1
00:00:03,269 --> 00:00:06,272
Luke eight 4356.

2
00:00:06,473 --> 00:00:07,791
Now when Jesus returned,

3
00:00:07,791 --> 00:00:10,794
the crowd welcomed them, for
they were all waiting for him.

4
00:00:10,910 --> 00:00:14,247
And there came a man named Jairus,
who was a ruler of the synagogue,

5
00:00:14,597 --> 00:00:16,232
and falling at Jesus feet.

6
00:00:16,232 --> 00:00:18,451
He implored him to come to his house,

7
00:00:18,451 --> 00:00:22,022
for he had an only daughter
about 12 years of age, and she was dying.

8
00:00:22,405 --> 00:00:23,373
As Jesus went.

9
00:00:23,373 --> 00:00:26,426
The people pressed around him,
and there was a woman who had had a

10
00:00:26,426 --> 00:00:30,213
discharge of blood for 12 years,
and though she had spent all of her

11
00:00:30,213 --> 00:00:33,600
living on physicians,
she could not be healed by anyone.

12
00:00:34,017 --> 00:00:37,320
She came up behind him
and touched the fringe of his garment,

13
00:00:37,587 --> 00:00:40,590
and immediately
her discharge of blood ceased.

14
00:00:40,757 --> 00:00:44,811
And Jesus said, who was it
that touched me when all denied it?

15
00:00:44,844 --> 00:00:49,165
Peter said, master, the crowd surround
you and are pressing in on you.

16
00:00:49,682 --> 00:00:50,717
But Jesus said,

17
00:00:50,717 --> 00:00:54,571
someone touched me, for I perceive
that power has gone out from me.

18
00:00:54,738 --> 00:00:56,906
And when the woman saw that
she was not hidden,

19
00:00:56,906 --> 00:01:00,660
she came trembling and falling down
before him, declared, in the presence

20
00:01:00,660 --> 00:01:05,281
of all people why she had touched him,
and how she had been immediately healed.

21
00:01:05,665 --> 00:01:08,718
And he said to her, daughter,
your faith has made you well.

22
00:01:09,018 --> 00:01:10,637
Go in peace.

23
00:01:10,637 --> 00:01:13,590
While he was still speaking,
someone from the ruler's

24
00:01:13,590 --> 00:01:16,593
house came and said,
your daughter is dead.

25
00:01:16,643 --> 00:01:18,962
Do not trouble the teacher any more.

26
00:01:18,962 --> 00:01:21,531
But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him,

27
00:01:21,531 --> 00:01:24,651
do not fear, only believe,
and she will be well.

28
00:01:25,285 --> 00:01:28,671
And when he came to the house,
he allowed no one to enter with him,

29
00:01:28,972 --> 00:01:31,758
except Peter and John, and James,

30
00:01:31,758 --> 00:01:36,513
and the father and mother of the child,
and all were weeping and mourning for her.

31
00:01:36,663 --> 00:01:38,581
But he said, do not weep.

32
00:01:38,581 --> 00:01:40,583
For she is not dead but sleeping.

33
00:01:40,583 --> 00:01:43,586
And they laughed at him,
knowing that she was dead,

34
00:01:43,586 --> 00:01:47,907
but taking her by the hand,
he called, saying, child, arise.

35
00:01:48,408 --> 00:01:51,411
And her spirit returned,
and she got up at once,

36
00:01:51,744 --> 00:01:54,781
and he directed
that something should be given her to eat.

37
00:01:55,248 --> 00:01:56,933
And her parents were amazed.

38
00:01:56,933 --> 00:01:59,719
But he charged them to tell
no one what had happened.

39
00:02:03,623 --> 00:02:06,176
It's the space between

40
00:02:06,176 --> 00:02:09,379
difficult and something greater

41
00:02:10,079 --> 00:02:12,565
that we're talking about this weekend.

42
00:02:12,565 --> 00:02:16,169
The space between a cancer diagnosis

43
00:02:16,820 --> 00:02:22,892
and the words stage for the space
between your spouse saying,

44
00:02:23,126 --> 00:02:26,479
we need to go to counseling,
and I'm leaving

45
00:02:27,197 --> 00:02:31,201
the space between an addiction
and an overdose.

46
00:02:32,001 --> 00:02:36,272
Life comes with a certain amount
of difficulty, a certain amount of pain.

47
00:02:36,272 --> 00:02:39,259
We get that we
we accept that we're okay with that.

48
00:02:40,109 --> 00:02:42,178
But there's a level to that.

49
00:02:42,178 --> 00:02:45,181
There's a level where difficult becomes
something worse,

50
00:02:45,181 --> 00:02:48,268
maybe even something impossible.

51
00:02:48,952 --> 00:02:51,804
Something that we know we can't deal with.

52
00:02:51,804 --> 00:02:53,489
We can't overcome.

53
00:02:53,489 --> 00:02:57,410
And the tricky thing about impossible
is it's in that moment

54
00:02:57,410 --> 00:03:00,413
we tend to reach for God.

55
00:03:00,530 --> 00:03:05,668
Which is why it's particularly painful
in that moment of impossibility

56
00:03:05,969 --> 00:03:09,138
when we reach for
God and he doesn't answer.

57
00:03:11,641 --> 00:03:14,093
He doesn't come through.

58
00:03:14,093 --> 00:03:17,096
He hasn't helped.

59
00:03:17,697 --> 00:03:21,201
In a sermon series, we're calling
Jesus the Redeemer.

