Christ the Healer

Christ the Healer

(This is a cut-down version of Sermon 016)

It must have been wonderful to have seen things like that... and I've heard people say that in other parts of the world, (particularly Africa and South America), similar things are happening today.

And even in England we do see some miraculous healings, ...but this is not always our experience:

- Sometimes we have to pray for months, even years, before people are healed.

- And sometimes God doesn't seem to bring healing at all. ...Many people die young, ...many suffer great ilness all their life ...and sometimes these are Christian people who we have frequently prayed for.

It's a big dilemma, ...How do we reconcile this sort of experience, with that of the early church, ...where Jesus and his disciples appear to heal everyone who asks for it... instantly.

In an attempt to reconcile these things, different Christians have come up with a whole range of explanations.

At one end of the spectrum there are Christians who argue that God only heals people today through natural means, such as medicine and doctors.

They argue that Jesus healed people in miraculous ways simply to demonstrate that he was the Son of God; ...and that God enabled his first followers to heal in miraculous ways because they had the special task of founding the church. But this was a special gift for a special time, but it's not the way that God normally works today.

Furthermore, they argue that anyone who thinks that they have been healed by God is simply deluding themselves. They believe that God only heals people today through natural means.

That's one explanation of why our experience today is different to that of the early Church.

Neither David nor I go along with that argument, ...but some Christians do.

At the other end of the spectrum there are Christians who argue that God is always ready to heal people today, ...if only we have enough faith.

They argue that the reason why we don't see everyone being healed, is because we don't have enough faith.

They argue that if we really believed that Jesus would heal someone, then we would see people healed. But in practice we don't always have faith like that, we have lots of doubts, ...and so they argue that it's not surprising if some people aren't healed.

That's another explanation of why our experience today is different to that of the early church.

Once again, neither David nor I go along with that argument, ...but some Christians do.

I am convinced that both these explanations:

- on the one hand, that God doesn't heal in miraculous ways today;

- and on the other hand, that God always heals if we have enough faith....

...Both these explanations are very simple, consistent, easy to understand, ...and wrong!

I believe that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. ...But it gets very messy and confusing in the middle!

Because in the middle we have to face the question, "Why does God choose to heal some people and not others?".

- Perhaps it's because God has appointed a time for each of us to die, ...and even those whom Jesus healed had to face death in the end.

- Perhaps it's because suffering sometimes brings out the best in people. During some funeral visits I've discovered that illness has sometimes helped to develop characteristics such as bravery, courage, and determination.

- Perhaps it's because pain can sometimes be a gift from God, for our own good. If we put our hand in a fire it hurts, ...but the pain makes sure that we take it out.

- Perhaps it's because in our pain God is suffering alongside us, and it causes us to draw nearer to Him.

- Perhaps it's because we want God to heal something on the surface, but he is waiting until he can heal something much deeper in us.

But this side of heaven we will never know for certain.

As St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:

"Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then shall I know fully."

As I said, it gets very messy and confusing in the middle, ...but there again life is messy. And I've not yet sorted it out.

Christ the Healer

(Mark 2.1-12)

Opening Activity

I have here a list of hard things to do, and I'm going to ask you to decide which is the easiest of two options. For each choice I'll give you a few moments to think and then I'll ask for a show of hands. Here are the options:

1. Learning to ride a bike, or learning to talk.

2. Earning money, or saving your money up without spending any.

3. Doing something brave, or doing something thoughtful.

4. Talking non-stop for an hour, or being completely quiet for an hour.

In the gospel reading later on we're going to see Jesus asking a similar question. It's the one in which a paralysed man is let down through the roof, and Jesus tells him his sins are forgiven. The scribes who know that only God can forgive sins are horrified that Jesus has done what only God can do. And the question Jesus asked was - which is it easier to say to the paralysed man: 'Your sins are forgiven you' or 'Stand up, take your bed and walk'?

Of course the only one who can forgive sins is God, but also the only one who is able to make a paralysed man suddenly be able to get up and walk is God too. So in a way, Jesus is saying to the scribes, 'Is it easier for me to act like God, or to act like God?' And the only answer is that there is no difference. Both are natural ways for God to behave.

