Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick opens by addressing anyone hanging by a thread, helpless, or desperate for change, and introduces his theme through an unnamed woman in the gospel of Mark. He sets the back story in Mark 4, where a great storm hits the boat on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus rebukes the wind and sea. He argues that having Jesus does not exempt anyone from storms, that faith is what carries a person through, and that fear erodes faith. He then recounts the demon-possessed man of Mark 5 before turning to the text for the day.
In Mark 5:21-34 Pastor Keith contrasts Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, with an unnamed woman who had suffered for twelve years, spent everything on physicians, and grown worse. He explains the social and religious restrictions her condition carried under the Levitical law, then describes her desperation, what she had heard about Jesus, and the faith she spoke to herself about touching even his garment. He stresses that she risked a great deal to reach Jesus and that she had to act on what she knew, not merely hear it.
When the woman touches him, power goes out from Jesus and he stops and looks for her. Pastor Keith unpacks the word dunamis, connects that power to the Holy Spirit in Acts and to Paul's words in Philippians 3, and reflects on the number twelve in Scripture. He highlights that Jesus calls her daughter rather than shaming her, then returns to Jairus's daughter, whom he presents as a picture of a hurting younger generation. The message closes with an invitation and a prayer for forgiveness and renewal.
Take this with you
Faith is not the absence of storms
Pastor Keith begins with the storm on the Sea of Galilee in Mark 4 and insists that having Jesus does not exempt anyone from hardship. Fear erodes faith, but faith carries a person through the storm and responds with obedience. He returns to this theme with Jairus, where Jesus tells him not to fear but only to believe.
Desperation can be the best place to be
In Mark 5 the woman had exhausted her resources and had no plan left but to get to Jesus. Pastor Keith treats that desperation as what leads to change and contrasts it with hearing about Jesus without ever acting on what one knows.
Jesus stops for the overlooked
In a crowd where the woman was nameless and faceless, Jesus turned around and looked for her. Pastor Keith stresses that Jesus is not impressed by crowds because he came to create new hearts, and that he addresses her as daughter rather than shaming or sending her away.
Suffering is temporary and not the end of the story
Pastor Keith applies the woman's twelve years and the daughter's apparent death to the congregation's present suffering, saying that suffering can lead to bitterness or to glory but is not the end. He ties suffering and resurrection hope to Paul's words in Philippians 3.
Act on what you have heard about Jesus
Pastor Keith points to Mark 5:27-28, where the woman had heard reports of Jesus and told herself that if she touched even his garments she would be made well. He insists that hearing about Jesus is not enough; she had to do something and reach for him, and he calls that same response from the listener.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
[Music] hey today i want to talk to the person just hanging by a thread i want to talk to the person today that maybe feels helpless or maybe you're so desperate for change but you don't know how to get that change i believe you're going to get an application for your life and i want to introduce that application through a woman a woman that has changed my life
although i don't know her name she's found in the book of mark so if you brought your bible i want you to turn to the book of mark before we get to the story of this woman we've got to understand some back story so that we'll better understand how her life was changed how this woman's life can change your life the book of mark tells the life of jesus christ how he changes everything at the end of chapter 4 jesus is on a boat with his disciples on the sea of galilee it's on this boat that they face a big storm now just because you have jesus in your life does not mean you won't face big storms in fact mark tells us in chapter 4 verse 37 and a great wind storm arose this was no small storm this was a great wind
storm and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling this could be a metaphor for your life there might be some waves breaking on the boat of your life your life might be filled up with fear and just because you have jesus doesn't mean you won't face a storm in fact in this particular storm jesus was asleep on a cushion now his disciples didn't celebrate the fact that jesus was able to have peace and get some sleep in a storm in fact they were upset so they went to jesus waking him up saying don't you care about us we're perishing some of us feel that way in our lives where are you god what are you doing why are you letting us go through this and it's at that point that we read in mark chapter 4 verse 39 after being abruptly woken up from a nap nobody likes that
but jesus awoke and he rebuked the wind and said to the sea peace be still and the wind ceased and there was a great calm jesus said it and it happened the wind obeyed him the water obeyed him and it's in this place that we see that jesus is not so much concerned about the storm as he is with our hearts as we discover in this story faith is not the absence of a storm faith gets us through the storm and jesus he he said to those who are with him why are you so afraid
