Dr. Antonia (Anne) van Loon

"Great crowds came to him bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them." Matthew 15:30

The gospel is full of narratives of Jesus' actions of healing - physically, mentally and spiritually. Jesus instructs his disciples to 'go and preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick' (Luke 9:2). The Christian church, as the incarnation of Christ, is to follow his example.

Charles Tyrrell Q.S.O, M.Th., B.A. Dean Emeritus, Nelson Cathedral

I was ordained 30 years ago in Liverpool cathedral, England, by Bishop David Sheppard.  For the first year of my ordained life I was a Deacon, under training from my wise and vastly experienced Rector, former prisoner of war of the Japanese, Owen Eva. It was Owen who asked me to preach my first sermon as a curate one week later.  I did not keep a copy of that first sermon as I discarded all my sermon texts 10 years later  in an attempt not to re­use them time and time again. However, I do remember the New Testament passage very well. It was from the Act of the Apostles chapter 3.