First Baptist Church Bartow

The Parable of the Rich Fool

Background: Jesus is teaching a large crowd. He is teaching on spiritual hypocrisy,fearing God, and acknowledging Christ before men.

2 Samuel 6:5-7 – “5 David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments- lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. 7 Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God.”

This passage troubled me when I first heard it. I actually remember it from being in Sunday School in 6th grade, reading it aloud from this Bible that my Sunday School teacher, Shirley Guerrero, had just given me.

I thought, “That isn’t fair.” Someone asked “Why?” We were told, you just don’t touch the Ark. I didn’t think that was right for trying to doing something good, for just making a mistake. But the mistake started before it happened. And to know what’s going on, we’re going rewind back about 20 years and 8 months to 1 Samuel chapter 4.

The rulers of 5 Philistine towns brought their troops together to fight against the Israelites at Ebenezer. 4,000 Israelites were killed. They blamed God and had the Ark of the Covenant brought down, thinking it would help them in the battle – like they’re gonna’ force God’s hand. When it arrived, Israel cheered so loud it shook the ground and got the attention of the Philistine army. They found out what was going on and feared that the Ark would bring Israel’s God into play, and they knew they did not want to face that kind of power, though they wouldn’t turn to Him. In 1 Samuel 4:8-9 they said, “8 Help! Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness [They knew the stories]. 9 Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours! Stand up like men and fight!”

They fought with desperation, killed 30,000 Israelites, won that battle, and they captured the Ark of the Covenant. If you didn’t know, that’s the thing they were looking for in the first Raiders of the Lost Ark movie.

And they did Rock-Papyrus-Scissors to decide which city got to keep it – Ashdod won. They took it and put it in their temple to their God, Dagon, next to the idol they’d made – a statue depicting Dagon. The next morning, Dagon is down on his face in front of the Ark in a worship position. They prop him back up, and the next morning he’s in the same position, but his head and hands are cut off – not broken off as some translations say – literally “cut off“ and were placed on the threshold leading into the temple. “Cut-off” is a military term; it’s what they did to make the body counts easier in a battle; it’s what David did to Goliath; it’s what the Philistines did to Saul; it’s what a conqueror did to the vanquished enemy: They cut off their head and their hands.

And so Dagon, being in front of the Ark with his head and hands cut off, was a gesture from God that said, “I just conquered your false God.” But He did a little more than that. He sent tumors to plague Ashdod, and people were dying from it! So they said, “Oh no! This must have come from the Ark! Send it to Gath!” They send it to Gath – killer-tumors! They send it to Ekron.

1 Samuel 5:10 – “…when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” And killer-tumors came to Ekron as well! And by that time the other two cities of Ashkalon and Gaza got tumors – a full-blown plague!

And they called the 5 rulers together and said, “What do we do?” They sent for their religious diviners and priests, who said, “Send the Ark back to the Jews! But you have to include a guilt-offering.” A guilt-offering?!

1 Samuel 6:4 – “4 “What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked. And they were told, “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land.”

Tumors?! and Rats?! – With rats you get fleas; with fleas you get Bubonic plague; with Bubonic plague you get tumors. Can you imagine being the guy who was asked to make 5 gold tumors?

“Send the offering back with the ark and see if God, in a miraculous way, will take all of this back.”

They made a new cart to send the Ark back on, pulled by 2 cows, which the Israelites would actually use for a sacrifice, including the wood of the cart for the fire.

1 Samuel 6:13 – “The people [Israelites] of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they saw the Ark, they were overjoyed!”

They knew what it was! They knew what they should do with it. And they started off right – they broke up the wood of the cart for a fire, killed the cows, and sacrificed them to the Lord as a burnt offering – they were so happy! But then 70 of their people looked inside the Ark and were killed, because you don’t touch the Ark. And guess what – they didn’t want the Ark anymore.

Q: Do you know anyone who went to church, bumped up against a rule they didn’t like, and then they didn’t want to go back?

1 Samuel 6:21 – “So they sent messengers to the people at Kiriath-jearim and told them, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord. Come here and get it!”” [‘Cause they weren’t touching it again!]

They did, and they took it to the home of Abinadab, where it remained, according to 1 Samuel 7:2, for 20 years.

The Philistines knew things about God. They acknowledged that the God of the Jews was tougher than their God – far more powerful, the winner; but they would not submit, and they kept worshiping their created god, Dagon, because when you worship the God of the Jews, you can’t be your own god anymore, and when you worship a god of your own creation, then you get to be your own god. And that is the heart of the issue: Playing God.

You are never more like satan than when you try to be like God apart from God. You are never more like Jesus that when you try to be like God in friendship with God.

