The Women With the Issue of Blood by Pastor Joshua Rudolph

thank you for joining us for today's message we believe we can go anywhere in the world from right here and Lamarque Texas and reach people just like you if you'd like more information about abundant life please visit al-sisi org you can also text the number below if you would like to support the church financially be ready for a powerful message that's going to impact your life [Music] obviously it's Easter it's the evening of Easter tonight and as we were talking about just Easter Sunday and what it's all about you know it's as pastor Helmut he was talking this morning he said you know it's not just about the the bunny and the eggs and and all of that it's really I believe Easter is all about touch you know we live in a world right now with the coronavirus with social distancing and we live in a world that demands that we not touch one another demands that we are separated from one another and and that sounds a lot like what our relationship with God was before Jesus was sent to the earth we we could see God we could hear God but we couldn't touch God the reason we couldn't touch him is because we were unrighteous and he was righteous and so we look at this and and I see that God was so desperate to have that relationship with his children again that he sent His only Son that's what John 3:16 says since that he gave His only Son that whoever believed in him would not perish but would have everlasting life an everlasting life where we could reach out and touch God and he could touch us and that's what Easter is all about Jesus died and rose from the grave so that we could be one with God again and as I was beginning to look around in the Bible at different areas and stories I found a story about touch and I think it's it's extremely relevant in the culture that we're living in right now especially with the last month or six weeks where they've told us that we couldn't touch one another and I'ma I'm a handshake high-five hug kind of guy that's that's Who I am so to walk up and see my friends to stay six feet away and and have to hit the elbow with them itches it's not the same maybe right there where you are maybe you're experiencing some of this maybe you're experiencing this with family or friends or coworkers you're having to stay away and and that's what happened in the Bible that says in in the book of Mark chapter 5 you see that there's a woman in the Bible that had gotten a disease it says that she had a blood issue she had a problem and and this wasn't like a deathly immediate kind of disease this was a slow disease this was a slow pain this was a disease that lasted a long time for 12 years it said she'd suffered and gone to many doctors and had not gotten any better but rather it says she got worse and that she was sitting in isolation sitting in what we could call it this time we could call a quarantine because what had happened is she had gone to what we believed would be the the priest in her place the high priest in her in her area and she would have presented herself to him and he would have seen that she had this blood issue that she had this disease and he would have told her you must stay away you can't go back to your house you can't go back to your family you can't go back to your job or your friends you must quarantine until this goes away her problem was is it never went away for 12 years so imagine we don't know if she had children we don't know if she had a husband but we know that she had a life before this but could you imagine that the morning that she hugged her kids for the last time was the last time she hugged her children for 12 years she's been able to see the promise she'd been able to see what she could have but she wasn't able to touch it and it says that she had gotten into a tough place and she'd heard that Jesus was coming by and I wonder sometimes that you know we go through these long problems and and it seems to me and I don't know in your life if it's the same as it is in mine but long problems tend to drain me they tend to pull out and it may not be terrible things but little things that last a long time they drag that energy out of you and that's where this woman was but it says thank God that she came to a place where she had heard that there was something coming by Jesus was coming by and she knew that she had a window of opportunity for God to step into her life for her to touch something you know I'm uh III think about this and and I'm the kind of I'm the kind of father I love to hug my kids and I love to hold their hands and I love to pick them up and I was sitting on the couch the other day and I had my back turned to one of my little boys and he climbed up there and he said to me said dad roll over and hold me he wanted to be held and and my kids from the day they were born we've held him and hugged him and loved him and kissed him and I was reading a study a while back where years ago they had taken these newborn babies and and some of the babies they touched him and they hugged him and they held them but the other side they didn't touch those babies unless it was absolutely necessary only the necessary things and when they looked at how these children had grown up the ones that were touched and hugged and held they grew up faster and stronger and better and they were smarter and more aware than the babies that hadn't been touched you see we live in a society where touch is important it's necessary for us and this woman had not been able to touch anything or anyone and I love this because the Bible says that she had heard that Jesus was coming through she heard that something was about to