Transcript Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other

Therefore confess your sins to each
other and pray for each other so that
you may be healed.
James 5:16
James’ Letter to the Church
• Is any one of you sick? He should call the
elders of the church to pray over him and
anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer offered in faith will make the
sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.
If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
• Therefore confess your sins to each other
and pray for each other so that you may be
healed. The prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective. James 5:14-16
James 5:14-16
1.
2.


confess your sins to each other
and pray for each other
so that you may be healed.
you will be forgiven.
3. Still sick? Ask Elders to pray for you
 the sick person will become well;
 the Lord will raise him up.
 The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective.
Lifestyle of confessors
• A congregation where individual Christians
honestly confess their sins to one another
will cleanse their lives and their fellowship
of sin, hypocrisy and sickness. They will
develop in humble love for each other.
They will reflect God’s holy nature in their
behavior. They will see the hand of God
do miracles in their midst. The whole
church body will be healthy as well as
everyone in it.
Confess sins? What sins?
• James 1:
• :2-4 fear, worry, anxiety
complaining, blaming
despairing, giving up
• :5-8 ambivalence, doubleminded
listening only to God’s word when it benefits
me
• :9-11 feelings of inferiority
arrogance, feeling superior to certain others
demeaning attitudes, words, behavior
So, what’s the
sin – sickness connection?
Stress response
• In a stress response, the hypothalamus sets off
an alarm system in your body. The adrenal
glands, situated atop your kidneys release a
surge of hormones, mostly adrenaline and
cortisol. Adrenaline increases your heart rate,
elevates blood pressure and boosts energy
supplies. Cortisol increases glucose in the
bloodstream and increases availability of
substances that repair tissues. Cortisol also
curbs nonessential body functions, alters
immune system, suppresses the digestive
system, the reproductive system and growth
processes. MayoClinic.com
Long term stress
• The long term activation of the stress response
system can disrupt almost all your body’s
processes increasing your risk of obesity,
insomnia, digestive problems, heart disease,
depression, memory impairment, physical
illnesses and other complications. The immune
system can run unchecked attacking your own
body’s healthy cells. MayoClinic.com
• “It has been found that most illness is related to
unrelieved stress.”
IVF.com
How does my sinful handling of life
situations contribute to stress?
• 1:2-4 Fear complex: focused outward
• 1:9-11 Anger complex: focused inward
• 1:19-20 Anger complex: focused outward
God’s Stress Busters
• Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace as you trust in him, so that you
may overflow with hope by the power of
the Holy Spirit.
• Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
God’s intention and provision
• Your body functions best in a state of
homeostasis, where all your body
functions are in balanced working order.
• A heart at peace gives life to the body, but
envy rots the bones. Proverbs 14:30
• Your body responds to long term stress by
disrupting homeostasis and putting your
physiological systems in a state of
suppression or agitation.
Medical Research
• More fatal heart attacks occur on Monday
morning than any other time of the week.
Linked to job dissatisfaction, feeling
inadequate, out of control. The Stress
Effect, Meaning and Medicine
Medical Research
• Health problems more likely when people
are stressed and socially isolated. 7,000
people were surveyed in Alameda County,
CA about levels of social interaction. Nine
years later mortality level was assessed.
Mortality was greatest among those with
lowest degree of social interaction. Even
when variables such as socioeconomic
status, smoking and other poor health
practices were factored in. Meaning and
Medicine
Medical Research
• Fibromyalgia, a group of disorders
characterized by achy pain and stiffness in
soft tissues, muscles, tendons and
ligaments. Usually occurs in previously
healthy young women who may be
depressed, anxious or stressed.
James 1:2-5
Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever you face trials of many
kinds, because you know that the
testing of your faith develops
perseverance. Perseverance must
finish its work so that you may be
mature and complete, not lacking
anything. If any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God, who gives
generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to him.
Medical Research
• Type C personalities, extremely cooperative,
patient, passive, lacking assertiveness,
suppresses or represses negative emotions,
particularly anger, while struggling to maintain a
strong and happy façade – “Our results appear
to agree with findings that cancer patients tend
to deny and repress conflictual impulses and
emotions to a higher degree than do other
people.” When the Body Says No
Medical Research
• A study of nearly 200 men and women
conducted at the John Hopkins School of
Medicine, Baltimore, in 2000, found that
hostility and a drive for dominance were
‘significant independent risk factors for
coronary heart disease.’ A great volume of
research has connected hostility with high
blood pressure and coronary disease.
When the Body Says No
God’s intention and provision
• Your body functions best in a state of
homeostasis, where all your body
functions are in balanced working order.
• A heart at peace gives life to the body, but
envy rots the bones. Proverbs 14:30
• Your body responds to long term stress by
disrupting homeostasis and putting your
physiological systems in a state of
suppression or agitation.
Living with stress
10
5
bitterness
resentment
driveness
complaining
anger
impatience
irritation
Joy
Peace
5
10
homeostasis
anxiety
worry
complaining
fear dreading
depression
Living with stress
10
5
Joy
Peace
5
10
homeostasis
I’m no good
I don’t have what it takes
I’m such a screw up
I can’t do anything right
I’m such a loser
Self-loathing
Bones
• A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed
spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
• Bone marrow (or "medulla ossea") is the tissue
comprising the center of large bones. It is the
place where new blood cells are produced
Erythrocytes (red blood cells), platelets, and all
but one kind of leukocyte (white blood cell) are
manufactured in human red marrow. The marrow
releases about 10 million to 15 million new
erythrocytes every second, while an equivalent
number are destroyed by the spleen.
Therefore confess your sins to each
other and pray for each other so that
you may be healed.
James 5:16
James’ Letter to the Church
James 5:14-16
• Is any one of you sick?
• He should call the elders of the church
– to pray over him
– and anoint him with oil
– in the name of the Lord.
• And the prayer offered in faith
•
will make the sick
person well;
the Lord will raise him up.
• If he has sinned,
he will be forgiven.
• Therefore confess your sins to each other
• and pray for each other
•
so that you may be healed.
• The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Medical Research
• The discovery of nerve fibers in the
immune system has overturned the old
notion that the mind and body are
separate. “Well, I think that notion is down
the drain. . . . In view of the multiplicity of
connections from the brain to virtually all
systems.” David Felten, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at
the University of Rochester School of
Medicine. Healing and the Mind
Medical Research
• “I think the implication is that there may be a way
to use psychological tools and interventions
(relationships) to alter our emotional state in
ways that would have positive effects on our
immune system.” Margaret Kemeny, Ph.D is a
psychologist with postgraduate training in
immunology and psychoneuroimmunology and
is assistant professor in the Department of
Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the
University of California, Los Angeles.