Jesus Crossed a Whole Sea for One Man Nobody Wanted

Sermon outline

Stop waiting for God to touch you and decide, like the woman with the issue of blood, to press through the crowd and touch Him, because faith that will not turn back unlocks what God has already promised.

1. Jesus went across the sea for one man

   Jesus never followed the crowd; He went looking for the one lost sheep. He crossed to the other side of the sea for a single demon-possessed man after a whole village told Him to leave. Today the church follows the crowd, and many who call themselves Christians are not disciples: they hold Jesus's hand while things go well and say goodbye the moment something hurts.

   Illustration: People say the church hurt them and stop coming. The mall and its shops have hurt you many times, he says, but you still go to the mall.

   “One soul is very important.”

   • Mark 5:1-20
   • Luke 15:4
   • Matthew 28:19

2. A woman left alone for twelve years

   Under the law she was unclean and untouchable. She had spent every cent on doctors, and he notes that the Urdu translation speaks of many different doctors, which he takes to include witchdoctors and herbalists. He pictures her pale and isolated, with food thrown to her from a distance, and asks how many in church look fine on the outside but are spiritually isolated and dying slowly.

   Illustration: Someone must have told her about Jesus, the man who healed the one who had lain by the pool of Bethesda for thirty eight years. Her answer would have been that she had been to the best doctors and was unclean, so how could she go to a rabbi?

   “We're coming in the church, we look good, but inside, spiritually, we've been isolated.”

   • Mark 5:25-26
   • John 5:5

3. I have decided: no turning back

   She decided to reach Jesus even if it cost her life, and to stop caring what the crowd thought. Blind Bartimaeus did the same, shouting for the Messiah however people reacted. Believers who step back from God over one small problem have not understood that nothing can separate them from His love, and that the crown of life is promised to those who are faithful to the end.

   Illustration: He tells the story behind the hymn I Have Decided to Follow Jesus: a missionary in India told by a king to deny Jesus, who watched his two sons and then his wife killed and still said, I'll see you on the other side.

   “When you decided to follow Jesus, no turning back mean no turning back.”

   • Mark 10:46-52
   • Romans 8:35
   • Revelation 2:10

4. She came to touch the Messiah, not only to get healed

   She touched the hem of His garment because she understood the prophecy that the Sun of righteousness would rise with healing in His wings. In touching the hem she was declaring that Jesus is not only a healer but the Messiah. Jesus did not die for our Mercedes or our house, and His name is not a magic word to attach to whatever we want; seek His kingdom first.

   Illustration: He describes the knotted fringes on the hem of a Jewish garment as reminders of the Torah and the name of God, and says that is why the hem was all she needed. He compares using the name of Jesus like a spell to the little stick in a Harry Potter film.

   “Lord, I don't need you to touch me. I want to touch you.”

   • Malachi 4:2
   • Matthew 6:33

5. Who touched Me? Daughter

   Many in the crowd were pressing against Jesus, but He stopped and asked who touched Him. He asks whether the church comes only to sing and clap and then leaves unchanged, losing its temper in the parking lot straight after the service. Jesus called her daughter, and in doing so He did not only heal her but restored the identity her sickness had taken.

   Illustration: Somebody takes your parking spot right outside the church and the language comes out, and then we say we are Christians.

   “Jesus restored her identity, what she has lost because of sickness.”

   • Mark 5:30-34

6. Fill the empty seat beside you

   Sheep give birth to sheep; it is not the pastor's job alone to bring people in. In a country where you are free to preach, start praying for the friend, neighbour or family member who is not in church, so that nobody stands before Jesus and says no one ever told them.

   Illustration: He pictures a friend in heaven telling Jesus that we talked, joked, laughed and drank together, but he never told me about You.

   “Sheep give birth to sheep.”

In this message