We're three weeks into this series on the four truths that name our Foursquare family. Jesus is Savior. Jesus is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. This week: Jesus is Healer.
I want to handle this one carefully, because it's tender. Almost everyone reading this is carrying something, a body that hurts, a mind that won't rest, a grief that hasn't lifted, or you're loving someone who is. So let me be honest and hopeful at the same time, which is exactly how I think Scripture holds it.
The same Jesus, then and now
Open the Gospels and you can't miss it, Jesus healed people, constantly. The sick, the blind, the paralyzed, the outcast no one else would touch. It wasn't a sideshow to his message; it was his message in action, the kingdom of God breaking into a broken world.
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
That's Matthew 9:35. And here's the conviction we hold as a Foursquare church: he hasn't changed. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). We believe he still heals today, in body, mind, and heart. So we pray for it, openly and expectantly, and we're not embarrassed to ask.
Why we pray for healing
We pray because Jesus told us to ask, and because compassion moved him then and moves him still. When we gather and someone is hurting, we don't just offer sympathy, we lay it before the One who can actually do something about it. Sometimes we've watched him answer in ways we can't explain. Healing is real, and asking for it is an act of faith, not presumption.
It's also why we serve our city. Caring for people who are sick, worn down, or struggling is part of how the kingdom shows up, doctors and medicine included. God heals through many hands, and we're glad to be some of them.
When healing doesn't come the way we asked
Now the honest part, because you deserve honesty. Sometimes we pray and the healing we begged for doesn't come, or doesn't come yet. I won't hand you a formula that blames your faith or ties God's love to your test results. That's not the gospel, and it's cruel.
Here's what's true even then. God is still good, still near, and still at work, and no prayer is wasted. Paul asked three times for a thorn to be removed and instead heard, "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9). His pain didn't get the last word; God's presence did. We hold the promise of healing in one hand and the sufficiency of God's grace in the other, and we refuse to let go of either.
And we hold the long view. Every healing in this life is a preview, not the finish line. The day is coming when he "will wipe every tear from their eyes" and there will be "no more death or mourning or crying" (Revelation 21:4). That's the healing nothing can undo, and it's certain.
A people who carry each other
Until that day, we don't do pain alone. "Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them" (James 5:14). That's the picture, a community that shows up, prays, and keeps showing up whether the answer is quick, slow, or still on the way. You were never meant to carry your body's burdens by yourself.
Come and see
If you're hurting today, you don't need the right words or enough faith to come. You just need to come. Let us pray with you, sit with you, and hope with you. Bring the very thing you're most tired of carrying. That's the invitation, text Pastor Brian and join us.
Next week we close the series with the fourth truth: Jesus is the soon-coming King, our reason to keep hope alive no matter what.
Pastor Brian