have you still no faith and they were filled with great fear and they said to one another who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him you see fear will stop you from faith fear will tell you that these waves are just too big that this wind is too harsh that you'll never make it through this storm fear will erode your faith it will eat away at your faith like cancer and at some point you'll say how did i end up in this place and at some point you'll be bitter with god rather than saying i'm going to be better when i get through this storm but faith will actually not only get you through the storm it acknowledges that faith is not the absence of a storm but
with faith should come obedience if the wind and the waves obey jesus maybe we should as well and at this point in the story this is not the focus of my sermon today the storm but you might think if you see a miracle like this where jesus can calm the storm you might just think that jesus is the miracle working god he can do anything you might just think that if he did it before he'll do it again but as they come to shore jesus is faced with a dilemma in mark chapter five he meets a crazy man anybody know any crazy people out there come on anybody got any crazy people in their family come on if you don't know who it is you're the one all right
this is a crazy man in our cultural terms we would we would call this man mentally ill he was cast out of the city they could not even constrain him with chains this this man was he was a misfit he he was broken in every single way and jesus confronts him and he realizes this is not mental illness this is demonic and he asked the demons what is your name and and the demon said legion which means many and so he was demon-possessed not by one demon but many so jesus cast these demons out of this man for he is supreme over all he has spiritual authority not only does he have natural authority he's greater than any storm but he is greater than the supernatural and he cast these demons out they go
into a herd of pigs now the pigs go over they go over a cliff now the herdsmen just realized that their entire careers were changed in a moment it's like the stock market crashing it's like a a great recession everything changed in just a moment they didn't celebrate this fact they headed to town and told everyone what jesus did the whole town comes out they see jesus they see the crazy man who's no longer crazy he's well this is the moment you celebrate that god has done a miracle this is the moment that you see that jesus can do the impossible he takes those who are crazy and he makes them sane but instead of celebrating what god has done through this man they tell jesus to leave
they missed the moment they thought that jesus caused financial ruin but little did they know they have jehovah jireh in front of them in the flesh jehovah jireh means the lord provider that he owns everything it's all his and jesus jira the provider is right in front of them and they missed that moment i wonder how many of us have missed that moment because god did not work in the way we thought he should work why would you let me go through a financial crash why would you let me go through this difficult pain and it's here where i want to pick up in this story in mark chapter 5 and we're going to start with verse 21 and if you would i would like to read this story and i want to find the application of our life starting with verse 21 and when jesus had crossed again
in the boat to the other side why do you have to cross again in the boat they sent him away he comes across the sea of galilee through a storm comes and changes a man and what do they do they send him back when he crossed the other side a great crowd and gathered about jesus and he was beside the sea then one of the rulers of the synagogue jairus by name and seeing him he fell at jesus feet he implored him earnestly saying my little daughter is at the point of death come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live and jesus went with him and a great crowd followed him and thronged about him
and there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and has spent all that she had and was no better but rather grew worse she had heard the reports about jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment for she said if i touch even his garments i will be made well. and immediately the flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease and jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him immediately turned about in the crowd and said
who touched my garments and his disciples said to him you see the crowd pressing around you and yet you say who touched me and he looked around to see who had done it but the woman knowing what had happened to her came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth and he said to her daughter your faith has made you well go in peace and be healed of your disease we've got two people in this story today one is a man and the other
is a woman one is a person of prominence and position the other has no position one is a person of authority the other is a is an outcast one has a great need of jesus the other has a great need of jesus one is so serious to get to jesus he'll do anything the other is so serious she's willing to get to jesus and do anything so how will jesus prioritize these two people we have jairus who's a ruler of the synagogue and undoubtedly the entire community knew him as a religious leader
you've got a dad that cares deeply for his daughter because she's sick to the point of death there's just something about a dad that cares deeply for his daughter i believe it reflects the love of god a dad that's willing to do what needs to be done for his daughter and then you've got this woman who finds herself nameless and faceless among a large crowd that has come to jesus now this crowd is pressing upon jesus and we see throughout jesus life crowds don't impress jesus crowds and press people we like to say that's a success look how large that crowd is
