Parenthood, Part 2

This post is the next sermon in our current series, Parenthood. However, it also applies to every other relationship that we have... Enjoy!

 

 

            We are in the second week of our current sermon series called “Parenthood”.

            We said last week that: “God’s Word provides clear guidance on how to raise children to be full of faith and focused on Him.”

            As followers of Jesus we have a responsibility to search the Word of God, and see what it has to say on any issue and apply what it has to say to our lives, and parenting is no exception, and God’s word provides clear guidance on how to raise children to be full of faith and focused on Him.”

            Does anyone remember the key scripture for this series? We were going to memorize Proverbs 22:6 which says: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (NIV)

            I want to mention once again that if you are not a parent, never will be a parent, or you are a parent but your children have moved out from your house, please don’t tune me out.

There is something in today’s message that God wants you to apply in your life, so I want to encourage you to tune in, because the Word of God has the power to change your life!

This morning we are going to examine three principles that never change in all of our relationships, especially parenting, because quite honestly, there are many things that change in our philosophy of parenting.

ILLUSTRATION- When our oldest daughter, Emma, was born, we gave her a pacifier, or as we called it, her sookie.

            Whenever Emma dropped her sookie on the ground, we made sure to find some running water and make sure it was all cleaned off before we put it back in her mouth.

            When Erica was born, she too had a sookie, only whenever it fell on the ground, we dusted it off and shoved it back in her mouth….

Things change as you parent, but I want to give you 3 principles that will never change in any and all of our relationships.

We’re going to look at an encounter that Jesus had with some children and learn from His approach, so I invite you to look with me at Mark 10:13-16:

“One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

 14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.

15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

16 Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.” (NLT2)

In this story showing Jesus encountering little children, we see the first unchanging principle of relationships: Appropriate Touch.

Look again at verse 13: “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them…” (Mark 10:13a, NIV)

ILLUSTRATION- Some of us may subscribe to the bad preacher channel and have seen people lined up to receive “a touch” from the TV preacher, and when these people finally get to the preacher, he places his hands on their head and yells: “BE HEALED IN JESUS’NAME”; and then the preacher gives them a big push and they fall backwards.

            That’s not what’s happening here. We know this based on the Greek word that is translated as touch. It is haptō and it means: “to touch, hold, embrace, handle.”

            Jesus very carefully and lovingly held the little children that were brought to Him.

       He wasn’t forceful with them, He didn’t banish them off to one side while He talked to their parents; Jesus took the children in His arms and loved on them.

ILLUSTRATION- I read this week a little about King Frederick II, who was at one time the Holy Roman Emperor. 

            King Fred tried a very weird experiment. He wanted to know what language a child would speak if that child was never, ever spoken to from the time he or she was born.

       (The rationale behind this was to see what kind of language was imparted to Adam and Eve by God...)

            He had 50 babies brought into his laboratory and had his assistants feed them, change them, bathe them, but they were not allowed to show affection or emotion.

            They were never allowed to do all the things adults do with babies when they hold themà  no “googogaga”; nor was there any cuchi-chuci-coo. None of that was allowed to take place.

            The experiment didn’t work at all, because within 1 year, all 50 babies died, because they didn’t have the touch that was important to them.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor; and PH sermon #2)

            Jesus set the example for all relationships, especially the parenting relationship; there needs to be appropriate touch in our relationships.

            Now, in today’s day and age, you have to be careful with who you touch, why you touch, and when you touch, but even still, for an important relationship to survive, it needs a certain amount of appropriate touch.

            Let’s look at one more Scripture verse related to this thought. Flip back a couple of chapters to Mark 6:56:

“Wherever he (Jesus) went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they (the people) brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They—the people-- begged him—Jesus-- to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed” (Mark 6:56, NLT2)

WOW!

There is something incredible-- I’ll even say therapeutic-- that happens when appropriate touch takes place.