60
00:03:21,234 --> 00:03:25,405
Looking at ten stories in the Gospel
of Luke of how Jesus sets us free.

61
00:03:25,772 --> 00:03:29,158
It might be this that
Jesus most needs to set us

62
00:03:29,158 --> 00:03:32,312
free from,
because most of us have a story like this.

63
00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:35,181
Not a difficult moment.

64
00:03:35,181 --> 00:03:36,232
Not a painful moment.

65
00:03:36,232 --> 00:03:37,500
An impossible one.

66
00:03:37,500 --> 00:03:39,535
One where we reached out to God.

67
00:03:39,535 --> 00:03:41,371
One where he didn't come through.

68
00:03:41,371 --> 00:03:45,191
In fact, for many of us,
we know someone. You.

69
00:03:45,425 --> 00:03:48,261
You might even be that someone for whom

70
00:03:48,261 --> 00:03:51,264
that experience was the breaking point.

71
00:03:51,331 --> 00:03:54,083
And that was where you left your faith.

72
00:03:54,083 --> 00:03:56,753
You gave up on the idea
that there is a god or.

73
00:03:56,753 --> 00:03:59,539
Or maybe that there is a God who loves you

74
00:04:00,556 --> 00:04:03,559
because of that impossible moment.

75
00:04:04,227 --> 00:04:06,529
Jesus came to set us free

76
00:04:06,529 --> 00:04:10,049
from that impossibility, to reinterpret

77
00:04:11,100 --> 00:04:14,787
our understanding
of those impossible moments.

78
00:04:15,338 --> 00:04:17,991
That's what we're looking at this weekend.

79
00:04:17,991 --> 00:04:21,978
So if you have a Bible, would you take it
out and open it to Luke chapter eight?

80
00:04:22,312 --> 00:04:26,249
We're going to begin in verse 40
and go through the rest of the chapter.

81
00:04:26,733 --> 00:04:29,852
Use your phone, your tablet,
however you want to get to Luke eight.

82
00:04:29,852 --> 00:04:33,406
And by the way, if you're here
this weekend, you didn't bring a Bible.

83
00:04:33,423 --> 00:04:35,258
Maybe you're not super familiar
with the Bible.

84
00:04:35,258 --> 00:04:39,178
So glad that you're here, especially
knowing that if it's been a while,

85
00:04:39,178 --> 00:04:44,484
it could be that this impossible
kind of moment is what has kept you away.

86
00:04:44,667 --> 00:04:46,953
So I want you to know
this weekend is for you.

87
00:04:46,953 --> 00:04:49,822
It's for you
as much as it is for anybody else.

88
00:04:49,822 --> 00:04:51,958
So if you want to follow
along in the Bible,

89
00:04:51,958 --> 00:04:55,228
there's one in the pew in front of you,
in the back of the room in East Hall.

90
00:04:55,678 --> 00:04:58,731
And I preach from that Bible just for you,
so I can tell you

91
00:04:58,731 --> 00:05:03,052
that today's reading is on page 813,
if you want to follow along.

92
00:05:03,086 --> 00:05:04,620
Thanks for being here.

93
00:05:04,620 --> 00:05:06,689
And however
you're getting to Luke chapter eight,

94
00:05:06,689 --> 00:05:09,659
I want to hold out to you three points
I'm going to use as an outline.

95
00:05:09,659 --> 00:05:11,427
Very simple. I want to show you.

96
00:05:11,427 --> 00:05:13,613
Life is impossible.

97
00:05:13,613 --> 00:05:15,798
Life is impossible.

98
00:05:15,798 --> 00:05:20,453
Impossibility is an invitation to believe.

99
00:05:20,636 --> 00:05:23,306
The impossible is possible.
Life is impossible.

100
00:05:23,306 --> 00:05:29,362
Impossibility is an invitation to believe
the impossible is possible.

101
00:05:29,362 --> 00:05:30,930
Let's start with the first one.

102
00:05:30,930 --> 00:05:33,266
Life is impossible.

103
00:05:33,266 --> 00:05:37,203
This story involves
three major characters.

104
00:05:37,470 --> 00:05:39,138
The first, of course, is Jesus.

105
00:05:39,138 --> 00:05:40,373
He's the center

106
00:05:40,373 --> 00:05:44,777
of the whole story of the Bible,
and certainly the center of this story.

107
00:05:44,777 --> 00:05:49,999
But after Jesus, there are two main
characters, and the Bible does this often.

108
00:05:49,999 --> 00:05:54,470
I really love this, where it will take
two characters who are very different,

109
00:05:54,721 --> 00:05:59,742
couldn't be more different,
and have them experience the same thing.

110
00:05:59,759 --> 00:06:00,927
It's a way of showing us

111
00:06:00,927 --> 00:06:05,898
that no matter who we are, the truth
that God wants us to know applies.

112
00:06:05,932 --> 00:06:09,535
Let me let me show you that look with me
at verse 40, Luke chapter eight.

113
00:06:09,535 --> 00:06:11,070
It says this.

114
00:06:11,070 --> 00:06:15,108
Now when Jesus returned,
the crowd welcomed him,

115
00:06:16,042 --> 00:06:18,411
for they were all waiting for him.

116
00:06:18,411 --> 00:06:22,398
And there came a man named Jairus,
who was a ruler of the synagogue.