Our students go to school with thousands of kids who know things about God but would rather be their own God. There’s a new generation coming up who are paying the price for our earlier generations’ negligence, who are scared-at-heart, desperate, and who are working together like the desperate Philistines to take down people of God who bring religious things that we don’t understand or fear enough ourselves. And it’s not going to end well for them.

They need the Gospel clearly defined and demonstrated, and they need love – for us to genuinely care for their best interests, with our hearts informed from God’s from His Word, resting in His grace provisions – the same Holy Spirit Jesus said He depended on to do everything He did, that He now offers us.

Parents, grandparents, small group teachers, leaders of all things church, and believers:

1. Teach the people in your care that obedience is our response to trusting God. It’s the by-product. It’s not enough to know things. Faith is trust plus action – it’s what we do with what we know.

2. Frame all your discussions and activities as opportunities to know and trust Jesus. We practice our faith because we want to grow in being faithful.

Number 3 is not really in this text, but we have the rest of the story. We’re not at war with non-believers.

Ephesians 6:12 – “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

Those things are fighting for the hearts and souls of everyone we know who doesn’t trust Jesus.

3. Respond with grace, even when someone misbehaves or responds poorly. Jesus was full of both Truth and grace. And because we carry His presence, we should be, too.

Let me tell you a few things about the Ark before we catch up with Uzzah.

The Ark of the Covenant is a box. And inside there are three things: Aaron’s rod, a golden bowl full of mana, and the two stone tablets God wrote the Ten Commandments on that Moses brought down from Mt Sinai. There are 4 rings with the 2 poles in them (never to be removed), and then you see the cherubim, facing each other and looking down on the atonement cover, with their wings spread above it, making what the Bible calls the Mercy Seat, where the Lord said He would meet and talk with them.

Exodus 25 records the plans God gave to Moses for making and handling the Holy items of the Tabernacle with specs and instructions. Verses 10-22 are specific to the Ark, including this from verses 13-15:

Exodus 25:13-15 –13 Make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 Insert the poles into the rings [there were specific instructions for attaching those, too] at the sides of the Ark to carry it. 15 These carrying poles must stay inside the rings; never remove them.

Numbers 4 records God’s instructions to Moses and Aaron for preparing the Tabernacle, including the Ark of the Covenant, to become mobile and ready to be moved.

Numbers 4:15 – “15 The camp will be ready to move when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred articles. The Kohathites [those who were first Priestly Levites, but who were also specifically chosen out by God from the family of Kohath] will come and carry these things to the next destination. But they must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die.…“

The Ark was to be carried upon men’s shoulders, and carried by certain Levites only, specifically those of the family of Kohath, using the poles prescribed.

Then in Numbers chapter 7, we see that Moses gave carts to the Levites, but he gave no carts to the sons of Kohath because the holy things had to be carried on the shoulders.

It is not church decorations. It is not furniture. It is not an ottoman. It is not just something that you move around as you see fit. This was a holy piece. This was a place where God had chosen to make His presence known among His people.

Now, let’s fast-forward 20 years to 2 Samuel 6:1-11.

David has just been anointed king, he’s beaten the Philistines, and Saul is no longer in charge. David now decides to move the Ark back to Jerusalem. And he is so excited! He’s got all these people around him, and he says, “Let us go and take the ark of the covenant and put it right there in the center of the Holy City.”

2 Samuel 6:1 – “1 Then David again gathered all the elite troops in Israel, 30,000 in all.”

Imagine 30,000 people gathered. The Bartow Memorial Stadium holds up to 3,000 people at capacity – multiply that by 10!

2 Samuel 6:2 – “2 He led them [no mention of Levites or Kolhathites] to Baalah of Judah to bring back the Ark of God…“

Notice who you do not see…you don’t see any Kohathite, or even any Levites, just 30,000 elite troops.

You know, a million people can believe in a dumb idea at it still remain a dumb idea!

2 Samuel 6:3-4 – “3 They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the cart 4 that carried the Ark of God. Ahio walked in front of the Ark.

They didn’t want something wrong; they wanted to do a right thing! They wanted the presence of God in the center of the Holy City, but they put it on a new cart.

I imagine it looked new, looked well-prepared, probably decorated. It was probably excellent. It was probably clean, and maybe had jewels on it. I mean, it was carrying the Ark of the Covenant. But new does not always mean obedient.

Through the 8 months of 1 Samuel 4-6 the Philistines handled the Ark in ignorance, and it was wreaking havoc. They didn’t know the rules or the reasons, and the cart was what happened. Then later, though Israel knew better, the cart happened when Holy things became familiar enough to handle them without fear or wisdom.

God had told them how to carry it. He’d given them specific instructions on how to carry it.

4. Carry the things of God God’s way even when your way works.

Touching the ark and dying was the natural result of your actions. They “knew” this. You “know” stuff, too…in theory. The question is if you believe it. And you, and everyone around you will know if you believe it by what you do next, what you do about what you say you believe.