And appropriate touch is the first unchanging principle of relationships and parents, this means embracing your kids, wrestling with your kids.

Non-parents, it means engaging in a hand-shake or a gentle touch on the back with people you are close to.  

Appropriate touch goes a long way to ensuring the success of a relationship.

            The 2^nd unchanging principle of relationships is Abundant Time. 

ILLUSTRATION- One of my university professors once told us how people spell love. He said love is spelled: T-I-M-E.

            Now, I don’t profess to be an awesome speller, but I think this is absolutely true. Love is spelled T-I-M-E.

            My kids don’t want nor need a new Blue Jays hat as much as they need me to spend time with them.

            Your spouse doesn’t need you to solve all their problems as much as they need you to listen to them.

            Any other relationship that you have doesn’t need a solution as much as it needs your presence.

            I’m not making this stuff up! Look at our text: “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.” (Mark 10:13, NIV)

            The disciples thought that Jesus was way too busy to spend time with all of the children, so they  blasted the parents of these children; “don’t bother Him” they said, “He’s too busy”.

            But I’ll have you notice Jesus’ response found in verse 14:“When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.” (Mark 10:14, NLT2)

            Jesus wasn’t too busy for children! He wanted them to come to Him. In fact, Jesus used the children to teach us about the need to change and become like children in order to receive the kingdom of God.

            Jesus wasn’t too busy for these children, but sometimes we are too busy for our kids, our spouses, our friends…

            If Jesus wasn’t too busy to spend time with important people—and this passage clearly tells us that children are important people—don’t you think we should follow His example?

ILLUSTRATION- Please understand friends, that I’m still working on this myself.

       There are many days when I come home from work exhausted, and all I want to do after supper is sit on the couch and watch the ballgame.

But then my little girl will come and look at me in the eye, almost as if to say- Dad, will you play with me?

            So, instead of sitting on the couch, I’ll suggest we play a game together, or I’ll go to my room and get my dart gun and chase them around the house.

            Church I don’t always get this right, but I’m working on it because if Jesus had time for important people, I need to find time for the important people in my life as well.

ILLUSTRATION- A reporter once asked Billy Graham an interesting question. He said: “if you had your life to do all over again, what would you do differently?”

            Here’s what Billy Graham didn’t say: “I would have done 10 more crusades; or I would have written another New York Times best seller. He said: “I would have spent more time with my children.” (PH. Sermon #2)

            Who is the important person in your life? Is it your spouse? Is it your children? Is it your parents? Is it your close friend?

        Whoever it is, I want to encourage you to spend time with them, because love is spelled T-I-M-E.

            And the third unchanging principle of relationships is: Encouraging talk.

            Look at Mark 10:16: “Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.” (NLT2)

            What a powerful verse! Not only did Jesus touch the children, but He blessed them; He encouraged them; He spoke positive words into their life.

            Pastor Craig Groeschel once said: “One of the most important things we can do for our children is to speak words of life rather than words of death”      (PH sermon #2)

ILLUSTRATION- One of the many things that I will always remember about my Father is how often he told me that he was proud of me.

Whether it was in an email, through a text, on the phone or in person, my dad would always take the time to bless me by telling me how proud he was of me and my family.

ILLUSTRATION- This past week, Emma brought home her French test and showed it to me. Her eyes were sparkling as she said to me: “Daddy; this is the best mark I’ve ever gotten in French!”

            I grabbed her and gave her a big hug and a kiss and told her I was very proud of her.

ILLUSTRATION- Erica had a dance recital this past Wednesday night, and before she left, I sat her down on my knee and told her that I was very proud of her and that I knew she would do an awesome job.

You know what she did? She leaned into my neck and gave me a great big hug.

            Dear Church, there are days that I don’t always get this part right either, but on those days, my loving wife will remind me about the power of my words when I speak to my children, because my words will impact them forever.

ILLUSTRATION- Do you remember the old saying: Sticks and Stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me?"

