1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,800 Hey there, this is Jen Wade, part of the core team here at Springs Church. We just want 2 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,760 to say thank you so much for joining us and listening to our podcast. We are praying that 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:18,120 it encourages you and it inspires you. And if you'd like to find out more about Springs 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:25,560 Church, please visit our website springschurch.co.uk. Here's today's message. 5 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:31,160 The wonderful Sam Wright is actually leading worship this evening up at Eve Lane. And so 6 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:36,840 Joe stepped in to lead worship absolutely wonderfully. Thank you so much, Joe. We appreciate 7 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,160 you very, very much. I'm going to put a timer on my phone because apparently we've got somewhere 8 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:48,400 to be and I'll make sure we get through this evening nice and rapido. 9 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,480 Good afternoon, good evening. I never know which quiet one to go with. When officially 10 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:58,320 does the evening start? Is it five o'clock, half five? Okay, because it's five oh one, 11 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,960 so I think it's good evening. For those of you who don't know, my name is Ben. It's wonderful 12 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:08,920 to be with you this afternoon. I am one of the leaders here at Springs, along with my 13 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:14,920 wife Jen, who runs all manner of things across church. If you need to know calendar dates 14 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:20,160 or organisational things, my wife is the person to speak to. I'm just going to pray and then 15 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,840 I'm going to talk you through another name of God this afternoon. Lord, I pray that you 16 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:29,080 would be with us this afternoon as we speak together. Lord, I pray that you would speak 17 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:33,680 to our hearts, that we might understand a little bit more about you and that we might 18 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:38,400 know you a little bit more, that we might love you a little bit more. In your name, 19 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,580 amen. Amen. 20 00:01:40,580 --> 00:01:47,600 So this is part two of our series, God Has A Name. Pete did an incredible job last week 21 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:53,160 introducing this series and introducing us to the name Jehovah Nissi, which I'll talk 22 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:57,560 about a little bit more later on. Please go and find that on YouTube, the messages up 23 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,840 on YouTube, or if you search Springs Church Gornal, wherever you get your podcasts, it 24 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:06,520 will come up on there as well. Please take a listen to that. I don't know if you're aware, 25 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:11,200 but in the Bible there were actually many different names given for God. Many of these 26 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,880 words that we eventually translated into English in what was called the King James version 27 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,920 of the Bible, these just came down and boiled down to the word God for us. But actually 28 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:26,280 in the original language, these names were quite varied and very different. I'm sure 29 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,800 we've all had nicknames throughout our life. Unfortunately, I don't have a nickname as 30 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:35,040 dramatic as Pete being called Thor because he slammed a coffee mug down. I still don't 31 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:41,520 know the physics of how the coffee mug didn't break. Yeah, I'm calling you bluff here, mate. 32 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:49,800 Coffee mug. Or weak smash and Thor maybe wasn't. Of course, my nicknames at school are mainly 33 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:56,720 hair related. So the one I was proudest of was Paul Scholes. I absolutely smashed it 34 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:02,800 in the year eight into house football competition. And so I was given the name Scholesy. Unfortunately, 35 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,720 the comparison didn't last very long. I'm an absolute shocker in the next game. So we 36 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,560 decided I was more Steve Sidwell than Scholes. If anyone knows their noughties football. 37 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:17,400 In my job as a primary school teacher, I often have to lead singing assemblies, which is 38 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:22,840 essentially me singing in front of 300 children while they look like they're singing, which 39 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:30,960 is actually with the name at work of Ed Sheeran. So they're mostly hair related themes for 40 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:41,440 me. Yeah. Yeah. Well, trying. So in this series, we're looking at different names for God. 41 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:46,640 Beginning all of these names, beginning with the word Jehovah. As Pete explained last week, 42 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,080 these are completely unrelated to thinking today. And we think about things such as Jehovah's 43 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:56,960 witnesses. We are a Bible believing Jesus following Pentecostal church. And this word 44 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:02,560 Jehovah actually has a really important meaning in the old Testament. So this name Jehovah 45 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,280 was so important for these people. It was actually forbidden to be written down for 46 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:13,520 many, many years. This word Jehovah or Jehovah, if we don't pronounce our J's as they would 47 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:18,220 have been in that time. And some people translated that as similar words like Yahweh. These words 48 00:04:18,220 --> 00:04:24,600 were only passed along verbally. So for many generations, these words weren't even allowed 49 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:29,200 to be written down. So I guess the question over this series over the next eight or nine 50 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:34,160 weeks, when we're looking at these names of God, if this is the most holy name that we 51 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:40,960 have for God, what does God mean to us when he is at his most holy? Our story picks up 52 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,800 today and we're going to look at a name in the Bible in the second book of the Bible. 