117
00:06:22,882 --> 00:06:27,153
And falling at Jesus his feet,
he implored him to come to his house,

118
00:06:27,687 --> 00:06:32,058
for he had an only daughter
about 12 years of age, and she was dying.

119
00:06:32,692 --> 00:06:36,062
As Jesus went, the people pressed
around him, and there was a woman

120
00:06:36,329 --> 00:06:41,250
who had a discharge of blood for 12 years,
and though she had spent all her

121
00:06:41,250 --> 00:06:45,421
living on physician,
she could not be healed by anyone.

122
00:06:45,421 --> 00:06:48,708
Two people,
two very, very different people.

123
00:06:48,708 --> 00:06:52,078
On the one hand
you have Jairus, who is a man

124
00:06:52,578 --> 00:06:55,848
and the woman who's a woman, and
that might be the most obvious difference.

125
00:06:55,848 --> 00:06:57,417
But in this culture it was everything.

126
00:06:57,417 --> 00:07:01,370
I mean, Jairus was born into a world
that told him, you can be

127
00:07:01,404 --> 00:07:03,573
whatever you want to be.

128
00:07:03,573 --> 00:07:06,025
The woman was born into a world
that told her, you can be

129
00:07:06,025 --> 00:07:09,028
whatever your husband wants you to be.

130
00:07:09,112 --> 00:07:13,699
Jairus was a wealthy,
successful, religious elite man.

131
00:07:13,699 --> 00:07:18,721
He had a country club membership, drove
a nice car, had a nice

132
00:07:18,721 --> 00:07:22,859
house, had a, I'm sure, a pretty wife
and a pretty 12 year old daughter.

133
00:07:22,859 --> 00:07:27,029
He was a man of success,
a man of means, a man of influence,

134
00:07:27,029 --> 00:07:31,017
not just working at the synagogue,
but a ruler of the synagogue.

135
00:07:31,017 --> 00:07:33,302
He had a corner office.

136
00:07:33,302 --> 00:07:37,106
The woman, on the other hand,
we're told, has an issue with her body

137
00:07:37,106 --> 00:07:40,109
that probably prevented her
from getting married,

138
00:07:40,460 --> 00:07:43,463
certainly prevented her
from having children.

139
00:07:43,463 --> 00:07:46,732
Two ways that a woman in this culture
would have found value.

140
00:07:46,732 --> 00:07:51,137
And at the moment, no matter how much
money she had at the moment, she has none.

141
00:07:51,137 --> 00:07:55,308
So she's single, does not have children
and is poor.

142
00:07:55,408 --> 00:08:00,663
Two very different people,
but in exactly the same circumstance,

143
00:08:01,581 --> 00:08:05,184
dealing with an impossible situation.

144
00:08:05,751 --> 00:08:07,553
Not a hard one, an impossible one.

145
00:08:07,553 --> 00:08:10,556
Jairus, his 12 year
old daughter, is dying.

146
00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,376
I can't even imagine what that is like.

147
00:08:13,376 --> 00:08:13,910
I imagine

148
00:08:13,910 --> 00:08:19,015
as a man of influence and a man of means,
he has done everything he can do.

149
00:08:19,048 --> 00:08:21,150
He's talked to all his friends, he's

150
00:08:21,150 --> 00:08:25,071
talked to all their doctors,
and he has fired every bullet that he has.

151
00:08:25,071 --> 00:08:29,792
He still can't heal that little girl,
which must have been excruciating.

152
00:08:30,293 --> 00:08:32,161
I mean, I have three daughters.

153
00:08:32,161 --> 00:08:36,082
They start off believing
their dad is amazing.

154
00:08:36,499 --> 00:08:38,367
I can say it leaks slowly,

155
00:08:39,952 --> 00:08:40,653
but like my

156
00:08:40,653 --> 00:08:43,639
six year old daughter,
she thinks I can do anything.

157
00:08:43,739 --> 00:08:45,808
I mean, just this week I was up early.

158
00:08:45,808 --> 00:08:48,978
It was just me and her that were up
and I was lifting weights in the basement

159
00:08:49,195 --> 00:08:52,832
and I'm sad to tell you that I was not
lifting an impressive amount of weight.

160
00:08:53,366 --> 00:08:56,118
You probably didn't
need me to tell you that, right?

161
00:08:56,118 --> 00:09:01,140
But when I was lifting this pathetic
amount of weight, Ella was watching me.

162
00:09:01,190 --> 00:09:06,062
And at one point I lift the bar
and she just looks at me and goes, wow.

163
00:09:08,097 --> 00:09:11,551
I mean, I really think she thinks
if I had to, I could lift our house.

164
00:09:12,501 --> 00:09:15,121
That's how great her faith and her dad is.

165
00:09:15,121 --> 00:09:16,622
So I can't imagine what it's like

166
00:09:16,622 --> 00:09:20,576
to have that little girl
look at you as she's dying and say, daddy.

167
00:09:22,712 --> 00:09:24,497
Help me.

168
00:09:24,497 --> 00:09:26,899
Daddy, you can do anything.

169
00:09:26,899 --> 00:09:28,951
Help me for the woman.

170
00:09:28,951 --> 00:09:31,938
It's been 12 years.

171
00:09:32,371 --> 00:09:34,941
12 years. She's seen every doctor.

172
00:09:34,941 --> 00:09:38,027
She's been on Google,
she's been on web MD.

173
00:09:38,311 --> 00:09:40,880
She's tried every experimental treatment.

