Elevate - The Story Pt 24 - Desperate Faith

The speaker expresses the desire to not just learn about Jesus in church but to also experience His power and miracles. They introduce a sermon series on the story of Jesus and emphasize the importance of faith in experiencing God's power. They discuss the story of the woman with the issue of blood, highlighting her faith as the reason for her healing. The speaker encourages listeners to continue believing and praying for their own miracles, emphasizing that even a small amount of faith can move mountains. They also mention the power of prayer and the testimonies of miracles happening in their church. I'm not interested in hanging around Jesus and not experiencing His power. That just doesn't do it for me. We've gone long enough coming to church and doing our stuff and doing our thing and living our lives however we want and just never getting to that place where we're desperate enough to reach out and really truly believe that this is a God of miracles and He can do what He said He would do. I don't want my relationship with Jesus to consist of being in church, learning about Him, having some nice moments, worshiping and praying, but somehow never experiencing this miracle power. Welcome to Elevate from Authentic Life Church in Mobile, Alabama with Pastor John DiQuatro. We hope it builds your faith and helps you to live a life of God that you've always wanted to live. We hope it inspires you to be a holy, devoted, authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Enjoy the message and welcome to Elevate. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. We are continuing in our story series. If you don't have a copy of this book, it's not too late to get one. We're just about three quarters of the way through it now, but it's a great book to have because it's the narrative of the Bible. It's the one continuing story of everything that happened so that you can see exactly what the story of the redemption of mankind is, and ultimately, this book is about who? Jesus. This is the story of Jesus, and so I want you to...hopefully you're staying caught up and you're reading through that narrative. Now last week, we discussed the temptation of Jesus. If you remember that after Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove and God said, this is my son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased, right? He gets led into the desert where the devil tempts him for 40 days, and we saw how Jesus, in preparation for his ministry, was utilizing the word of God to push away the temptation of the enemy, and we learned how we can do that ourselves by knowing the word of God. But now, as we move forward, we see that Jesus is now in his ministry, and he's teaching about the new kingdom that he is bringing. You probably read in there, right, he did the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes and the different things that he's...he's hailing a new kingdom, he's teaching things that are different, and so now he's doing miracles, and he's gaining a following. And I just don't think that it's a coincidence that in this moment in the life of our church that this is where we are in the story of watching Jesus go about his ministry and doing miracles, because he's begun to do miracles in our midst, amen? We've heard the testimonies. God is moving. God is moving. We've seen amazing healings, and we've seen just amazing things happening in people's lives, and God has been good to us, and I believe that there is more, and I believe that he wants to do more, that we're just at the beginning. Listen, let me tell you something, prayer works. It's no coincidence that we started praying this revival prayer about three or four months ago, and all of a sudden we're starting to see miracles happening in our midst, right? We're believing God for these things, and we're putting our faith to these things. So I believe that if we're going to be praying for God to do miracles and signs and wonders, then we better be believing together in faith for those things, right? We can't just pray about it. We've got to stand for it. We've got to believe together in faith for those things, and at the end of this message today, I'm going to give you an opportunity and a time where we can believe God for miracles together in your life, whatever that may be, whether you need healing or something in your finances or a relationship restored or a job or whatever it is that you're believing God for, I believe that we're going to see that together as we come to the end of this service today. So just be ready, be ready to seek God and to reach out in faith today, amen? So today we're going to talk about the woman with the issue of blood, a very familiar story in the word of God, one of Jesus's greatest miracles. And Jesus, in this particular story, Jesus is on his way to heal a little girl who is the daughter of a man named Jairus. And so he has heard Jairus's pleas to, you know, Jairus says, Jesus, please come to my house because my daughter is sick. Can you come heal her? He says, yes, let's go. And on the way, he has an encounter with a very, very desperate woman. Let's read this together, the scriptures that explain this story in Mark chapter five, beginning in verse 24. It says a large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had. And instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, if I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once, Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked who touched my clothes. You see the people crowding against you, his disciples answered, and yet you can ask who touched me. But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering. What an amazing story in the Bible, an amazing miracle that takes place. And this is a very unique story that we find in the Bible, because it's the only time that we see somebody being healed