look how busy that restaurant is look at that athletic event with all those people look at that music event with all that because people to us is a measurement of success if there's more people that means there must be something great but jesus is not impressed with the crowds he did not come from heaven to earth to create crowds he came to create new hearts so he's looking for someone that's willing to say i need what you have to offer and as we see this place of who jesus is mark tells us in verse 25 there was a woman no ordinary woman this woman had a discharge of blood for 12 years she suffered much under many physicians and had spent all
she had and was no better but rather she grew worse what a story this woman has a chronic menstrual disorder she's frequently bleeding it's a condition that would be difficult for any woman of any era just mentioning this story to my 13 year old daughter she's like that sounds awful i mean just a few days would be dad bad that just a few days would be bad but but this woman she she had this condition that as a jewish person would affect every area of her life so this woman did everything she could she met with so many physicians that she
used all of her money as we look back in history there are some things that have been done that we can be horrified about many times over medical practices it was just a few hundred years ago that humanity realized maybe they should wash their hands before they eat we could look back prior to that and say well what did doctors do before that we do some things out of ignorant and if you look at the practices and i i need not go into detail but the way these doctors treated her thinking they would help her actually hurt her the people that were meant to heal her actually made it much worse now we all have physicians
in our life these are the people that think they can fix you this could be your family they're the physician anybody got any physicians in your family let me give you some relational advice some financial advice let me give you some advice maybe it's your friends these are physicians that that want to help you but they're not helping you they're only making it much worse okay maybe it's not your family or your friends maybe it's a substance that's your physician alcohol marijuana marijuana has become a physician of this age we we actually even say you can use it for medicinal purposes but may i proclaim it may not be helping you like you think it might make you much worse okay maybe yours is not a substance or your family or friends maybe you could
look at the mirror at your own position i'm often my own physician how many of you all have have had something in your life and you become your own doctor and you use google and you discover you're dying and you only have days to live this woman is someone that we can relate to with someone in our lives that we can look to who who who suffers much and things continue to not get better but worse in fact in the levitical law which is what the jewish people would have focused on in their day tells us in chapter 15 verse 25 of the book of leviticus if a woman has a discharge of blood for many days not at the time of her menstrual impurity or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity all the days of the discharge she shall continue
in uncleanness as in the days of her impurity she shall be unclean so according to the law at this time this woman is not only considered unclean she has restrictions spiritually she's unable to go to the temple or even into the synagogue so she's unable to worship sexually she could not touch her husband and we we know physically maternally she could not bear children during this time society said that anything she touched was considered unclean she was unable to do the dishes or sweep the floor she's unable to touch anyone even her own family some of you say well that sounds pretty good but let me just tell you isolation is of
the enemy any isolation for any period of time will not make you better it'll actually make you much worse we're still learning this as as a people that that being socially distant might may keep keep you safe physically but it does not make you safe emotionally or spiritually or relationally and here this woman was socially distant for so long she physically physically couldn't go to certain places any bed that she laid on was considered unclean anything she sat on was considered unclean any person she touched was unclean now this barely scratches the surface of her suffering imagine physically all that she went through imagine the loss
of blood imagine an era where there were no disposable garments and she had to spend hours and hours a day just cleaning rags and her clothes financially we're told she was exploited by doctors and had nothing left she had no support system no money and no plan except for a desperation to say i'm not okay with where i am and sometimes desperation is the best place to be because it leads you to change and mark 5 27 says she had heard the reports of jesus we do not know what she heard we do not know where she heard it but she heard about jesus christ we learned this last week that jesus says that his word is like a seed that goes out your heart is like soil and you determine what you do with
what you hear about jesus faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of christ some people hear about jesus but they have hard hearts so they never get to bear fruit spiritually in their lives some hear about jesus and they have open hearts and and that seed takes root and bears much fruit this woman hears about jesus and says i must do something to get to jesus whoever this jesus is he can do for me what no one else could do the doctors couldn't do it my family couldn't do it i couldn't do it but it was a potential that jesus could do it and she came up behind jesus in the crowd and touched his garment a woman that's not supposed to touch anyone touched the right person that day is not enough to know about jesus you've got to act on what you know with jesus
