Central United Methodist Church (Arlington, Virginia) Sermon Podcast
An audio podcast of the weekly message preached at Central United Methodist Church in Arlington, Virginia. You're invited to join us online for worship on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Visit us on the web at cumcballston.org to learn how to join us for worship via zoom or facebook live. You're invited to join our congregation where we worship God, serve others, and embrace all.
Central United Methodist Church (Arlington, Virginia) Sermon Podcast
Sent to Heal
Sent to Heal: A Journey of Justice — From the River to the Mountain
Scripture: Matthew 10:1–8 (CEB)
In Sent to Heal, our journey of justice moves from the river into the world Jesus loves. Having been named beloved at baptism, Jesus now sends his disciples—entrusting them with authority, compassion, and power to bring healing in its fullest sense.
This sermon reflects on Jesus’ commissioning in Matthew 10, where he gives the disciples authority to cure disease, cast out spirits, and proclaim that God’s reign has come near. Yet Jesus’ vision of healing is never only about physical cures. It is about restoration, dignity, and the rebuilding of broken lives and communities.
Drawing on the witness of Florence Nightingale, we explore a vision of healing that reaches beyond individual illness to include presence, advocacy, and systemic change. Healing, in this broader sense, becomes the work of justice: restoring wholeness where harm, exclusion, or neglect have taken hold.
To be sent by Christ, this sermon reminds us, is to carry our baptismal identity into the hurting places of the world—not with all the answers, but with courage, compassion, and love. The same Spirit that met us at the river empowers us to participate in God’s healing work today.
This message invites us to reflect on the authority we have received, to expand our understanding of healing, and to imagine what wholeness might look like in our lives, our church, and our community as we continue this journey—from the river to the mountain.
🌀 Reflection Questions:
- In what ways has baptism given you a sense of authority to act for healing and justice?
- Florence Nightingale understood healing as dignity, presence, and systemic change. When have you experienced or witnessed healing that restored wholeness rather than simply curing? How does this broader understanding of healing reshape what it means to be sent by Christ?
✨ Listen as we reflect on baptismal authority, reimagine healing as justice-making work, and discern how Christ sends us to participate in God’s restoring love.