In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the power of Jesus over human ailments and encourages the congregation to put their faith and trust in Him. He prays for those who may be suffering, asking for them to experience the touch of Jesus in their lives. The preacher mentions that people are drawn to Jesus for different reasons, whether it be compassion, fear, or desperation. He then focuses on the story of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, who comes to Jesus out of sheer desperation because his 12-year-old daughter is dying. Despite potential conflicts with others in the synagogue, Jairus is willing to do whatever it takes to save his daughter's life. Jesus agrees to go with him, and a crowd follows, eager to witness the miracles of Jesus.

Let's turn now in our Bibles to the New Testament, Mark's Gospel, chapter 5, and we'll begin reading with verse 21. I'll read the 21st verse and the outnumbered verses. Pastor Brian will lead the congregation as you read the even-numbered verses, and let's stand as we read the Word of God. And when Jesus was passed over again by ship to the other side, many people gathered unto him, and he was near unto the sea. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And when he saw him, he fell at his feet. And he besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed, and that she shall live. And Jesus went with him, and much people followed him and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. When she had heard of Jesus, she came in the press behind him, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And the disciples said unto him, You see the multitude thronging you, and you say, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. And while he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, certain which said, Thy daughter is dead. Why trouble you the master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha Kumi, which is being interpreted, damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose and walked, for she was of the age of twelve years, and they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straightly, that no man should know it. And he commanded that something should be given her to eat. Let's pray. Father, as we read these marvelous miracles, we are impressed, Lord, with the power that you have over human ailments. And we pray, Father, that today those who may be suffering, might realize the power that is available to us, who will put our faith and trust in you. We realize, Lord, that people are drawn to you by different motivations. But Lord, whatever it takes, we pray that you'll draw us, Lord, unto yourself. That you might do your work in our lives, that we might experience, Lord, your touch in our lives this day. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Tonight we will be continuing our journey through the Bible, Mark chapters five and six. So we encourage you to read them over. Join with us at seven o'clock this evening, as we gather to continue our journey through the Word of God. This morning, we'd like you to just take note of verse 36, here of chapter five, where Jesus said to Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe. In chapter three of the book of Mark, we see how that Jesus had incurred the wrath of the Pharisees there in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, when he healed a man who had a withered hand. No doubt Jairus was there on that day, and perhaps he was one of those that were criticizing Jesus for doing such a thing on the Sabbath day. Being the ruler of the synagogue, it was his duty to see that the law was kept, order was kept in the synagogue. And it was definitely in their minds a violation of the law for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath day. It was because of this incident that the Pharisees who were there had taken counsel on how they could destroy Jesus. But now the ruler of the synagogue has a little 12-year-old daughter who is dying. Think about how he must have felt. Here is his beautiful little girl. Luke tells us it was his only daughter, and how fathers do dote on their little daughters, but her life is slowly ebbing away. She's dying, and he can see as life is passing out of her body. He knows the power of Jesus to heal. He saw that demonstrated there in the synagogue. It must have been difficult for him because of the stance that they had taken against Jesus to come to Jesus for help for his little daughter. But when you are desperate, you will do strange things. This man is desperate because of the condition of his little girl. And so he lays aside all of the difficulties that would hinder him from coming to Jesus. And Mark tells us that he is kneeling here at the feet of Jesus, begging Jesus to come and just lay his hands on his little 12-year-old girl who was dying. At this point, I don't think he cared what the Pharisees might say or think. The paramount issue in his mind is, I want my little girl to live. It's interesting how that God uses different methods to bring people to Jesus Christ. Some people are moved because of the love of Jesus Christ. John said, we love him because he first loved us. And there are people who feel that need of love, of closeness. And they are drawn to Jesus Christ because of his love. Jude wrote, and some have compassion. Paul said, the love of Christ constrains me. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. And many of you were drawn to Jesus Christ because of his love. There are others that are drawn because of fear. The fear of the judgment that will come upon their sin. And it is that fear of judgment that sort of drives them to Jesus Christ. Again, Jude said, making a difference. Some are brought by compassion, but making a difference. Others are saved with fear as pulling them out of the fire. But then there are others who come to Jesus out of sheer desperation. Their life is a mess. Their lives have been marred by sin. They can see just how empty is their life. And they are facing now some of the consequences of their folly. And they are driven by desperation to come to Jesus for help. They know they need help. And they know that Jesus is the only one who can really help them. That's the case with Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. He needs help. His little 12-year-old daughter is dying. She had been, no doubt, the light of his life for 12 years. Her bright cheeriness just lit up the home. But the light is going out and he's desperate. It could put him at odds with others in the synagogue. But when your little daughter's life is hanging in the balance, nothing else really matters. Now, God desires that you will come. So much so that whatever means it takes to bring you to him, he will use it. Maybe it is love and you're attracted by his love. Maybe it is the fear of the judgment and that concerns you. Or maybe it is just out of sheer desperation because of your life situations that you are drawn to come to Jesus Christ for help. So we read that Jesus went with him and many people followed and were thronging Jesus. I'm sure that he was probably a little upset. It's hard for Jesus to make his way to his house. So many people are pressing upon Jesus from every side. Those that are in front of him, those that are around him, those that are behind him. There's pushing, there's shoving, there's that endeavor of people getting close to Jesus. So it's difficult for him to make his way through the thronging people. And suddenly Jesus stopped and Jesus said, who touched me? The disciples said, Lord, are you kidding? We've been pushed, we've been shoved, people are crowding all around and you ask who touched you? It's interesting. There were crowds thronging around Jesus, pushing, shoving, grabbing, but one in the crowd touched him. I want to be the one in the crowd who touches him because Jesus felt that this virtue had gone out of him. The woman tried to do it in a very unobtrusive way, but suddenly she discovered that Jesus knew. She came and she knelt before Jesus and she confessed. For 12 years she had been hemorrhaging. That was a condition that would have made her, according to their law, unclean. No one was to touch her. Nor was she to touch anybody. She could not go to the temple to worship, nor should, could she even go into the synagogue. This condition ostracized her. And she is telling Jesus that she just felt that if she could just touch him, she would be healed. And she said, the moment I touched, I felt healed. I've stopped hemorrhaging. And Jesus said, oh woman, great is thy faith. Be thou whole. It's an interesting thing with her. She had set a point of contact to the releasing of her faith to receive her help. I think that it is interesting that if we should ask you, do you believe that God can help you in the situation you are in? That to a person we'd all say, well of course, God can do it. God can do anything. And there is that sort of a passive faith that we all have, believing that God can do anything. But I think there's a difference between a passive faith and believing that God can do anything, and believing that God will do it now. Now she had set a point in her mind where she said, if I can just but touch him, I know I'll be healed. A point where she would release her faith to believe that he's going to touch her the moment she touches him. And so as she reached out, it was reaching out in faith to touch the garment. The moment she did, the faith was released and she was healed. I believe that that is why Jesus commanded that we should lay hands on the sick. It gives a point of contact. James said, if there's any sick among you, let them call for the elders of the church. Let them anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will raise the sick, or save the sick, and the Lord shall raise them up. It gives the person a point of contact. I know that when the elders anoint me with oil and lay hands on me, that the Lord will touch and help me. The faith is released. It becomes activated and we receive then that help of the Lord. I'm certain that Jairus was probably a little perturbed. He is feeling the urgency of the moment that Jesus would stop and deal with this woman when his little daughter is dying. But I wonder, as she tells of the condition, 12 years earlier she had begun to die. For 12 years life was ebbing out. She had gone to doctors and she was no better. She had spent all of her money and she was really in a worse condition. 