5. Take time to understand what you’re carrying, and handle it accordingly.

The cart worked, even though it was wrong, till it didn’t. 4 times the book of Proverbs warns us that there is a way that seems right but that it leads to destruction in the end.

The things and commands of God are not in question. God is Who He says He is; reality is the way He describes it; and He will do what He promised He will do. God is not in question. The beliefs we say we believe are. Because the right thing on the wrong system is still wrong. And the road is about to get rougher.

The ark was in Abinadab’s house for 20 years. Proximity did not produce reverence! He had seen it so much he no longer had reverence. The issue for Uzzah was not what he knew privately, it was what he practiced publicly. They literally and figuratively quit feeling the weight of this thing where God said He would make His presence known.

Q: Where have you replaced obedience with strategy, tactics, or demands?

Q: Where have we edited God’s instructions to fit our preferences and then called it wisdom?

Q: Where are we doing what works instead of what God said, because deep down we trust speed more than we trust surrender?

Some of us are praying over our cart right now, asking God to bless a method that He never authorized, a relationship he never approved of, or a shortcut he never signed-off on. And we are frustrated that Heaven is quiet. But Heaven is not quiet. Heaven has already spoken, and we are just asking for a second opinion.

Obedience means that when God’s way and my way disagree, my way always loses. Even when my way is newer, and nicer, and cleaner, and it draws more applause, but, like Samuel told Saul, “…obedience is better than sacrifice…” (1 Samuel 15:22).

2 Samuel 6:5 – “David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments – lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.” This was a party! A praise party! They were celebrating the presence of the Lord. Nothing wrong with that. Everybody there loves the ark and wants the blessings of God. But the whole time they were dragging the Ark on a cart; they were handling the holy in a way it was never meant to be handled.

2 Samuel 6:6 – 6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied [or took hold of] the Ark of God.”

Q: What is the threshing floor?

Harvested wheat would be gathered. Sometimes farmers would smash bundles of it on the ground, or farmers would trample the bundled stalks using oxen or sledges to loosen the grain. When they did, it would dislodge the actual grains of wheat from the chaff. Then you’d have to toss the mess up into the wind, and the wind would blow the chaff out of the way so you could gather the heavier, less aerodynamic grains that would just fall straight down.

The ground would get distorted and uneven from the thrashing and trampling, with chaff and wheat trash all over and getting smashed into the ground. And so the ground would be extremely uneven.

So here we are: The ox stumbles, the cart shakes, the ark tips, and Uzzah reaches for it and takes hold of it.

2 Samuel 6:7 – 7 Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God.

The music stops, the tambourines go silent, 30,000 people all standing there quieted. And we’re thinking, “What? Why?!”

David turns around and sees a body in the dirt next to the ark of God. And David is like, “Why God? Why did You kill this man? He saw the Ark of the Covenant tipping – he put his hand out, just trying to make sure that the holy thing doesn’t hit the ground. He wanted to protect it. He wanted to make sure it stayed covered and taken care of. So why God? Why would You do that?”

And that’s what I said in 6th grade.

Uzzah was the son of Abinadab. And whose house did the ark of the covenant come out of? Abinadab’s house, where it sat for 20 years! The same house Uzzah grew up in. Uzzah did not meet the ark that morning. He grew up around it. He walked past it. He ate meals knowing that it was in the other room. 20 years of proximity, but proximity did not produce reverence. And that is the danger. The danger is not that Uzzah had never seen the ark. The danger is that he had seen it so much that he stopped being in awe of it.

Familiarity can put you in the house with holy things and still leave you casual. And I’m not talking about our clothes, I’m talking about our attitude – that thing that reveals what you’re really after – the heart of God, or just the hand of God.

So you can grow up around the language, and you can know the songs, and you can know when to shout, and know when to dance (if you didn’t grow up Baptist), and grow up around the presence, and still not know how to carry what God entrusted His people with.

And here is why the threshing floor matters. The threshing floor is where the grain gets separated from the chaff. The grain gets gathered and used for food. Then you have the chaff, the fluff & stuff that has no fruit, the stuff that doesn’t clean itself up, but just accumulates and becomes obstacles and barriers if you don’t do something about it.

The Ark stumbles, but it stumbles at the place of separation. The stumble did not create the problem; it exposed it. The mistake started before it happened.

The bump did not make them careless; it revealed that they were already handling it the wrong way. And when the moment got urgent, Uzzah did not have an understanding to fall back on. He only had instinct. And instinct without understanding grabbed what God said, “Don’t touch”.

And this is what happens when we come to church on autopilot. When the shaking comes, and it will come, we don’t rise to our intentions; we fall to our own understanding. And Uzzah was never closer to the Ark than the moment it killed him. Because proximity does not automatically equal purity.

