visiting the homebound and visiting people who are grieving. 1 Healing Prayer can work in conjunction with traditional medical practices, such as going to the doctor, taking medicine, physical therapy, exercise and healthy eating. Senior Minister on Healing Rev. Kathleen Kline Moore Jesus was a healer. His healings were emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical in nature. We remember that Jesus responded to the suffering he saw in others by reaching out to them in love and profound compassion. It was a special gift, his touch of love, which allowed God s healing presence to move through him and into others. It is a gift that the scriptures record is also available to those who live and love in his name. Jesus sent out his disciples to preach, teach, and heal and he equipped them according to their gifts. The Bible records the astonishment expressed by the disciples as they touched the sick and made them well. It also records their frustration when this healing miracle did not take. We often consider healing to be a cure from our physical maladies and illnesses. It can be a miraculous physical restoration. Often it is not. Healing does not mean cure. It means peace, represented best by the Hebrew concept of shalom, which means
Senior Minister (cont) wholeness. Healing is a spiritual gift momentary or permanent that is known through the love of the giver and often grants deep connection with God rest, relief, and renewal. It can be known through forgiveness. It is also true that many of us have prayed and prayed for healing for our loved ones, and it has not come. We may feel betrayed by God and we hurt. There is no explanation. But did some kind of healing take place that was different from what we wanted for them, what we asked for? There are a myriad of questions we can ask that have no answers. Healing is ultimately between God and the individual. Reasons to Come to a Healing Prayer Service A Healing Prayer Service offers all kinds of healing spiritual, physical, emotional, and the healing of relationships. Could our lives and the lives of our friends be better? Could there be more wellness and less sickness? Could some of our relationships with family members, with co-workers, with bosses, with neighbors be improved? Are we grieving (not only the death of someone but some kind of loss) or emotionally upset about something? Have we been hurt by someone s words or actions? Is there something someone has done to us or we have done to someone else that needs to be let go of? As we think about this, I suspect we will discover that we all have things that would benefit from healing prayer. Prayer works on all of these things and more, so come find healing, peace, balance, and wholeness in our Healing Prayer Service. Testimonials Healing of Swollen Ankle Last year I attended a Healing Prayer Service to pray for a friend. After the prayer group had prayed, I was asked if I needed prayer? I had a swollen left ankle that would not go down. After prayer the swelling in my ankle went down, and it has not swelled again. J.G.T. Healing of Bunion requiring Surgery I know that after two thousand years Jesus still heals. Previously I had been blessed by a major healing in my life, and I would love to share with you a recent healing. I got a bunion on my right foot. The doctor told me that I needed surgery. The doctor also told me that after the surgery I would not be able to drive for eight weeks, and this would be a real problem for me. First, I went to the healing ministry at my church. When someone was praying for me, I got a message from God that God would heal my bunion. After one week I was able to wear a shoe without pain, but the bunion was not completely gone. Next, I went to a meeting of people who believe in healing and offer healing prayer at their meetings. When Rev. Brooks started praying for my foot, it felt as if Jesus was doing surgery on it, cutting off my bunion because I felt a lot of pain while he was praying. The following week I went and saw my doctor. He told me that I no longer needed surgery. What a great gift I received from Jesus. Healing ministry has super power. Beena Chainani Burden and Bitterness Lifted I let go, and my heavy heart was taken from me. I had been blessed with the opportunity to care 2
Burden and Bitterness Lifted (cont) for my mother in my home for six years before she passed. It was a gift of a lifetime, though at times it was draining, both physically and mentally, as she had some medical issues. Within less than two months of my mother s passing, my in-laws needed intense attention to their daily living needs. My mother-in-law suffered from Alzheimer s disease, and my father-in-law had a series of ailments on top of his great depression over seeing his wife of many years fade away. I had been more than happy to provide as much assistance as humanly possible to also take them through their final journey, especially since they lived but a few houses away. During this time, I naturally expected support from their daughter who lived just several miles away, as I had a long commute to work, held a part time job, and of course, had my family s needs to meet. Unfortunately, the bulk of the burden fell on me. I felt increasingly bitter towards her, as my natural, friendly, and nurturing personality had been taken advantage of to the point that I was physically and mentally drained for a period of over seven years. Though many hours had been spent in prayer, and time was spent in search for understanding in the Bible, I hadn t been able to let go of the bitterness born from the lack of help, and later on, the countless lies and injustices. My husband and I had kept giving her chances to start afresh in order to keep the family intact, but nothing changed nor did she desire to re-establish a once close relationship. Finally, we removed ourselves as much as possible from her presence. For over a year after both parents had died, I continued to harbor deep resentment and was frustrated with myself for not being able to move on. 3 During the sermon about forgiveness, or just letting go, God lifted my heavy heart. We had been asked to think of a burden we carried, and visualize putting it into a hot air balloon and releasing it. I didn t think it would work, but I tried to imagine putting my worries into that balloon basket. Before I could visualize my burden, tears came to my eyes just thinking about the mental pain I have been carrying. At that point, I couldn t continue with the healing exercise; I just sat there trying to hold back my tears. By the end of the service, my heart no longer ached! I want to say I let go, but deep down I know my heavy heart was simply taken from me, From one who knows for certain that God is good Spiritual Healing My mother came to a healing prayer session at First Christian Church. During hands-on prayer she asked us to pray for a problem with her stomach. So we prayed for her and she broke into tears and sobbed for several hours. I wondered what was happening, but I thought the Holy Spirit was working. After she stopped crying, her demeanor changed completely. She was more happy than I have ever seen her before. It was like a burden that she had been carrying for a long time had been lifted. It has been several years since this healing took place and she is a completely different person than she was before the healing. Dulce Arroyo Cancer I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in May 2007 and the tumor was removed in July 2007. At that same time I started attending healing services at my church, and Cathy prayed with me monthly. After a meeting at Cathy s house, Dick came home and offered to pray with me while Cathy
