Finding Healing

Sermon notes:

“A New Thing” Series 

 

A HEALING AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE 

Acts 3:1-16 (NLT) 

  • Before healing comes, the man isn’t fixed—he is acknowledged as someone who matters. 

Psalm 34:18 (NLT) 

  • Healing is not only about the healing itself, but about treating people like they matter. 

  • Scripture never presents healing as a wage for belief, nor suffering as a punishment for doubt. 

James 5:13–16 

  • Healing is an expression of grace, not a proof of worthiness. 

 

WHEN HEALING COMES 

  • Healing, when it occurs, must always be recognized and celebrated—not for the sake of the individual, but for the glory of God.  

  • When healing happens, it is never meant to be about us.  

  • It is meant to point beyond us—to the character, power, and mercy of God. 

 

WHEN HEALING DOES NOT COME 

  • The Bible does not present healing as universal, even among the faithful. 

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 

  • This passage forces us to confront something essential: God’s power is not only revealed in healing—it is also revealed in God’s sustaining presence.  

 

WHEN HEALING IS INCOMPLETE 

  • Some people in Scripture experience healing, but not final restoration.  

1 Timothy 5:23 (NLT) 

  • Some stories remain unfinished in this life. 

  • The core theological truth that must shape everything else we say about healing: 

  • Our faith is not built on the certainty of God’s healing. 

  • Our faith is built on the certainty of God’s character. 

Lamentations 3:31–33 (NLT) 

  • Faith is not trusting God because we know what He will do. 

  • Faith is trusting God because we know who He is. 

  • Scripture doesn’t call us to deny suffering; it teaches us how to live faithfully within it. 

Psalm 13:1–2 (NLT) 

  • Learning how to live with suffering means learning how to speak truthfully to God—without hiding our pain or pretending to have the strength we don’t have. 

  • Lament is faith that refuses to let go of God, even when understanding fails. 

Psalm 13:3-6 

  • This is the kind of faith Scripture invites us into—not faith that ignores pain, but faith that refuses to abandon God in the midst of it. 

  • Suffering is never called good in itself, but it is consistently described as formative. 

Romans 5:3-5 (NLT) 

  • Suffering is not meaningless. 

  • God’s promise is not that suffering will always be removed, but that His presence will never be withdrawn.  

Hebrews 13:5 (NLT) 

John 16:33 (NLT) 

  • Peace is not the absence of trials. 

  • Peace is the presence of Christ within them. 

  • And when God meets us in suffering, remaining present rather than removing the pain, He reshapes how we relate to others and deepens our empathy. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NLT) 

  • Acts 3 reminds us that when healing does come, it is meant to be recognized, celebrated, and directed toward God’s glory. 

Romans 12:15 (NLT) 

  • Celebrating healing does not mean ignoring pain. 

  • And enduring pain does not mean resenting healing. 

  • Faith learns how to hold both with humility and grace. 

 

THE GREATER HOPE 

  • Scripture places every story of healing—received, partial, or withheld—within a larger understanding of hope.  

Revelation 21:3–4 (NLT) 

  • Healing in this life—when it comes—is always partial, always temporary.  

 

LIVING IT OUT 

  • First, because our faith is grounded in God’s character rather than the certainty of healing, this shapes how we pray. 

  • Second, because our trust rests in who God has revealed Himself to be—even when answers are withheld—this shapes how we trust. 

  • Third, because suffering is not meaningless and God’s presence is not withdrawn, this shapes how we live with pain. 

  • Fourth, because suffering deepens our empathy and God never wastes our pain, this shapes how we love others. 

  • Fifth, because healing is a gift and not a measure of faith, this shapes how we respond when healing does come.