David’s first emotion was not, “Lord, search me. I’m sorry. I’m wrong. I’ve made a mistake.”

2 Samuel 6:8 – 8 David was angry because the Lord’s anger had burst out against Uzzah. He named that place Perez-uzzah (which means “to burst out against Uzzah”), as it is still called today.

That’s where David and my similarities stopped back then.

2 Samuel 6:9 – 9 David was now afraid of the Lord, and he asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark of the Lord back into my care?”

This is someone with enough humility to stop self-promoting and self-protecting and to start examining himself, because you cannot repent for what you keep blaming others for.

2 Samuel 6:10 – 10 So David decided not to move the Ark of the Lord into the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath [Remember Gath? Someone there paid attention!].

That was not the end of David’s worship. It was the beginning of his correction. He was trying to recover the reverence. He still desired to bring the Ark home, but he was correcting the way they were handling it.

2 Samuel 6:11 – “11 The Ark of the Lord remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household.”

David heard about the blessings at Obed Edom’s and knew he needed to get the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. So he corrected things back to the way God instructed Moses in the first place. He had the Levites carry the Ark on their shoulders with the polls as God told Moses. They got back underneath the weight of it.

Maybe you need to as well. Here’s a starter prayer: “God, I am no longer going to do things my way – I am willing to submit to learning and doing things Your way.”

Accountability is not a church word. It’s not a Sunday word. Accountability is an everyday, everywhere word, even when life shakes, and it will. When the cart stumbles at your job, in your marriage, in your emotions, in your home, do the values you say you believe hold up, or do we grab control?

Set up ways to be reminded and to remind others of what matters most. Spend time with Jesus so you might know Him better, become like Jesus, and do as Jesus did. Read His Word, pray, serve, give, show up, evangelize, engage in outreach, find opportunities to plug into community.

When you lean on the Lord, when you trust Him with your heart and mind and say, “Lord, I surrender all to You. I am no longer going to do things my own way apart from You,” you get something that the old hymn, Blessed Assurance describes:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mineOh, what a foretaste of glory divineHeir of salvation, purchase of GodBorn of His Spirit, washed in His blood

This is my story, this is my songPraising my Savior all the day longThis is my story, this is my songPraising my Savior all the day long

There will be a day when I’m not here. But there’s also a day when I will be with the Father! I am confident that when I close my eyes on earth, I will open them in glory.

I have that assurance, and some of you do, too. We are confident, but some of you are not.

If you are thinking, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I want that,” God says,

Hebrews 3:15 – “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”

That means that the voice you’re hearing is not the enemy; it’s the Lord. And He’s saying,

Matthew 11:28 – “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

If you’re tired, God has given you this moment, that He can embrace you in His arms. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. If I’m talking to you, you need to come. The Gospel is for you.

Prayer: Father, I thank you for helping us understand better this morning. Help us take on the things that are holy and not treat them like they’re familiar. Thank you for inviting us, for welcoming us, and for guiding us. Teach us to make all our discussions and activities be opportunities to know and trust You.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

Final Thoughts

The Good Samaritan

Background: An expert in the law wanted to test Jesus and justify himself. Thatinteraction leads Jesus to share this parable.

Final Thoughts:

The Lost Son (The Prodigal Son)

Background: This is part of a triplet of parables that make up Luke 15: Lost coin, Lost Sheep,and Lost Son.

I am a father of two children, and my kids believe I can fix everything. When my daughter gets hungry, she crawls to me and expects me to have food. When my son breaks a toy, he comes to me and expects me to fix it (no matter how broken the toy is). When either of them get hurt, they want me to make them feel better. Whatever the issue, they have beautiful, child-like faith that I can somehow make a bad situation better.

Fortunately, they’re still young, which means their problems are still fairly manageable, but as we get older, we learn that life can, and usually gets harder. Problems feel bigger, and sometimes solutions seem harder to find. So, who do we turn to if/when our problems feel too big; where do we go if/when we can’t find a solution? Fortunately, Jesus speaks to this in John 16:33. He says,

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Jesus promised us that life is going to be hard, even for those who follow Him. But, in spite of life’s difficulties, Jesus tells us to have “courage” and “peace”. This raises an important question though. Why should we have courage when life becomes difficult? Why should we have peace when our circumstances seem impossible? The answer isn’t that Jesus promised to make every problem disappear, but that He has authority over the problems we cannot control. 

Today, we’re going to be looking at a passage that shows just how far His authority extends. We’re going to be in Mark 5:21-43, and the title of today’s sermon is “Faith in Every Situation”. In this passage, we’re going to look at several individuals with situations beyond their control. So, let’s read through this passage and take a close look at how Jesus addresses these individuals, and He demonstrates authority over each situation.