Cancer (cont) prayed with another woman. This particular time things were different. I seemed to go into a trance or a sleep or something. But I heard voices. I couldn t make them out, but I could hear them. I forced myself to wake up thinking everyone was back in the room. But there was only Dick hands stretched over me and not saying one word. But I could still hear the voices. It then dawned on me that the angels were carrying Dick s prayers to God. No one will convince me otherwise. I got through everything just fine. And I know why. I put my trust in God. Being prayed over brings one peace, joy and the feeling that God is with you. Anonymous Biblical Basis for Healing While spiritual healing has received greater attention during the last 50 years in both Protestant and Catholic churches, it is not yet common in all churches. Many people believe that the miracle of healing for spiritual, emotional, and physical ills stopped when the apostles died. Many people believe that healing occurs today based on John 14: 12-14, James 5: 13-14, and other scriptures. Jesus ministry consisted of three parts: teaching, preaching, and healing. Jesus claimed power and authority from God to heal, and healing was an important part of his ministry. Jesus gave this power and authority to his disciples (Luke 9:1-2; Matthew 10:1; and Mark 6:7, 13) and later to the seventy (Luke 10:1, 9) to go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal. Later Paul cured the father of Publius and the rest of the people on the island of Malta who had diseases (Acts 28:8-9). When Jesus knew he would die, he told the disciples he would send them the Holy Spirit and told them that the Holy Spirit would lead 4 them to do works as great as or greater than his. This would include his teaching, preaching, and his healing. Rev. Dr. Bruce Epperly on Healing One of my favorite passages in scripture is Mark 5:21-43, which contains the stories of the woman with the flow of blood and Jairus daughter. I believe that these stories provide a snapshot into the relationship of God and humankind in the healing process. The woman with the flow of blood suffered a chronic illness that isolated her from other people and placed severe personal and social limits on her life. Some saw her as unclean and others assumed that her illness reflected divine punishment or her own immorality. When she hears that Jesus is passing through town, she bravely leaves home to seek a healing of body, mind, and spirit. As she walks along, she says over and over to herself: If I touch his robe, I will be made well. She is fearful, but also faithful; she is burdened by the past, but also open to God s future. When she touches Jesus, a power is released that transforms her cells as well as her soul. Though some might have judged or rejected her because of her illness, Jesus embraces her as a daughter and proclaims, Your faith has made you well. Her faith when joined with God s desire that we have abundant life set loose the lively energy of healing. The story of Jairus daughter reveals the power of a healing community. When the crowd tells Jesus she is dead, he responds that she is asleep. They laugh at him, provoking Jesus to throw them out of Jairus house and gather a small community of family and disciples who believe that God can awaken this girl to new life. If Jesus had paid
Epperly on Healing (cont) attention to the crowd, this girl would have died. Instead, he creates a circle of healing whose faith along with Jesus compassionate care brings this girl out of a coma and sets the stage for a good life ahead. These readings are essential to our healing service. Our service is a circle of healing, made up of people who trust that God is with us seeking our well-being. We believe that God welcomes without judgment. God does not give us cancer or heart disease, but is always on the side of life. We pray and lay hands upon one another as a sign of God s healing touch moving through our own lives. We cannot predict what will happen. Nor do we claim to cure anyone. We are simply open to God s healing spirit, knowing that even when there cannot be a cure and we must continue to live with chronic or lifethreatening illness there can always be a healing, a sense of God s abiding presence and love, a reminder that we are always in life and death and beyond in God s hands and that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We pray faithfully and boldly, believing that God will work in our lives to bring about something holy and beautiful that will last a lifetime and pave the way to everlasting life. areas Christians banded together for worship services that incorporated exorcism and healing. In their healing practices, Christians anointed the ill with oil. Christians established hospitals and hospices. They also nursed the sick during epidemics. A mid-third century letter from Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, described the dedication to the sick and dead displayed by Christians during an epidemic and their fearlessness in the face of sickness and death. Christian healing was marginalized several centuries after Jesus death for various reasons. (Amanda Porterfield, Healing in the History of Christianity) Today, it is reasonable to conclude that Jesus intended all his followers to heal people through the power of the Holy Spirit, not just in Biblical times, but also today. Christianity in the Early Church Healing and care for the sick was a distinctive and remarkable characteristic of early Christianity. In the early church the letter of James (James 5:14) indicates that healing was being done by the elders, or lay persons, in the church. Christians were emulating what Jesus had done. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna in the early second century, identified care of the sick as one of the chief tasks for which church elders were responsible. In urban 5