174
00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,298
She's done prescriptions.

175
00:09:42,298 --> 00:09:44,216
She's done natural medicine.

176
00:09:44,216 --> 00:09:46,769
She has tried everything.

177
00:09:46,769 --> 00:09:51,140
She has no avenues left, no options left,
no money left

178
00:09:51,140 --> 00:09:54,226
and no better off.

179
00:09:54,810 --> 00:09:57,296
You see, what this story is telling us
is it really doesn't matter

180
00:09:57,296 --> 00:09:58,397
who you identify with.

181
00:09:58,397 --> 00:10:02,184
If Jairus is more like you,
or this woman is more like you.

182
00:10:02,184 --> 00:10:05,371
Either way, you will come to a point

183
00:10:05,371 --> 00:10:08,541
in life where things are impossible.

184
00:10:08,541 --> 00:10:11,010
Listen, I know we try
not to think about it, but don't you know?

185
00:10:11,010 --> 00:10:14,030
Surely
you know you are at this moment dying.

186
00:10:15,798 --> 00:10:17,633
Your body is degrading.

187
00:10:17,633 --> 00:10:18,801
Mine is too.

188
00:10:18,801 --> 00:10:20,303
It's just a reality.

189
00:10:20,303 --> 00:10:22,338
We try to shut it out, but it's real.

190
00:10:22,338 --> 00:10:25,007
We will come to a moment or moments,

191
00:10:25,007 --> 00:10:28,761
a series of moments
where we will be encountering something.

192
00:10:28,761 --> 00:10:30,179
We cannot say.

193
00:10:30,179 --> 00:10:31,047
We know that.

194
00:10:31,047 --> 00:10:34,433
But of course, the question isn't
Will life be impossible?

195
00:10:34,433 --> 00:10:37,436
The question is when it is, Where is God?

196
00:10:40,172 --> 00:10:42,992
Where is God?

197
00:10:42,992 --> 00:10:44,777
It's a great question.

198
00:10:44,777 --> 00:10:48,347
And it actually leads to my second point,
which is, say, not only is life

199
00:10:48,347 --> 00:10:52,501
impossible,
but impossibility is an invitation

200
00:10:53,869 --> 00:10:54,737
as hard as it is.

201
00:10:54,737 --> 00:10:58,607
I just want to ask you for a second
to open yourselves up to a new way of

202
00:10:58,607 --> 00:11:02,178
thinking, because I want you to see that
in this story.

203
00:11:02,912 --> 00:11:06,382
Impact ability is what it takes

204
00:11:06,382 --> 00:11:09,985
for both these people
to come into the story of God.

205
00:11:10,436 --> 00:11:11,837
Look with me again in verse 40.

206
00:11:11,837 --> 00:11:12,955
See what I mean?

207
00:11:12,955 --> 00:11:17,693
Now in Jesus return the crowd welcomed
him, for they were all waiting for him.

208
00:11:18,327 --> 00:11:21,864
And there came a man named Jairus,
who was a ruler of the synagogue,

209
00:11:21,864 --> 00:11:26,068
and falling at Jesus feet,
he implored him to come to his house, for

210
00:11:26,068 --> 00:11:29,905
he had an only daughter
about 12 years of age, and she was dying.

211
00:11:30,740 --> 00:11:33,843
As Jesus went, the people pressed
around him, and there was a woman

212
00:11:34,009 --> 00:11:37,263
who had a discharge of blood for 12 years,
and though she had spent

213
00:11:37,413 --> 00:11:41,117
all her living on physicians,
she could not be healed by anyone.

214
00:11:41,217 --> 00:11:45,504
She came up behind him
and touched the fringe of his garment.

215
00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:48,657
I love that these two come in
completely different ways.

216
00:11:48,657 --> 00:11:50,359
Jairus comes boldly.

217
00:11:50,359 --> 00:11:52,611
He falls at the feet of Jesus.

218
00:11:52,611 --> 00:11:56,882
He will not let Jesus take another step
without dealing with him.

219
00:11:56,882 --> 00:11:58,434
The woman sneaks up like a ninja.

220
00:12:02,271 --> 00:12:04,407
Some of you came in pretty bold
this weekend.

221
00:12:04,407 --> 00:12:07,410
Some of you snuck in the back.

222
00:12:08,394 --> 00:12:10,863
But either way,

223
00:12:10,863 --> 00:12:13,849
it's impossibility that drives them there.

224
00:12:14,100 --> 00:12:15,384
Here's what you have to realize.

225
00:12:15,384 --> 00:12:18,170
Without this little girl being sick.

226
00:12:18,170 --> 00:12:23,008
Without this woman's issue of blood,
they would have lived on the planet

227
00:12:23,008 --> 00:12:26,011
at the same time as the Son of God

228
00:12:26,846 --> 00:12:29,248
and would have missed him.

229
00:12:29,248 --> 00:12:30,833
They would have missed him.

230
00:12:30,833 --> 00:12:33,419
But let me show you that impossibility

231
00:12:33,419 --> 00:12:36,572
drives them out of their own story
into the story of God.

232
00:12:36,572 --> 00:12:40,826
Impossibility rescues them from two places
where we often find ourselves.

233
00:12:40,826 --> 00:12:44,880
Jairus shows us that impossibility
rescues us from comfort.

234
00:12:45,881 --> 00:12:47,933
Me. Jairus is a man of success.