(read the passage, and pray)

This is an incredible account of Jesus responding in compassion to everyday people who find themselves in desperate, and even hopeless situations. As we study this passage, I would like us to consider the severity of each situation, how Jesus responds to them, and how His response highlights His authority and compassion. So, let’s begin with this first point: An Urgent Situation.

For the sake of context, I want us to understand something about Jesus’ ministry. Jesus made a practice of travelling to different communities to preach, teach, and perform miracles among people with varying ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Jesus met people where they were, provided hope and healing, and then left them (hopefully) changed.

At the beginning of Mark 5, we see Jesus doing exactly that. He was in a region that belonged primarily to the Gentiles (anyone who isn’t jewish), and there He met a man possessed by demons. He cast the demons away, changed that man’s life, and then sailed across the Sea of Galilee to a different community of primarily Jewish people. 

If there was a man who could demonstrate authority over sickness, disease, nature, and even evil itself, He would certainly draw a large crowd, and that’s exactly what we see at the beginning of our passage. Jesus was met by a “large crowd (who) gathered around Him…by the sea”. Then, from this crowd, a prominent man in the jewish community, a religious leader named Jairus came to Jesus with His urgent situation: “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she can get well and live”. 

As a parent, if my family were ever in that situation, I would spend every resource and all my energy to find a solution. Jesus had proved He was capable of providing that solution. So, Jairus went to Jesus, “fell at His feet, and begged” Him for help. If we were faced with an urgent issue like this, would we turn to Jesus, and place our hope in His ability to meet our needs?

Our passage affirms that Jairus’ hope was not misplaced; Jesus went with him, and the large crowd followed. It’s worth pointing out that, in a crowd of people, Jesus would take time to address an individual need. What would motivate Jesus to make such a choice? If we look at the next chapter of Mark, we see a similar setting of crowds gathering around Jesus (some of us may recognize this story as being the event when Jesus fed 5,000 people). Mark 6:34 says,

“When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”

When crowds came to Jesus, He saw their needs (whether those needs were communicated or not), and the Bible says He had compassion for them. Google defines compassion as “…a deep awareness of another person’s suffering, combined with an active desire to ease that suffering”. A core aspect of Jesus’ character is His awareness of our need, and an intense love that drives Him to address our need. 

In a crowd of people, Jesus noticed the need of an individual, and went to meet that need because of His love. However, in a crowd of people, there’s seldom only one need, which leads us to our next point: An Exhausted Situation.

As Jesus and Jairus traveled with the crowd in tow, our passage reveals a new character with a completely different need: a woman who suffered from internal bleeding. Unlike Jairus’ situation, which seemed to be fairly time-sensative, this lady’s issue was long-standing. Verse 25-26 tells us she suffered from bleeding for 12 years, spent all her money on doctors and treatments, and instead of getting better, she only got worse.

This woman had exhausted every avenue, spent every resource, and instead of finding a solution, her situation only got worse. The passage doesn’t directly say this, but I would hazard a guess that this woman was past the point of looking for a professional to fix her situation; she seemed to be looking for a miracle instead. And, if the reports about Jesus were true, He was more than capable of providing that miracle.

Verse 27-28 gives us a pretty clear picture of her thought process. “Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. 28For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.” She wasn’t even trying to get Jesus’ attention. She just wanted a small piece of the power she heard about because she believed even the smallest fragment of Jesus was enough. Again, we see that hope in Jesus was not misplaced. 

She pressed through the crowd, touched His clothes, and verse 29 tells us that she was “…instantly…healed of her affliction.” Now, Jesus could have kept walking, because this lady was healed, and Jarius’ daughter was still on her deathbed. But Jesus decided to do more than offhandedly heal this lady. He stopped, and asked a ridiculous question; “Who touched me?”.

The disciples tried to dismiss His question. They said, “you see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” Jesus persisted though, until the woman finally came to Him “trembling” as if she had done something wrong. For whatever reason, this woman didn’t seem to want attention. Perhaps she was embarrassed; perhaps she felt she wasn’t worth Jesus’ time. Whatever her reasoning, the point of this interaction remains the same: in a crowd of people, Jesus stopped everything to address the needs of an individual.

Instead of the rebuke she anticipated, Jesus addressed the woman with a term of endearment. In verse 34, He called her “daughter”, and told her “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction”. When all other avenues had failed this lady, a simple, minuscule act of faith led to peace, healing, and salvation from a compassionate Savior she had only heard rumors about.

Unfortunately, this beautiful moment between Jesus and this woman was quickly overshadowed by some extremely discouraging news, which leads us to our third point: An Impossible Situation.

The moment peace and healing had been given to this woman, Jarius received news that his daughter had died. His urgent situation had gone from hopeful to hopeless. Death had taken its course, and there was nothing left to do. So, in verse 35, the messengers told Jairus not to “…bother (Jesus) anymore”.

