The Open Word (Audio)

In Luke chapter 8, Jesus raised a little girl from the dead. He then asked her parents to keep quiet about what had happened. In today’s message, Pastor David teaches us that while the Lord does have authority over all things including death and disease, He did not come into the world to simply fulfill every whim and desire. Instead, Christ came to seek and save the lost and to restore our broken relationship with God. The Lord wants us to love Him for Who He is and not simply for what He can do for us.

Sometimes when our faith is at its highest, the enemy comes in to try and steal our hope. In today’s message from Luke chapter 8, Pastor David teaches us about a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, who begged Jesus to heal his sick daughter. Jairus had faith that Christ could heal. However, as Jairus and Jesus traveled to the home where the sick child lay, they received news that Jarius’s daughter had died. As it is so many times in our lives, it was in Jarius’s lowest moment that Jesus demonstrated his glory and power.

In Luke chapter 8, a woman with the issue of blood has the bold audacity to touch the hem of Rabbi Jesus’s garment. As she does, the woman is instantly made well. In today’s message, Pastor David points out that it was not Jesus’s clothing that caused the woman to receive her miracle. Instead, it was her faith. The woman believed that Jesus could help her. Therefore, the moment she touched Christ’s garment, her faith found an activation point, and she was healed.

What would you do if you only had one chance to get your life back after years of hardship, disease, and ostracism? Most of us would answer with just two words: “Almost anything!” In today’s message, Pastor David teaches us that a desperate woman ignored cultural norms and disobeyed Rabbinical law in order to push through a crowd to reach out and touch the Lord’s garment. With that bold act of faith, Jesus’s power was unleashed, and she restored to full health.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 8, we meet a desperate woman who has been plagued by an issue of blood for many years. She has sought doctors and has spent all she has to find a cure to no avail. However, this woman had heard that Jesus could help her. In today’s message, Pastor David teaches us that the woman’s desperation propelled her through a raucous needy crowd. God saw and was moved by her fervor, for when she reached out and touched Jesus’s garment, she was healed.

When Jesus frees a demoniac in Luke chapter 8, the people of the town were terrified. Their fear did not stem from the loss of livestock or the shock at seeing a once crazy man in his right mind. What terrified them was the power of God put on display. Pastor David teaches us in today’s message that Jesus has glory, honor, and power over all things. At just the word of Christ’s mouth, demons must flea, roaring waves are silenced, and people are saved and set free.

In Luke chapter 8, Jesus gets out of a boat in the region of Gerasenes and is met by a demon possessed man. The Bible tells us that this tortured soul had supernatural strength, had no home, wore no clothes, and had legions of demons controlling his wild behavior. In today’s message, Pastor David navigates through the strange world of demonology. Most importantly, Pastor David will also reinforce the fact that even a legion of demons is no match for King Jesus. Christ is able to set even the most enslaved and imprisoned free.

In today’s powerful message from the Gospel of Luke, Pastor David encourages us to come to the Lord with our fears and worries and to tell Him the truth about how we are feeling. As we take our eyes off of the storms and anxieties of this life and train them on our Savior Jesus, His power and glory will swallow up our troubles. Just as the disciples were in awe of Jesus when He quieted the waves on the stormy Sea of Galilee, we too will be astounded at God when He quiets the turbulence our hearts.

In the Gospel of Luke chapter 8, we learn that one day as the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee, a great storm arose to threaten their lives. Christ was asleep in the stern while the waves raged. Pastor David teaches us in today’s message that the Lord God allows the tempest to roar sometimes. It is in these seasons of trail and testing that the Lord proves who He is. This is also when we become more like Jesus. It is only through the fire of pain and suffering that we are refined and made into something as precious as pure gold.

Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave all who would follow Him a Great Commission. He asked us to make disciples in all nations. Pastor David teaches in today’s message from Luke that this mission is not just for those working in ministry. He reminds us that whatever it is that God has given us to do, from a stay-at-home mom, to a lawyer, to a painter, to a farmer, we all should work as unto the Lord. God asks us to be bold about our faith and to advance His Kingdom by shining our light brightly and without fear.