235
00:12:47,933 --> 00:12:50,853
He's a man of means.
He's a man of comfort.

236
00:12:50,853 --> 00:12:52,738
He can buy what he needs.

237
00:12:52,738 --> 00:12:54,774
He can provide for his family.

238
00:12:54,774 --> 00:12:56,725
He can take care of himself.

239
00:12:56,725 --> 00:12:58,561
He's like so many of us.

240
00:12:58,561 --> 00:13:02,431
Most of the problems
we encounter are pretty manageable.

241
00:13:02,431 --> 00:13:06,569
We we live in air conditioning
or I guess more appropriately in heat.

242
00:13:08,037 --> 00:13:10,039
We can take care of ourselves.

243
00:13:10,039 --> 00:13:14,460
Friends, don't you realize that Jairus
had the same danger that you and I have,

244
00:13:14,577 --> 00:13:17,463
which is that
he probably lived most of his life

245
00:13:17,463 --> 00:13:20,449
on autopilot?

246
00:13:20,449 --> 00:13:22,218
Because you get comfortable enough, right?

247
00:13:22,218 --> 00:13:22,768
You know that.

248
00:13:22,768 --> 00:13:25,137
You get comfortable
enough, you get up in the morning,

249
00:13:25,137 --> 00:13:26,689
you do the same thing
you do every morning.

250
00:13:26,689 --> 00:13:28,440
You go to work,
you do the same things. There.

251
00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:30,626
You come home, you make the same meals.

252
00:13:30,626 --> 00:13:34,263
You watch the same TV shows, you
go to bed, you blink and the day is over,

253
00:13:35,481 --> 00:13:37,616
and a day becomes a week,
and a week becomes

254
00:13:37,616 --> 00:13:39,235
a month, and a month becomes a year.

255
00:13:39,235 --> 00:13:40,886
And you get the story.

256
00:13:40,886 --> 00:13:45,891
How many of us have said at some point
soon I've got to get serious about God.

257
00:13:47,776 --> 00:13:48,928
At some point

258
00:13:48,928 --> 00:13:51,831
I've got to start taking seriously
my faith.

259
00:13:51,831 --> 00:13:56,252
At some point, I've got to come to terms
with what I believe about God.

260
00:13:56,268 --> 00:13:58,170
One day, eventually.

261
00:13:58,170 --> 00:14:01,790
But you see, as long as we're comfortable,
we never get there.

262
00:14:02,424 --> 00:14:04,410
Jairus is a ruler of the synagogue.

263
00:14:04,410 --> 00:14:06,679
That means he's a member
of the religious elite.

264
00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,682
Probably means he's an enemy of Jesus.

265
00:14:10,316 --> 00:14:13,919
I mean, this guy is going
to live on the planet at the same time

266
00:14:13,919 --> 00:14:19,008
as the Son of God and not only miss him,
he's going to crucify him,

267
00:14:19,158 --> 00:14:22,161
if not for impossibility.

268
00:14:23,579 --> 00:14:26,582
Are you humble enough to admit

269
00:14:26,782 --> 00:14:29,785
that if God left you alone,

270
00:14:30,986 --> 00:14:33,989
you might miss him?

271
00:14:35,507 --> 00:14:38,427
Now the woman is a different story.

272
00:14:38,427 --> 00:14:42,031
It's not comfort that impossibility
drives her out of its competitors.

273
00:14:44,133 --> 00:14:47,119
The woman has been sick for 12 years.

274
00:14:47,786 --> 00:14:50,422
She's seen every doctor.

275
00:14:50,422 --> 00:14:52,524
She's tried every treatment.

276
00:14:52,524 --> 00:14:54,560
She's spent every dollar.

277
00:14:54,560 --> 00:15:00,683
It isn't until she runs out of money and
out of options that she reaches for God.

278
00:15:00,683 --> 00:15:03,686
Can you tell me
that you can't resonate with that?

279
00:15:05,037 --> 00:15:08,841
If you think about discomfort
as a volume knob, every time

280
00:15:08,841 --> 00:15:12,711
you turn the volume up a little bit,
we'll reach for something, but not God.

281
00:15:13,379 --> 00:15:16,382
Maybe a glass of wine in the evening,

282
00:15:17,299 --> 00:15:19,501
maybe therapy,

283
00:15:19,501 --> 00:15:21,587
maybe exercise.

284
00:15:21,587 --> 00:15:24,089
Maybe it's what we're eating.

285
00:15:24,089 --> 00:15:26,392
Maybe we need to start a relationship.

286
00:15:26,392 --> 00:15:28,377
You get the point. Something.
Those things are bad.

287
00:15:28,377 --> 00:15:31,747
It's just that at a volume level of two
or 4 or

288
00:15:31,747 --> 00:15:34,883
6, we feel like we have answers.

289
00:15:34,883 --> 00:15:35,935
So don't you see?

290
00:15:35,935 --> 00:15:41,090
If God wants to get our attention,
the volume has to keep going up.

291
00:15:42,541 --> 00:15:43,142
It took 12

292
00:15:43,142 --> 00:15:46,128
years for this woman to reach out to God.

293
00:15:46,278 --> 00:15:49,281
So great were her other options.

294
00:15:50,933 --> 00:15:52,584
My point is this.

295
00:15:52,584 --> 00:15:57,122
Do you read this story as a story of hope
or a story of despair?

296
00:15:57,122 --> 00:16:00,626
You know, it's a story of hope,
but it begins with impossible.