As an aside, we should never be afraid to “bother” Jesus. So many Bible verses encourage us to do the exact opposite. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tell us to “pray without ceasing”. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you”. The Bible reiterates the fact that we should bring every situation to Jesus because He cares for us. 

Before we go on, I want us to consider two things from our outside perspective. First of all, we have the whole Bible, and we know that Jesus could and did raise the dead on several different occasions in the other Gospels. In fact, the Gospel of Luke also records Jesus raising a widow’s son from the dead—literally, in the middle of a funeral procession. However, this is the first time in Mark’s presentation of Jesus that we see Him address the issue of death. It’s possible that Mark describes this progression of events purposefully: people had seen Jesus heal the sick, cast out demons, and even calm a storm with mere words. But what happens when Jesus calls someone to trust Him after death has taken its toll?

Second, we know from the whole story that Jesus’ plan was to raise this girl from the dead. However, there is no mention of Jesus revealing that plan to Jairus. He made no promise to Jairus that his daughter would live, and He had not told him what He was about to do. The only thing Jesus tells Jairus is found in verse 36: “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” Put this all together, and we’re left with a man facing an impossible situation with no explanation, no promised outcome, and no indication of what Jesus is going to do. All Jairus has is the word of Jesus: “Only believe.”

So, leaving the crowd behind, Jesus took Jairus, His three closest disciples (Peter, James, and John) and continued to Jairus’ house. When they arrived, our passage describes exactly what we would expect to find: “people weeping and wailing loudly”. Then in verse 39, Jesus asked another seemingly ridiculous question: “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep”.

We have no indication of how Jairus actually felt at this moment, but verse 40 tells us that no one else was taking Jesus seriously; everyone “laughed at (Jesus)”. So, Jesus promptly put everyone out of the house with the exception of Jairus, his wife, and the three disciples. Then, as easily as waking someone from sleep, Jesus spoke to the dead girl, brought her back to life, and told her parents to feed her. Verse 42 says they were “utterly astounded”.

As this passage comes to a close, we see that through the progression of these events, Jesus did what He always does: He met people in their need, addressed those needs, and brought hope and healing to individuals in otherwise impossible situations. So, let this bottom line summarize this entire passage: No situation is beyond Jesus.

This passage shows us a series of unfortunate events that progress from bad, to worse, to impossible. However, each situation is laid out for us to learn this very important truth: Jesus has the authority and compassion to address any and every issue, no matter how hopeless it may seem. No crowd is too big, no person is too unnoticed, and no order of nature, death or otherwise is beyond His authority. 

However, these amazing miracles point us to an even greater truth: if Jesus has authority over death itself, what does this mean for those who trust Jesus? He spoke to this in another account of Him raising someone from the dead. In John 11:25-26, Jesus says,

“…I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

In Jesus’ love and compassion for us, He promises us that those who believe in Him, even if they experience death, will have eternal life with Him. So, let Jesus’ words to Jairus encourage us in the situations we face: “Don’t be afraid. Only believe”. Let this passage challenge us in the following ways this week:

(Gospel presentation & closing prayer)

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1 Peter 4:7-11

Big Question: What are the things that a church should focus on?

Joshua 1

Big Question: What should you remember during this time of transition?

Q: What’s your favorite Disney movie?There are a lot to choose from! Classics like Bambi and Lady and the Tramp, inspiring true stories like Miracleand Remember the Titans. New cult favorites like Tangled and Frozen. And then do you count movies fromPixar? Star Wars? Marvel?Q: Why am I asking you this; what does all of this have to do with The Heart of Evangelism?Think about the emotions you experienced (both positive and negative) as you heard those movie titles. Eachmovie casts a vision of “the good life”, teaching the next generation what to love and to pursue. And you knowwhat? This is what we believers who actually follow Jesus do!The culture around us is loud. Children, teens, and most adults often don’t understand that the Gospel is bigenough to encompass every area of life, even the weird, modern areas like celebrities, weird celebrities,TikTok, and your favorite Disney movie.Being part of a local church family that is developing deeper friendship with God together and briningeveryone else we can with us makes us better at life, and it helps families engage with culture through thelens of the Gospel. When we do this like we could and should, we, together, help families talk about difficultissues like anxiety, healthy use of smartphones and technology, and navigating social media.Good kids do bad things without adult supervision. Their brain is just not developed enough to navigate wellthrough culture, peer pressure, good vs best, and obedience vs rationalization (that is, believing rational lies).Without the voices of trusted adults who are guided by Scripture, teens are left in the dark with only Googleand YouTubers to guide them through a chaotic, information-overloaded world.Adults – that was some of you as a kid, now you’re the adult – uh-oh! This is more than just a teen thing.You, your families, and your friends still need help discerning which cultural messages are true and which onesare distorted. And that’s where the church comes in. And this morning, I hope you’ll see more clearly whereand how you come in – to your friends’ and family’s world.And that is at The Heart of Evangelism.Evangelism is the act of sharing the “Gospel” – Jesus’ “good news” about the life, death, and Jesus’resurrection – with the goal of inviting others to know God, too. The word comes from the ancient Greek termeuangelion, which means “bringing or announcing good news”.Evangelism has 3 core parts, the Why, the What, and the How, so let’s take a look at these 3 Keys to Sharingthe Gospel:

