Healing And Restoration
Fourth Quarter 1997
Oct Nov Dec

Table of Contents 

Meet the Principal Contributors to This Quarter's Lessons

The lessons this quarter were written by members of the staff of Florida Hospital and its parent organization, Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation, in Orlando, Florida. Each of the authors is a person to whom the healing touch of Jesus Christ is a daily experience; each is a professional who counts it a privilege to be part of the great tradition of the Master's healing ministry.

Because most of these people work at Florida Hospital. the largest in the worldwide network of Adventist hospitals, this institution is occasionally mentioned by name. Experiences within the walls and towers of Florida Hospital are those with which the writers are most familiar. Naturally, similar sentiments would be heard at other church operated clinics and hospitals.

These lessons are a gift from Florida Hospital to the world church. None of the authors received any remuneration for their work.

Managing Editor

Tom Werner, president, Florida Hospital

Lesson Authors (in alphabetical order)

Des Cummings. Ph.D., executive vice president, Florida Hospital
Doug Devnich, Ed.D., head chaplain, Florida Hospital
David Greenlaw, D.Min., president, Florida Hospital College of Health Science
Ted Hamilton, M.D., vice president, Florida Hospital
Ben Holdsworth Adventist Health System Sunbelt
Don Jernigan, Ph.D., executive vice president, Adventist Health System Sunbelt
David Jimenez, president, Huguley Memorial Hospital
Andy McDonald, senior pastor, Florida Hospital Church
Lana Roberts, vice president, Florida Hospital
Sy Saliba, Ph.D., academic dean, Florida Hospital School of Allied Health
Joan Salmons, senior vice president, Florida Hospital
Dick Tibbits, administrative director, Pastoral Education, Florida Hospital
Tom Werner, president, Florida Hospital

Series Coordinator:

Roy Naden, Ed.D., professor emeritus, Andrews University

Healing and Restoration

The Master's Touch

This quarter's Sabbath School lessons focus on Jesus' healing ministry while he was here on earth. From the manner in which Jesus worked, we cam deduce principles that will guide our efforts to minister to others. Always uppermost in Jesus' mind was the goal of saving souls for eternity. To do this it was necessary for Him to reach into the hidden recesses of people's minds, transform their thinking, deliver them from the unholy forces that controlled them, and inspire them with new hope for the future

Jesus functioned on the basis of the principle that one of the best ways to reach a heart is to minister to the individual's physical needs. His ministry to sick bodies was especially designed to save souls for His kingdom. The first paragraph of Ellen G. White's The Ministry of Healing, one of the best commentaries on this quarter's lessons, introduces this to the saving ministry of Jesus:

"Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the unwearied servant of man's necessity. He 'took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses,' that he might minister to every need of humanity. Matthew 8:l7. The burden of disease and wretchedness and sin He came to remove. It was His mission to bring to men complete restoration; He came to give them health and peace and perfection of character." - The Ministry of Healing, p.17.

Jesus was concerned for the restoration of the whole person spiritually, psychologically, and physically. Significantly, the Greek verb to save is used a number of times in the New Testament in the sense of "to heal." For example, the woman who had suffered for 12 years approached Jesus in the crowd, saying to herself: "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well" (Matt. 9:21, NRSV). But the last phrase translates literally from the Greek, "I shall be saved." All three synoptic Gospels use the verb to save in Jesus' final statement to the woman: "He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well'" (Mark 5:34. NRSV). But all three Gospel accounts read in Greek, "Your faith has saved you." There are a number of other New Testament passages that use the Greek verb to save in contexts that speak of Christ's healing work. (See Mark 5:23; 6:56; 10:52; Luke 8:36; 17:19; Acts 4:9; 14:9, 10; James 5:15.)

Physical as well as spiritual suffering are identified as the work of Satan, from whose power Jesus released the subjects of His healing mercy.

Christ's healing ministry is a soul-saving ministry. It was so long ago and it remains so today. We can only fulfill the gospel commission as witnesses for Jesus as we seek to save the whole personality of each individual to whom we minister.

Jerry Giardina Sabbath School Study helps

Jerry Giardina of Houston, Texas, prepares a series of helps to accompany the Sabbath School lesson. He includes all related scripture and E.G. White quotations. These are provided in three wordprocessing versions and an HTML format, also linked to in the lesson studies:
The WordPerfect 5.1 format The WordPerfect 7.0 format
The Word format, and  HTML version linked in each lesson.

Contents:

1. October 4 - Creator and Healer
2. October 11 - Moved Through Compassion
3. October 18 - His Healing Touch
4. October 25 - Healing the Spirit
5. November 1- The Act of Faith
6. November 8- Modern Demons
7. November 15- The Sabbath and Health
8. November 22 - Unconditional Healing
9. November 29 - The Mantle of Healing
10. December 6- Healers in Need of Healing
11. December 13- Jesus the Champion of Choice and Liberation
12. December 20 - Christ the Great Connector
13. December 27 - Eternal Restoration

Editorial Office: 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904. Principal Contributor: Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp. Editor: Erwin R. Gane Associate Editor: Lyndelle Chiomenti. Editorial Assistant: Fylvia Fowler Kline. Art and Design: Lars Justinen. Pacific Press Coordinator: Glen Robinson.
Copyright © 1997 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist. All Rights Reserved.