297
00:16:00,893 --> 00:16:05,748
Because for some of us, maybe even
for most of us, possibly for all of us,

298
00:16:05,931 --> 00:16:10,052
we will never leave our old stories
and enter the story of God

299
00:16:10,052 --> 00:16:13,038
without a little impossible enmity.

300
00:16:13,405 --> 00:16:15,741
Let me give you an example
to make sense of this.

301
00:16:15,741 --> 00:16:17,810
I've told you this before. I have five
kids.

302
00:16:17,810 --> 00:16:19,945
17 is the oldest, the youngest is six.

303
00:16:19,945 --> 00:16:22,531
I got to tell you,
I crush being a parent of young kids.

304
00:16:22,531 --> 00:16:23,549
I've told you that.

305
00:16:23,549 --> 00:16:26,251
That's because when you parent young kids,
you only have to do two things

306
00:16:26,251 --> 00:16:27,720
be fun and keep them alive.

307
00:16:29,004 --> 00:16:31,340
And I can do both of those things.

308
00:16:31,340 --> 00:16:34,343
Parenting teenagers is kicking my butt.

309
00:16:35,177 --> 00:16:36,829
I'm just being vulnerable with you, okay?

310
00:16:36,829 --> 00:16:39,748
My wife is great at it. I am not.

311
00:16:39,748 --> 00:16:41,867
And I've realized as I've wrestled through

312
00:16:41,867 --> 00:16:45,204
having three teenagers
now, why it's so hard for me.

313
00:16:45,204 --> 00:16:48,774
It's because when they're little,
you just keep them from pain.

314
00:16:50,659 --> 00:16:53,662
But when they're teenagers,
you can't do that.

315
00:16:54,446 --> 00:16:57,866
You have everything in me
wants to create rules

316
00:16:57,866 --> 00:17:01,820
and boundaries and structure
to keep them from any and all pain.

317
00:17:02,037 --> 00:17:06,025
But the problem is, even if you can do
that, you might have a happy 17 year old.

318
00:17:06,141 --> 00:17:09,144
You'll have a pretty lousy 27 year old.

319
00:17:10,045 --> 00:17:11,847
Pain forms us.

320
00:17:11,847 --> 00:17:15,617
I mean, over time, your kids have to learn
that they're not going to be varsity

321
00:17:15,617 --> 00:17:16,518
at every sport.

322
00:17:16,518 --> 00:17:18,771
They're not the smartest kid in the world.

323
00:17:18,771 --> 00:17:20,873
They have to learn their limitations.
They have to learn.

324
00:17:20,873 --> 00:17:23,042
They're they're
they're they're character flaws.

325
00:17:23,042 --> 00:17:24,710
They have to be able to grow.

326
00:17:24,710 --> 00:17:29,882
So as a parent, you're constantly
letting enough pain come into their lives.

327
00:17:29,882 --> 00:17:31,050
So that they'll grow.

328
00:17:31,050 --> 00:17:34,053
It's heartbreaking, but it's necessary.

329
00:17:34,737 --> 00:17:36,438
Friends, what if God is like that?

330
00:17:40,309 --> 00:17:41,760
What if

331
00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:46,381
the presence of the impossible in
your life is not a sign of his absence,

332
00:17:47,099 --> 00:17:49,501
but a sign of his affection?

333
00:17:49,501 --> 00:17:52,488
What if God would say the same thing
I would say to my kids?

334
00:17:52,621 --> 00:17:55,457
It's breaking my heart,

335
00:17:55,457 --> 00:17:59,178
I want to, everything in me
wants to run in and solve the problem

336
00:17:59,178 --> 00:18:03,982
for you and and do away with the bullies
and the mean girls and and keep you safe.

337
00:18:03,982 --> 00:18:06,985
But I can't because I love you too much.

338
00:18:09,588 --> 00:18:12,591
Does God love this 12 year old girl?

339
00:18:14,276 --> 00:18:15,327
Does he love this woman?

340
00:18:15,327 --> 00:18:16,161
You know he does.

341
00:18:16,161 --> 00:18:19,164
You've read this story.

342
00:18:20,966 --> 00:18:23,936
But without impossibility,

343
00:18:23,936 --> 00:18:26,939
will they ever know he loves them?

344
00:18:27,172 --> 00:18:30,359
Friends, what if the reason you've walked
away from your faith

345
00:18:31,460 --> 00:18:35,514
is the very evidence
of God's affection for you?

346
00:18:36,932 --> 00:18:37,950
That leads me to my

347
00:18:37,950 --> 00:18:41,069
third point, which is to say
not only that life is impossible.

348
00:18:41,069 --> 00:18:44,273
And not only that impossibility
is an invitation, but it's an invitation

349
00:18:44,389 --> 00:18:47,693
to believe the impossible is possible.

350
00:18:47,693 --> 00:18:50,395
That happens in two ways in this story.
One is obvious.

351
00:18:50,395 --> 00:18:51,980
One is maybe a little less so.

352
00:18:51,980 --> 00:18:53,966
The obvious way is healing.

353
00:18:53,966 --> 00:18:55,134
Healing. Look at the story.

354
00:18:55,134 --> 00:18:58,137
They come to Jesus two different ways,
two different problems.

355
00:18:58,137 --> 00:18:59,421
Same result.

356
00:18:59,421 --> 00:18:59,872
Pick it up.