        That's a lie! Words have the power to hurt us way more than sticks and stones ever will.

        So when you speak, are you using life giving words, or life killing words?

            There is only one place in the entire Bible that the audible voice of God is recorded as speaking to Jesus.

          There is no doubt that God spoke to Jesus more than once, but only once is the conversation recorded for us, and that can be found in Matthew 3:17.

            Jesus had just come out of the water after His baptism: “And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17, NIV)

            God shouted down from heaven: “That’s My Boy! I Love Him! I’m proud of Him!”

            I wonder how many of us need to follow our Heavenly Father’s example in our relationships?

Which one of the unchanging principles do we need to apply to the important people of our lives?

            Every relationship that we have will thrive if we apply these principles, but our relationships will suffer tremendously if one, two, or all three of these principles are missing, so which one do you need to apply to your life?

            Do you need to spend Abundant time with the important people in your life?

            Do you need to speak encouraging words to the important people in your life?

            Do you need to use appropriate touch in your relationships?

            What principle do you need to work on? Maybe it’s all three?

        Maybe you need to wrestle with your grand-children? Maybe you need to bless a friend, whose been having a hard time. Maybe you need to take someone out to dinner this week…

            If you need to make some changes in your relationships, I’m going to ask you pick up, and fill out, a response card off the alter.

            Each card has the three relationship principles on them, and if you need to work on one, two, or all three of these principles, do so one step at a time.

 

Parenthood

We began a new sermon series at MRWC today called "Parenthood". This post is the first sermon in this series. Enjoy!

 

             Well, I’m excited to begin a new sermon series today. I’m excited… and a little nervous. I’m nervous because this series is called: “Parenthood”

ILLUSTRATION- It amazes me that anyone can be a parent. Think this statement through with me for just a moment:

            You have to pass a series of tests to drive a car; you don’t have to pass a single test to be a parent.

            You have to pass a series of tests to graduate from High School; you don’t have to pass a series of tests to be a parent.

            You have to pass a test to operate a speedboat; you don’t have to pass a test to be a parent.

            You have to pass a series of tests to be a lawyer, a doctor, an insurance agent, but you don’t have to take a single test to be a parent!

            I am not a parenting expert, not in the least. Without the help of my loving wife, there is no possible way that my 2 girls would be as good as they are.

        Even though they vex her, she is a wonderful mother to my children.

            While I’m not a parenting expert, I am a follower of Jesus and because I follow Jesus, I believe that the Bible has some instructions for me as a parent; for us as parents. 

            So as we begin, I want to give you the key thought of the entire series. If someone were to ask you on Monday “what the preacher talked about yesterday”, you can sum up the entire series this way:

“God’s Word provides clear guidance on how to raise children to be full of faith and focused on Him.”

Because we are followers of Jesus, it is our responsibility to study the Scriptures and see what God has to say about parenting, and God’s Word provides clear guidance on how to raise children to be full of faith and focused on Him.

The verse that I would like for us to memorize for this series comes from Proverbs 22:6, and it tells us to: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (NIV)

Let’s say it together: “Train a…” we want you to memorize this scripture verse throughout this series…

Commenting on this verse, Max Lucado says: “Show them the way? Yes. Force them to take it? No.” (Lucado, 2005, 122)

It’s our job as parents to develop a thirst for the things of God in the lives of our children. We can’t force them to take that path; we can only show them the way.

And that’s what this series will attempt to do. We will, by God’s grace, look into His Word for guidance on how to raise children to be full of faith and focused on Him.

Now, for those of you without children, or for those of you who have children, but they have grown up and moved away: please don’t tune me out!

Instead of dismissing this series as only for parents, apply the principles that we suggest to your own life, because it’s your responsibility to “Know Christ and to make Him Known” and these principles will help you do that very thing.