around us, we won’t be able to keep it to ourselves! We just turn attention to and point people to Jesus,because we can’t come up with better than God on our own. Not Just Good Deeds: Helping people is always important. But true evangelism includes actually talkingabout the message of Jesus rather than only doing community service. True believers do both. Evangelismturns attention towards and points people to Jesus. Not Coercion: It is an invitation to share faith. This is very different from aggressive or manipulative pressure.We’ll come back to this, and I think future you will be glad we did. We want to be a safe place, free fromrogue church-hurt. Romans 1:17 NLT tells us that, “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in hissight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that arighteous person has life.”Our students are going back to school this week. They need us, and we need them. This is more than a youthor children’s pastor thing. This is a parent thing and a church-wide thing. The average Christian high schoolsenior is not motivated, equipped, or expected to actively share the Gospel. No wonder so many abandontheir faith after high school! They don’t have much skin in the game! We help that. One way you can help is tosee me about sharing your testimony with our youth on a Wednesday night – relate with them on more thansmall talk – big talk about our big God!Pastors are the coaches, not the quarterbacks. Our job as a pastors isn’t to lob all the touchdown passesourselves but to get you off the bench and into the game of life, coaching you as you develop your confidenceand your words for evangelism as you actively share your faith with your families and friends.Evangelism puts all believers in a situation where we’re forced to rely on God. It also causes us to “count thecost” of being a follower of Jesus, because to share the Gospel, especially with a friend, could challenge thatfriendship. Now it’s a value choice.A belief is something you accept as true, till you are presented with new evidence or a better sounding orfeeling agreement – anything I can talk you into, someone else can talk you out of. But a value is a guidingprinciple or standard of worth. Beliefs answer “how the world works,” whereas values answer “what mattersmost”.The Gospel is Good News – so for the next few minutes together, let’s work on how to share this Good News,which takes us to first of those The 3 Keys to Sharing The Gospel:

Jude 22-23 NLT – “ 22  And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering [those who doubt]. 23  Rescueothers by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with greatcaution, hating the sins [having plans for our lives apart from God’s plans for our lives] that contaminatetheir lives.There is a hell that unbelievers are headed to and going through apart from Jesus. We believers are thehands of God to snatch, or rescue, them from the Lake of Fire described in Revelation 20. We, the church, areGod’s plan for offering salvation to people. We are the carriers of God’s grace to others.Revelation 20:15 – “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lakeof fire.” [Is your name written in there yet?]Of the 12 times that hell is mentioned in the New Testament, 11 are mentioned by Jesus Himself. Q: Was Jesususing “scare tactics” to motivate people to believe? I believe yes, inspired by love: Just like a parent whoscreams at the top of their lungs to stop and scare their small child from running out in the street in front of aspeeding car, Jesus sternly warns us, out of love, to avoid the ultimate head on collision. Hell should be amotivating factor for every believer to rescue the perishing before it’s too late.We need to understand the reality of hell, the hope of heaven, and the power of the Gospel to rescue ourfriends from the eternal consequences of sin.John 3:36 – “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, forGod’s wrath remains on them.”People need rescuing from the hell that they’re headed to – the absence of life eternally, and they needrescuing from the “hell” they may be going through right now apart from a life-giving relationship withJesus! In Polk County schools, there are Mental Awareness classes provided, mental health instruction, andaccess to support for our teens just to be able to provide help for coping with the absence of life that showsup through symptoms like teen suicide, anxiety, drug use, and depression. They need to be rescued, not justfrom the flames of hell someday, but from pain, addiction, and hopeless-ness today.In Matthew 9:36 we read about how Jesus saw the crowds around Him: “When He saw the crowds, He hadcompassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” May we learnto see our lost peers through Jesus’ eyes! May we allow God to grow His Gospel Urgency in us!Q: If God answered all your prayers, how many people would come to Christ? How many wars would end?How many human traffickers would be arrested? How many hungry people would be fed? If that hasn’t gotanything to do with your prayers, that’s not God’s will, it’s just your will?

