Last Sunday we had a party! We celebrated, on Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church - the gift of the Holy Spirit to ALL believers. Complete with balloons, cake... and presents. Presents? Yes, in the service we heard God's Word, received assurance of forgiveness, and in the healing service after the worship services, we received powerful reminders of God's healing presence in our lives. With prayer, laying on of hands and anointing with oil, we invited God into the damaged and damaging areas of our lives - to bring healing and hope. So... what's next? Well, God does not
simply leave us alone, now that we've opened up to him. The Spirit calls
us to CONTINUE to confront our brokenness and sin, and find strength to
deal with those broken aspects of our lives. Healing is generally NOT a
simple and spontaneous removal of a symptom of a deeper problem. It would
be like a patient with a brain tumor taking an aspirin to get rid of the
headache and thinking he/she is cured. No, what we really want, what we
really crave from God, is true healing of heart and mind and spirit.
God's healing presence is ALWAYS there. He wants us to be free from sin
and its power over us!
Pastor Larry Becker
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