So with that said, let’s dive into our message today entitled “The Parent’s Priority”

As parent we have two priorities. As a not-yet parent, or a never to be parent, you have two priorities as well. The first priority, no matter who you are, is to LOVE GOD. 

This truth- parent or not- comes to us from Deuteronomy chapters 5 & 6.

Moses had given the Children of Israel the Ten Commandments, the 10 rules they were to live by, and just after Moses gave them the big 10, he told the people:

“These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,

2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.” (Deut.6:1-2, NIV)

As we teach our household to live according to the commands of God, we will be changed. Not only will we be changed, but so will those who are living under our roofs, right up to the 3^rd generation.

The Bible says: “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3, NLT2)

As followers of Jesus, we are to obey God’s commands. As parents, who are followers of Jesus, we are to obey God’s commands.

This is what Moses told God’s people to do, and this is still what God’s people are to do.

Look at what Moses goes on to say in verses 4&5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6:4-5, NIV)

We are told in the Scriptures that we are to love the Lord our God with some of our hearts.

Church: one of the worst things we can do as parents, as not yet parents, as never will be parents, is to go part-time with God.

I’ll go to church part time… 2 out of 4 Sunday’s.  I’ll read my Bible part of the week.

Moses didn’t tell us to love the Lord our God with half of our being. Moses told us that we are to love the Lord our God with our entire being.

We should enjoy spending time in God’s word. We should enjoy coming to church each week, we should enjoy spending time in prayer.

If you don’t enjoy these things, you need to ask yourself why:

It could be you need another translation of the Bible; it could be your heart isn’t in the right place when you come to church, or it could be that you’re trying to pray for an hour when you need to gradualy work up to praying for an hour.

The priority of every Christ follower--- parent or not—is to love God with our entire being. Moses told us that if we did this, we would enjoy a long life and it would affect in a positive way those doing life with us.

ILLUSTRATION- I came across a study that underscores this truth a little bit more. It highlighted the importance of following Christ and going to church.

If mom and dad went to church—72% of their children will go to church as adults.

If only mom goes to church—15% of kids will go as adults

If only dad goes to church—55% of kids will go as adults

If neither mom nor dad go to church—06% of kids will go as adults.

As a parent I have a huge responsibility! I have the responsibility to make sure that I love God with all my heart, soul and strength.

 I have to make sure that nothing encroaches in on my time alone with God, not even my wife.

So I ask you this morning church: Do you love God with all your heart, or with some of your heart?

If it’s with some of your heart, the Good News is that you can commit today to loving God a little bit more than you did yesterday, and you do this one step at a time.

By changing what you watch, by changing what you say or as Paul says: “…let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think…” (Romans 12:2b, NLT2)

Do you need God to change your heart in order for you to love Him more?

Our first priority as a follower of Jesus, as a parent who follows Jesus, is to Love God, and the second priority is to: “Lead your family.”

This principle comes from Deuteronomy 6 verses 6-9: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.

7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (6-9, NIV)

Moses was instructing us to lead our families spiritually.

We are to talk about Biblical truths as we are in the car on the way to hockey practice. We are to talk about biblical truths as we eat supper, when we lie down and when we get back up again.

Moses was telling us that teaching the commands of God is to be a lifestyle, it’s not to happen sporadically; it’s to happen all of the time.

Edward, the Duke of Windsor once remarked: “The thing that impresses me most about America is the way the parents obey their children.” (PH, sermon. #1)

Parents: Are you leading your children, or are your children leading you?

It’s clear from this section of scripture that parents are to lead their children; parents set the tone for their families. 

How do you do that? Well, every family is different, you’ll have to figure that out for yourself, but I can tell you that you will need to lead intentionally.

            Allow me to share with you some of the things that Beth and I do as we lead our kids:

ILLUSTRATION- Every 4 years TWC holds a pastor and spouse conference called “the Gathering”.

            The first Gathering was held in Orlando Florida in 2007, and Beth and I packed up our kids, and drove with another couple, to Florida for this conference.