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew–Luke)Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. (John)Life with Jesus starts now (not when you die) and lasts forever. (Acts–Revelation)Q: Are you ready to share the Good News of Jesus anytime, anywhere, with anyone? Have you believed andtrusted Jesus to save you? Ask Him! “Save me; thank You; lead me.”Q: How many of us trusted Jesus because someone shared the Gospel with us? That’s motivation in itself toshare that with others! No one who actually shares the Gospel stops to think if they know and understand allthe right words they want to say before they say something of out of urgency or passion:For example, a few decades ago before I-20 was completed over the wetlands in Louisiana, a couple of youngpastors were driving home from a speaking engagement in Dallas to Atlanta. It was late at night; they weretired; and they were ready to be home. When they came to signs directing traffic to exit just before anupcoming bridge, they thought, “let’s just drive around the signs – I’m sure the road in finished by now – it’sbeen years!” They drive around the giant orange and black road-block signs, see the roadway clear, and takeoff with a false sense of confidence. They zoom by a Trans-Am with the T-tops off and windows down withwhat looked like a couple making-out inside. Suddenly its lights come on and it start chasing them – things justgot scary. It starts honking, and the couple in the Trans-Am pulls up beside them and starts waving franticallyfor them to pull-over. Fear keeps them from pulling over. So the Trans-Am pulls ahead and guides them to theside of the road. The guy jumps out and says, “If you had made it to the top of this bridge (they were on),that’s where the road ends – you’d have plunged into the swamp!” But he certainly didn’t have the time to getall those words out that clearly before disaster. If he’d have waited to get everything just right, it’d be too late!Now, let’s talk for a moment about Coercion vs PersuasionQ: What is the difference between coercion and persuasion?Coercion forces compliance using threats, pressure, intimidation, or abuse of authority, leaving no safe way todisagree. Persuasion changes minds through reasoning, facts, and free choice. It has no intent to harm andworks to open the heart of someone, persuading them to voluntarily change their belief or action.Persuasion usually requires understanding (being convinced), but not always. A lot of people in the church goalong with other people in the church without understanding. God wants unity, but not uniformity. Unity isour commonality in Jesus expressed through our uniqueness. It’s not the absence of disagreement, but it is acommon commitment to Christ.Coercion requires only power (fear or threats). We usually equate coercion with obvious force, but sometimesit’s far more subtle. For example: If you want people to stop smoking, you don’t need to make it illegal; youcan simply make smoking expensive (raise taxes) or offer bribes (lower health insurance premiums). In asimilar way, peer-pressure is persecution to a believer (everyone wants to fit in). Both are still coercive in thatthe power to give or take away is entirely in the hands of the “coercer”.Persuasion is different because it relies on understanding what smoking does to the human body. Someonewho’s persuaded of its dangers has an incentive to stop that’s entirely independent of anyone else’s actions.Our goal is not to coerce someone to conversion, but to paint a picture that they can more clearly choose toaccept or reject.D.L. Moody used say that only 1 out of 100 people actually read the Bible; that means 99 are looking to the 1;and to the 1: Be an accurate translation!That’s why Paul says to us in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 NLT – “ 31  So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,do it all for the glory of God. 32  Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. 33  I, too, try to pleaseeveryone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many maybe saved.”

He’s saying that because he loves others, he’s acting in their best interests, removing barriers and hurdles toknowing Jesus better, and he’s telling this to us in order to persuade us to join in…(and that’s basically whatPaul says next)1 Corinthians 11:1 – “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”He wants us to follow him as he follows Jesus so that we might eventually find ourselves following Jesus!*You can convince someone to do something based on reason: Maybe they will, maybe they won’t; anything Ican talk you into, someone else can talk you out of. *You can coerce someone to do something under threat:They probably will, but not for long. *The way to persuade someone, however, is to appeal to their heart,because unless your heart changes, you don’t change.Help each other come up with specific things that are lovingly-persuasive – things we can do to make sure thatwe don’t come across too forcefully. Small Groups can and should help with that.2 Peter 3:14-15 NLT – “ 14  And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen [seeingsalvation for yourselves, along with a new Heaven and earth filled with God’s righteousness], make everyeffort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. 15  And remember, our Lord’spatience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with thewisdom God gave him.”2 Corinthians 5:18-21 – “ 18  All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us theministry of reconciliation: 19  that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sinsagainst them [you don’t have to fully understand that to want that!]. And He has committed to us themessage of reconciliation. 20  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors [representing/re-presenting Him andsharing His same message, getting everyone else we can in on it], as though God were making His appealthrough us. We implore you [we beg you] on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21  God made Him who hadno sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.Jesus gave His life for you to give His life to you to live His life through you!If you need some happy thoughts to think, that’s a biggie! That’s a message worth breaking down and gettingothers in on, together! Gospel fluency.

This is bigger than whatever transitions we’re going through, wouldn’t you agree? If we’ll get this right, we’llbe OK.Next Steps