there are too many people that know too much oh just because we hear a ted talk or listen to a podcast we think we're experts about something but i'll tell you what an expert is it's someone that puts it into action it's someone that that understands that someone that does something with what they know and this woman did not just hear about jesus she did not just preach about jesus she had to experience jesus and i'm here to tell you today if you want to be transformed by jesus you need to not just hear about jesus you need to do something you've got to touch jesus now the word here in the greek hapto or or hop to me means literally to grass to clean so she did not just touch and move on she grabbed his garment with her fists she was clinging to hope
she just had to touch him she had to adhere she had to she had to be one with jesus the author says that she was preaching to herself in verse 28 for for she said and we learned what she was thinking because she exposed it all she came forward and told the truth we see later and she said if i touch even his garments i will be made well you have to admire this woman that has no friends she's friendless we know not her name so she's faceless but she has such faith although she's not willing to or she's not able to go to the synagogue to hear preaching she's going to preach to herself sometimes the greatest preacher is you david teaches us in the psalms when he
says why are you cast down o my soul he's telling himself why are you so depressed why are you so dark and then you know what he preaches back to himself put your hope in god you don't put your hope in your situation your circumstance you don't put your hope in your feelings you put your hope in god and when the preacher's not there to preach to you you're the preacher you start telling yourself if if i get to jesus i'm not going to stay the same look look at this pattern that we can prophesy and preach to ourselves she says if i i will if i act in my life if i get to jesus if i do something i will i will
i believe that if i obey jesus there will be change in my life god loves me so much he's not going to leave me the same if i will i will now she says be made well but the greek here this is it doesn't translate well into english some translation will say be saved because in in the jewish culture to be saved is to be whole we're broken so to be saved means that one day you're going to be completely whole physically emotionally relationally are you tracking with me so she says if i touch jesus i will be saved i will be whole i will be made well that's what's missing from my life is jesus this is what faith is faith is the conduit to the power of god when you
have faith you have something you did not have on your own you have jesus now let's just be really clear here faith is not getting everything you ask for that's called santa claus faith is god giving you what is right because god is perfectly righteous he cannot do anything wrong it feels like his timing is off it feels like he missed something but let me just tell you he's perfect in all his ways including his righteousness because when she got to jesus verse 29 tells us immediately at that moment god can change everything in a moment you might suffer for a lifetime but i'm telling you salvation can happen in a moment and that lasts for eternity
suffering is temporary in that moment the flow of blood dried up she felt in her body there was something different she was healed of her disease this woman takes the risk of a lifetime we've been trained to take calculated risks in our lives but this woman to understand this culturally she was risking her life this woman by going out in public unclean she would have to warn everyone unclean unclean and everyone would step back and say i don't want to be unclean she takes her risks and she breaks the law she crawls through the crowd and when she gets to jesus if she was exposed she would be shamed she would be judged and more than likely according to the law they could pick up rocks and they could put her to death
we think two hours on a sunday is a sacrifice to the lord some of you are like two hours she risked her life may i just tell you today this is a principle that works in every area of your life the greater the risk the greater the reward but it's called a risk for a reason she was willing to trade in her circumstances and her situation to get to the savior jesus christ who jesus is mattered more to her than her own life it didn't matter what the outcome was but by the gift of god she was healed in just a moment now i want to just point out that both matthew and luke also tell this story so it's found in three of the four life accounts of jesus
mark gives the longest recorded account of this woman which is interesting because mark is the shortest of the books about the life of jesus mark really wants the reader to understand what's happening but both in the book of matthew and in the book of luke they point out that where this woman touched was not his shoulders it was not around his waist but rather matthew tells us in chapter 9 verse 20 that she touched the fringe of his garment the outside some translation say the hem of his garments that the end of it this woman did not have any parameters to what she needed to do to get to jesus let me put it this way some of us say god if you do this then i'll do this
or god we even put it this way if i do this then you will do this and at this place she says all i need to do is get to you even if it's at the bottom even if it's at the very lowest place i am so desperate for change i just need to touch the hem of this garment the fringe this is the kind of desperation that changes everything this is when you've tried it all and you realize that jesus is the only one to do for me what needs to be done doctors cannot do for you what jesus can do your family and friends will never do for you what jesus can do and may i just prophesy this today the government will never do for you what jesus alone can do okay let me go further you will never be able to do for you what jesus can do