The man's body was paralysed - that meant he couldn't move freely. When Jesus healed him he was free to move about again. But it's also like that when our lives are jammed by sin and guilt about things we've done in the past. When God forgives us completely, he unjams us, so we are free to live happily again.

Talk

In some ways this morning I wish that someone else was standing up here, ...because looking at our gospel reading this morning in which we see Jesus healing a paralytic man, if I'm honest, I feel as if I am standing in a bit of a fog.

My problem, quite simply, is this. When I look at the wonderful healing ministry of Jesus and the disciples 2000 years ago, and I compare it with my own experience of healing in the Church today, the two things appear to be very different.

Does anyone else have that problem?

Well, I want us to begin by looking at the first of these two things, ...the ministry of 'Christ the Healer'.

You see, healing was one of the key characteristics of Jesus' ministry. He healed people everywhere.

At the beginning of Mark's gospel we read how Jesus went to Capernaum, (which was a small fishing town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee). There he went to the home of Simon and Andrew, where Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. ...And Jesus simply took her by the hand, helped her up, and the fever immediately left her. (Mk. 1.29-31)

Then that evening, people brought to Jesus all the sick in the town. The whole town gathered at the door, and we read that "Jesus healed many who had various diseases." (Mk. 1.32-34)

Then after a while Jesus left the area, and then healed a man with leprosy. ...And a few days later he returned to Capernaum, and as we heard in our Gospel reading this morning, he healed a paralysed man.

And so it continues throughout the gospel. Time and again people ask Jesus to heal them, and he always does so, ...and he healed them immediately.

There is only one recorded case of Jesus experiencing any kind of difficulty. Do you remember when a blind man asked Jesus to touch him.

Jesus' put his hands on the man's eyes and said, "Do you see anything?". ...And the man said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around". ...And so Jesus had to put his hands on the man's eyes for a second time, ...and then he saw everything clearly (Mk. 8.22-25).

[I wouldn't mind experiencing difficulties like that!]

But in every other recorded case, Jesus completely healed people first time.

But Jesus didn't restrict this ministry to himself ...he shared it with his followers. He appointed seventy-two of them and sent them out, two by two ahead of him. And he told them, among other things:

When you enter a town and are welcomed.... Heal the sick who are there and tell them, "The kingdom of God is near you." (Lk. 10.8-9)

And his followers found that they could heal people in the name of Jesus. And after Jesus had ascended to heaven, they continued to do the same. ...Do you remember the man who had been crippled from birth who used to beg outside the temple?

When he saw Peter and John he asked them for money. ...And Peter said to him, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."

And the man's feet and ankles became strong, and he jumped to his feet.

(Acts 3.1-10)

And later on in Acts chapter 5 we read:

"...people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed." (Acts 5.15-16)

It must have been wonderful to have seen this, ...and I've heard people say that in many parts of the world, (particularly in Africa and South America), similar things are happening today! ...but my own experience, here in England, is somewhat different.

Let me illustrate this with a few examples from my own experience.

The first concerns the time when I was pregnant with Jenny.

I got chicken-pox when I was 7 months pregnant, and somehow the infection got into my spine. I was in agony, but the doctor was unable to prescribe a strong pain killer because of the pregnancy.

[The doctor suggested that Graeme should put a bag of frozen peas on my back... that didn't work, so he tried a tin of peas!]

Anyway, I was in agony for several days, and then Graeme's mother rang up to say that she had been reading some verses from the book of James, which says:

"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." (James 5..14)

So we decided to ask the person in charge of the healing ministry at our church to come and pray for me, and to anoint me with oil.

This she did, ...and within a few hours the pain had gone.

(Pause)

The second example concerns a good friend of mine, who I'll call John. He's a Christian who wanted to become a missionary.

John started to train at a Bible College, but soon after starting he had to give up his course because he just couldn't cope. He found that ordinary things, like visiting friends, would leave him totally exhausted for days afterwards.

He was then diagnosed as having M.E.

Many Christians prayed for John, but there was little improvement. Eighteen months went by, and John was still unable to continue with his course, ...and he felt very depressed.