by Jesus without his direct knowledge or intention. You know, Jesus healed in different ways. He would heal from a distance through speaking the word. Sometimes he healed through prayer. At one point we see in the Bible that he made mud with his saliva, or sometimes he just simply touched a person. And we see some of these things throughout the Word of God being repeated in Jesus' ministry. But this is the only one where we see someone healed because they reached out to touch him. And not even him, but just his clothing. In all other cases, Jesus was directly responding to something that he saw, the compassion that rose up within him when somebody was pleading with him because they needed healing in their life. And so he acts upon the situation. He acts with his voice. But in this case, Jesus does absolutely nothing. And so what makes this story so unique is that it highlights not the power of Jesus, although that's very clear that it was his power, but it highlights the faith of this woman. So by the time Jesus spoke to her, she was already healed. So we know that it wasn't his words that healed her. He never touched her. So we know that it wasn't his hands that healed her. But it was still his power that brought healing to this woman. A connection was made in the spirit realm because of this woman's faith. Now listen, I believe in the power of God to do miracles in our lives. I've lived them. I've seen them. I've watched you experience miracles in your life. And I believe that our faith plays a very big part in God's power being manifest among us. In so many of Jesus's healings, including this one, Jesus says, your faith has made you well. We see that all throughout the Gospels, Jesus speaks and says, your faith has made you well. Now there were some people that Jesus could not heal. If we look in Mark chapter six, verse five and six, it says he could not do any miracles there except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. So we see that faith plays a huge role in God's manifestation of power in our lives and amongst us. Now let me just set something straight before we dive deeper into this message. The lack of faith of these people was because they knew Jesus as a carpenter. They refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah and that he could do miracles. They just would not believe it. It wasn't that they didn't believe hard enough. It wasn't that they didn't pray hard enough. It's just that they didn't believe at all that he was the Messiah and that he really could do miracles. And the Bible tells us that if we just have the faith of a mustard seed, that we can move mountains. It only takes a little bit of faith. So I don't want you to ever fall into the guilt or the shame of thinking that you don't have enough faith because you've not seen your miracle manifest yet. Hold on. Keep believing God to intervene in your life. Do not let go and trust him that his plan is perfect. His timing is perfect. His ways are higher than our ways and we won't understand everything on this side of heaven. However, your faith is never wasted. So continue to trust God and believe him for the miracle that you need in your life. Don't stop believing. Don't stop praying. I just named a journey song right there. Now let's take a closer look at this story. It says that the woman is often described as the woman with the issue of blood, right? We know that she was bleeding and that's kind of how we describe her. But her physical ailments was not the only thing that she was dealing with. Her healing went way beyond just the physical need that she had in her life. Her healing meant a whole lot more than just to stop the bleeding that she was experiencing in her body because her healing stopped the bleeding in so many areas of her life. So let's look here at what she was dealing with. And maybe as we look at this, you can relate to the various struggles of her life and go, yeah, I'm going through the same thing. The Bible, number one, she had a physical issue. She definitely had a physical problem that needed healing. The Bible doesn't say exactly what her ailment was, what she was dealing with, but we know that she was hemorrhaging in some way. She was continually bleeding for 12 years. Now if you've ever dealt with a chronic issue in your life, some sort of pain, something that is constantly flaring up, causing problems, it's hard to sleep, it makes your quality of life much lower, it's frustrating, it's demoralizing, it's oppressive in your life. And the Bible tells us that she was proactive in trying to get better by going to see doctor after doctor after doctor trying to find relief. But these doctors were not relieving her of anything but her money. And through all of her treatments, it seemed that she only grew worse. So by the time we see this woman in Mark chapter 5, she is weak, she is frail, she's anemic from years of blood loss, she's at the end of a rope, and she's desperate for a touch from Jesus. She had a physical issue and she needed that to be healed. And you know what? The Bible tells us that she also had a financial issue. She was broke. She spent everything that she had in order to pay for the remedies to try to get better. She liquidated every asset she had. Nothing left. Now certainly no doctor in those days was able to deal with an internal bleeding issue. All they could treat was what they could see. There was no hope for her to be healed from this through the hands of the doctors available at the time. And as if her weakness and her pain and her embarrassment wasn't enough, she was also broke, no longer able to provide for her basic needs. She would be reduced to a beggar on the street, relying on the generosity of others just to survive and hopefully able to muster up a few scraps to eat each day. So by the time we see her, she has nothing. She's completely financially destitute. She's desperate. She's desperate. But not only does she have a physical issue and a financial issue, she had a social issue. According to the law, she was unclean. Unclean meant you could not participate in worship in the temple. It meant that you were not able to interact with others because if you were unclean and you touched them, they would be unclean. And so that would affect their ability to worship God in the temple. So anything or any person she touched would be considered unclean. So as long as she was bleeding, which was all the time, she would continue to be unclean. According to the law that they were following in those days in Leviticus 15, it's the Bible says that she had to be free from bleeding for seven days in order to be declared clean. But she never went more than six days. She bled continuously for 12 years. That meant she was always labeled as unclean. Immediately, the woman is seen and someone calls the rabbi over and says, this woman's bleeding. She's unclean. Get her out of here. And of course, she had to endure the judgment of people who figured she must have sinned in some way to deserve the illness that she had. She was a sinner. She was unclean, ostracized, secluded. No friends, no family, living on the borders of society. Not much better than a leper. Imagine the loneliness. Imagine the hopelessness. Sick, broke, and no opportunity for basic human interaction. When she came to Jesus, she couldn't even do it openly. She had to crawl. She had her face or face being rejected by that crowd. So when we see her, she's in a dark, dark place completely and utterly alone without a shred of hope that she could be loved, befriended, maybe get married, become a mom. She was desperate. So she had a physical issue. She had a financial issue. She had a social issue. But she also had a faith issue. Look what it says in Proverbs 13, verse 12. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. When you have dealt with something for that long, for her it was 12 years. When you deal with something for that long, it begins to wear you down. It begins to make your heart sick. She had lost faith in the doctors that were supposed to help her. Her hope suffered, and she lost faith to believe that she'd ever find relief. She most likely wondered if God even cared, or even if He noticed. But then, her faith gets new life. Her faith becomes revitalized in this moment. You see, she heard about this Jesus. She heard about Him. So surely, she heard about the man in the region of the Gerasenes. If you remember that man that was possessed by a legion of demons, and who was just out of his mind breaking the shackles that they bound him with, and cutting himself, and hurting himself, and Jesus comes and casts out the demons, and this man is healed and sitting in his right mind. Surely, she heard about what Jesus did in the region of the Gerasenes. Who is this Jesus? Surely, she heard about the paralyzed man who was brought to Jesus. He's lowered down through the roof of the house, and Jesus forgives his sins and heals him, and the guy gets up and walks away. Surely, she heard about that. And surely, she heard about how Jesus reached out and actually touched a man who had leprosy and healed him. Another outcast. Another that was just like her, rejected by society, living on the outskirts of society, ostracized, lonely, perpetually unclean and unable to be cured by the doctors, but Jesus reached out and touched this leper. Maybe He'll reach out and touch me. And her faith begins to build. If I can just get to Jesus, I can finally be healed. Here she is in this desperate place. She's desperate physically and financially and socially, and in her faith, she's just desperate. And desperation causes us to do things that maybe we never thought we'd do. When all rational means of relief are exhausted, we begin to look beyond ourselves. We're willing to do anything regardless of the consequences. Desperate. Desperation is not something that we're often acquainted with in this country. Many of us have never faced true desperation. There's always a medicine or a doctor or a social program or a monetary source or an opportunity to find relief. It may take some digging and working, but we often have our physical and financial needs met long before we ever become desperate. Yet desperation is the place where God does His greatest miracles. It's in that place of desperation where we fall completely at the mercy of God is when He does His biggest miracles. You see, in desperation, this woman risked everything. She had to hide her face and crawl on her hands and knees in this weakened, anemic state that she was in. She had to fight through the crowds, not to get a look, but to do something that she was forbidden to do, which was to reach out and grab a hold of this man, Jesus. Because of her uncleanness, because of the fact that the law forbade her to do that, this could have gotten her hurt or even killed. But she was desperate, and so in desperation, she knew, this man, He healed a leper, another unclean one like me, He delivered a crazy man, He raised somebody from the dead. Surely, if I can at least just grab a hold of the edge of His garment, then I know that I can be healed. So she sets out, weak and frail, fighting through the crowds, risking more rejection. But she doesn't just reach out with her hand. She reaches out with her faith. And in this moment, Jesus stops. Something has happened, and Jesus feels it. He felt the power leave His body. You see, when you are desperate enough to reach out with your faith, Jesus will stop for you. He will stop. And so He asks this question, Who touched Me? And the disciples respond, they're like, You see the people crowding all around you, yet you're going to ask, Who touched Me? Everybody's touching you, Jesus. So let's talk about those crowds just for a moment. I mean, they were certainly fans of Jesus. They wanted to be around Him. Maybe they were interested to see what trick He was going to do next. Maybe they were mesmerized by His teaching, and they wanted to hear more. Maybe all of their friends and family were in the crowd, and they're like, Okay, I'll go too. All of these people crowding around Him, bumping into Him, close enough to touch Him, yet none of them are experiencing His power. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in hanging around Jesus and not experiencing His power. That just doesn't do it for me. We've gone long enough coming to church and doing our stuff and doing our thing and living our lives however we want and just never getting to that place where we're desperate enough to reach out and really truly believe that this is a God of miracles. That He can do what He said He would do. I don't want my relationship with Jesus to consist of being in church, learning about Him, having some nice moments, worshiping and praying, but somehow never experiencing His miracle power. 1 Corinthians 4.20 tells us this, For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. It's the power of God that changes us. It's the power of God that heals us. It's the power of God that distinguishes Christianity from every other philosophy and religion. Because our God intervenes in our life. Our God steps into our circumstances and does things to change our circumstances. It's the power of God that comes into our life. The demonstration of God's power that heals and delivers and provides and sets free and transforms. Listen, I don't want to be like the people in the crowd. Jesus is in this room right now. But we could be like the crowd and Jesus could be here and we could be close enough to touch Him, but never experience His power. But I want to be like the desperate woman. Jesus, You're my only hope for healing. Jesus, You're my only hope for my family. Jesus, You're my only hope for my mental health or my emotional state. Jesus, You're my only hope for my life. That's it. It's Jesus. Desperate for Him. Because in that moment, Jesus wasn't one of many options. At that point, Jesus was the only option. Today, I want to see Jesus move in power like He did for that woman with the issue of blood. I want us to reach out today in faith like never before. Reach out in faith to fight through the crowds of doubt. To fight through the unbelief. To get desperate enough to do whatever it takes to get to Jesus. To reach out with a hand of faith and to touch Him. And receive the power of God, the miracle in your life. I don't believe that God stopped doing miracles when the last apostle died. I don't believe that. I believe that God put in His Word that we will do even greater things than what He did. Which means that His power is still available to us today. His Holy Spirit was not given to us just for the apostles to do what they did to spread the gospel. His Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh and is here to stay until the end. And we can access the power of the Holy Spirit. We can access the power of God in our lives. And He shows us time and time again in His Word that it's not just a prayer. It's faith. It's being desperate enough to reach out and say, God, You're my only hope. I know that there's doctors and I know there may be a surgery available to me. And I know there may be a medicine. I know that there may be a social program that I can be a part of and I can get my needs met. And we have to go about those things. I'm not saying that that's wrong, but through all of it we say, But Jesus, You're my only hope. Look, I thank You for the doctors. I thank You for the social programs. But I don't put my faith and my trust in a surgeon. And I don't put my faith and my trust in a pharmacist. And I don't put my faith and my trust in social security or unemployment or welfare or food stamps. That's not where my faith and my trust is. My faith and my trust is in God and God alone. So like the woman that we read about today, do you have a physical issue? Do you have a financial issue? Do you have a social issue or a faith issue? Listen, Jesus is still healing and doing miracles today. And I believe that power still flows to the one that is willing to reach out with their faith to touch Him. So let's fight through that today. We sang this song in our worship time this morning. He's the same God. The same God that did it then is the same God that can do it today. The same God that raised the dead then is the same God that can raise the dead today. The same God that healed a woman with an issue of blood can heal your issue today. The same God that cast out a legion of demons from a crazy man can heal your mental and emotional state as well. I believe that God can do it. The same God that took five loaves and two fishes and fed 5,000 people. That's the same God that's providing for you today. Thank you for listening to Elevate. We hope this message encourages you. Inspired and challenged you. Authentic Life Church is located at 3750 Michael Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. Visit our website authenticlife.tv for more information about Authentic Life Church, to find out what we have going on, or to make a donation. You can also find us on Facebook. We'd love for you to join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. for our weekend service. We have excellent children's, nursery, and youth programs, so bring the family. For Pastor John DiQuatro, I'm Scott Chestnut. Thanks again for listening, and God bless you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Oh rock, oh rock of ages, I'm standing on your faithful head, on your faithful head I'm calling on the God of Mary, to save the rest of all the lonely I know with you all things are possible, I'm calling on the God of David, who made a shepherd boy from ages I may not face good life, but I've got my whole giant, oh God my God I need you