53 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,920 It's called the book of Exodus. And Exodus is the story of a literal Exodus. It is a 54 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:57,720 mass departure of people. The story of the Israelites moving from slavery in Egypt. I 55 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:04,480 think there's just a fight going on in the corner here. It's okay. Yeah, it's okay. We've 56 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:09,440 sorted it. Don't worry. The story of, I didn't know whether to carry on then. I'll call it 57 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:19,840 out anyway. The, yes. The story of the Israelites physically going on an Exodus, moving out 58 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:25,400 of a country called Egypt, where they were held as slaves and being taken into what they 59 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:30,280 believed was their promised land of Israel. Now, I'm sure many of you have seen the Prince 60 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:35,080 of Egypt from the nineties and I need to call Pete out on something. Last week, Pastor Pete 61 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:39,960 actually told you a lie. Pete said, and this is a direct quote because I've listened back, 62 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:45,320 he said, the famous Disney movie, the Prince of Egypt. The Prince of Egypt, everyone, is 63 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:51,040 a DreamWorks movie, not a Disney movie. So just in case anyone was trying to find it 64 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,240 on their Disney Plus and it's not there, that's because it's not on there, guys. It's on your 65 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,960 Amazon Prime. I would encourage you to go and read this book for yourself, the book 66 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:04,620 of Exodus. It's probably not best to base our Bible theology off a cartoon with some 67 00:06:04,620 --> 00:06:08,720 great songs. I would suggest you go and read this book yourself. We're going to pick up 68 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:14,280 this week in the book of Exodus chapter 15. I'm going to talk to you first about chapter 69 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:20,880 14. Chapter 14 of this book is probably the most action packed part of the Bible. In chapter 70 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:27,800 14, after many years of slavery, the Egyptian Pharaoh, the Egyptian King Prime Minister, 71 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:33,040 finally decides to let God's people go. At this point, he then, the Israelites start 72 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,280 to leave Egypt and Pharaoh changes his mind and says, I want to keep my slaves. I want 73 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:42,480 to keep these people. And so the whole of Egypt charges after the nation of what will 74 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:49,200 be Israel. Can you imagine like two whole countries, one running away, one running too. 75 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:55,440 And at this point, God speaks to Moses and Moses parts the Red Sea with his staff. And 76 00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:00,040 then honestly, it's just the most action packed chapter of the Bible you will ever read. There's 77 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:06,160 a pillar of fire. The fire slows down the Egyptian army and then the Egyptians are actually 78 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:12,020 decimated when God shuts the Red Sea on their own army. So we're now picking up in Exodus 79 00:07:12,020 --> 00:07:17,040 chapter 15, the Israelites have found themselves now wondering in the desert, if you know your 80 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:22,200 sort of maps, it will be in between Egypt and Israel. As we know today, we get this 81 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:28,600 passage Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the desert of Shur. For 82 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:33,120 three days, they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they 83 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:37,320 could not drink its water because it was bitter. This is why the place is called Marah, which 84 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:41,880 in the ancient language meant bitter. So the people grumbled against Moses saying, what 85 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:46,960 are we to drink? And Moses cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. 86 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:52,000 He threw it into the water and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord issued a ruling 87 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,760 and instruction for them and put them to the test. He said, if you listen carefully to 88 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,400 the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands 89 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:06,240 and keep his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought upon the 90 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:13,880 Egyptians for I am Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals you. So today's name that we're 91 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:20,600 going to unpack for the name of God is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals us. What a weird 92 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:25,840 story to plant this name into. If you're going to go Jehovah Rapha, I would expect someone 93 