The demands of the twenty-first-century have led to the neglect of certain essential responsibilities in the life of a Christian. One of those is the visitation and care of the sick in our congregations. This book is designed to instruct and motivate pastors, church leaders, and other care-giving Christians through the counsel of our heroes of church history, to recapture the practice of visiting the sick. This is accomplished by considering three specific areas. First, is our commitment to the theological as we consider how to most effectively care for their souls. Second, is our commitment to the pastoral, which instructs us how to proceed with wisdom and discernment in the variety of circumstances we will face. Third, is our commitment to the practical so that the manner in which we care for the sick will help, not hinder our effort to communicate biblical truth to them.
“Ask the sick about themselves, their conditions, and what kinds of treatment are being carried out. Ask about their families, specifically with regard to those who have been caring for them during this time. Then, in some way, try to turn the conversations to those of a spiritual nature. A helpful way to do this is to ask how you can pray for them.” (Page 32)
“consider what kinds of questions we would like to ask that will eventually lead to spiritual conversation.” (Page 31)
“We must be deliberate about our conversations when visiting the sick. If we are going to be faithful in this task, we need to anticipate having to lead these interactions.” (Page 31)
“The sovereign God of the universe has used sickness, pain, disease and suffering as a way to sanctify his kingdom people and magnify the worth of Christ.” (Page 27)
“On the bed of sickness the Lord ripens his people for glory, and to the elder himself it is often a scene of instruction and revival.” (Page 17)