            As we were making our way around the conference, we happened to run into a Pastor friend of mine and his wife, and she said to me: “You brought your kids to this?” I smiled at her, and said: “Yes, I’m a family man”.

            I say that to let you know that we vacation with our kids. While it might be nice to be without them for a night or two, we love them and want to spend time with them, so we take them with us when we go away.

            Here are a few other things that we do:

I correct my kids when they talk back to their mother. I will stop what I am doing, and remind them that they don’t speak that way to my wife.

            I let my kids see me reading my Bible; I let my kids see me on my knees praying.

            Beth and I watch over their education, we limit their TV viewing time, and we send them outside to get dirty!

            We correct them when they do something wrong, and we have them do chores around the house. Every day of the week.

            It’s our responsibility as parents to lead our children, not have our children lead us.

            These are just some of the things that we do. You don’t have to do what we do, but you will have to do what will work for your family.

        You will either lead your kids, or your kids will lead you… and the Bible says that it’s the parent’s responsibility to lead their families.

Let’s go back to our key verse one more time. Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (NIV)

ILLUSTRATION- In Old Testament times, when an Israelite woman would have a baby, the Hebrew midwife would be present and she would take her finger and dip it into a paste and then put the paste on the baby’s palate, which would initiate a hunger so the baby would nurse. (Adapted from Max L Cure, ch.14 and PH sermon #1)

So, according to this verse, parents are to initiate, or train their children in the way they are to go.

We are to put a craving in their minds for what is right, noble, excellent, praiseworthy…

We train our kids by loving God with all that we have; and we train our kids by leading them.

These are the 2 priorities of a parent, so how are you doing parents?

Are you falling in love with God? Are you spending time in His word? Are you praying for your kids? Are you creating a thirst for God and the things of God by the life you are leading?

If your answer is no, then I want you to know that you can begin to correct that.

It will involve asking forgiveness for where you’ve failed, and taking the necessary steps to lead your family intentionally.

For those of you without children, and for those of you who have children but they have moved out from your house, your priority is still the same.

You are still commanded to love God with all you have, and you are still commanded to be intentional in your relationships with your family, friends and co-workers.

So I’m asking all of us to consider these two questions:

Are we demonstrating our love for God to our family/friends/co-workers?

Are we talking about God and the things of God to those around us?

This was what Moses commanded the people of God to do, and this command still applies today, so as we wind down our time together, I want to ask you to respond to the message in two ways:

If you are willing to admit that you need help in loving God with all that you have, I’m going to ask you to raise your hand, and I want to pray with and for you.

If your relationship with God isn’t want it should be, and you would like to change that, I would invite you to raise your hand and I’m going to pray for you…

The second way that you can respond to this message is by admitting that you need help leading those around you—your children, your family, your friends...

      If this describes you, I’m going to ask you to raise your hand, and I want to pray for you as well.

 

The Walking Dead

This post is the last sermon in our Easter series called The Walking Dead. It was a powerful ending to a great series!  Enjoy!

 

 

            Well, good morning (again) church, I’m glad that you are here with us.

            It’s good to be back with you today; I was away last week on vacation, and had a decent, but a challenging week, dealing with post-funeral details, but I did manage to eat a pie or 5, enjoy a couple pieces of cake, some PBC Cookies, and everything else that was brought to the house.

            So, allow me to say a word of thanks to those of you who prayed for, provided meals and just loved on my family as we dealt with my father’s passing.

I’m deeply blessed to serve Jesus with each of you, and I pray that God will bless you for the love you’ve shown to me and my family.

            With that said, let’s launch into the conclusion of our current sermon series called: “The Walking Dead.”

It’s in this series that we have been examining stories of people in the Bible who died, but because of a touch from the Master came back to life again.

This is what Jesus does bestà He makes dead people come alive.