happen in and maybe you're in that kind of situation today maybe you feel like you need a touch from God but you hadn't had that happen in your life you haven't had that touch but I believe today that God is coming just like to this woman Jesus was passing by and I believe right where you are Jesus is passing by you and maybe you're alone today maybe you're sitting in your car or your house or you're just sitting there listening to the radio I don't know where you're at today but I want you to just reach out right there where you are in touch something that means you touch your computer screen or your cell phone or just the dash to your car reach out and touch something because I believe that God is trying to touch you today I believe he's trying to reach into your life and this woman was there and she was sitting by herself thinking man if I could just touch his clothes if I could just get close enough to reach out and just get a piece of him she said I don't have to hold his hand I don't need him to pray for me all I need to do is his garment I think I could be made well she said I just need a touch today maybe you just need a touch maybe your family just needs a touch maybe your body just needs a touch health-wise maybe your mind needs a touch today maybe your marriage needs a touch from God I believe God can reach out on this Easter Sunday night and touch your life the Bible says this woman was sitting there and I love it because Jesus was the king of kings and the Lord of lords he was the high priest sent from heaven and you got to understand something about the high priest is in this time in this religious atmosphere the high priest could not be touched if you came near up they would cast you down and throw you away but the Bible says in the book of Hebrews chapter 4 that Jesus is not like the earthly high priest he is not separated one who cannot be touched by our infirmities but I said likewise he said Jesus is totally different he said he's the opposite he is the one who not only knows what we're experiencing but the Bible says he experienced it too you may say in your life nobody knows what I'm going through nobody knows the pain that I felt nobody knows the loss in my life nobody knows the struggle that I'm dealing with nobody knows but Jesus because Jesus has felt your pain he has felt your problems he has felt your situation Jesus knows exactly what you're going through and not only does he know but he is being touched by that today and I believe you have an opportunity right where you are on this Easter Sunday night before this day is over you have an opportunity for God to reach in and touch your life the Bible says this woman here was sitting there and she said if I could just get to Jesus if I could just get close enough to Jesus if I could just reach out and touch his garment you see this woman was not at the highest place in her life she was not at her best moment because sometimes that's that's the lie that we tell ourselves is when I get things together when I get my life right if I get the right clothes or my marriage is fixed or my job is right when I've got enough in my life to get going and I'll reach out and touch God but what you don't understand is you'll never get to that place you'll never get to the place where you are good enough in your own mind to reach out and touch God she was at her lowest moment and it's in that lowest moment it's in that desperation that point where we meet God the most that's where God shows up the most that's when God will come in and he'll step into your life and he will touch your world it's in that moment that she said I can reach out and get him I could just get close enough and you see we we always like to to think about the promise and we like to think about that endgame I mean the process so often I found in my life it's the process that means the most and I love the promise I love the outcome but how many all know that the the progress is in the process that the real answer the growing is in the process and this woman was at a place where she said man if I could just get to Jesus she thought about it she believed it she hoped for it and then the Bible says she got up and went about the process she snuck into the city she got through the crowd she crawled on her hands and feet and got close enough to Jesus I love it the woman with a hemorrhaging blood issue this sick woman was able to catch a healthy man able to catch Jesus walking beside and the Bible says since she was there and she reached out then I love this woman so much I love the the faith that she had because she didn't talk to herself about how bad the problem was she didn't talk to herself in this moment about how big the issue was what she did was she talked to herself about how the answer was just one step away you see we can magnify the problems and we can magnify the issues and we can talk about how bad it is in the world we're living in or we can say man God's got an answer it might be difficult now but God has a plan it might be struggle now but God has an answer I make sure with my children that we don't talk about how bad it is and and how how much struggle the world is dealing with and how horrible it is for people we talk about God is the answer and things are about to get better and life is about to change and that God's got a purpose and a plan for us and that's where this woman was she said I'm not gonna magnify the problem I'm going to magnify the answer the Bible says that she got up she said I'm not gonna sit and die I'm gonna move and live and she got to where Jesus was and as she was crawling to Jesus I loved it because she crawled over her history to reach