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:32,680 to be sick and get better. Maybe I'd expect someone with some mental health issues or 94 00:08:32,680 --> 00:08:39,240 an emotional need. But this just seems like God gave them water. Was he really healing 95 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:45,360 them? These people weren't physically sick, but the nation of Israel at this time was 96 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:52,320 twisted and bitter. Bitterness of the water was just a reflection of what Israel felt 97 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:58,160 in their heart. They had just been part of the most incredible miracle to date, one of 98 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:04,480 the most famous miracles that exists in the Bible. This country of people had just seen 99 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:10,000 the Red Sea part with a pillar of fire behind them and the Red Sea closed and yet three 100 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:18,320 days later they find themselves bitter and twisted and grumbling. You see, this bitterness, 101 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:24,120 God was trying to heal their hearts at this moment. He was Jehovah Rapha to their hearts. 102 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:29,640 This country had become Israel's comfort zone. They knew what the day to day looked like. 103 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:34,440 It wasn't pleasant and it wasn't nice, but at least it was comfortable. God is showing 104 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:40,720 people that he would physically care for them in the desert. I will make the water fine. 105 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:46,560 But he also wanted these people to be whole emotionally and spiritually. God can heal 106 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:54,080 us and God wants to heal us spiritually, emotionally and physically. I know time and time has passed 107 00:09:54,080 --> 00:10:00,240 time again that God has healed in my own life personally. I've seen healing take many different 108 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:06,040 forms and many different paths, but I can tell you absolutely that God still heals today. 109 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:13,040 He still heals today. The promise that he gave Israel in the Old Testament is made whole 110 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,560 through a person called Jesus that we'll unpack later on and this is one that we can take 111 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:18,880 personally today. 112 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:25,400 So, I've shared a couple of my stories before, but eight or nine years ago, just as we started 113 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:30,960 Springs I went through a really, really tough period of what in hindsight was properly crippling 114 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:37,640 anxiety. I was 21. I'd just started full time teaching straight out of uni. Jen and I had 115 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:44,160 just got married and we'd just started Springs all in the space of five months. My dad is 116 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:49,760 a very wise man and my dad says, Ben, you do one big life change a year. I did three 117 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:54,720 in about three or four months. And I was consumed with these anxious thoughts. I was thinking 118 00:10:54,720 --> 00:11:00,160 things like, what if I don't know how to be a good husband? What if my wife really sees 119 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:05,800 how selfish I can be? What if Springs falls flat on its back? We've gone out on a limb 120 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:10,160 here. If I have to go back, I'm going back to all my mates with my towel between my legs 121 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:15,280 saying it didn't work. What if we got it wrong? What if we weren't meant to start a church? 122 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:19,720 And what if I can't be a good teacher? What if I can't cope with full time work? It got 123 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:24,000 to the point where I was being physically sick in the morning, just with the thought 124 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:29,920 of what would happen for the rest of that day. It all came to a head on my 22nd birthday, 125 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:38,320 March the 4th, 2015. Jen and I had been married for just under a month. What a start to our 126 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:43,920 life. My mom and dad came round and just everything came out, how I was feeling, how I couldn't 127 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,320 cope with everything that was going on. And after lots of tears, I remember Jen and my 128 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:54,800 mom praying over the situation. I can honestly say that God healed me from that anxiety. 129 00:11:54,800 --> 00:12:01,920 That was something that was removed from my life. It was something that changed instantly. 130 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:07,200 Matthew 11 verse 28, Jesus said, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will 131 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:13,760 give you rest. I also am aware that God can physically heal us as well, as well as our 132 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:18,480 mental health and our emotional health. I was born with something called a duplex kidney 133 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:26,000 system. I don't want to turn this into a biology lesson or talk too much about kidneys, but 134 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:32,040 I was born with something that affects 1% of the population where I had two tubes coming 135 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:37,880 out of one kidney that weren't quite wide enough. And essentially I was quite poorly 136 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:43,920 as a boy. This is normally caught in ultrasounds when the child is not yet born. Unfortunately, 137 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:49,640 mine wasn't picked up until I was about age three, three and a half. And so yeah, I was 138 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:55,560 pretty ill as a child. A quote from a family friend came to visit me in hospital. I was 139 00:12:55,560 --> 00:13:00,800 