God's Health Plan

“God’s Health Plan”

Opening Thought: In modern medicine today we have heard of people choosing to be frozen in hope of one day being thawed out at some unknown future day when medicine has conquered disease and dying. The mindset here is people want to be resurrected so as to live forever in this utopian state. We Christians believe in immortality and that there is s utopian state of being coming. Even the Word of God promises us that a day is coming when disease, death and sin will be done away with. We are promised by God’s Word that we all will live in this utopian state forever:

1 Thess. 5: 1-2, 23:

1Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

2 Thess. 2:1-4:

1Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

T.S. - Let’s watch this video clip and remember, “There is Coming a Day!”

Video Illustration: “There is Coming a Day”

We all long for this day – I know that I do! As I sit and watch this video clip again my mind yearns for that awesome day. But then the song ends and reality strikes me across my face. I receive a call from a parishioner, “Pastor my good friend’s son just shot himself and committed suicide? What do I do?” And then later that day another phone call from a weeping mother, “Pastor my daughter has been diagnosed with Cancer! What do I do?” Then later on, “Pastor my husband cheated on me! What do I do?” These reality checks hit us hard they can even stun us right in our tracks. Yes, right in the middle of all the other pressures of living life in a fallen world we experience even more tragedies. But my Spirit tells me, “There is Coming a Day Mike!” Stand firm, stay on course, don’t quit and believe!

Reality checks wake us up to the present, to here and now. These checks come from all angles and they remind us that we live in a fallen world. Yes, we need to remember there is Coming a Day -- but what about today? I am told by the Word of God that we have work to do. Today the church has a designated task to complete and that is to bring health and wholeness to this sick fallen world. This task will be accomplished with the love of the Father, the giving of the gift of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thesis: God has a divine health plan that will bring healing and wholeness to every part of an individual’s life and it’s called the church, “The Body of Christ.” This health plan originated in the loving heart of my God and you’re God “Abba” Father. His assigned Great Physician over the health plan is Jesus Christ. His instrument of healing is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hands on: The stethoscope – Doctors use this to listen to a person’s heart – share story of your brother- we also need to pick our spiritual stethoscopes as the Body of Christ and listen to the heart beat of others so that we help them heal and recover from the hardships of life.

My challenge: We must be willing as the “Body of Christ” to create a place for the unhealthy to come to get healthy. We can only do this with the help of the Holy Spirit and a commitment to call.

When I prayed for God’s guidance and vision for this message and for this church. He directed me to this text that I would like to read to you today:

Scripture Text:

Mark 6: 53-56:

53When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.