The video of this presentation includes a panel discussion on “Bone, Heart, &amp; Women’s Health” with Pastor Mark Finley, Dr. Brian Schwartz, Dr. Todd Guthrie, Dr. Harvey Hahn, and Dr. Elizabeth Chung.

AMEN 2020 Virtual Conference – Touch of Faith

<p>The video of this presentation includes a panel discussion on “Bone, Heart, &amp; Women’s Health” with Pastor Mark Finley, Dr. Brian Schwartz, Dr. Todd Guthrie, Dr. Harvey Hahn, and Dr. Elizabeth Chung.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Adventist Medical Evangelism Network (AMEN)

Plenary Session

Brian Schwartz

The Healing Touch of Faith

Zeno Charles-Marcel

Spirituality, Religion, and Health: Making Faith Touchable

Roger Seheult

COVID-19: The Role of the Medical Evangelist

Lyndi Schwartz

Food as Medicine

Andi Hunsaker

Giorgia Maghelli

The Power of an Introduction

Harvey Hahn

Expert Witness?

Ted N.C. Wilson

The Touch of Faith: Take Up Your Bed and Walk

Milan Moskala

International Reports

Mark Finley

A Touch of Faith

My wife and I have attended most of the AMEN conferences for the last 16 years.

Missed maybe 1 or 2, but it has been really a delight.

And I think the thing that we enjoy the most is the fellowship that we have with godly physicians, godly dentists and medical personnel who inspire us to achieve the very best we can be in our own lives.

Each time we come there's some new insight, some spiritual gem, some physical principles that we learn that are best for our health.

So, A-Men has become really something that's really a part of our very lives and it's something that we look forward to every single year.

1 of the things that I would really encourage is a lot more pastors to attend because I think the interface of pastors and physicians and dentists working together is part of God's plan for this final and last generation.

The theme of this year's conference is a touch of faith, and it's really based on the biblical story of a hopeless, desperate, disease-plagued woman who reaches out and touches the hem of Christ's garment and finds healing.

In that story, we find great spiritual lessons.

And we're going to open the Word of God and study that tonight, but before we do let's pray.

Father in Heaven, we are so incredibly thankful that you have called us in this last generation to reach out and touch others with your grace.

We feel unworthy, we feel inadequate, but we're thankful for the grace of Jesus.

We're thankful that you've redeemed us and that you redeemed us for a purpose, not simply for us to be in heaven, but for us to lead others to know your grace so they can be there too.

So Father, I pray thee that you would take this message and use it to touch hearts and change lives in Christ's name, amen.

Sickness is debilitating, not only to the mind, but also it plays, not only to the body rather, but it also plays havoc with our minds.

When we're sick, it's much easier to get discouraged, much easier to become depressed.

How do you feel at the end of a week or 2 weeks if you've been really sick, often your spirits are not what they are normally.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those infected with the disease reported overwhelming physical symptoms, such as a raging fever followed by chills, intense muscle pain, a persistent cough, shortness of breath.

They've experienced at times a sore throat.

Some have experienced violent headaches or fatigue.

1 victim said, I felt like I was drowning.

Somebody else added, nights were horrible, my temperature would rise, my body would burn with fever, then suddenly I would shake with the chills, but worst of all, I felt so alone in isolation.

1 of the tragic things about COVID-19 is that it has been so infectious that many people who suffered alone in hospitals or on ventilators could not have their loved ones visit them.

They have suffered through that very difficult time in isolation by themselves, tragically.

Some people even died in hospitals alone, isolated from their families.

And in some instances, their families could not even attend their funerals.

It's incredibly difficult if to suffer in the advanced stages of coronavirus or any disease for weeks, months, and then die alone.

But what if, what if you were in constant pain?

What if you were separated from your family or friends year after year?

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke record the story of a desperate, hopeless woman who suffered for 12 years.

Now to get the impact of this story, it's important to understand its setting.

And if you have your Bible, and I hope you do, I invite you to turn to Matthew chapter 8 and Matthew chapter 9.

And here in Matthew chapter 8 and chapter 9, there are 9 separate miracles that are mentioned.

The first triad of miracles in Matthew chapter 8 going on to chapter 9, and remember there are 9 miracles in sequence.

And to understand our story tonight, the story of the woman who touches the hem of Christ's garment, who's been sick for 12 years, it's important to have the setting of these 9 miracles.