there is one savior and you're not it nor is anyone else jesus promised in the book of john chapter 8 and some had a really hard time with he said the truth will set you free and someone said well what's the truth jesus said later in john 14 i am the truth then he says in john 8 36 if the son sets you free you will be free indeed you are actually meant to have jesus because when you come to jesus he does not see you in the law he does not see you as the crowd see you he does not see you as society sees you aren't you glad that when this woman got to jesus he didn't say hey you can't touch me you're not clean jesus does not say go get your life right and then come back to me jesus did not send her away he did not shame her he did not blame her for what happened rather he changed her and we learned in this lesson verse 30 jesus perceiving himself that power
everyone say power power had gone out from him immediately he turned about in the crowd and said who touched my garments the word power in the greek is one of my favorite greek words it's dunamis dunamis is where we get the english word dynamite now the reason it's translated power into the english is this is transformational power now if a dynamite is lit you would not just grab it you realize that dynamite has power to change are you tracking with me here if you stick around a lit dynamite something's going to change and jesus says there was some dynamite power this is spiritually speaking dunamis that that actually changed and we read in acts chapter 1 8 how you
get this power is through the person the holy spirit when you believe in jesus god gives you himself the holy spirit acts chapter 1 verse 8 before jesus ascends into heaven he says you shall receive power dunamis when the holy spirit comes upon you now this power is not to leave you the same now you're going to be a witness to jesus wherever you go you're going to testify the power of god at work within you who gives that power jesus how do you get that power through the holy spirit jesus explains it this way in john chapter 3 you should study the entire chapter he says for he whom god has sent utters the words of god jesus is speaking of himself for he gives the spirit without measure so god has given jesus the fullness of the holy spirit
now you say well i thought jesus was god and wait the holy spirit's god how does how does this work one god in three persons totally easy to understand the father the son and the holy spirit not three gods one god he's a triune god the father jesus said in verse 35 loves the son and has given him all things into his hand whoever believes in the son has eternal life and whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of god remains on him we start to see this in the book of mark if you don't turn to jesus in the middle of the storm it's going to keep raging there's no peace if you don't put your faith in jesus if you're held only to the levitical law if you just go only go to the torah and you hold to the instructions you don't understand the fullness of grace and all you understand is truth it will condemn you
you'll never be good enough the world will always see you unfit but in jesus you are forever changed jesus himself called the eternal life you're made with a soul which is eternal and mark gives us such interesting intricate details that that we would see jesus cares about us personally mark 5 32 he looked around after turning jesus turned around to see who had done it he's pointing out the power of his love for us he's looking for her the bible is incredible this is when women were oppressed they were mistreated they were overlooked and jesus is looking for her if you've ever hurt and you felt overlooked if you ever suffered for so
long jesus sees you and he knows you jesus is looking for someone that is desperate to say you alone are what i need in my life and the lord will use you if you're willing to be used so many through their suffering become bitter and jesus wants you to see that your suffering does not need to lead you to bitterness your suffering could lead you to glory but paul explains this so eloquently and clearly in philippians chapter 3 verse 8 through 11 he says indeed i count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing christ jesus my lord for his sake i've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that i may gain christ sounds like that woman i lost my money i lost my friends i lost my status in society but i don't care i have jesus
verse nine he says and to be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law he's saying i wasn't good enough to get to jesus i wasn't good enough to get into heaven i didn't get this so where did he get it it comes that comes through faith in christ the righteousness from god that depends on what faith i get the righteousness of jesus by faith that i may know him and the power come on dunamis here the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him and his death that by any means possible i may attain the resurrection from the dead do you see this correlation by faith i get his righteousness not only do i get his righteousness i get his power that even if i suffer i will not only get through this suffering but i'm going to experience what jesus experienced which
is resurrection that's a good god suffering is often used by the enemy to make you think that this is the end of your journey but suffering is always temporary and if it's temporary suffering reminds you that you're not made for this world you're made for something greater that's why paul told the same church that he's writing in philippians he says for it has been granted to you for the sake of christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake this is a gift he's saying you were granted to suffer so that you would grow in your faith and when jesus looks around in mark 5 32 i believe he's doing the same thing in the crowd today he's looking around to say is there someone that wants me