12 years. For 12 years he had been enjoying the life in his little daughter. The life that she brought into the home. But that light and life is now going out. 12 years. As they started again, there were those that came from his house. They said, don't trouble him any further. Your little daughter died. And as he was going through the emotions, thinking Jesus could have healed her. Why didn't he hurry? Now it's too late. She's dead. Jesus turned to him and said, don't be afraid. Just believe. Have faith. They continued on to his house. Jesus at this time dismissed the crowd. Took with him just selected disciples. And when they came to the house of Jairus, they found that the mourners had already gathered. The wailing they could hear from up the street. The neighborhood knew that there was death because of the wailing. And as Jesus came into the house and these people were carrying on and wailing and going through all of the signs of consternation. Jesus said, why all of this fuss? She's not dead. She's just asleep. And they began to mock him and scornfully laugh at him. And Jesus said, get them out of here. And then he took the mother and the daughter. And he went into the room where she was lying. He took her by the hand. And he said to her, little damsel or maiden, rise. And he lifted her to her feet. And she walked. And he said, give her something to eat. A beautiful picture of the power of Jesus Christ, even over death. Some of you might be saying, well, I know that God can do anything. And that he can help me. But I don't know if he wants to help me. Well, back in chapter one, do you remember? Here in Mark's gospel, there was that man who had leprosy, who came to Jesus and said, Lord, if you willed, you could cleanse me. And Jesus said, I am willing. Be cleansed. Have you ever known of a case where a person came to Jesus out of a sense of need, in desperation, seeking the help of Jesus? You know of any case where he turned them away? Jesus said, whoever comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. To me, it's comforting to know that he is willing. The only thing that keeps me from receiving his help would be unbelief that would keep me from coming to him. I don't know what your situation is today. I don't know what you may be facing. I don't know if you're needing love. I don't know if you are very guilty over things that you have done and you are aware that the wrath of God is going to come against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. And there is that fear of the judgment of God. Or I don't know, maybe you are facing a desperate situation today. Maybe things have really gone wrong. Maybe you are under tremendous pressure today. And that pressure has brought you to church in hopes of maybe finding some answers. But this I know. He is able to raise the dead. He is able to undertake even after the period in which we think, Lord, it's too late. I'm sure when they said to Jairus, don't trouble him any further. Your daughter is dead. He had that feeling. It's too late. But never too late to come to Jesus. Never too late for him to work. In fact, by his raising her from the dead, there was even greater glory unto God for the work that was done than just healing her. God wants to work in your life. God will work in your life. All you have to do is what Jairus did. Set aside anything that might hold you back. Maybe you're thinking, well, if I would go forward, my friends would think, oh, oh, there she goes now, or there he goes now, you know. And they would sort of make fun of my seeking his help. Well, I'll tell you what, if you're desperate enough, you don't care what people think. You know you need help, and I can guarantee you Jesus can help you today. And even as he ministered to the daughter of Jairus and raised her from the dead, he can meet whatever situation you might be facing today that has you fearful and has you in that state of real desperation. Not only though is Jesus willing to help, he's able to help. Now unto him who is able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we could ask or think, he can help you today. All you have to do is come. Father, we thank you for this story that illustrates the love and compassion of Jesus for a father who has lost his little girl. For a woman who, for 12 years, has had a condition that has ostracized her from society, and yet by just a touch was healed. Lord, we realize all it takes is just a touch. And may we this day, Lord, reach out and touch you in faith, believing and trusting you, Lord, to work. May we release that faith today, Lord, and receive in turn your touch. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we stand? Some of you in the closing prayer were reaching out and touching Jesus. I could feel it. Others of you are needing to touch him. You're needing his touch. The pastors are down here at the front. They're here to pray for you. And you can set a point of contact for the releasing of your faith, believing that as you come and as they pray for you, that God will take care of whatever condition you might be facing today. The Lord is here to help. The only thing that will keep you from his help is you're not coming. So I would encourage you, come. Come before the situation gets so desperate that you'll come in spite of anything else. You know you need his help, and you need it now. So as soon as we're dismissed, come on forward. And these men are here to minister to you today that you might receive the touch of Jesus upon your life. May the Lord be with you. Watch over and keep you, cause you to grow in your knowledge and understanding of his goodness. And may you experience this week his touch, his touch of love upon your life. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.