Now the first 3 miracles are the story of the healing of the leper, the healing of the centurion's servant, and the healing of Peter's mother-in-law.

Each of these stories reveal Christ's power over disease.

There's something else about these stories that's significant, and let's think about these first 3 miracles because there's a common theme.

The centurion was an enemy of Israel and Peter's mother-in-law as a woman in that society had no status at all.

So the first 3 miracles tell us this, that Jesus reached out to those that were excluded and excluded them.

That he included them rather in his love and grace.

So Jesus took those that were excluded and he included them in his love and his grace.

The first 3 miracles speak to us really in trumpet tones.

They speak about a Christ that cared for the marginalized, a Christ that cared for the outcast, a Christ that cared for the rejected.

The first 3 miracles call us to reach out to those that are passed by, those that the world neglects.

Is there somebody within your sphere of influence that's lonely, that's isolated, that feels neglected, that's marginalized?

A single mother whose husband has divorced her, who used to be part of the social circle that you are in, but now it's all couples and she's isolated and alone.

The marginalized, a lonely teenager who comes to church by himself because his parents are not Adventist Christians, and sits there alone and has to go home after church only to hear the television blaring, but longs for somebody to tap him on the shoulder and invite him home for lunch.

The lonely widow who's moved to your community with her husband and they bought their dream home but yet he has died of a heart attack.

And this 78 year old woman sits there on her porch in the rocking chair, watching others go by, just wishing that somebody would come with a touch of grace to her home.

Or the unemployed worker who feels uncomfortable they can't pay their bills any longer.

The self-sacrificing ministry of Christ is not some ethereal thing, it's practical.

It leads us to care for those who are desperate for hope.

The faith of Jesus leads us to care for others as Jesus cared for them.

The first 3 miracles teach us to reach out to the marginalized, the outcast, those that are lonely and alone.

But the second 3 miracles, Jesus demonstrates his power over nature in the first miracle when he calms a thunderous storm on the Sea of Galilee.

He demonstrates his power over demons when he delivers the demoniacs.

He demonstrates his power over sin and sickness when he heals the paralytic.

Now there is a common thread in these miracle stories and it's this, whether we are facing the worst disaster from without, whether we are facing demons from within, whether we are tormented by those demons, or whether it is the ravages of disease.

Those next 3 miracles teach us that Jesus is Lord over all.

There is no situation that we face that Jesus is not prepared to handle.

1 of my favorite statements is found in a little book called Steps to Christ on page 100.

It says this, no calamity can befall the least of his children.

No anxiety harass the soul, No joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips of which our heavenly father is unobservant or in which he takes no immediate interest.

He heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds.

The relations between God and each soul are as full and distinct as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share his watch care, not another soul for whom he gave his only beloved son.

Those 3 miracles teach us that whatever we face in life, Jesus is our Lord of all.

We are not left alone to struggle with the challenges of life.

Jesus is Lord over every disaster that may suddenly afflict us, that may unexpectedly burst upon us.

He's Lord over every attack of the enemy.

He's over every demonic harassment of the evil 1.

He is Lord over every affliction, every sickness, every disease.

He is there in the midst of whatever the devil throws at us and Jesus is there to encourage us.

I love that old song, just when I need him, Jesus is near.

Just when I falter, just when I fear, just when I need him most.

In the first 3 miracles the common theme, the common thread is simply this.

Jesus cares for the isolated and the alone.

In the second 3 miracles, Jesus is Lord over all.

There is no disaster that you can face in your life that he is incapable of handling.

Now in the last 3 miracles, Jesus heals 2 women, 2 blind men, and a speech-impaired man.

The theme of these miracles is significant and it is placed last for a reason.

The theme of these miracles is the power of life giving, life changing, life transformational faith.

It is best illustrated in the last of these miracles, the miracle of the woman who touches the hem of Christ's garment.

It's found in Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8.

Now there is a reason why that this story is found in all 3 of these Gospels.

If you have your Bibles, take them please and turn to Matthew the ninth chapter.

As we review this amazing story of a woman who has this hemorrhaging for 12 years, the scripture says in Matthew the ninth chapter, and you're letting your eyes drop down there to the 20th verse.

The scripture says, and suddenly, A woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years came from behind and touched the hem of his garment.

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Series

Plenary Session

A Touch of Faith

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Parent Conference

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