Ministry To The Sick

Offering care and solace for those who are sick are essential ministries of every Christian pastor and of the whole Christian community. The sick need the healing news of Christ and the power of the Spirit to both fight against disease and to find comfort and hope. The Christian community, likewise, needs the sick to teach what is most important in life and to witness to the power of the gospel. Human life is permeated with paradox. The joy and pleasure of the act of conception result in the risk and pain of childbirth. The rich process of physical, mental, and spiritual development is pervaded by the anxiety that accompanies all human growth. And the grand promise of youth and health must eventually come to terms with the experience of limitation, illness, debilitation, and ultimately death. Promise and pain bracket human life at every turn. The Creation story of Genesis reveals that God did not intend the great gift of human life to be experienced in this way. In Genesis, sufferi…