Croft - Visit the sick: ministering Gods grace in times of illness

Praise for Visit the Sick

What do pastors do when they visit the sick? Brian Croft has written a marvelous piece to assist us. His work is theologically grounded, gospel centered, and full of practical wisdom. I recommend it enthusiastically.

Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison professor of New Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and teaching pastor at Clifton Baptist Church

Visitation is a timely topic for pastors and Christians today. And Brian Croft hits the mark. He provides sensitive, God-honoring, and gospel-driven counsel to pastors and Christians. If youre like me someone who feels ill-equipped to say the right words or do the right things at someones sickbed youll delight in this book.

Thabiti Anyabwile, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Grand Cayman, and author of The Faithful Preacher

What should I say? How long should I stay? Why should I go? What should I pray? What if the person is dying? What if theyre not a Christian? These are just a few of the many apprehensions people have about visiting the sick. Brian Croft gives practical assistance that should eliminate feelings of inadequacy and motivate us to fulfill Christs commission, I was sick and you visited me. A biblically based, highly practical manual for Christian caregivers, this insightful book can be read in just a few minutes, but its down-to-earth counsel will equip you to confidently visit the sick for years to come.

Bob Russell, former senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky

Seldom does one encounter pastoral resources of a practical nature that are richly biblical and theologically grounded. Brian Crofts excellent book provides more than a mere how-to guide for pastoral visitation. He offers the gospel of grace and power needed for the kind of practical help that brings honor to God and leads people to Christ. Filled with wisdom and rooted in theology, this resource offers the blend that is so needed in the church today.

Bruce A. Ware, professor of Christian theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of Gods Lesser Glory

Many pastors and church leaders spend time visiting the sick. Some feel that their visits are fruitful times of ministry; others feel very awkward. Very few people, however, have the intuitive people skills and the pastoral expertise to do this successfully without some training. Read Visit the Sick for yourself, study it as a staff, or use it as a training resource for all those in your church who regularly visit the sick. It can help turn a routine responsibility into a time of effective ministry.

Donald Whitney, associate professor of biblical spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life

Many younger pastors (and not so young ones as well) have never received the sort of practical guidance that Brian Croft gives in Visit the Sick. It will now be a recommended text in my pastoral ministries class, and I heartily commend it to others.

Ray Van Neste, PhD, associate professor of Christian studies and director of the R. C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies, Union University

Times of suffering from sickness have the power to prepare the heart for the seed of the word as few other things can. Brian Croft has done an excellent job of showing how the pastor can make the word of God central in his ministry to the sick and dying.

Dr. Andrew Davis, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, and author of An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture

Brian Croft has given us a practical and theological guide to caring for our congregations. It is a must-read for those interested in a theology for visiting the sick.

Dr. George D. Barnett, ministry resource consultant for the Georgia Baptist Convention

ZONDERVAN

Visit the Sick

Copyright 2014 by Brian Croft

Previously published in 2008 by Day One Publications under the same title.

ePub Edition March 2014: ISBN 978 0 310 51715 3

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Croft, Brian.

Visit the sick : ministering Gods grace in times of illness / Brian Croft.

p. cm. (Practical shepherding series)

ISBN 978 0 310 51714 6

1. Church work with the sick. I. Title.

BV4335.C76 2014

259'.4 dc23

2013042722

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design and illustrations: Jay Smith-Juicebox Designs

Interior design: Matthew Van Zomeren

Printed in the United States of America

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 /DCI/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my father,
who taught me the value of this work through many visits and house calls with his patients thank you for graciously allowing me to accompany you

&

In loving memory of Ferrill Gardner,
known by those who knew him best as the master of the hospital room

CONTENTS

by Mark Dever

GODS CARE FOR THE SICK:
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

SPIRITUAL CARE FOR THE SICK:
THEOLOGICAL PRECISION

WISE CARE FOR THE SICK:
PASTORAL IMPLICATIONS

SKILLED CARE FOR THE SICK:
PRACTICAL NECESSITIES

COMMUNITY CARE FOR THE SICK:
EQUIPPING THE SAINTS

by William V. Croft, MD

I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I did hospital visitation. I was twenty-one or twenty-two. I had just begun to work in a church, and the senior pastor asked me to visit some older members in the hospital. And let me make it clear. These were older members. I mean, as in born in the previous century older! I didnt know any of them. They certainly wouldnt know me. What would I have to give them? What could I contribute to them? The deep and self-conscious awkwardness of feeling useless came over me.

God was very kind to me in that first day of visitation. And over the weeks and months to come, I made many more visits to that hospital and others on the north shore of Boston. Oh, how I wish then that this little book had existed! What frustration it might have saved me! What embarrassment it might have saved me! How it would have served those I was trying to encourage.

Brian Croft is well qualified to help the pastor in this way. He is a faithful pastor, himself accustomed to visiting the sick in the hospital. Ive known Brian for a number of years now. His father, Bill Croft, is a physician and a wonderful Christian man. So Brian has grown up around those who show concern for the sick. His brother, Scott Croft, has served on staff with me at the Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and for years served as the chairman of our elders. Scott has been an encouragement to, instructor to, and student of Brian. Brians sister, Beth Spraul, is a member of our congregation and has served in hospital chaplaincies. So, from many angles, Brian is a man well suited to advise us in these matters.