How is our Faith

Welcome

‌Opening Prayer

Mark 5:1-18

5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.[a]

2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.

3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.

4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.

7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”

8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”

10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.

12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.”

13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.

15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well.

17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.

19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis[b] how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

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Junior church/cans

Joys and concerns

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Apostels creed

‌I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

creator of heaven and earth;

‌

I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;*

He descended to the dead

on the third day he rose again

he ascended into heaven,

is seated at the right hand the Father

and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

‌I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic* church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Where is our Faith?

The good lord has put on my heart to stay in the book of Mark for now, and so today we are going to go over Mark 5. We read the beginning of chapter 5 in our first reading of the day. And it talks about a man who was possessed by demons. To the point of being unable to be chained the demons had total control. Our scripture does not tell us if the man had such faith in Jesus that he would dismiss the demons. But we learn he went to him in a dire need and Jesus granted his wish for the demons to be cast out. but the demons begged to be put into the pigs grazing on the hill. the man was set free. then the lord commanded the pigs into the river to be drowned. so what was the purposes of this story? Was it to show the mans unbelievable faith in Jesus? or was it to show what can happen when we turn over everything to God? We can look at this in many different ways but today I would like us to concentrate on how we, too many times cut Jesus short on what he can do for us when we are in need. each week we talk about our faith and we profess our faith, But as I always ask do we live what we say we believe. When we ask God for help are we willing to give it to him and wait for his guidance? I know there are so many times I ask for help from God then go and try to fix it myself. as we look into the next story in Mark 5, We see a story of Jesus healing a bleeding woman. and her belief that if she only touched his robe he would heal her. the story is in Mark 5:21-34

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.

22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.

23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”

24 So Jesus went with him.A large crowd followed and pressed around him.

25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.

26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.

27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,

28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

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

33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.

34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

You see Jesus had no Idea who touched his robe but when asked, he let the lady know who touched his robe because of her faith she would go and be healed.

We as Christians seem to try to limit Jesus when we have no ability to limit his abounding powers. As we look at the end of Mark 5 we find a family who had doubts that Jesus had kept the young child from death but in Mark 5 35-41 We find how the faith of a few can save even those who are believed to be dead, and can be healed, it reads

Mark 5 35-41

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

36 Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.

38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.

39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”

40 But they laughed at him.After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.

41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).

As we grow as Christians I ask that we realize nothing is to big or to small for Jesus Christ to handle. Look at what he has done for the bleeding women because of her faith. As well as the leader of the synagogue these healings were all because of an undyeing faith, So as we go out I ask us again “How is our Faith?”.

AMEN

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