healing

Healing Testimony at Nursing Home

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

Anyone wanting to serve in nursing home ministry would do well, to consider finding a team to do that ministry with. Lone ranger types of service are fine if no one else is available, but the biblical example is always teamwork. Jesus called twelve disciples; He sent them out two by two and when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He brought three of them with Him. We have a wonderful team that has been helping at Life Care for a few years, who sometimes share their testimonies, and last week our friend Gena shared hers. Everyone at the home knows and loves Gena as she has been volunteering there for over a year. She comes in about three days a week for a few hours and spends time visiting, encouraging and praying with the residents. Then, when we have our Friday morning service, Gena passes out songbooks, opens in prayer and serves communion. So, when she went through a heart procedure last week, and her daughter experienced a seizure everyone was praying for her as they would for a family member. I hope you will be blessed as you listen to her special message of how God brought them both through.

"So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." Romans 12:5 ESV

Table of the Lord – Part Three

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And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Luke 22:14-15 ESV

This time when we come to the Lord’s table, it is not a feast in a green pasture, nor is it a banqueting table under a beautiful banner. This table where Jesus invites us was where He ate His last meal on earth, sharing it with His closest friends. Here is the table where Jesus took bread and blessed it, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” Later, as dinner was ending, Jesus took His cup and said, “This cup is poured out for you which is the New Covenant in my blood.” This is the table which He ate at while His enemies watched. This is the table where the banner of His love was spread over us. So, let’s take a moment and lift up our hearts in praise because, at this table we are asked to remember the terrible price that He paid for our salvation. Let’s worship Him in amazement, because this is the table overflowing with blessings that He has earnestly desired to share with us. But before we eat and before we drink: we are cautioned to ask, “Have we prepared our hearts for this table which Jesus has prepared for us?” If not, He invites us to seek His pardon, trusting that He will never turn away any child who comes with faith and a repentant heart. Here at the Lord’s Table, is the good news that He has done all that we need to make us ready to share this table with Him!

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Light for Our Path

/ pastorpete51 / 14 Comments 
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105 KJV

For those of you who do not know, our daughter-in-law Melinda has been battling with ovarian cancer over the last two and a half years. Melinda recently finished her third round of chemotherapy, but after experiencing severe back pain she was admitted to the hospital over a week ago. After many tests, the doctors discovered that, the chemo had weakened the bone structure of her back leading to a fracture. Then this Tuesday, they did surgery to stabilize it, and also took a biopsy while they were in there. Yesterday the report came back positive for cancer, and we would appreciate everyone’s prayers for Melinda. Sometimes during these last two weeks it has felt like we were, wandering in a dark cave, with no assurance of finding a way out. But during my quiet time this morning, I came across today’s verse, and it occurred to me, that the writer of this Psalm may have also been facing a dark situation and like us, was looking for a light for his path. Imagine the joy they discovered when they found that what they needed was right in front of them, in the Word of God. During the dark and lonely times in our lives it is easy to be attracted to things like sporting events, parties, or social media in an effort to distract ourselves. But the Word of God is the true light and always available. Any other light is at best only temporary, like a flashlight whose battery is nearly spent, it soon flickers and goes out. None of us knows how long the darkness we are facing will last, but we can depend on one thing. The word of God is a light for our path, and no matter how long our night, it will shine on and on!

God knows that we can’t generate that light within ourselves, instead He wants us to run to His word, where we can find there an inexhaustible, immeasurable power source. In the darkest places of our lives, His word will shine, and not only for our own path, but also for the pathways of those around us whose flashlights are already going dead.

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Prayer: Father, help me not to look to the temporary lights of this world, but to completely rely on Your Word, because it is a light that no darkness will ever be able to put out!