And then John met someone with Christian healing ministry, who said that God had shown him the root cause of John's illness. It all sounded rather bizarre, but John allowed this person to pray for him ...and he was instantly healed.

He was restored to full health. This was some years ago now, and he still enjoys very good health.

(Pause)

The last example, is not someone I knew personally, but someone who many of us will have heard about, ...David Watson.

He was a Christian leader who was greatly used by God.

God had given David a great healing ministry, and had seen many people healed, ...and then he himself got cancer.

Thousands of Christians throughout the country prayed for him, ...as did other Christian leaders throughout the world who had also received a healing ministry from God. ...People like John Wimber.

But David still died of cancer at a relatively early age.

Three very different experiences ...with three very different outcomes. But I chose these examples because they seemed to cover the whole range of experiences which we face.

- Sometimes God seems to bring healing instantly.

- Sometimes God seems to bring healing after a few months, or even years.

- Sometimes God doesn't seem to bring healing at all.

And my dilemma is this, ...How do we reconcile this sort of experience, with that of the early church, ...where Jesus and his disciples appear to heal everyone who asks for it... instantly.

Now, [as I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon,] I have no easy answers to this. ...But I take some comfort in the fact that it has taxed greater minds than mine.

And during the next few minutes, I want us to think about where some of the answers might lie.

In an attempt to reconcile these things, different Christians have come up with a whole range of explanations.

At one end of the spectrum there are Christians who argue that God only heals people today through natural means, such as medicine and doctors.

They argue that Jesus healed people in miraculous ways simply to demonstrate that he was the Son of God; ...and that God enabled his first followers to heal in miraculous ways because they had the special task of founding the church. But this was a special gift for a special time, but it's not the way that God normally works today.

Take for example our Gospel reading, ...why did Jesus heal the paralysed man?

Well, Jesus said that he healed him in order to convince his critics that he had the right to forgive people's sins.

And so they argue goes that Jesus had a very special reason for healing this man. He wanted to show people that he was the Messiah, ...but that doesn't mean that Christians today shouldn't try to copy him.

Furthermore, they argue that anyone who thinks that they have been healed by God is simply deluding themselves. They believe that God only heals people today through natural means.

That's one explanation of why our experience today is different to that of the early Church.

I have to say that I don't personally go along with that argument, ...but some Christians do.

At the other end of the spectrum there are Christians who argue that God is always ready to heal people today, ...if only we have enough faith.

They argue that the reason why we don't see everyone being healed, is because we don't have enough faith.

Take again our Gospel reading, ...why did Jesus forgive and then heal the paralysed man?

Well, we are told that Jesus did this when he saw the faith of his friends.

And so they argue that if we had faith like that, ...if we really believed that Jesus would heal someone, ...so much so that we were willing to dig a hole through the church roof, (please don't we're hoping this roof will last a good long time!), ...then we would see people healed.

But in practice we don't always have faith like that, we have lots of doubts, ...and so they argue that it's not surprising if some people aren't healed.

That's another explanation of why our experience today is different to that of the early church.

Once again, I don't go along with that argument, ...but some Christians do.

I am convinced that both these explanations:

- on the one hand, that God doesn't heal in miraculous ways today; and,

- on the other hand, that God always heals if we have enough faith....

...Both these explanations are very simple, consistent, easy to understand, ...and wrong!

I believe that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. ...But it gets very messy and confusing in the middle!

Because in the middle we have to face the question, "Why does God choose to heal some people and not others?".

- Perhaps it's because God has appointed a time for each of us to die, ...and even those whom Jesus healed had to face death in the end.

- Perhaps it's because suffering sometimes brings out the best in people. Graeme tells me that he is sometimes struck on funeral visits by the way in which illness has helped to develop characteristics such as bravery, courage, and determination. And it has helped to bring out love in others.

- Perhaps it's because pain can sometimes be a gift from God, for our own good. If we put our hand in a fire it hurts, ...but the pain makes sure that we take it out.

- Perhaps it's because in our pain God is suffering alongside us, and it causes us to draw nearer to Him.