more than anything else see so so many people today think that jesus has to look a certain way we put god in a box that's what they did in this first century they were looking for a conquering king to be their messiah but he came as the suffering servant and some of us don't realize right in front of us is the creator of all things he is the author who can rewrite any story the alpha the omega the beginning the end the eternal god is found in jesus and sometimes we want to tell him how our story should be written and he's willing to use you he's willing to stop in his tracks and change everything in a moment he's willing to turn around now this woman had suffered for 12 years and we best understand this by looking at the entirety of scripture
that numbers often have a deeper meaning than just a number in the bible so we want to understand what are the the meaning of numbers they they have similarities the number 12 in the bible represents much in the old testament 12 represents the 12 tribes of israel israel represents god's people so 12 represents israel israel in the old testament is often described as a woman and not a woman that that is faithful but a woman that makes mistakes a woman that's been unfaithful so 12 represents israel in the new testament 12 represents the disciples the disciples represent the church when we understand that the disciples represent the church we start to see that 12 has some significance now the church in the new testament is described as a bride a bride in the bible is a woman
despite what the world wants to define a woman is or a bride according to the scriptures the church is described as a bride a beautiful woman jesus is described as the groom he gets to be the guy in this analogy now if we look at this woman's life we would see a greater purpose and a plan for her 12 12. 12 she is suffering so if this woman represents the church if this woman represents god's people there is a likelihood that in the church we are suffering we are hurting we need a desperation to get to jesus we need jesus to do for us what we couldn't do on earth we need jesus to come meet the church in our desperation
and what we see with this woman is when she gets called out and you realize that you're seen by jesus verse 33 the woman knowing what had happened to her came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told jesus the whole truth come on if this is the church you know what we need to do be worshipers she came before him with fear and trembling she knew the authority and the actuality of jesus is god and he's worthy of everything he knows everything so i'm going to tell him the whole truth you can't hide some sin in your heart and think that you're going to continue to be blessed by god you will not experience the full fruit of the holy spirit god himself in your life with some sin you've got to remove it all you've got to give it to jesus you've got to be healed and when you're healed it follows with worship and we see that
god is going to give you a new identity in verse 34 jesus said to her daughter he doesn't say woman with the issue of blood he doesn't say unclean girl he says daughter your faith everyone shout faith your faith has made you well go in peace and be healed of your disease it was not her duty it was not her doing anything it was her faith in jesus christ he addressed her faith because her identity was changed through her faith when you believe in jesus it changes everything john says to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of god that's what you are you're a daughter and you're a son in jesus he can make you well how does he make you well he takes the uncleanness in your life because all of us are much more like this woman according to isaiah chapter 64 verse 6
we've all everyone shout all we've all become like one who is unclean and our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment this is graphic here isaiah says we are all just like this woman we should be judged we should be condemned all of us have this and what's unclean is our hearts it is unrighteous and he says our even our best acts of righteousness the best thing you can do are like like polluted garments to god now the phrase here polluted garments is actually it's so graphic and horrific but isaiah wants to prove a point these are the garments that a woman would use on her menstrual cycle some translations call them filthy rags your best are just filthy rags to god i need you to see
this here if we are all in that place that's a bad place to be but when we come before jesus you know what he does is he stops and the bleeding stops are you seeing this he takes your blood and he saves you he makes you well now it's all in this place this woman was an interruption do you remember what this story is actually about a dad and his daughter whatever happened to this daughter i want to just quickly go through this story so that you would see the power of god at work through the church it's while this was happening verse 35 while jesus was still speaking to her she's the priority there came from the ruler's house some who said jairus your daughter is dead
why trouble the teacher any further leave jesus where he is he doesn't need to come see the girl anymore but overhearing what they said jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue do not what fear only believe do you remember what jesus said to the disciples why are you afraid because fear will stop you from seeing god clearly through faith now it's in this moment every dad should be full of fear but jesus actually says i don't want you to fear because i'm with you i will not forsake you and i know it seems like this woman was an interruption but that's my daughter too so i'm going to work through her and we're going to go work this together the messengers are blunt jesus doesn't need to come anymore