talking to them in the week and she just said, you really were a poorly little boy, but God 140 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:06,460 made my body. Did He make my body imperfect? That's a complex issue and not one that we 141 00:13:06,460 --> 00:13:10,640 haven't got time, we haven't got time to speak about tonight. I would say no. What He did 142 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:16,060 do was give me a story that could bring praise to His name. After two successful surgeries 143 00:13:16,060 --> 00:13:20,840 and some time to heal up fully, I've had no further kidney issues since. And God held 144 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:25,080 my mom and dad's hand through the hardest times. Just as I'd gone under for my first 145 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:31,200 surgery, which was going to be about five or six hours, mom opened a Bible and mom landed 146 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:37,240 on Isaiah 41 verse 10. So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am 147 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:41,800 your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right 148 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:48,360 hand. God created my body, your body, our body. And therefore He is ultimately responsible 149 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,680 for the healing that occurred in me. Just because a surgeon played his part doesn't 150 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:58,320 remove any of the glory from God. Our church at the time, Calvary Church, absolutely incredible 151 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:02,440 church we had the pleasure of growing up in, was going through a season of healing. We're 152 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:09,960 going to put up on the screen now the newsletter that was sent out in 1996, I think. You'll 153 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,920 notice me in the middle there, Benjamin Wade healed of kidney problems. Do you see about 154 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:19,320 two thirds of the way down, a miracle of God due to being born premature? That's Jake Allen 155 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:24,920 who drummed for us this morning, this afternoon, this evening, afternoon, evening, morning. 156 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:31,400 But you can just see the list of things that were going on at church at the time. God still 157 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:36,600 heals, God still heals, healed of an eye condition, healed of cancer of the brain, had two months 158 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:43,040 to live, healed of a hernia, healed of diabetes, healed of a phobia of flying, now walking 159 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:50,760 without sticks. God can still heal and he still does today. The other time I've experienced 160 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:55,640 healing personally in my life that I want to share this afternoon was when I actually 161 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,960 broke my foot playing football. We were youth leaders at the time, Pete and Rach were our 162 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:06,240 youth leaders and we were leading football. That meant, can I go and play football? Yeah, 163 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,280 you can, just make sure no one kills each other. All right, mate, thank you. So we were 164 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:15,440 leading football. I was actually leading football with Esther's brother, Timmy, and it was one 165 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,680 of those where Tim went right on my foot. And it's one of those where, you know, straight 166 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,080 away I've definitely done something here. So we had to leave Friday night youth and 167 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,240 left the leaders a little bit short and head up to A&E. And they confirmed that I'd broken 168 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:37,720 a metatarsal bone in your foot. So I had, at the time I was 16. It was my first year 169 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:43,560 of A levels and I had two exams on the Monday. So I broke my foot on the Friday night at 170 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:49,240 the weekend and on the Monday. I felt really prepared for these exams. I'd like revised, 171 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,720 I'd made notes, I'd got wallpaper that I'd written on the back of and stuck it up on 172 00:15:53,720 --> 00:16:00,440 my wall. I knew what I was doing. And I had to wait until everyone else had gone into 173 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:04,960 the hall and then I had to go in last on my crutches because they deemed it that someone 174 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:10,120 might knock me over as they go in. And I'm clumsy at the best of times. On this, this 175 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:16,960 was the longest walk I have ever done in front of about 120 of my peers who were all like 176 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:22,200 15, 16, 17. And I managed to put my crutch on someone's foot and they shouted out the 177 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,080 top of their voice in this silent exam hall. Then I knocked my pencil case off the top 178 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:30,720 of my desk with my crutches and everybody was just looking at me. I've never gone so 179 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:36,000 red in my life before. I was a bit all over the place and I absolutely fluffed that first 180 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:42,680 exam. I then had to go into like a private room with a tutor and sit down and wait because 181 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:47,040 all the other kids were going in another room that I couldn't get to because it was upstairs. 