Sermon: Relationships - Healthcare Sunday

We also have a relationship with our environment, as Christians we have a responsibility for the world around us, after all our Heavenly Father made it - and there are also the powers of darkness who we really don’t want a relationship with.

I remember on one of the first HCS’s we asked the question "Am I my brother's keeper?" This was the first question asked by a human being in the Bible in Genesis ch 4. It was asked to try and hide a guilty secret, Cain had just killed his brother Able out of anger and was trying to hide the fact from God. Now we may not be trying to hide a murder, but let me ask you - How are your relationships?

I am sure we have all heard the following statement or perhaps even used it ourselves “the Church would be wonderful if it wasn’t for the people” At the risk of stating the obvious there is a slight problem with that statement and it is the fact the Church is the people!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Cor 12:27 (LB) All of you together are the one body of Christ and each of you is a separate and necessary part of it or as the Amp puts it all of you collectively are the Christ’s body.

Amos 3:3 asks – “Can two of you walk together unless they have agreed to do so?”

How many people remember doing the THREE LEGGED RACE at school?

Visual demonstration

HCS is all about relationships. It takes place in October each year and provides an opportunity for Churches to recognise the work done by healthcare workers and voluntary carers in their congregations. It also gives an opportunity to pray for our health provision, because as Christians living in our community we have a responsibility for the health of our nation. It is also an event which is now celebrated around the world and for those who like to use the internet we even have our own web site.

An old man was walking on a beach at dawn when he noticed a young man ahead of him picking starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked what he was doing. The starfish will die if they are still on the beach when the sun toasts them with its mid-morning heat, came the answer. But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish countered the old man. How can your efforts make any difference? The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it into the safety of the waves, it makes a difference to this one he said.

Our relationship with others is also a reflection of our relationship with God and also of how we relate to ourselves. They are all interlinked and all influence one another. If we do not relate well to ourselves, we are vulnerable to the lies and attacks of the enemy. If we have a poor relationship with God or other people we are also vulnerable to the lies of the enemy. Strong healthy relationships are part of the protection God has provided against satans attacks. I John 1:7 tells us “If we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son purifies us from all sin”.

One of the things many of us struggle with is ill health and because we can be vulnerable when we are ill it is one of the areas the enemy concentrates on. He wants to keep the Church from taking its place in health and healing and he wants to keep any kind of Christian witness out of the healthcare. Did you know that more people pass into eternity from our hospitals and healthcare facilities than from any other place in our community.

Health as we know is more than the absence of physical sickness. The World health organization has defined it as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well being." This definition understands health as involving the whole person. We know that we are made up of body soul and spirit. Our body being our five senses, our soul which is our mind will and emotions and our spirit which is the center of our personality the driving force of our being where we feel an emptiness or vacuum which only God can fill.

The Bible puts it this way in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "May God Himself,............put you together - spirit, soul and body....."

Our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health are all interlinked and what happens in one effects the others.

Proverbs 3:5-8. tells us - Trustin the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

When our spiritual focus is right it has a positive effect on our emotional, mental & physical health.

Our lifestyle, our attitudes, our emotions and the words we speak all effect our spiritual and physical health.

John 14:1 "do not let your heart be troubled" in V27 Jesus said \peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Col 3:15 " Let the peace soul harmony from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts".

The choice is ours!!!!

Psalm 37:8 LB "Stop your anger! Turn off your wrath. Don't fret or worry - it only leads to harm." and of course the person it harms the most is us.

I read the following notice sometime ago outside a Church "seven prayerless days makes one weak - weak"!! We often say that prayer is a Christians vital breath - if that is the case I think there must be times when we have spiritually turned blue and are near to expiring because we haven't been breathing for quite some time!!! There are times too when we are spiritually undernourished. Perhaps well on our way to starving ourselves to death, because it has been so long since we have taken time to read God's word for ourselves. As it happens in the natural it is the same in the spiritual – if our intake drops so does our output and we are unable to minister or reach out to others. Which is a significant strategy of the enemy considering 76% of people became Christians through family and friends. Relationships again!!!!

If we are malnourished we have no stamina, no staying power or stickability, we crumble when problems and difficulties occur. We are easily hurt because we are spiritually flabby.

In 1 Timothy 4 in The Message it is put like this "Exercise daily in God - no spiritual flabbiness, please!" If you are fit physically a body blow is less devastating than if you are soft and flabby.

If we are fit spiritually our perspective on what happens will be different. Let me share with you the ABC theory. A is the event, B is our perception of the event and C is the consequent emotion. You can't get to C without going through B, therefore it isn't the event which influences our emotions, it is our perception of the event which influences how we respond emotionally. How we view things will determine how they effect us. Our reactions show whether or not we have God's perspective on what's happened. Often relationships are where this is most difficult. They can be a very telling barometer of our spiritual maturity!! How open and honest we are, how ready to listen or alternatively dominate the conversation, how willing are we to give and receive. How quick are we to take offence. What about manipulation and control, are we willing to recognize that other people don't always have to do things our way? Relationships are what satan uses most to gain a foothold in the Church. Witchcraft is all about manipulation and control and if we as Christians use these in our relationships we give the enemy a power base in our families, our places of work and in the Church. 1 Samuel 15:23 says "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as the sin of idolatry."

What about our habits and addictions i.e. food, television, nicotine, what we read, our thought life, our fantasies. Are there areas where God is not in control? If God is not in control then guess who is calling the shots!!!! If we are spiritually unfit we are more vulnerable to being deceived and may not realise that we building our lives on Jesus plus whatever we cannot do without. While part of our lives is being built on the rock another part is being built on the sand and we know what happens when the rain comes!!!

If we persist in doing something which isn't right it becomes a sin, if we continue in sin it becomes a habit or an addiction, and if we still continue it becomes and area of bondage - it is in control of us not the other way round. Satan has a hook in our backs and he will pull us backwards when we want to go forwards. If we still don't deal with the problem it leaves the way open for an evil spirit not only to control but to make itself at home in that area. It's like a landing strip, they can come and go as they please and make our lives miserable because of their presence. The longer we allow it to go on the longer the landing strip becomes and the more influence the enemy has in our lives. All sin allows satan an influence in our lives and if not dealt with allows him to control specific areas in our lives. Demon possession is however another matter

Possession means - The complete take over of the personality so that it comes completely under the control of evil spirits. Something which I believe cannot happen to a Christian because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let me also say that I doubt very much whether any of us will find ourselves dealing directly with satan as he can only be in one place at a time.

1 John 3:8 says -

God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (present everywhere), satan on the other hand can only be in one place at a time, and has limited power and limited knowledge BUT if we give him an inch in our lives be assured he will take at least a mile. He can only effect our lives to the extent that we let him. This is definitely one relationship we don’t want to cultivate!!!!!!!!!!!!

Which brings us back to our relationship and our communication with our Heavenly Father which is the key relationship to all our other relationships

Let me leave you with a prayer request, please pray for the vulnerable in our society. For example there are 1.4 million pensioners in the UK who live on five thousand pounds or less each year, pray for them and other who are vulnerable because of poor health, disability, loneliness or mistreatment. Pray that they will turn to God for comfort and strength and that the Church will be instrumental in showing God’s love in our communities.

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