most of the world does not see the power and the authority of jesus today people of power will say we don't need jesus anymore one of my biggest regrets over the pandemic is that the world did not turn to the church for hope we should have declared many days of prayer and fasting we as a church should have been the most hopeful people this girl of jairus represents the next generation represents young people may i just say today young people are hurting jesus said of this girl in verse 39 why are you guys making a commotion and weeping the child's not dead she's sleeping this isn't the end of her story i believe today we've got an entire young generation that looks like they're dead
they're hooked on snapchat and tick tock they're turning to substances way early so many kids are committing suicide earlier and earlier i think this is the most depressed generation that we've ever faced in young people today and it's no wonder why it is not their fault now let me just tell you there was an interruption in this story before jesus ever got to this girl we see a woman who was healed by the power of jesus and that there's anything that we should be showing the young generation today is that god is still working through the church he's still healing people it might look like it's too late it might look like it's 12 long years it might look like this is never going to end but it's never too late with god one touch of jesus he can change everything
and when jesus gets to this girl he he he said to her he grabs her by the hand jesus wants to grab this young generation by the hand and say talitha kumi which means little girl i say to you arise he doesn't call her daughter he recognized that you still have a whole life ahead of you you still have so much more but it's time for you to rise up it's time for you to understand who's with you it's time for you to understand what i've done before you're going to hear stories of how i healed the church but it's going to start with someone that's willing to crawl through the crowd in desperation to get to jesus some of you today need to start with salvation you need to be made well in your hearts and may i just say it happens in a moment through faith if you've been wondering why you're suffering i'm here to tell you jesus
brings purpose through suffering i i could just look around the room today and it's even hard knowing so many physical disabilities right right here in this place stuff that no one else can see on the inside with your organs with your immune system with your headaches with your fatigue with your muscle aches with your joints that's not the end of your story it's no accident today that we just found ourselves in this text and we have sylvia here who's caring for disabled children can we just believe god's best no child is overlooked by god no child there's no reason to ever abort a child there's no mistakes with god he's able to see the potential we could never see when you feel overlooked he stops and he looks at you it's by the power of god
i want to just ask you if you just close your eyes i just want to take i want you to take this so serious if you need to be saved today if you want forgiveness from your sins if you want the gift of eternal life if you want god himself in your life the holy spirit that happens by believing in jesus i'm going to ask you right now as we just have eyes closed i'm going to pray with you i want to know who i'm praying with would you just raise your hand up high saying i need jesus today right where you are just say i need jesus praise god the lord calls you daughter praise god he calls you son praise god he loves you so much if you need jesus stay raise your hand up so i could see you praise god daughter you are made well in jesus name praise god he loves you so much you've never done too much you're set free from your sin he whom the son sets free you're free indeed praise god praise god
so many are saying yes to jesus right now today let's pray together right in your hearts this is the intimacy between you and god prayer is conversation with god you start today but you don't stop lord we give you our hearts forgive us of our sins we need to be made well and it's in desperation today that so many in this room are saying i need you jesus so lord would you meet them where they are would you forgive them of their sins i know you're the only one that has power and authority to save so we bring you our sins today we accept that forgiveness we receive the gift of grace the gift of eternal life and the greatest gift of all you god in our lives i pray that you would awaken your church with revival that we would take your word so serious lord i just pray for
renewal that people will spend more time in the bible than anything else this week more than television more than social media god i pray that they'll get into the word and see how great you are lord awaken your church to prayer may we pray bold prayers bold prayers power of the holy spirit work through your church today god i pray generations will be changed today because of the people in this room that said i need to be healed i pray grandkids would get saved now i preached generations would be changed because of what you just did in just a moment that's what you do thank you jesus for who you are it's in your name we pray so be it amen
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Storms, fear, and the calm Jesus brings
Pastor Keith opens with the disciples caught in a great windstorm while Jesus sleeps, and he uses that scene to teach that faith does not exempt anyone from storms but carries them through. Fear, he says, erodes faith, while the wind and waves obey Jesus, and faith should be accompanied by obedience.
Mark 4:37-39
- Where in your life are you currently tempted to believe that having Jesus should have meant no storm?
- How does Pastor Keith describe the way fear works against faith?
- How might obedience be a natural response to recognizing Jesus's authority over your circumstances?