Before we dive into another resurrection account; I want to remind us of our Key text for this entire series. It’s found in Colossians 3:3:

Paul was speaking to Christians and he reminded them of this truth: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3, NIV)

Those who profess to follow Jesus are members of the Walking Dead club; we’ve died to sin and are alive in Christ.

But the opposite of this is also true: those who don’t follow Jesus are members of the Walking Dead club; you are dead to Christ and alive in sin.

You need to hear this church; you’re either for Jesus or you’re against Jesus. There is no middle of the road. 

John reminded us in 1 John 5: “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12, NIV)

Because the Resurrection of Jesus changes everything, we don’t have to remain in sin.

Because Jesus paid our sin debt with His death and resurrection, we can experience new life in Jesus; because Jesus makes dead people come alive!

The account we are going to examine this morning illustrates this truth even more.

This account is a 2 for 1 deal. Two lives are changed because of a touch from Jesus, so if you have your Bibles I invite you to turn with me to Mark 5. (If you don’t have a bible, it will be on the screen)

We’ll begin our reading at verse 21:

“Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore.

22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived.

When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”

 24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him.

25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding.

26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.

27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.

28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”

29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

 30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

 31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

 32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it.

33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done.

34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

 35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

 36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).

38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing.

39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

 40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.

41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!”

42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.

43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.” (Mark 5:21-43, NLT2)

In this account we come face to face with two different people, both of whom are at completely different stages of life, but both are in need of the same thing: a touch from Jesus.

The first person we encounter in this story is Jairus, the local synagogue leader.

He would have been responsible to oversee the upkeep of the synagogue as well as the times of worship. So he’s a pretty important dude.

            As Jesus was teaching the crowd of people that had followed Him, Jairus comes over to Jesus and falls at His feet and tells Him that his little girl—all of 12 years old—is very sick.

            He informs Jesus that if He would only come to his house and lay His hands on her, she would get better.

            Sounds simple enough, right?

            As Jesus was making His way to Jairus’ house, Mark introduces us to the second person needing a touch from Jesus; and while we don’t know her name, we do know that she was in need.

            She had a physical illness; probably chronic bleeding from the womb and this prevented her from having a normal life.

            To make matters worse, she had spent all the money she had on medical care, and instead of getting better, she got worse.

            This woman had heard of Jesus and thought that He could heal her, so she made her way through the crowd--coming from behind, because she was considered unclean—and she reached out and: “touched the edge of his cloak” (Matthew 9:20b, NIV)

            There was a train of thought in Jesus day that if someone just touched the cloak of The Teacher they would be healed, so this woman reached out and touched the fringe of Jesus’ cloak; actually, scholars believe she touched one of the tassels that were on hanging down from Jesus’ cloak, and in an instant she was healed!

            Even though Jesus was surrounded by the crowds, He felt power go out from His body, so He stopped and asked a simple question, loud enough for everyone to hear: “Who touched my robe?” (Mark 5:30b, NLT2)

            The disciples scratched their heads and say something to the effect of: “What do you mean who touched your robe? People are coming at you from every direction, and you’re wondering who touched you? Who didn’t touch you Jesus?”

            But Jesus was insistent that someone touched Him and He kept scanning the crowd looking for the person who touched Him.

            Finally, “…the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done.” (Mark 5:33, NLT2)

            Notice, church, that it was not this woman’s superstitious belief that if she touched the fringe of Jesus’ robe that healed her; it was actually her faith in Jesus Himself that healed her!

            Look at what Jesus said to her in verse 34: “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” (Mark 5:34, NLT2)

            As Jesus was explaining to this woman that her faith in His person is what healed her, word gets to Jairus’ iPhone that his daughter had died, and there was no reason to trouble the teacher anymore.

            But Jesus overheard this exchange and said to all of them: “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” (Mark 5:36b, NLT2)

            I wonder how many of us need to memorize this verse? If we were in to getting tattoos, we should get this tattooed on our arms for it would serve us well!

