In my last post I mentioned that I was doing a sermon series on healing. It was a brief series, but man, I really loved every minute of it. God gave me some amazing clarity and understanding and it was a joy to share that with the congregation. I'm so thankful for the last 3 weeks of ministry.
The first week focused on Jesus' absolute power, authority, and ability to heal everyone and everything. We talked about God's role as healer long before the world began and that He knew how huge that role was going to be. We talked about the various ways that He healed. We also talked about the response of faith of those who were healed.
The second week we focused on Jesus' willingness to heal, using the story from Matthew 8. We focused on the wording of the passage and Jesus' great compassion. I also talked about the fact that sometimes the answer is no, and God chooses not to heal, but that the fact that He is indeed sovereign over all is something that we can rest in and trust completely. The first part of the sermon was so exciting to deliver because I just love Jesus' response to the leper, but the second part was definitely challenging because of it's nature. We don't like to hear that sometimes it's a "no." All in all, I was very pleased with the way God had designed each of the sermons, but I knew He was asking me for more. The "more" scared me, to be honest. I knew what "more" was and I trembled.
"More" meant living out the very thing that I had been preaching about. My third sermon was to focus on our involvement and call to healing. My initial thought was to really focus in on Acts 9, but as I started to write, God rerouted me and had me start with the sending out of the disciples. So, we first talked through Jesus giving the disciples the power and authority to heal and cast out evil spirits, and how that's the same power and authority He gave us when He spoke His command for us to GO. Then I moved into Acts 9 and used Peter as an example of a mere human-- a man who had denied Christ THREE times and was often emotional and irrational-- who was able to heal in Jesus' name. It was a call to action and faith... small faith like that of a mustard seed, which can command even a mountain to move.
I need to back up a bit though before moving on the the next part of the service. I mentioned that "more" scared me. When I knew God was asking me to have a time of anointing, laying on of hands, and prayer at the end of that last sermon, I was more than intimidated. Let me be clear: I was NOT doubting God's ability. My reaction of fear and trembling came from knowing just how absolutely big and powerful my God is. I knew that He was going to do some huge things in people's lives, in my own life as well, and I was intimidated.
I often find myself wondering, "who am I? Why on earth should I be used for such an important thing?" And most often, "I don't have the authority that most in my denomination would expect when performing such important tasks." As my fears and insecurities grew, I knew I needed to be on my knees. I was horribly sick this past week and unable to leave home, so I had lots of prayer time, thanks be to God. Thursday night I had a conference call prayer meeting with my senior pastor, Tom and our worship leader, Allan. It was a very sweet time of prayer. When Saturday rolled around, I was secure in my role and position, but still filled with nervous excitement, so I needed to be on my knees some more. You don't just have a healing service without being filled by the Holy Spirit and without completely covering it with prayer! When Allan arrived so we could start working on music, the first thing we did was pray. When we had gotten through the songs and had them down really well, we prayed more. And then as people came in and right before we started worship, we prayed. The Spirit was on the move and even as the first notes were played, I could feel His presence and it was strong. By the time we got to the last song of the first set His presence was almost overwhelming. I couldn't keep myself from smiling as we sang, "holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!!!" Gives me chills even now.
Now, back to the end of the sermon... I told them that we were going to have a healing service. I explained what that would look like, we prayed, and then I invited them to come kneel at the alter so that I could anoint them with oil, lay hands on them, and pray with the individually. It was incredible, though I would expect nothing less. Every single person in that sanctuary came forward at one point or another, starting with Allan, so that he could then play a little guitar for us. I've never felt so empowered by the Holy Spirit, yet so very humbled and privileged to lay hands on so many people and pray. It was such a sweet time of worship, I don't have words strong enough to express the beauty and power present. Hallelujah, praise God forever! He is awesome indeed!
I'm still in awe. There are so many things to be thankful for. I'm thankful that I serve a God compassionate enough to WANT to heal. I'm thankful for a senior pastor who prays, encourages, empowers, and trusts. I'm thankful for an incredible worship leader and ministry partner who not only spends time thinking about and planning the perfect song set, but also who loves Jesus and loves worshiping Him, who spends lots of time practicing and perfecting so he can effectively lead others into worship, who prays, who gives constructive and honest feedback, and who is patient enough to put up with my crazy as I fumble through. I'm thankful God asked for MORE and then gave me the strength and faith to obey. To Him be ALL the glory.
How great is our God!
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