- Perhaps it's because we want God to heal something on the surface, but he is waiting until he can heal something much deeper in us.

But perhaps this side of heaven we will never know for certain.

As St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:

"Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then shall I know fully."

We may not know all the answers this side of heaven, but one thing we do know is that God is a God of love who loves us very much and always wants the best for us. So I believe we should be encourage to pray for those who are sick, and expect to see God answer our prayers even if we're not entirely sure what the answer will be.

Prayers

In the sure knowledge that God loves us,

let us pray to him now.

Heavenly Father, so full of forgiveness and mercy,

fill your church to the brim with such holiness that our understanding of your ways deepens daily,

and all our work and worship glorifies your name.

Silence

Lord in your mercy:

hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, so wise and perceptive,

take us to the heart of all conflicts,

and give us the grace to share in the healing between factions and nations, guided by your Spirit.

Silence

Lord in your mercy:

hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, so comforting and kind,

help us to notice the needs around us,

in our families, friends and colleagues, and respond to them in love.

Silence

Lord in your mercy:

hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, so mindful of our pain,

we bring to you our sisters and brothers whose joints are stiff and whose bodies cannot move freely;

thank you for their courage and example;

we pray that you will help their spirits to dance and fill their hearts with joy.

And from our prayer list this week, we especially pray for ...

Bring them your comfort and healing.

Silence

Lord in your mercy:

hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, so faithful in your promises,

we thank you for the eternal 'Yes' of Christ which echoes on through lives and generations.

Merciful Father

accept these prayers

for the sake of your Son,

our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Christ the Healer

(Mark 2.1-12)

Opening Activity

I have here a list of hard things to do, and I'm going to ask you to decide which is the easiest of two options. For each choice I'll give you a few moments to think and then I'll ask for a show of hands. Here are the options:

1. Learning to ride a bike, or learning to talk.

2. Earning money, or saving your money up without spending any.

3. Doing something brave, or doing something thoughtful.

4. Talking non-stop for an hour, or being completely quiet for an hour.

In the gospel reading later on we're going to see Jesus asking a similar question. It's the one in which a paralysed man is let down through the roof, and Jesus tells him his sins are forgiven. The scribes who know that only God can forgive sins are horrified that Jesus has done what only God can do. And the question Jesus asked was - which is it easier to say to the paralysed man: 'Your sins are forgiven you' or 'Stand up, take your bed and walk'?

Of course the only one who can forgive sins is God, but also the only one who is able to make a paralysed man suddenly be able to get up and walk is God too. So in a way, Jesus is saying to the scribes, 'Is it easier for me to act like God, or to act like God?' And the only answer is that there is no difference. Both are natural ways for God to behave.

The man's body was paralysed - that meant he couldn't move freely. When Jesus healed him he was free to move about again. But it's also like that when our lives are jammed by sin and guilt about things we've done in the past. When God forgives us completely, he unjams us, so we are free to live happily again.

Talk

In some ways this morning I wish that someone else was standing up here, ...because looking at our gospel reading this morning in which we see Jesus healing a paralytic man, if I'm honest, I feel as if I am standing in a bit of a fog.

My problem, quite simply, is this. When I look at the wonderful healing ministry of Jesus and the disciples 2000 years ago, and I compare it with my own experience of healing in the Church today, the two things appear to be very different.

Does anyone else have that problem?

Well, I want us to begin by looking at the first of these two things, ...the ministry of 'Christ the Healer'.

You see, healing was one of the key characteristics of Jesus' ministry. He healed people everywhere.

At the beginning of Mark's gospel we read how Jesus went to Capernaum, (which was a small fishing town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee). There he went to the home of Simon and Andrew, where Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. ...And Jesus simply took her by the hand, helped her up, and the fever immediately left her. (Mk. 1.29-31)

Then that evening, people brought to Jesus all the sick in the town. The whole town gathered at the door, and we read that "Jesus healed many who had various diseases." (Mk. 1.32-34)

Then after a while Jesus left the area, and then healed a man with leprosy. ...And a few days later he returned to Capernaum, and as we heard in our Gospel reading this morning, he healed a paralysed man.

