#220 Just One Series# 1, Touch

 Just One Series# 1, Touch
November 8th 2015  D. Karl Thomas 

Matthew 8:1-4
When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Matthew 8:14-15
“Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.”

Matthew 9:20-22
“…a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, ‘If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.’ … And the woman was made well from that hour.”

Mark 6:56
“Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.”

Touch:— to bring a bodily part into contact with especially so as to perceive through the tactile sense: handle or feel gently usually with the intent to understand or appreciate.

 “The Power Of Touch” (Psychology Today) Rick Chillot March 11, 2013
Touch is the first sense we acquire and the secret weapon in many a successful relationship.
If you’re close enough to touch, it’s often the easiest way to signal something, … We feel more connected to someone if they touch us…”

University of Miami School of Medicine’s Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute, has linked touch, in the form of massage, to a slew of benefits, including better sleep, reduced irritability, and increased sociability among infants—as well as improved growth of preemies.

Solitary Confinement worst form of torture.
Crack babies in New York City … Die from lack of physical touch.

More recent studies have found that seemingly insignificant touches yield bigger tips for waitresses, that people shop and buy more if they’re touched by a store greeter, and that strangers are more likely to help someone if a touch accompanies the request. Call it the human touch, a brief reminder that we are, at our core, social animals. “Lots of times in these studies people don’t even remember being touched. They just feel there’s a connection, they feel that they like that person more,”

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign psychologist Michael Kraus tracked physical contact between teammates during NBA games. The study revealed that the more on-court touching there was early in the season, the more successful teams and individuals were by season’s end. The effect of touch was independent of salary or performance, eliminating the possibility that players touch more if they’re more skilled or better compensated.
“We were very surprised. Touch predicted performance across all the NBA teams,” says Kraus. “Basketball players sometimes don’t have time to say an encouraging word to a teammate; instead, they developed this incredible repertoire of touch to communicate quickly and accurately,” he explains, adding that touch can likely improve performance across any cooperative context. “touch strengthens relationships and is a marker of closeness,” he says. “It increases cooperation but is also an indicator of how strong bonds are between people.”
If a post-rebound slap on the back or the brush of a hand while delivering a bill can help us all get along a bit better, it may be because “when you stimulate the pressure receptors in the skin, you lower stress hormones,” says the Touch Research Institute’s Field. At the same time, warm touch stimulates release of the “cuddle hormone,” oxytocin, which enhances a sense of trust and attachment.

The release also helps explain our propensity for self-caressing, which we do hundreds of times each day as a calming mechanism. “We do a lot of self-touching: flipping our hair, hugging ourselves,” Field notes. Other common behaviors include massaging our foreheads, rubbing our hands, or stroking our necks. Evidence supports the idea that it’s effective: Self-massage has been shown to slow the heart rate and lower the level of the stress hormone cortisol.

Mark 10:13-16
“Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; … And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.”
Jesus touch was a powerful touch!

Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
Anointing:– The person and power of Holy Spirit working through humanity to accomplish the or a divine purpose.
Acts 5:12-16 “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people … bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

Acts 19:11 “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,…”

1 John 4:17 “…because as he is, so are we in this world.”
How is He right now?  He is reigning and ruling. He is seated and victorious.
How are we right now?
Mark 16:17-18 “…those who believe … they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”          

One of the most powerful touches in my life… a hug from my Brothers

Sammy Robinson … Metting in Ottawa “Mom an hand just went into my head ….” Girl healed of a brain tumor!

In Asia prayed for the owner of “Holy Cow” steakhouses. Joy permeated his whole corporation.  

Joshua … testimony!!!

220 Just One Series# 1: Touch, PowerPoint Slides

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