357
00:18:59,872 --> 00:19:04,610
In verse 44, she came up behind him
and touched the fringe of his garment,

358
00:19:05,093 --> 00:19:09,414
and immediately
her discharge of blood ceased.

359
00:19:09,798 --> 00:19:11,183
Verse 54.

360
00:19:11,183 --> 00:19:12,317
But taking her her.

361
00:19:12,317 --> 00:19:16,939
Here's the 12 year old girl by the hand
he called, saying, child, arise,

362
00:19:17,339 --> 00:19:21,476
and her spirit returned,
and she got up at once.

363
00:19:22,461 --> 00:19:24,746
Friends, I got to tell you, there's
no way to preach this story

364
00:19:24,746 --> 00:19:26,882
except for unapologetically
telling you that

365
00:19:26,882 --> 00:19:30,652
what the Bible is offering you
here is when you find yourself

366
00:19:30,652 --> 00:19:34,139
in impossible situations,
you should bring that to Jesus

367
00:19:35,691 --> 00:19:36,775
at the end of every service.

368
00:19:36,775 --> 00:19:39,778
We have a prayer team up here
in green shirts, ready to pray for you.

369
00:19:39,778 --> 00:19:43,348
Come, come with your cancer diagnosis.

370
00:19:43,348 --> 00:19:44,816
Come with your addiction,

371
00:19:44,816 --> 00:19:48,804
with your wayward child,
with your estranged brother or sister.

372
00:19:48,804 --> 00:19:52,524
Come with what you previously thought
was impossible.

373
00:19:52,524 --> 00:19:56,245
Bring it to Jesus because he can and does

374
00:19:56,245 --> 00:19:59,248
do the impossible.

375
00:19:59,548 --> 00:20:02,067
No ifs, no buts, no qualifications.

376
00:20:02,067 --> 00:20:04,353
Come to Jesus, ask him.

377
00:20:04,353 --> 00:20:07,773
Come to him boldly, or
sneak up and touch the back of his shirt.

378
00:20:09,391 --> 00:20:12,077
He can do what you're asking him to do.

379
00:20:13,495 --> 00:20:14,696
But I have to tell you,

380
00:20:14,696 --> 00:20:18,317
that's not the most impossible thing
in this story.

381
00:20:19,251 --> 00:20:22,104
It's not healing
that is the most important thing.

382
00:20:22,104 --> 00:20:24,539
It's his heart,

383
00:20:24,539 --> 00:20:27,476
not just think about this for a second.

384
00:20:27,476 --> 00:20:30,479
Jesus can heal any way that he wants
right?

385
00:20:31,346 --> 00:20:34,499
Like a couple of weeks ago,
we saw that a Roman soldier came to him

386
00:20:34,499 --> 00:20:37,319
and said, would you heal my servant?
You remember?

387
00:20:37,319 --> 00:20:39,054
And Jesus said, sure,
let's go to your house.

388
00:20:39,054 --> 00:20:41,039
And the guy said, no, no, no,
you don't need to go to my house.

389
00:20:41,039 --> 00:20:42,441
Just say it.

390
00:20:42,441 --> 00:20:43,642
Just say. But.

391
00:20:43,642 --> 00:20:44,243
So Jesus did.

392
00:20:44,243 --> 00:20:46,561
He just healed him by saying that.

393
00:20:46,561 --> 00:20:49,998
So why in this story is he so deliberate?

394
00:20:50,966 --> 00:20:53,969
Why doesn't he do that for Jairus,
his little girl?

395
00:20:55,137 --> 00:20:58,223
When the woman touches him
and is healed, why doesn't he leave it?

396
00:20:59,808 --> 00:21:01,560
Look with me at the story.

397
00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:01,944
Pick it up.

398
00:21:01,944 --> 00:21:05,063
In verse 44,
she came up behind him and touched

399
00:21:05,063 --> 00:21:09,117
the fringe of his garment, and immediately
her discharge of blood ceased.

400
00:21:09,117 --> 00:21:12,120
And Jesus said,
who was it that touched me?

401
00:21:12,955 --> 00:21:16,008
When all denied it, Peter said, master,
the crowd surround

402
00:21:16,008 --> 00:21:17,609
you and are pressing in on you.

403
00:21:17,609 --> 00:21:20,312
Let me just pause here and say

404
00:21:20,312 --> 00:21:22,981
it is possible to be in the crowd around

405
00:21:22,981 --> 00:21:25,968
Jesus and missed the chance to touch him.

406
00:21:27,803 --> 00:21:30,806
Don't let that be you.

407
00:21:32,607 --> 00:21:33,141
But Jesus

408
00:21:33,141 --> 00:21:37,229
said, verse 46, someone touched me, for
I perceive the power has gone out for me.

409
00:21:37,229 --> 00:21:40,916
And when the woman saw that
she was not hidden, she came trembling,

410
00:21:41,033 --> 00:21:45,053
and falling down before him, declared,
in the presence of all the people

411
00:21:45,053 --> 00:21:48,557
why she had touched him,
and how she had been immediately healed.

412
00:21:48,707 --> 00:21:50,492
And he said to her daughter,

413
00:21:51,660 --> 00:21:53,095
your faith is made you well.

414
00:21:53,095 --> 00:21:57,232
Listen, you don't understand the human
experience if you don't understand this.

415
00:21:57,482 --> 00:21:59,568
Healing her was incredible.