And so it continues throughout the gospel. Time and again people ask Jesus to heal them, and he always does so, ...and he healed them immediately.

There is only one recorded case of Jesus experiencing any kind of difficulty. Do you remember when a blind man asked Jesus to touch him.

Jesus' put his hands on the man's eyes and said, "Do you see anything?". ...And the man said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around". ...And so Jesus had to put his hands on the man's eyes for a second time, ...and then he saw everything clearly (Mk. 8.22-25).

[I wouldn't mind experiencing difficulties like that!]

But in every other recorded case, Jesus completely healed people first time.

But Jesus didn't restrict this ministry to himself ...he shared it with his followers. He appointed seventy-two of them and sent them out, two by two ahead of him. And he told them, among other things:

When you enter a town and are welcomed.... Heal the sick who are there and tell them, "The kingdom of God is near you." (Lk. 10.8-9)

And his followers found that they could heal people in the name of Jesus. And after Jesus had ascended to heaven, they continued to do the same. ...Do you remember the man who had been crippled from birth who used to beg outside the temple?

When he saw Peter and John he asked them for money. ...And Peter said to him, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."

And the man's feet and ankles became strong, and he jumped to his feet.

(Acts 3.1-10)

And later on in Acts chapter 5 we read:

"...people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed." (Acts 5.15-16)

It must have been wonderful to have seen this, ...and I've heard people say that in many parts of the world, (particularly in Africa and South America), similar things are happening today! ...but my own experience, here in England, is somewhat different.

Let me illustrate this with a few examples from my own experience.

The first concerns the time when I was pregnant with Jenny.

I got chicken-pox when I was 7 months pregnant, and somehow the infection got into my spine. I was in agony, but the doctor was unable to prescribe a strong pain killer because of the pregnancy.

[The doctor suggested that Graeme should put a bag of frozen peas on my back... that didn't work, so he tried a tin of peas!]

Anyway, I was in agony for several days, and then Graeme's mother rang up to say that she had been reading some verses from the book of James, which says:

"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." (James 5..14)

So we decided to ask the person in charge of the healing ministry at our church to come and pray for me, and to anoint me with oil.

This she did, ...and within a few hours the pain had gone.

(Pause)

The second example concerns a good friend of mine, who I'll call John. He's a Christian who wanted to become a missionary.

John started to train at a Bible College, but soon after starting he had to give up his course because he just couldn't cope. He found that ordinary things, like visiting friends, would leave him totally exhausted for days afterwards.

He was then diagnosed as having M.E.

Many Christians prayed for John, but there was little improvement. Eighteen months went by, and John was still unable to continue with his course, ...and he felt very depressed.

And then John met someone with Christian healing ministry, who said that God had shown him the root cause of John's illness. It all sounded rather bizarre, but John allowed this person to pray for him ...and he was instantly healed.

He was restored to full health. This was some years ago now, and he still enjoys very good health.

(Pause)

The last example, is not someone I knew personally, but someone who many of us will have heard about, ...David Watson.

He was a Christian leader who was greatly used by God.

God had given David a great healing ministry, and had seen many people healed, ...and then he himself got cancer.

Thousands of Christians throughout the country prayed for him, ...as did other Christian leaders throughout the world who had also received a healing ministry from God. ...People like John Wimber.

But David still died of cancer at a relatively early age.

Three very different experiences ...with three very different outcomes. But I chose these examples because they seemed to cover the whole range of experiences which we face.

- Sometimes God seems to bring healing instantly.

- Sometimes God seems to bring healing after a few months, or even years.

- Sometimes God doesn't seem to bring healing at all.

And my dilemma is this, ...How do we reconcile this sort of experience, with that of the early church, ...where Jesus and his disciples appear to heal everyone who asks for it... instantly.

Now, [as I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon,] I have no easy answers to this. ...But I take some comfort in the fact that it has taxed greater minds than mine.

And during the next few minutes, I want us to think about where some of the answers might lie.

In an attempt to reconcile these things, different Christians have come up with a whole range of explanations.

At one end of the spectrum there are Christians who argue that God only heals people today through natural means, such as medicine and doctors.