182 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:53,080 And so I just about scrapped a pass in my second exam on the Monday. My next exam was 183 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:57,200 due to be on the Wednesday. So I had the Tuesday off and I went to see my tutor and said, look, 184 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,240 that was just, I've messed that up because of the prep and the way that I went into the 185 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:07,000 hall. So next time can I go in first, which would have been logical to me anyway, and 186 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:11,000 just sit and then everyone else can come in and he sort of agreed that's absolutely fine. 187 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:16,000 Tuesday night, I get a phone call from Pete. Pete and the other youth leaders were all 188 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:21,080 meeting down at Calvary Now Arise. They'd had this sort of monthly youth prayer meeting 189 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:25,800 and they felt really cool to pray for healing. So I had a phone call that night and they 190 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:30,880 prayed for me over the phone. I wasn't in the building with them and I had a really 191 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:37,520 hot sensation, like a tingling feeling over the top of my foot. And I looked down and 192 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,800 all I can explain is like over the time they were praying for like three or four minutes, 193 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:46,760 it was quite a long prayer. I felt I could see the swelling and the bruising on my foot 194 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:55,040 reducing and it went to kind of like a redness rather than a bruise. So Pete said, can you, 195 00:17:55,040 --> 00:18:01,640 has anything changed? I said, I think so, keep praying. So he kept praying and I eventually 196 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:07,160 managed to walk down the stairs without my crutches and walk straight outside to kick 197 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:13,680 a football. This was a broken metatarsal and I was in no pain at all. You can imagine my 198 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:18,280 college tutor's face when I went to see him on Wednesday morning and said, I don't need 199 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:23,540 to go in the hall first, it's okay, it's all sorted. And that actually led to a really 200 00:18:23,540 --> 00:18:27,640 cool time with our Christian union at King Ed's. I helped run the Christian union at 201 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:35,440 the time there. Lydia's sister, Haley was part of that as well. And it just felt really 202 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:39,600 fresh and really cutting edge. We ended up being called into the principal's office and 203 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:43,880 we said that we had to stop offering to pray for people because we actually saw healings 204 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:49,920 out on the street in Stowbridge as a result of all this. I know God has healed me in many 205 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:55,040 other ways in my life. Sometimes I personally find it really easy to slip into like negative 206 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:59,440 thought patterns or develop a bad attitude towards something and God has healed me of 207 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:07,400 a bad attitude time and time and time again. Now to frame all of those stories, there have 208 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:13,360 been many more times that I prayed for people and they haven't been healed miraculously 209 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:18,200 than the other way around. It's easy to feel that our prayers for healing sometimes don't 210 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:26,280 work. God isn't supposed to be a magic genie, a wish granting genie who always does exactly 211 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:32,920 what we want. But he does promise to never leave us nor forsake us. He promises that 212 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:38,480 he knows what is best for us, that he works all things to the good of those who love him. 213 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:43,160 Your answer to prayer may not be the answer that you're looking for right now. And if 214 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,200 you do have questions about unanswered prayer, I haven't got time to go into that this afternoon, 215 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:52,940 but there's a really great book by a man called Pete Grieg. Pete Grieg is the founder of 24 216 00:19:52,940 --> 00:19:57,400 7 Prayer in the UK and he's written a book called God on Mute. I'd really encourage you 217 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:04,480 to go and read that. There's another guy called Tyler Stanton who runs 24 7 Prayer in America. 218 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:09,480 I'm currently working through one of his books which is Pray Like Monks, Live Like Fools. 219 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,600 It's very good. It's very good. So it's well worth a read on if you're struggling with 220 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:19,360 that topic as every single Christian has struggled with that topic. I'd encourage you to go and 221 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:24,800 read those or even check out the YouTube bits. We did one of Pete Grieg's series about unanswered 222 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,920 prayer through our live groups recently and that was really, really helpful. Just rest 223 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:36,600 assured that God does heal. Faith means that we put our trust in God and that is especially 224 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:43,000 powerful when sometimes we feel unheard and we still choose to put our trust in God. God 225 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,920 does hear you. God is closer than a brother. God knows the number of hairs on your head. 226 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:54,160 We just need to trust him. In the Bible we have the perfect example of the person Jehovah 227 00:20:54,160 --> 00:21:01,400 Rapha when we look at Jesus. He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament and a perfect mirror 228 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:07,440 to the story of Exodus. He's bringing us modern day Christians into our promised land which 229 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:14,800 is eternity with him. During Jesus' ministry he performed many, many miracles in the name 230 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:21,000 of God. Too many to list this afternoon but he healed people physically, emotionally, 231 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,840 spiritually. Jesus showed he was what the Bible calls the great physician who heals 232 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:32,520 the sick. In Galilee Jesus went from town to town healing every disease and sickness 233 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:39,320 among the people. In Judea large crowds followed him and he healed them there. In fact it says 234 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:44,320 in the book of Mark, wherever he went into villages, towns or the countryside they placed 235 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:48,680 the sick in the market places. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his 236 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:54,320 cloak and all who touched it were healed. Not only did Jesus heal people physically, 237 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:59,840 he also healed them spiritually by forgiving their sins, the things that would disconnect 238 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:07,600 us from God. Luke 5 verse 2. Every day in every way Jesus proved himself to be Jehovah 239 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:16,320 Rapha in the flesh. In Mark 2 we see how much Jesus wants to heal us spiritually, forgiving 240 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:23,640 our sins and bringing us into new life with him. This is Mark 2 verses 1 to 5. A few days 241 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:29,480 later when Jesus again entered Capernaum the people heard that he had come home. They gathered 242 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:34,320 in such large numbers there was no room left, not even outside the door and he preached 243 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:40,440 the word to them. Some men came bringing to him a paralysed man carried by four of them. 244 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,240 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd they made an opening in the roof 245 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:49,280 above Jesus by digging through the ceiling. I can imagine the person who owned the house 246 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:55,160 was pretty annoyed at this point. They lowered the mat that the man was lying on. When Jesus 247 00:22:55,160 --> 00:23:02,800 saw their faith he said to the paralysed man, son your sins are forgiven. I love that story 248 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:07,680 because there is a paralysed man on the floor and what you are expecting Jesus to say is 249 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:15,040 get up and walk. The first thing he says is son your sins are forgiven. In the next verse 250 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:20,360 Jesus did go on to physically heal the man. He said to him get up and walk as people were 251 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:24,720 chastising him and saying who is this man to be able to say these things. But this man, 252 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:32,120 Jesus was Jehovah Rapha in the flesh. Church I am going to wrap up in a moment, the band 253 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:36,200 are going to come up and play but what I do want to do this afternoon is give you the 254 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:42,600 opportunity to know this Jesus for the very very first time. This person who was the very 255 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:48,280 embodiment of Jehovah Rapha. So if you would not class yourself as a Christian, if you 256 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:52,960 are sitting here thinking oh I think I want to start this journey, my heart is beating 257 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:59,800 a bit quicker, more than normal, I would love to pray for you. We will say that prayer and 258 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:04,760 then we are going to open up the front just down here. For anyone who wants to be prayed 259 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:10,680 for maybe you are struggling with a sense of anxiety like I was a couple of years ago. 260 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,680 We want to pray for you here at the front. We are not going to promise anything but we 261 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:19,600 do know that we serve a good God and we would love to pray with you. Maybe if you are struggling 262 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,280 with something physically maybe you could come and share that with somebody at the front 263 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:27,680 and we would love to pray for you. If you have got a family member who is sick or ill, 264 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:32,720 they do not have to be here in person, I was on the end of a phone, you can come to the 265 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:37,520 front and speak to one of us and we would gladly pray for you right here. So as the 266 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:45,440 band come up I am going to pray. This prayer is for maybe someone who is feeling like they 267 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,360 want to know this Jesus for the first time. Maybe you are someone who would not say you 268 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:55,840 are a Christian but maybe you want to make that step this afternoon. So let us pray. 269 00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:01,600 Lord God thank you that you love me. Thank you that you love me so much that you came 270 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,680 to this earth and died for me. Lord I have got so many questions, I do not understand 271 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:12,080 all of this stuff but I know that I want to know more. Lord please come and help me, please 272 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:19,440 come and be with me, please come and live in my heart. And thank you that because I 273 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,440 ask you have permission to come into my life. Lord thank you that you are my saviour, thank 274 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:31,000 you that you are my lord. In Jesus name. Amen. I would just ask everyone to keep their head 275 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:36,200 bowed for a moment and if you are someone who maybe said that prayer for the first time 276 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,640 this evening I would love you to do an incredibly brave thing and just look up and make eye 277 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,600 contact with me. We would love to pray with you, we do not want to embarrass you. We would 278 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:50,040 love to pray with you and put a bible in your hand and help you with your next few steps. 