into her destiny and I believe in your life no matter what you've been through no matter what's gone on in your world no matter how bad it might have seen no matter how much problem you've had how much struggle you've been through I don't know about your history today but God does and what I love so much about God is that he knew you before you were ever born he knew every good thing and every bad thing every right decision and every mistake you would make and God still cinesín for you he still chose you he's still stepped out of heaven so that he could touch your life they says in mark 5 that this woman got to Jesus and she reached out she grabbed ahold of his garment she didn't even touch his skin she didn't touch his ancora Sandra's like she touched the hem the lowest part of his garment and Jesus stops can you imagine just for a moment with me I'm almost done just imagine for a second what this woman would have been thinking what this woman would have been wondering as she was crawling through the city as she was trying to evade all of the people that if they had seen her and recognized her they would have thrown her out of the city as she came to where Jesus was and and most of the miracles we see of Jesus he's walking to people but this one he was walking away can you imagine what the enemy might have been saying to her that he doesn't care enough about you to walk towards you he doesn't care enough about you to turn and look at you he doesn't care he's walking away from you he's got his back turned to you man is the enemy ever said that to you that God doesn't hear you that he's not listening to you does the enemy ever told you that God has his back turned towards you because in your desperation you feel like God is being silent but what you don't understand is that God never turns his back God never turns a deaf ear God never closes his eyes to your situation how God is listening today and it's in those moments of our deepest pain that God is holding us the tightest the Bible says that this woman grabbed his garment and Jesus the creator of heaven and earth the God who put the stars in the sky that god stops in his tracks he turned around and he said who touched me the first person that this woman likely had touched in 12 years the first human contact that she had had and the Bible says Jesus said who touched me and he said nobody answered for a moment and he began to look in the crowd searching every eye it literally means that he looked in every eye because your eyes are connected to your soul and he was looking for somebody that had a different look that was looking at him differently and the Bible says finally this woman she cries out and she said it was me I touched you she fell down and began to tell him the truth total Minds suffered for all these years I've been in pain I've struggled I've made mistake after mistake problem after problem failure after failure but I knew if I could touch you I knew if I could just get close enough that something good could happen and I love what Jesus does Jesus doesn't cast her out he doesn't tell her this she made a mistake he doesn't tell her this she blew it but Jesus says daughter the first loving word probably this woman had heard in a dozen years he says daughter what is God saying to you today maybe you're sitting there and you just need God to say daughter he'd even say son you need him to wrap his arms around you today maybe you felt isolated and all alone but today God is gonna wrap his arms around you maybe you're sitting there with your family today I want to just encourage you I want you to reach out and just hold somebody for a moment hug your children hug your husband hug your wife hug your mom your dad whoever it is just for a moment touch somebody you touch somebody just reach out and let God touch you whatever it is tonight whatever you need in your life whatever answer you're looking for whatever move of God you need let God be that for you this woman probably had made a lot of mistakes in her life had probably had a lot of problems and issues but she made a decision and if I could just reach out it doesn't matter for 12 years that she suffered it doesn't matter for 12 years as she struggled all that mattered was this one moment in time and on this Easter Sunday night it doesn't matter what you did 10 years ago it doesn't matter what you did five years ago it doesn't matter what you did ten minutes ago all the matters is right here and right now because God can reach into your life he can touch you on this Easter Sunday let the God that created heaven and earth let him touch your life right where you are I'm gonna pray a prayer with you tonight and if you've never asked Jesus to come into your life if you've never had that resurrection miracle power work in your world let God touch you tonight let him change your entire life well this Eastern I don't go another night without God moving in your world let's pray this together dear Heavenly Father tonight I give my life to Jesus Christ Jesus I reach out and touch you and I'm asking you to touch my life to change me to heal me on this Easter Sunday deliver me I believe that you died and rose from the grave today I am a Christian I'm going to heaven my life will never be the same in Jesus name Amen to learn more visit Walter Hallam net here you'll find a list of resources to help you with your daily walk in Christ [Music]

Channel: ALCC

Views: 1,187

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Church, ALCC, Texas, La Marque, Walter Hallam, Pastor Walter Hallam, Pastor Hallam

Id: 9wgRpy9Pdgs

Length: 18min 26sec (1106 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 13 2020