First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood
  • Home
  • About
    • Leadership
    • Church History
    • Matthew 25
    • Directions
  • Community Resource
    • Facility Use & Rental
    • Maintenance Request
  • NEWS
    • ONLINE WORSHIP
    • NEWS & UPDATES
    • Newsletter
    • Photos
  • Ministries
    • Worship Services
    • Christian Formation
    • Music Ministry
    • Community Meals
    • Mission
    • Pet Ministry
    • Deacons
    • Presbyterian Women
    • Officer Resources
  • Calendar
  • Contact
  • DONATE
  • Home
  • About
    • Leadership
    • Church History
    • Matthew 25
    • Directions
  • Community Resource
    • Facility Use & Rental
    • Maintenance Request
  • NEWS
    • ONLINE WORSHIP
    • NEWS & UPDATES
    • Newsletter
    • Photos
  • Ministries
    • Worship Services
    • Christian Formation
    • Music Ministry
    • Community Meals
    • Mission
    • Pet Ministry
    • Deacons
    • Presbyterian Women
    • Officer Resources
  • Calendar
  • Contact
  • DONATE

ONLINE WORSHIP

Therapy for All

3/6/2016

 
              Years ago I had the privilege of meeting a bright, engaging, and confused young man who was thinking about that perennial question of  the college-aged: What am I to do with my life?   The question was particularly vexing to this 21 year old because the door to the first choice for a career had been slammed in his face.  He wanted to be a doctor.  He was a good student of the sciences, but not an excellent one.  When it came to chemistry, he struggled to get just an average grade.  After applying to and visiting a half dozen medical schools he was kindly but firmly informed that he wouldn’t be accepted.  
After working his through the first feelings of rejection and getting back up on his feet, my young friend, prayerfully and thoughtfully, looked at other options.   Someone suggested a career in physical therapy, a field that was becoming increasingly helpful  for millions of Americans.  But my friend said, “No.”  Why?  Because doctors were the real heroes of healing in his mind.  “They receive a patient, diagnose what is wrong with him or her, then they fix it.  Some surgery, a medication—BINGO—a healing!  Physical therapists lived a less exciting and rewarding life.  They had to patiently, pain-stakingly work with a person as she or he recovered from surgery or an injury.  It took too long to see results.  Physical therapy?  “Boring!” was the response.  
I’ve begun to view my role as a pastor as something like a physical therapist.   Everyone I have met, including the guy who looks back at me in the mirror every morning, is, at some level, damaged goods.  All of us are broken in spirit at some level.  All of us are yearning, aching for something to “fix us.”  All of us are looking for spiritual healing.  All of us are looking for a deep, meaningful and lasting relationship with God. 
For Christians,  Jesus is the healer.  Through Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, all who seek God find Him in the words, the parables, the presence, the miracles…. the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.   Jesus is the healer, the Great Physician. 
But the healing relationship with Jesus is just the beginning.   After our transformative encounter with Jesus, we are called to a life of discipleship.  A life that is increasingly committed to and focused on what it means to be a healed, follower of Jesus.   Discipleship is a life-long endeavor.  It is slow work.  We often take three steps forward then two steps back.  We balk at some of the teachings.  We rebel against the commitments.  Sometimes, dare I say most of the time, the life of discipleship is  slow, painstaking, not very exciting way of life.  Sometimes it is just plain boring.  I think of discipleship as “spiritual therapy.”  I am a spiritual therapist.  And each one of you, after a solid beginning in spiritual therapy can become therapists to your friends, family, and co-workers.  I can assure you, it does take time, a lifetime as a matter of fact.  Yet it is a very  rewarding way of life. 
Pastor Michael

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    RSS Feed

ABOUT US
Leadership
Church History
Community Resource
Facility Usage Policy
​
HOME
NEWS
Online Worship
News & Updates
Newsletter
Church Calendar
Worship Schedule
MINISTRIES
Christian Formation
Music Ministry
​
Mission
Presbyterian Women
​FROGS Program
Deacons
Community Meals​
Photo Galleries
DIRECTIONS
CONTACT
​
DONATE
First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood   |   The Community Church   |   120 East Swissvale Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15218   |   412-241-4613