279 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:58,560 Amen. Amen. Lord I pray this afternoon that you would be Jehovah Rapha to us. Lord I pray 280 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:04,760 that you would come right now and heal us. For those of us in here who are sick in our 281 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:09,240 bodies, who have something that we want to get rid of that is plaguing our health. Lord 282 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:15,040 right now you have the power to remove that thing. Lord maybe we have come in this afternoon 283 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,240 feeling like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. Maybe we have come in with 284 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:23,880 a sense of anxiety, maybe we have even been diagnosed with some mental health things. 285 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:32,200 Lord you can break that right now. You are Jehovah Rapha. Lord we believe in you. There 286 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:39,200 is a prayer on the screen that you might want to pray right now church. Dear God I know 287 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:46,160 that the first step in all spiritual healing is to believe. I believe. I open my mind and 288 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:51,720 heart believing in your infinite power and possibility. I believe that healing is a dynamic 289 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:59,280 and reachable experience, a reality that can be experienced right now. I maintain a patient 290 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:05,560 and loving attitude for I believe that your healing activity is now at work in my mind 291 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:12,160 and body. I look forward with joyful expectation to the perfect wholeness that you are now 292 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:17,560 bringing into manifestation through me. I believe in your constant expression of perfect 293 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:24,120 good in and through me. I rest in the certainty of your healing power. I know that with you 294 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:32,200 all things are possible. In the name of Jesus Christ everybody said Amen, Amen. The front 295 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:36,400 here is going to remain open. I am going to move the big table out of the way. If you 296 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:42,720 feel like you need someone to pray for you this is your opportunity right now. We are 297 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:48,640 here. We want to pray. We are going to sing and worship God and if that is you, you feel 298 00:27:48,640 --> 00:28:06,440 like you need to come to the front for prayer, we would love to pray with you. Bless you. 299 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:28,640 In the presence of my enemies I raise a hallelujah louder than the unbelief. I raise a hallelujah. 300 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:46,320 My weapon is a melody. I raise a hallelujah. Heaven comes to fight for me. And I'm going 301 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:59,520 to sing in the middle of the storm. Louder and louder you're going to hear my praises 302 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:23,840 and hope will arise. Death is defeated, the King is alive. I raise a hallelujah with everything 303 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:44,720 inside of me. I raise a hallelujah. I will watch the darkness flee. I raise a hallelujah 304 00:29:44,720 --> 00:30:02,080 in the middle of the mystery. I raise a hallelujah. If fear you lost your hold on me. Cause I'm 305 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:15,440 going to sing in the middle of the storm. Louder and louder you're going to hear my praises 306 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:38,640 and hope will arise. Death is defeated, the King is alive. Sing a little louder. Sing 307 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:56,440 a little louder. Sing a little louder. Sing a little louder ś around the world. Sing 308 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:01,440 Sing a little louder In the presence of my enemies 309 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:07,440 Sing a little louder Louder than the unbelief 310 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:12,440 Sing a little louder My weapon is the melody 311 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:18,440 Sing a little louder The heaven comes to fight for me 312 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:23,440 I'm gonna sing In the middle of the storm 313 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:29,440 Louder and louder You're gonna hear my praises roar 314 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:35,440 Up from the ashes The folk will arise 315 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:40,440 Death is defeated The King is alive 316 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:46,440 I'm gonna sing In the middle of the storm 317 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:52,440 Louder and louder You're gonna hear my praises roar 318 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:57,440 Up from the ashes The folk will arise 319 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:06,440 Death is defeated The King is alive 320 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:11,440 Thank you Lord Hallelujah 321 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:26,440 Thanks again for listening. To hear more of our messages, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and our podcast channel for past preachers. 322 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:31,440 If you feel like you got something out of today's message, why not share it with your friends and spread the good news of Jesus. 323 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:41,440 We're praying for you, we love you, so please if you need anything at all, check out springschurch.co.uk. God bless.