They argue that Jesus healed people in miraculous ways simply to demonstrate that he was the Son of God; ...and that God enabled his first followers to heal in miraculous ways because they had the special task of founding the church. But this was a special gift for a special time, but it's not the way that God normally works today.

Take for example our Gospel reading, ...why did Jesus heal the paralysed man?

Well, Jesus said that he healed him in order to convince his critics that he had the right to forgive people's sins.

And so they argue goes that Jesus had a very special reason for healing this man. He wanted to show people that he was the Messiah, ...but that doesn't mean that Christians today shouldn't try to copy him.

Furthermore, they argue that anyone who thinks that they have been healed by God is simply deluding themselves. They believe that God only heals people today through natural means.

That's one explanation of why our experience today is different to that of the early Church.

I have to say that I don't personally go along with that argument, ...but some Christians do.

At the other end of the spectrum there are Christians who argue that God is always ready to heal people today, ...if only we have enough faith.

They argue that the reason why we don't see everyone being healed, is because we don't have enough faith.

Take again our Gospel reading, ...why did Jesus forgive and then heal the paralysed man?

Well, we are told that Jesus did this when he saw the faith of his friends.

And so they argue that if we had faith like that, ...if we really believed that Jesus would heal someone, ...so much so that we were willing to dig a hole through the church roof, (please don't we're hoping this roof will last a good long time!), ...then we would see people healed.

But in practice we don't always have faith like that, we have lots of doubts, ...and so they argue that it's not surprising if some people aren't healed.

That's another explanation of why our experience today is different to that of the early church.

Once again, I don't go along with that argument, ...but some Christians do.

I am convinced that both these explanations:

- on the one hand, that God doesn't heal in miraculous ways today; and,

- on the other hand, that God always heals if we have enough faith....

...Both these explanations are very simple, consistent, easy to understand, ...and wrong!

I believe that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. ...But it gets very messy and confusing in the middle!

Because in the middle we have to face the question, "Why does God choose to heal some people and not others?".

- Perhaps it's because God has appointed a time for each of us to die, ...and even those whom Jesus healed had to face death in the end.

- Perhaps it's because suffering sometimes brings out the best in people. Graeme tells me that he is sometimes struck on funeral visits by the way in which illness has helped to develop characteristics such as bravery, courage, and determination. And it has helped to bring out love in others.

- Perhaps it's because pain can sometimes be a gift from God, for our own good. If we put our hand in a fire it hurts, ...but the pain makes sure that we take it out.

- Perhaps it's because in our pain God is suffering alongside us, and it causes us to draw nearer to Him.

- Perhaps it's because we want God to heal something on the surface, but he is waiting until he can heal something much deeper in us.

But perhaps this side of heaven we will never know for certain.

As St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:

"Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then shall I know fully."

We may not know all the answers this side of heaven, but one thing we do know is that God is a God of love who loves us very much and always wants the best for us. So I believe we should be encourage to pray for those who are sick, and expect to see God answer our prayers even if we're not entirely sure what the answer will be.

Prayers

In the sure knowledge that God loves us,

let us pray to him now.

Heavenly Father, so full of forgiveness and mercy,

fill your church to the brim with such holiness that our understanding of your ways deepens daily,

and all our work and worship glorifies your name.

Silence

Lord in your mercy:

hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, so wise and perceptive,

take us to the heart of all conflicts,

and give us the grace to share in the healing between factions and nations, guided by your Spirit.

Silence

Lord in your mercy:

hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, so comforting and kind,

help us to notice the needs around us,

in our families, friends and colleagues, and respond to them in love.

Silence

Lord in your mercy:

hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, so mindful of our pain,

we bring to you our sisters and brothers whose joints are stiff and whose bodies cannot move freely;

thank you for their courage and example;

we pray that you will help their spirits to dance and fill their hearts with joy.

And from our prayer list this week, we especially pray for ...

Bring them your comfort and healing.

Silence

Lord in your mercy:

hear our prayer

Heavenly Father, so faithful in your promises,

we thank you for the eternal 'Yes' of Christ which echoes on through lives and generations.

Merciful Father

accept these prayers

for the sake of your Son,

our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen.