Gateway Church Live | “Jesus Asked: ‘Who Touched My Garment?’” by Pastor Mark Jobe | March 21–22

We're so glad that you're here. Come on. Let's just fill this place with our worship today. Lord, we honor you, Jesus. We praise your name. Cuz I've got joy in the morning, joy in the evening. You keep me dancing in every season. Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy.

Why would I not sing of your praises even when troules go? Why would I not worship forever? Cuz I've seen the good you've done. And I'm not ashamed. I'm a s to save. No, I'm not afraid anymore. When the world calls foolish, you call freedom. Now I won't hold back anymore.

I've got joy in the morning. Joy in the evening, you keep me dancing. In every season, whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy. I'm letting go. I'm wild in your presence. Stand till the sun comes up. You make me strong. Whenever I praise you, Jesus, you fill my cup.

And I'm not ashamed. I'm a sinner. Say, no, I'm not afraid anymore. When the world calls foolish, you call freedom. Now I won't hold back anymore. We say I've got joy in the morning, joy in the evening. You keep me dancing in every season. Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got Oh, I've got joy in the sunshine, joy in the rain.

You keep me dancing again and again. I am tomorrow. I've got Oh, the joy of the Lord is our strength. The joy of the Lord. I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart. of God. Joy, joy, joy down in my heart. I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

Hallelujah. We believe. I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart. I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart. I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Hallelujah. Oh God, joy, joy, joy down in my heart of God. Joy, joy, joy down in my heart. I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

Hallelujah. I've got joy in the morning, joy in the evening. You keep me dancing in every season. Whatever comes tomorrow, I've got joy. Oh, cuz I've got joy in the sunshine, joy in the rain. You keep me dancing again and again. Whatever comes tomorrow. I've got joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

I' got joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Got joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Hallelujah. Joy, joy, joy down in my heart, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Got joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yes. Lord, we praise you today, God.

We praise your name today. Come on, let's just take a moment and just acknowledge God's faithfulness in our lives that no matter the season, he's good. He's faithful. Come on, let's take a moment as our church, as our church family, God, we just say every good and perfect gift, Lord, it comes from you.

But we thank you that your mercies are new every single morning. And so Lord, today we just turn our eyes to you, God. We turn our songs to you, Lord. This is all praise for you. It's all about you, Jesus. Cuz the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Oh, we praise your name, Jesus. Yes, we praise your name, Jesus. Oh, we sing you're the name cuz you're the name above all names. You are worthy of all praise. And my heart will sing. How great is our God. Oh, you're the name above all. You are worthy of all praise.

My heart will sing. How great is our God. You're the name of you are worthy of praise in my heart will see how great is our God and supreme Lord, we sing how great and how great is our God. Sing with me. How great is our God and all will see how great, how great is our God.

Come on, let's lift our voice. was saying, "How great, how great and how great is our God. See with me how great is our God and oh we'll see how great how great is our God is your great Jesus. So great. Oh, everything changed. It's getting harder to recognize the person I was before I encountered Christ.

I don't walk like I used to. I don't talk like I used to. I've been washed from the inside. I've been washed from the inside. Hallelu. Hallelu. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Hallelu. Hallelu. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood.

Only you, Jesus. Only you, Jesus. Oh, I cannot explain. But nothing's more real than this. In the presence of God. Oh, what my heart experienced. When my shame hit the wayside and my sin meant the most high. I was washed from the inside. I was washed from the inside out.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Hallelu. Hallelu. I know it was the blood. could have only been the only for your meries. It's never been about performance, perfection, or striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood.

It's never been about deserving or earning. It's a gift that's freely gi. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be holy and rightous purified his promise? Let me tell you, it's only one way. So give it justify. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hallelujah. Hallelu. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Hallelu. Hallelu. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Come on. Yeah. Let's put our hands together. Aren't you thankful for the blood of Jesus Christ this morning that it's really not about performance.

It's not about what we've done, but it's about what Jesus did to get to us. Amen. You know, speaking of the blood, uh we have the opportunity today to receive communion. And at Gateway Church, we practice what's called open communion, which means you don't have to be a member of Gateway Church, but if you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ, we would love for you to participate with us.

And when you came in, you should have received the elements, but if you didn't, you can simply raise your hand right now and one of our ushers will come by and make sure you have the elements for communion. I was thinking about communion this week, and I thought about my four-year-old son.

Uh his name is Justice, and he is hilarious. Okay. He is the one when he was probably 2 or 3 years old, my wife uh bought him his first blazer sports coat. So, he puts this sports coat on and he's walking around the house with swag and he goes, "Dad, I got my campus pastor jacket on.

I'm a campus pastor." He's just so funny. And he's funny also because of the way that he pronounces or sometimes mispronounces words. We were riding in the car a couple months back and and he meant to say, "Dad, look at all the animals." But instead, he said, "Dad, look at all the ammonels.

Like, there's aminals out there." And I realized he had switched the M and the N. And I just started laughing. I'm like, "You're so cute." And then I thought, "Actually like that better. I'm going to start saying ammonels." Like, it's a better word. What you speak is a better word.

You know what's interesting though is that the Bible talks about the blood of Jesus speaking and the Bible declares that the blood of Jesus actually speaks a better word. Here's what the scripture says in Hebrews 12 24 says to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Now, let me just remind you that the story of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis chapter 4. And it's where Cain kills his brother Abel. And the Bible says his blood cries out from the ground. And guess what the blood cried out for? It cried out for vengeance or pay back.

And yet, this scripture says that the blood of Jesus also speaks, but speaks a better word. And the word that Jesus's blood speaks is not vengeance or pay back. It's actually forgiveness or paid for. See the reality is today as Jesus says when you take the bread and the cup you should remember me.

One of the things we should remember today is that the blood of Jesus is speaking over us. And what the blood of Jesus declares is you are forgiven. I I don't know what you did 20 years ago. I don't know what you did two years ago. I don't know what you did two months or two minutes ago, but what the blood of Jesus paid for was for your forgiveness.

And so, as we receive communion today, remember his blood made a way for you to experience forgiveness. Why don't you open the top layer and grab the bread? On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread and he broke it and he said, "This is my body given for you.

Would you take and eat?" Now you can open the second layer. Likewise, Jesus took the cup and he said, "This is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. You can take and drink now and you can put the cups down as we continue in worship.

And Father, we do we just take a moment and we thank you for your broken body and we thank you for your shed blood. That because of your broken body, we can be made whole. Because of your shed blood, we can be forgiven. And we choose to celebrate that today.

We choose to worship you, to give you glory, to honor you because you are good and faithful and true in Jesus name. Let's worship. >> Oh, we just thank you Jesus. >> Oh, we thank you for the cross. >> Thank you Jesus. God, we thank you for the blood. >> Oh, we just thank you, Jesus. >> We just want to thank you, Jesus.

It's never been about performance, perfection. striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. It's never been about deserving or earning. It's a gift that's really gi. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be holy and righteous, purified, and spotless?

Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be worthy forgiven? Justify really living. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. It's never been about performance, perfection, striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only for deserving early. It's the gift that's freely g.

Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be holy and rightous, purify? Let me tell you, it's only by the way for just could have fall been. Hallelu. Hallelu. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Hallelu. Hallelu. I know it was the blood.

Could have only been the blood. Thank you, Jesus. Yes, we thank you, Jesus. >> Your blood. Thank you Jesus. We praise you. >> Oh, we thank you for your blood. >> You're all we want. >> Your blood speaks a better word. And we say thank you. We say thank you, Father.

Maybe we've made this complicated more than it was ever meant to be. Hasn't it always been about the same things? Oh Lord, bring us back to simple things. You be the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my savior. All in all, you're the one I hold on to.

For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to sing. Jesus, I love you. Teach us to discern the moment when to serve and when to sit here on your feet. Keep us awake to what's important. Just like Mary who chose the better thing. Oh, and you are the center of it all.

My heart belongs to you, my savior. All in all, you're the one I hold on to. For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you. Oh, for you are the center of it all. My heart belongs to you, my savior. All you're the one I hold on to for the beauty of your name.

My soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you, Jesus. I love you. Oh, I love you. We pour my love on you, Jesus. Oh, how I love you, Jesus. I love you and my whole life for your glory. my whole world for you only everything for the honor of your name.

And in bright days tell the story. Let it be of you only everything for the honor of your name and my whole life for your glory. For you want me everything for the honor of your name. In my days, tell the story. Let it be of you. Everything for the honor of your name and my whole life.

For your glory, my whole world. For you everything for the honor of your name. My days you Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. for the honor of your name. Oh, we praise the name of Jesus for your name. Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. Father, we declare in this place that we want our whole lives to be about your glory. That our hearts belong to you. that you are the center of our lives. You are the center of our world. You are the center of the universe.

God, you are the center and everything revolves around you. Lord, we fix our eyes on you today and we give you glory, honor, and praise in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Let's give him praise one more time. Amen. So great worshiping with you. And as we continue in the service, I do just want to take a moment and welcome all of you to Gateway Church.

Those of you that are joining us online or part of our Gateway gatherings, our prison campuses, and those of you that are new to Gateway Church, come on. Can we just put our hands together? Everybody, welcome everyone that's joining us. Those of you that are new, we are so excited uh that you chose to be with us this weekend. and we would love the opportunity to personally connect with you.

And there's a couple ways to do that. First of all, you can simply text the word connect to 710. That's connect to 710. And even if you're joining us online, you can text connect to 710 as well and we'll follow up with you there. Or we would love for you after service to meet us in an area called Connect Central and it's out located in our lobby.

I'll be there along with some of our leaders. We'd love to meet you, shake your hand, get to know you a little bit, answer any questions that you have. So, if you have a moment after service, please stop by there. Also, Pastor uh Daniel and Pastor Tammy are out of town this weekend, but we have Pastor Mark Job, one of our very own.

He has an incredible message for us this weekend. But before we turn our attention to him, why don't you turn to two or three people, greet them, and welcome them to Gateway Church. Hey, hey, hey. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Hello everybody. It's good to see you.

So excited. I just saw this the screen pop up there about Easter. It's going to be an incredible weekend. You know, that's going to be a great time to bring a friend, to bring a neighbor, to bring an enemy, to bring a family member, bring somebody with you that day.

They're going to hear the story about Jesus. And you know, you can't hear the gospel without it impacting your life. So, let's just believe in the power of the gospel that day and let's bring someone with us that needs to hear about the Lord. Well, you know, I've not gotten to meet everyone.

Sandy and I have been here about 25 years, I believe. And uh we have uh three grown and married kids. They're not kids anymore. I guess I should say three grown and married adults, but we have seven grandchildren. And uh we're excited about those kids. We have five grandsons, two granddaughters.

Uh, one of our granddaughters is in heaven. And, uh, we recently got a new granddaughter, and man, I tell you what, she's going to rock my world. I can tell you that right now. But, you know, we're we've been here a long time. We've seen God do so many wonderful things.

And when we say we believe the best days are ahead, we believe that. We really do. And hasn't the Lord given us an amazing gift by sending us Pastor Daniel and Tammy and their family? Wow. I so love where we're headed. We're still in the series going to continue it today on that's a great question.

Seeing Jesus through the questions that he asked. Before we jump into that, I want to pray for us. Father, I'm praying today that you would not only speak to us, Lord, I'm praying you'll meet with us. Lord, let your presence come in such a way that things that have plagued us and bothered us for years that today you answer questions and meet us right there and change lives and change situations.

We're believing you Lord for mighty things today in Jesus name. Amen. Well, I said to you a moment ago that we had seven grandchildren and you know when I think about questions questions are a great great way to learn. So you ask questions, you learn something you didn't know and kids can ask some of the funniest questions.

One of my grandsons said to me recently, he said, "Papa," that's what they call me. They call Sandy Honey. They call me Papa. He said, "Papa, why are you so old?" I'm thinking,"Wh are you so truthful?" You know, and I said, 'What do you mean?' And he said, 'Well, you look so old and honey looks so young.'

I'm thinking, 'Well, I agree with you there. I guarantee you I do that. But, you know, kids ask the greatest questions. But Jesus asks questions. And in Mark chapter 5, Jesus asks the question, "Who touched me? Who touched my garment? Who touched me?" It's an interesting question and it's an interesting story.

But before we jump into the passage, I want to give you some backstory of what was going on in the life of Jesus that particular day. Early that day, he crossed over the Sea of Galilee. And when he reached the other side, he was confronted by a demon-possessed man.

And so, he cast the demons out of this man. And it's a very crazy story because he cast the demons into a herd of pigs. The pigs ran down the hillside and into the sea and they all died. And I'm thinking, hey, the the the demon-possessed man, that was a great day.

The pig farmer, not so much. So, he leaves that setting. He gets back on a boat. He heads back over the Sea of Galilee. And that's when the storm arose. And we have the story where Jesus has to say, "Peace, be still." And and the the disciples get to see that miracle.

He gets to the other side and a crowd of people gathered and uh he actually preaches an open air church service right there on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. Around that same time, his mother and his brother confront him and they they they uh basically family dynamics.

Is it okay to say even Jesus had family dynamics? I know we know something about that all of us. And then from there some theologians approached him and he had to answer theological questions. We pastors love those. Yeah, just keep the emails coming. We love those theological questions.

Not. But anyway, Jesus had to answer the theolog theological questions right there. And then after after that, we have a a man. He was a ruler of the synagogue. He came and he asked Jesus to make a house call. And so Jesus was on his way to this house call to to uh heal this synagogue leader's daughter when a woman stops him along the way.

Typical day in the office for Jesus. Should I say typical day out of the office for Jesus, but I want to pick the story up in Mark 5 25. And the Bible says, "Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for 12 years." goes on to say, "And she'd suffered many things from many physicians.

She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. And when she heard about Jesus, she came from behind him in the crowd, and she touched his garment. For she said, "If I only if if only I may touch his clothes, I shall be I shall be made well."

I like what it says in Matthew 9 here. It says that she reached through and touched the hymn of his garment. We'll come back to that in just a moment. Verse 29. Immediately the fountain of her blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

And Jesus immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him, he turned around in the crowd, and he said, "Who touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see the multitude thronging you, and you say, who touched me?" And then it says in verse 33, "And he looked around to see her who had done this thing.

But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing that he knowing what had happened to her, she came and she fell down before him and she told him the whole truth." Can I tell you that you can tell Jesus the whole truth? Oh my goodness. I believe freedom happens when we get honest with the Lord.

Verse 34 says this, "And he said to her,"Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction." You know, we talked about the backstory of Jesus. Let's talk for just a minute about this this lady's backstory. What was her backstory? Privately, she battled the same sickness for 12 years.

She exhausted every option she had. She went from doctor to doctor. She drained her resources. The Bible says she spent all that she had. And then it says she only grew worse. Now I can't imagine having the same disease for a year or two. Can you imagine the desperation it drove her to to have the same disease for 12 years?

Year after year, hope after hope, I'll go to a new doctor. I'll try something else. I'll try something new. And after a while, you just get worn down. Some of you have carried chronic illness your whole life. Some of you have had the same bondage in your life since your teenage years and you've you've just been convinced by life and you've been convinced by the enemy that it's just never going to change.

I'm just going to have to live with it. I think that's where she found herself. Her continued her her condition actually continued to get worse. I think not only was she impacted by her physical condition, but I believe she was heart sick. The Bible says hope deferred makes the heart sick.

She'd lost hope. Everything she tried failed. Every path she took was a dead end. That was privately. But what about publicly? The Bible tells us that publicly because of her infirmity, she was classified as unclean, rejected by the community. She was isolated from family. She was isolated from friends.

And in modern terms, she wasn't even allowed to go to church because of her condition. She was very seldom seen in public. And when she was, she hid in the crowd. The enemy seemingly had her backed into a corner with no way out. I'd call this absolute desperation.

And I believe her desperation drove her to faith. Can I just stop right here for a second and say, what has your desperation done to you? Has your desperation drove you away from God, or has your desperation drove you toward God? I believe the Lord wants us to come with our honesty.

I believe he wants us to come with our desperation. I believe he he can handle the hard questions that we can ask. And if you've walked through difficulty in your life and you're still walking through difficulty, religion says, you know, you can't get honest with God. But relationship says, tell me the truth.

And that's what the Lord is saying. But I want to know in this story, what shifted her thinking? Why did all of a sudden did she say, "I've got to get to Jesus." Matter of fact, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

And that's where many of us get locked in. But something shifted that day in her heart. I believe the scripture tells us what it was. It's the part where it says, "And when she heard about Jesus, it's like an infusion of hope. Something hit her like I I don't know if she maybe she'd heard some of the stories.

Maybe she'd heard other people had gotten healed. I don't know what she knew, but I'm telling you something shifted inside of her and her desperation became her confession. The scripture goes on to say that she said, "If I could just touch the hymn of his garment, I would be made well."

She started saying what she needed to say. Her confession was important. It's important what we say. What we say becomes like a runner to our life. What we say becomes what we pray. And some of us have gotten trapped in such negativity. What comes out of our mouth has has has directed our path.

Mark 11:24 says this, "Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them." But listen to this. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." And some of us speak death over our life.

I'm not talking just about positive confession. I'm talking about believing that Jesus can still do what Jesus says he can do and coming in alignment with that and declaring the truth. IT'S IMPORTANT. IT MATTERS what we say. Sometimes I believe sometimes we complain more than we believe. Sometimes we just speak death instead of speaking life.

Her desperation became her confession. But not only that, her desperation was greater than her fear. You remember she was rejected by the city. She was rejected by her neighbors. She decided at some point, "I've had enough. I'm doing something different." She refused to stay in the crowd. She refused to stay in hiding.

And she began to make her way toward Jesus. I can just imagine the turmoil inside of her. What are people going to say? What if I get there and nothing happens? What if? What if? What if? What if? What if I pray one more time and there's still no answer?

The enemy will speak to you, but you're going to have to hear the voice of God and believe the promises of God. And she caught on to just enough that she started walking toward Jesus. She combed her fear, but not only did her was her desperation greater than her fear.

I love this thought. Her desperation drove her to faith. Man, she made up her mind. Not only am I coming toward Jesus, I'm pressing through and I'm touching Jesus. She She surrendered. She risk it all and she reached out and she touched Jesus. And let me just say this to you.

When earth touches heaven, heaven touches earth. Come on, somebody. You know that's right. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." He invited us into this type of living. She reached through and she touched the hymn of his garment.

Let me just say brushing shoulders with Jesus and having a personal encounter with Jesus are two completely different things. Brushing shoulders with Jesus, coming to church and and singing the songs and getting around the presence of God, it'll lift your spirit, but it may not change your life.

I know some people who've believed in God for years, but there's never been a a heart change. Something shifted in her that day. She moved from religion to relationship and I believe that the target is a personal encounter and relationship with Jesus. That's our target today. She touched the hymn of his garment.

I want to show you a picture of a painting called Encounter. This particular painting is actually a mural on the wall of a small chapel in Magdala on the Sea of Galilee. Thousands of people come here every year and they sit in this room in the lower chamber of this chapel and they see this mural and they just meditate on what God did back then and maybe what he could do today and they just sit there and and and kind of soak it in.

As she reached out and touched the hem of the garment, I'm going to tell you something. I noticed even in this photo, it reminded me she came in low. She came in surrendered. Interesting enough, she didn't tap Jesus on the shoulder. She didn't go face to face in a conversation.

She came in from behind him, which I think speaks of her shame. She reached out and touched him, which I think speaks of her faith, but she also came in low, which speaks of her humility. I think those things are so important. Historically, a rabbi wore what's called a a tit.

This tit had tassels and fringe attached to the four corners of it. It's talked about in numbers 15. It says that these tassels are to remind these rabbis that to keep the promises and the commands of God. Some theologians believe that because Jesus was a rabbi and it was Hebrew tradition that he wore he wore a talite.

But as she reached through the crowd and she be touched the fringe the hem of his garment you know another term for that fringe this is an interesting term it's also called wings. W I n gs. It's not talking about these wings. Talking about the tassels. Could it be that Malachi picked up on that when he prophesied the son of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings?

Did she know that? Did she reach through knowing that there was a promise of healing if she just touched the wings of his garment? I don't know what she knew. I know she knew enough that she was willing to risk it all. And when she reached through and she touched the hymn of his garment, everything changed.

The truth that she discovered that day is the truth we need to keep in mind all the time. And it's this. When faith touches the promises and the presence of God, power is released. And think about that. The wings of that garment didn't just represent the word of God. when she reached and touched the hymn of his garment, she also touched the presence of God.

I don't know about you, but many times in my walk with Jesus, I've said,"Lord, I want to know your word, but I want to know your presence." And I've I've said before, Lord, I want to have a balance in my life of the word and the presence of God.

I want the Holy Spirit, but I want the word. And one day, the Lord said to me, "You don't want a balance." And I realized why. If you if you're balancing all the time, you can come off balance so easily. But here's what I begin to pray. Lord, I want to be held in tension.

I want all the word pressing on me from one side and all of the Holy Spirit pressing on me from the other side. And I want to be held stable in the middle, full of the word, full of the spirit. I think when she touched the hymn of his garment, she touched the presence and the promise of God.

That's why she was healed. When faith touches the promises in the presence of God, power is released. We have a gentleman in our church. His his name is Chris. Chris visited that that very room there on the the Sea of Galilee a few years ago. And here's his story.

As a child, he he broke his collar bone. And because of all of the uh the the damage there, the scar tissue, he he had difficulty through throughout his his young life. But when he was older, he went bungee jumping and really tore it and damaged it bad.

And because of the injury in his shoulder, he could no longer jog. He couldn't run. He couldn't work out. And for several years, this condition just worsened. And and so he just got used to carrying the pain like a lot of us do. Later on, he developed a heart condition and had to go on medication.

So, now he's battling two different things. And in 2018, he went scuba diving with his dad off the coast of Florida. He and his dad had scuba had scub scuba dove. Is that the right term? I'm going to Kings. I've got to get this right. And something went wrong with with his dad. and his dad began to come up and you know coming up too fast is not good for your body because of the pressure.

Chris grabbed him and tried to help him but by the time he got to the surface something wasn't quite right with his dad. His dad was swimming toward the boat and as he was swimming toward the boat he ran out of oxygen. Chris had to give him his regulator and by the time they got him to the boat he was unconscious.

They began to perform CPR on him and later the medics came, they performed CPR and Chris's dad didn't make it. Can you imagine the brokenness that Chris experienced in that moment, losing his dad? Chris even said to me in a conversation, he said, "I wasn't even sure I believed in God."

Fast forward a couple years ago, let no, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me let me go back to the story. After Chris's dad passed away, Chris decided to come back to church. And because his parents attended Gateway, this is where he came. While here, he got involved in a men's group.

The men's group begin to talk about Israel going on a trip. So Chris decided to go on this trip to Israel, and that's where he found himself in that room where I just showed you that mural. And while in that room, the subject turned to healing. And so they offered to pray for Chris's shoulder.

Chris is thinking, "I need my heart healed. I mean, my physical heart. I've got a heart condition. But as they begin to pray for him, he said, I felt this warmth come over my shoulder and I knew something was was happening and my pain begin to disappear. And he said, I I still didn't know if I believed.

He said, I went back to the hotel and and in unbelief, I went to the gym and started running on the treadmill and I started working out and all the pain was gone. I knew God had touched me. I knew God had touched me. He came back from that trip, became a member here at Gateway, still struggling with whether or not he really believed in the Lord.

He decided to go back to the doctor to get his heart check. And he told the doctor, he said, "I'd like to get off this medication and get on something more maybe more natural." And the doctor did this extensive testing. And doctor came back and said, "Chris, there's nothing wrong with your heart."

God had healed him. His mind went back to that room. the very thing he prayed, "God, if you're really there, heal my heart." Matter of fact, Chris is in the service here somewhere. Where are you, Chris? Would you just stand up for a second? I saw you down worshiping a moment ago.

Where is he? Come on. And you know what happened because of that healing in his body? Chris says, "I became A TRUE BELIEVER. I'VE WATCHED THE LORD do that time and time again. He did it with the woman in Mark 5. He did it with Chris. I've watched him DO IT.

HE'LL HEAL SOMEONE. He'll do a miracle in their life and then they become a believer. I mean, we've made it so hard for people to get healed. Why is it the enemy wants to take healing out of our theology? Because he knows when people get touched supernaturally, it opens their heart to to the gospel.

And that's part of the plan of God. We want people get saved, then get full of the word, then get discipled, then get in a class, and then then start worshiping, and then somewhere along the way, you might get healed. Are you kidding me? Sometimes the Lord just wants to flip it upside down.

He wants to get you healed so that he can open your heart so that you can meet the true Jesus. Oh my goodness. I run into people all the time. They're like, "Oh, I believe Jesus was the healer. I I don't have a problem with all the stories of the Bible.

I just have a problem with him doing it today." And I want to say, "Are you kidding me?" Listen, in our lifetime, we've seen way too much. We've seen blind eyes open. We've seen deaf ears heal healed. We we know two men that were raised from the dead.

Once you know that, once you see that, you can't unsee it. You can't unknow it. The integrity of our heart demands that we keep moving forward. I can't go back. And just like the the lyrics of the song, Too Good to Believe, have said, "We've seen cancers disappear.

We've seen broken bodies healed. Don't you tell me he can't do it. Don't you tell me he can't do it. WE'VE SEEN REAL LIFE RESURRECTION. We've seen mental health restored. Don't you tell me he can't do it. The words of this song were taken from actual testimonies of God doing this in someone's life.

Don't you tell me he can't do it. We've seen families reunited. We've seen prodals returned. We've seen troubled souls delivered. We've seen addicts finally freed. Can I just say to you today, Jesus still heals. He still saves. He still sets free. He still does everything THAT THE B IS IT OKAY FOR ME TO SAY HE STILL DOES IT HERE AT GATEWAY CHURCH?

HE'S NOT THROUGH. OH, come on, somebody. He's not through. Is it okay to just say to the world, we're still a believing church. We're still a Jesus church. And if he did it then, he can do it now. Oh my, that was not in my notes. Here's the deal.

Her desperation drove her past the crowd, her fear, her rejection, her hopelessness. Her desperation drove her to faith. But I love this thought. Her faith stopped God. >> Her faith stopped Jesus in his tracks. Even though Jesus was on an assignment to go to someone else's home, he was not bothered by her interruption.

He took the time to talk to her personally. And when he said, "Who touched me?" I I can just imagine she thought she was in trouble. I would have thought I was in trouble. What did I do? Instead, he had compassion on her. He prioritized her in front of the crowd.

But the thought she stopped God just I can't get past that. You know, Abraham one time stopped God. He prayed and God changed his mind. Sometimes we think, well, God's just going to do it. No matter what, God's just going to do it. I believe through intimacy and intercession, sometimes even we can stop God.

I hope you believe that. But even though he was God, not only was he not bothered by her interruption, he wasn't afraid to be a touchable. Don't you love that about Jesus? He walked among the people. Even when he was in a large crowd, he took the time to talk to the one.

Jesus was and is a touchable. Look at Philippians chapter 2. Let's look at it in verse 6. It says, "Jesus being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondervant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself."

Jesus was a touchable. He was a humble servant according to the Bible. He walked in the streets where the majority of the people were. He walked in the streets and that's where the majority of the healings took place. There were 37 noted miracles by Jesus in the New Testament. 30 of them happened outside the synagogue.

And even when I think about us coming to church on the weekend, this is practice. We come to worship the Lord. We come to get right with God. We come to get filled with the Holy Spirit. We come to get encouraged by the word of God. We're being built up.

But that's so we can go out and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, we can pour out into someone else's life and we can make a difference at OUR JOB. WE CAN MAKE A difference at OUR SCHOOL. WE CAN MAKE A difference in our neighborhood. Does anybody believe that?

That's where we're headed. Not only was he God, he was holy. We think sometimes when we think about the holiness of God, we we just we just think he he he's he's so spotless you can't touch him. That's not true. I love this about our God. Although he was holy, he was not afraid to get his hands dirty.

A few years ago, we were sharing Jesus house to house in a small town. We walked up to the front porch. There was an older gentleman on on the front porch. And I noticed immediately the house was very rund down. The porch had holes in the wood. You could see the ground through the porch.

You could tell the the family lived below the poverty line. And it just broke my heart. But as I began to share the gospel with this gentleman, I could tell it was very receptive. And then about mid-sentence, he just said to me, "Stop." I thought I had offended him.

And so I I just stopped. and he said, "I want you to come inside and tell my family what you're telling me." He invited me into his home. And I went inside and as I got inside, I was shocked to see how many people lived in that house.

There were 13 people inside. So with him were 14 and there were children in there, all age groups in there. So I got down on on my knees so that I could be eye level with some of the children. And I started the story over and I shared my testimony and I shared how to know the Lord.

And while I'm talking, a little toddler walked across the floor, climbed up in my lap, wet cloth, diaper, and all. I could just feel the diaper soaking through. And I'm thinking, I can't react. If I do, I'll lose this entire crowd. And so, I reached over and kissed that little kid on the forehead and just held on and continued sharing the gospel.

That day, the Lord moved in that little house and 13 people prayed to receive Jesus as their savior. But listen, I heard the Lord say something to me that day that I've never gotten over. I'm still not over it today. I heard him say to me, "Sometimes you got to kiss them when they're dirty."

That's our God. It doesn't matter what you're walking through. It doesn't matter where you've been. It doesn't matter what you're walking through right now. He'll kiss you when you're dirty, he'll meet you right where you are. That's what the scripture says about him. That's what the word says.

The scripture says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Not only does Jesus love us where we are, we need to love people where they are. I learned that day that Jesus cares more about what you're going through than you than you'll ever know. And he's not afraid to get right in the middle of it.

So then let me ask you why the question who touched me wasn't because he didn't know the answer. It's because we need to know the answer. You see nothing happened when this woman held back. Breakthrough only comes when you press in. So why do we hold back? Jesus is not afraid of where we've been and what we've done.

He's not angry with us. As I was worshiping down there early, I kept hearing the passage that says it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. He's not wanting to scream in your face, repent. He's trying to say to you, I've got a better life for you.

I've got blessings I want to pour out into your life. I I want to heal you. I want to set you free. I want to change your life from the inside out. These are not just Bible preacher talk. This is the scripture. He cares about you. So why did he ask the question, who touched me?

It wasn't so he could heal her. He She was already healed. So what was it? It was so he could complete what she started. Remember, she suffered in private. He's getting ready to restore her in public. You've suffered in private, but can I tell you, when you come to Jesus, he wants to so do something in your life that you'll be the first to tell someone publicly what he's done. because you c you have been the recipient of a miracle in your life.

But what Jesus did next changed it all. One word changed it all. Remember because of her infirmity, she was unclean. She was rejected. She was alone. She was bankrupt. She was broken. Some of us have been there. Some of you are there right now. And when Jesus said, "Your faith made you well," he he spoke about her past.

When Jesus said, "Go in peace and be healed of your affliction," he spoke to her future. But what changed everything that day was when he said one word, "daughter." Daughter. Basically, he said, "You're mine. I've got you." And no one can take that away. He settled her identity.

He established her destiny. He secured her eternity with one word. And he wants to do that in our lives today. He wants you part of the family. He wants your sin forgiven. He wants you cleansed. He wants your past behind you. He wants to give you a new future.

And I'm not just talking about giving your heart to Jesus and becoming a Christian. I'm talking about a whole life ahead of you, a becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. I've learned in my own life. I got saved when I was seven, 16 years old. But I've been on a process of the Lord cleansing me and cleaning me and changing me and discipling me and filling me.

And all this has been a life of Jesus changing me. I love him more today than I ever have because he's done so much in my life. And he wants to do that for you. >> He cares about you. He wants to do the same for you. I believe he's calling you out of the shadows today.

I believe he's calling you out of the crowd. I believe he wants to forgive you and cleanse you. He wants to be your master, your savior. And just like this woman who touched Jesus, I believe you can touch him today. You'll touch him through your prayer. You'll touch him through your heart.

You'll touch him through your surrender. You'll touch him through your honesty. But I want to help you with that. I believe one simple prayer can change it all. I'm not just giving you preacher talk. I'm telling you, I've watched him do this year after year after year after year.

And if you've never been born again, you've never been saved, you've never given your life completely to Jesus. Today is that day. It's time to come out of the crowd. It's time to stop holding back. And just like this woman pressed through the crowd and touched the hem of the garment, I believe the Lord's calling you to do the same. in a spiritual speaking way.

As I think about what happened inside of her, it's what needs to happen inside of you. You see, when we are lost, as the Bible says, the Bible says we're distant from God. We're aliens to the promises of God. It goes on to say that we're living in a kingdom called the kingdom of darkness.

The kingdom of darkness is full of sin and lies and deceit. And sometimes we feel like we're in the dark. But when Jesus comes in, he shifts something on the inside of us. I can say it like this. It's like the jurisdiction inside of you changes. It shifts.

And all of a sudden, the enemy doesn't have control of you anymore. Jesus does. And he brings his kingdom. The kingdom of love and joy and peace, patience, kindness. His presence comes. That's what happened to her. His presence. When he said, "Daughter," he basically says, "You're mine." And as she reached out and touched him, he reached back and took hold of her.

And that's what he wants to do for you. I want to help you with this. That's what pastors are for. I want to help you cross over from where you are to where he wants you to be. Some of you, if you were to die today, you don't even know if you'd spend eternity in heaven or not.

You don't know. You wrestle with that all the time. You just don't know. You hope. The Lord wants to settle that for you. Some of you know by the lifestyle that you've lived and even what's happened to you the last few days, the last few weeks, the darkness in your life, the struggle.

You know Jesus isn't Lord. I want to help you with that today. I want to I want to pray a prayer with you. And as I give you the words and you pray that prayer, I believe it'll be just like you reaching through and touching the hymn of the garment. and heaven and earth will touch today and you'll be the recipient of a life change.

I believe it based on the truth of the word of God. So, if you could go with me here for just a moment, if you can just envision her reaching through the crowd, I'm going to ask you to think about that as you reach through your fear, you reach through your shame, she reached through your past, as you reach through your doubts.

And I want to pray with you, but I want to know who I'm praying for. So, I'm going to ask just like she reached through. I'm going to ask you to reach up and I'm going to ask you to just reach your hand up and say, "Include me in this prayer.

I'm coming out of the crowd. I'm coming out of my past. I'm coming out of hiding. I'm coming out of the darkness. And today, I'm reaching out by faith and I'm touching Jesus. I want to pray this prayer." If that's you, I want you just to raise your hand all over the auditorium and keep it up so I can see it.

I see one, two, three, four, five. If that's you, raise it up. I just want to know who I'm praying for. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Too many hands to count. It's the goodness of God that's turning your heart to Jesus.

For the sake of everyone whose hands up, let's pray this out loud together. Can we pray it together? Would you just repeat this after me? Lord Jesus, today I make a decision. I will no longer hold back. I will no longer hide in the crowd. But by faith, I come to you.

I turn from my sin. I turn from my past. I believe that you died for me. I believe that you rose again. and I'm responding to your love. I receive you Jesus as my Lord, my Savior. Come into my heart and save me in Jesus name. And everyone said, "Amen."

Can we thank the Lord for those who just prayed? Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. I know in a crowd this size, there's some of you who've carried chronic sickness. You've carried chronic bondage. You too have been lied to that it'll never change. I'm believing with you today that it will.

Just a moment. We're going to go into one more song. Our altar team, prayer team is going to be here at the front. They're also going to be at every exit door in the balcony so that you don't have to walk far. But I want you in the spirit of what that woman did, I'm going to ask you in a moment to leave your seat, to walk past the crowd, and to come and let someone agree with you in prayer.

And let's just let God be God today. Can we do that? Won't you stand with me right now? If you prayed with me to invite Jesus into your heart, would you also come and let one of our prayer team members know? We want to help you with what we call next steps.

So, as we begin to sing, our prayer team's here. Why don't you come? Let's believe God together. In a few moments, Pastor Galani will come and close the service. Come on. >> And I'm desperate for you. And I I'm lost without you. I'm desperate for you and I I'm lost without you.

And I I'm desperate for you and I I'm lost without you. Those of you who are waiting for someone to pray for you, we will stay down here as long as we need to. So, we're not in a hurry concerning that. Those of you that are still seated, I just have such a burden for chronic sickness today.

And I want us to pray for one another for just a moment. If you're struggling with cancer, maybe something else that's been chronic, everything that you've tried just hasn't worked, and you're willing to press in one more time, we want to press in and pray with you. If that's you, would you just lift your hand?

Keep it up long enough for someone to move toward you and put their hand on your shoulder. We're going to pray with you right now. Especially cancer. It seems like when we hear that that word cancer, it's like a death sentence. And it doesn't have to be. Can I just remind you that cancer starts with a small case C and Christ starts with a capital letter C.

He is Lord over cancer. He is. So if you have any need right now and you consider chronic, raise your hand. Those around them, would you just put your hand on their shoulder? Let's pray together right now. Father, in the name of Jesus, we're asking you, Lord, for miracle power to be released in this room.

Lord, as we press in with our faith, Lord, today we do it in your presence. We do it based on the truth of the word of God. And we're praying for a release of the power of the Holy Spirit in their life. We curse cancer at its root and command it to die and go and leave in Jesus name.

And Lord, we pray your healing power right now would flow through their bodies. Everywhere blood flows inside their body, let healing flow. Everywhere air flows inside their body, let healing flow. Everywhere water flows inside their body, let healing flow. And we declare in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ now for healing to be released in Jesus name.

And Lord, we give you praise for it in the name of Jesus. But our altars are going to remain open. If you need more prayer, we'll be here. So, please don't get discouraged and leave. But I'm going to ask Pastor Galani to come and to close the service.

Thank you today. God bless you. Surely love you. Yeah. Come on. We serve a power a powerful miracle working God. Amen. And as uh Pastor Mark said, listen, our our team is going to stay here down at the front. Also, we have team members in the balcony area.

We would love to pray with you. So, even as I share a few closing announcements, if you have any need whatsoever, let us pray with you. We believe God is doing something really special right now. Just a couple of reminders for you. If you raised your hand and gave your life to Jesus today and for whatever reason you didn't come forward, we would still love the opportunity to connect with you.

You can simply text the word Jesus to 710. That's Jesus to 71010 because here's what we believe. That's not the end. That's just the beginning. As Pastor Mark said, this is this is just the beginning of your journey with God. And we want to walk with you. So, please text Jesus to 710.

Also, on your way out, don't forget to grab some invite cards uh for Easter that's coming up. And we also have yard signs. And as Pastor Daniel encouraged us last week, this is not just about giving information, but it's an invitation. Invite someone to come with you and come experience the presence of God.

And then lastly, again, if you're new, Connect Central is located in the lobby. We'd love to meet you if you have a moment to stop by there. Let me pray a blessing over you out of Numbers chapter 6. As we close out our time together, the Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. God bless you. We love you. We'll see you next week.