416
00:21:59,568 --> 00:22:02,671
But after 12 years of being alone

417
00:22:02,671 --> 00:22:05,991
and abandoned and forgotten and isolated,

418
00:22:06,108 --> 00:22:09,628
the God of the universe
looking at you and saying,

419
00:22:10,946 --> 00:22:13,765
daughter.

420
00:22:13,765 --> 00:22:16,768
Is way more healing.

421
00:22:17,786 --> 00:22:18,353
Jairus.

422
00:22:18,353 --> 00:22:19,638
Same thing.

423
00:22:19,638 --> 00:22:22,941
Jairus and Jesus are walking to the house
after the interruption of the woman.

424
00:22:23,692 --> 00:22:26,778
Verse 49, while he was still speaking,
someone from the ruler's

425
00:22:26,778 --> 00:22:29,064
house came and said,
your daughter is dead.

426
00:22:29,064 --> 00:22:31,767
Do not trouble the teacher anymore.

427
00:22:31,767 --> 00:22:34,052
But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him,

428
00:22:34,052 --> 00:22:38,607
do not fear, only believe,
and she will be well.

429
00:22:38,607 --> 00:22:41,626
You see, Jesus isn't
just after the physical

430
00:22:41,626 --> 00:22:45,147
healing of Jairus, or Jairus daughter
or the woman.

431
00:22:45,147 --> 00:22:46,431
Because I got news for you.

432
00:22:46,431 --> 00:22:48,984
Jairus and his daughter
and this woman are dead.

433
00:22:51,503 --> 00:22:54,539
Even after miracles, people die.

434
00:22:54,539 --> 00:22:57,442
We are all going to die.

435
00:22:57,442 --> 00:22:59,511
Physical healing is awesome.

436
00:22:59,511 --> 00:23:02,514
It's temporary.

437
00:23:02,597 --> 00:23:05,600
Jesus is after their hearts.

438
00:23:05,634 --> 00:23:08,520
Jesus came not to bring temporary healing.

439
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,891
Jesus came for us to believe that the
God of the universe has not abandoned us.

440
00:23:13,008 --> 00:23:14,576
He has not forgotten us.

441
00:23:14,576 --> 00:23:17,179
He loves us enough to call us daughter.

442
00:23:17,179 --> 00:23:21,266
He loves us enough to walk with us,
to throw his arm around us.

443
00:23:21,349 --> 00:23:24,052
And in spite of all the bad things
happening,

444
00:23:24,052 --> 00:23:27,839
look us in the eye like he did
Jairus and say, hey, hey, look at me.

445
00:23:27,839 --> 00:23:29,791
Keep walking.

446
00:23:29,791 --> 00:23:31,860
Don't listen to them.

447
00:23:31,860 --> 00:23:34,863
You see, Jesus
came to do the most impossible thing,

448
00:23:35,180 --> 00:23:39,017
which was to fix
our broken relationship with God.

449
00:23:41,002 --> 00:23:45,807
He did that by impossibly
taking our sin on himself on the cross,

450
00:23:47,609 --> 00:23:50,395
by dying under the weight

451
00:23:50,395 --> 00:23:53,849
of the anger and judgment of God
which we deserved,

452
00:23:54,049 --> 00:23:58,053
being buried in the ground,
and then impossibly rising

453
00:23:58,053 --> 00:24:02,808
from the dead on Easter
Sunday, triumphing over dead death,

454
00:24:02,808 --> 00:24:08,313
ascending into heaven and telling us the
most impossible thing has become possible,

455
00:24:08,396 --> 00:24:12,000
which is that I'm the King of heaven,
and in me you can be forgiven.

456
00:24:12,083 --> 00:24:13,885
In me you can receive mercy.

457
00:24:13,885 --> 00:24:16,288
In me you can be called son or daughter.

458
00:24:16,288 --> 00:24:18,390
I'm going to heaven where I am king.

459
00:24:18,390 --> 00:24:21,893
And I will make sure you join me there.

460
00:24:26,598 --> 00:24:28,917
Physical healing is something he can do.

461
00:24:28,917 --> 00:24:30,752
Ask him.

462
00:24:30,752 --> 00:24:33,738
But don't settle for that.

463
00:24:33,955 --> 00:24:36,958
Come back to God,

464
00:24:37,709 --> 00:24:40,562
because all he wants

465
00:24:40,562 --> 00:24:44,966
is for you
in Jesus to see his heart for you.

466
00:24:45,267 --> 00:24:50,672
That is the most impossible thing
that is now possible.

467
00:24:51,206 --> 00:24:52,524
Let me pray for us.

468
00:24:52,524 --> 00:24:55,343
Father God,
thank you so much for this story.

469
00:24:55,343 --> 00:24:57,062
Thank you for Jairus and the woman you.

470
00:25:00,599 --> 00:25:01,883
You put them both in the story

471
00:25:01,883 --> 00:25:04,886
because you don't want anyone here
to be left out.

472
00:25:06,354 --> 00:25:08,306
We got Jairus.

473
00:25:08,306 --> 00:25:11,309
We got people who resonate with the women.

474
00:25:12,511 --> 00:25:14,279
But we all need Jesus.

475
00:25:14,279 --> 00:25:15,714
Holy spirit, work in our hearts.

476
00:25:15,714 --> 00:25:18,500
Show us the beauty of who God is

477
00:25:18,500 --> 00:25:21,887
and what he's done for us
in Jesus and His name we pray.

478
00:25:22,437 --> 00:25:22,821
Amen.