            It would remind us that Jesus is not distracted with someone else’s issue and He has not forgotten about us.

            If God has told us that something would happen, it will happen in His time, but remember: His timing is not our timing, and His ways are not our ways.

            Even if God is 4 days late, He’s still right on time… all you have to do is ask Lazarus about that!

            God wants us to place our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s what Jesus was telling Jairus when He said: “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”(Mark 5:36, NLT2)

            When your world seems all too dark, we must remember to place our trust in Jesus.

            After saying this, Jesus cut the crowd off and only allowed Peter, James and John to accompany Him to Jairus’ house, and when He entered this house, it was filled with professional mourners, and they were making quite a ruckus.

            He then asked the crowd: “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” (Mark 5:39, NLT2)

            Notice the reaction of these professional mourners: “The crowd laughed at him.” (Mark 5:40, NLT2)

            Can I make a suggestion church? Don’t ever laugh at Jesus. If you do, He’ll kick you out, which is exactly what He did with the crowd that had gathered to mourn for this child.

            Jesus then took Jairus and his wife, along with His 3 disciples and entered into the little girls room, touched her hand and spoke to her: “Little girl, I say to you, get up” (Mark 5:41, NIV)

            The Bible is crystal clear as to what happened next: “And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.” (Mark 5:42, NLT2)

            Who wouldn’t be after seeing Jesus at work?

            Jesus brought life to two people that day, a woman with an issue of blood and a 12 year old girl.

            I believe that Jesus wants the same thing to happen today, here, in our church.

            Believe it or not, the 2 people in this story are attending our church.

            There are those among us who have tried all they could to receive healing—but as of yet, you’ve not received it.

            There are those among us who are self-medicating due to pain, hurt, anger, regret—or any other issue--- and you have spent—or will spend—your entire life savings on something that will never heal you.

            There are some among us today who are dead; maybe not physically, but definitely spiritually.

            You have never asked Jesus to take up residence in your heart and life, and due to this, you are still dead in your sins.

            No matter who you are, or at what stage of life you are in, your remedy is Jesus. Not Jesus and… Just Jesus.

            Jesus is what you need if you’ve been suffering some sort of affliction and Jesus is what you need if you are spiritually dead. 

            So, here’s what I’m praying will happen this morning:

            In a few moments, we are going to sing a new-to-us song that will remind us of God’s love for us, and if you have a health issue that you would like for us to pray with you about, I’m going to ask you to slip out from where you are, and come to the front and Pastor Mike, Jon McKay or myself will lay our hands on you, ask you to confess your sin, anoint you with oil, and pray for you, as we are instructed to do in James chapter 5.

            Please hear me church: we believe in a God who heals. God and God alone choses who He will heal, so if He doesn’t heal you today: “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” (Mark 5:36, NLT2)

         God is in control and He will deal with you as He sees fit, we must simply place our lives in His care.

            If you’ve got a health concern that you would like for one of us to pray with you about, then I invite you to make your way to the front of the church in a few moments.

            The second thing I’m praying will happen is for someone to receive Jesus, for that’s what this Bible story is all about: Life change. 

            If you have never confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior; or if you have done this a while ago, but have walked out on Him, and would like to renew your commitment to Him today, I’m going to ask you to slip out and come to the front where one of us will pray with you as well.

            The Bible reminds us that our lives do not belong to us.

       Paul wrote about this a lot, and Romans 6 verse 16 is one of those instances: “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” (Romans 6:16, NLT2)

            Each one of us is a member of the walking dead club: some of us are dead to Christ and alive in sin, and others are dead to sin and alive in Christ.

            If you would like to be alive in Christ or receive special prayer for a health concern--or any other issue that you might be facing—I’m going to say a quick prayer and then invite you to come to front  as the band leads us in our last song.

            Remember church: Jesus makes dead people come alive!