The woman's desperation and the law that isolated her
The message describes a woman in Mark 5 who suffered much under many physicians, spent everything she had, and grew worse. Pastor Keith cites the Levitical law that left her unclean and cut off, then broadens the image to family, friends, substances, and self-reliance as physicians that promise help but cannot do what only Jesus can.
Mark 5:25-26 · Leviticus 15:25
- What 'physicians' have you turned to for a problem that has only grown worse?
- How does Pastor Keith describe the isolation the law imposed on this woman?
- Why does he say that desperation can be the best place to be?
Preaching to yourself
Because she could not enter the synagogue, the woman speaks faith to herself: if she touches even his garments, she will be made well. Pastor Keith connects this to David telling his own soul to hope in God in the Psalms and says that hearing about Jesus is not enough without acting on what you know.
Mark 5:28 · Psalms
- How does Pastor Keith describe the woman preaching to herself in Mark 5:28?
- What does David's example in the Psalms teach about reminding yourself to hope in God?
- How does Pastor Keith distinguish hearing about Jesus from acting on what one knows?
Power that changes everything
Pastor Keith calls Jesus's power dunamis, the word behind dynamite, and describes it as transformational power that went out from Jesus when the woman touched him. He links that power to the Holy Spirit promised in Acts 1:8 and to Paul's desire to know Christ and the power of his resurrection in Philippians 3.
Acts 1:8 · Philippians 3:8-11 · John 3
- How does the image of dynamite shape the way you think about God's power at work in your life?
- How does Pastor Keith connect the Holy Spirit's power in Acts 1:8 with being a witness to Jesus?
- How does Paul's willingness to share in Christ's sufferings challenge your expectations of what faith should feel like?
Called daughter: identity, worship, and the next generation
When the woman comes forward in fear and trembling and tells the whole truth, Jesus does not shame her but calls her daughter and credits her faith. Pastor Keith connects her honesty with worship and with giving sin to Jesus, then turns to Jairus's daughter as a picture of a hurting next generation and calls the church to show that God is still working through his people.
Mark 5:33-36 · Isaiah 64:6
- What would change if you believed Jesus calls you daughter or son rather than defining you by your suffering?
- How does Pastor Keith connect the woman's telling the whole truth in Mark 5:33 with worship and giving sin to Jesus?
- How does Pastor Keith connect the woman's healing with his concern for the next generation?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
Why does Pastor Keith talk about the storm before the woman?+
He says the back story matters for understanding her story. At the end of Mark 4, Jesus and his disciples face a great windstorm on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea, and there is a great calm. Pastor Keith uses this to say that having Jesus does not mean avoiding storms, that faith is not the absence of a storm but what gets you through it, and that fear erodes faith. He then moves through the demon-possessed man before arriving at Mark 5.
Where has fear told you that your storm is too big?
What made the woman's situation so difficult?+
According to Mark 5:25-26, she had a chronic discharge of blood for twelve years, suffered much under many physicians, spent all she had, and grew worse rather than better. Pastor Keith then cites the Levitical law in Leviticus 15:25 to explain that she was considered unclean and cut off from the temple, the synagogue, intimacy, motherhood, and even ordinary contact with her family. He describes the physical, financial, and relational weight of her condition and says that isolation only made things worse, while her desperation eventually led her to change.
What does Pastor Keith mean by preaching to yourself?+
He notes that in Mark 5:28 the woman had heard reports about Jesus and said to herself that if she touched even his garments she would be made well. Since she could not go to the synagogue, Pastor Keith says she preached to herself. He compares this to David in the Psalms telling his own soul not to be cast down but to hope in God. The point is that knowing about Jesus is not enough; you have to act on what you know and reach for him.
Why does Jesus stop for the woman on the way to Jairus's daughter?+
In Mark 5 Pastor Keith presents her as an interruption in the middle of another story, a father asking Jesus to heal his dying daughter. Yet when power goes out from Jesus, he turns around and looks for the woman rather than ignoring her. Pastor Keith emphasizes that crowds do not impress Jesus, that he sees the overlooked, and that he calls her daughter. He then treats Jairus's daughter as a picture of a hurting younger generation, saying that the woman's healing before the girl's restoration shows God is still working through the church.
