Summer at Refuge

good morning refuge family. My name is Tina and on behalf of our team, we are so
thankful. You're joining us for refuge church, online, wherever you're joining us from
today, we're honored to get to spend it with you. I also want to give a special welcome
to those of you joining us for the very first time before service begins. We want to
give you a few helpful tips our time together. Make sure you grab your Bible so you can
follow along with the scriptures and the message. If you don't have a Bible, don't
worry. The verses will be available on your screen. Also, please engage in the live
comments. We would love to connect with you, to pray with you and to care for you. If
you're joining us for the very first time, please fill out our digital connect card so
we can get to know you better. We love you and we hope you enjoy today's service. Good
morning, refuge, family, pastor Jason here. I'm so excited to see you this morning
before I do anything else. I want to thank everyone who is able to come out last Sunday
morning for our outdoor worship service and our picnic. Over 400 people came together to
worship Jesus and have some fun. If we haven't seen you, if we weren't able to see you
last Sunday, listen, I cannot wait to see you again soon.
We love you. And we've been praying for you all week long. Hey, in just a few weeks,
I'll be going on my scheduled sabbatical for the month of June. Pastor mark, Brandon
will be with you online and on north Alabama's CW. And I know that he has a powerful
word for you over the next month. If you need anything, do not hesitate to reach out to
our church office. Our team is ready and willing to care for you in any and every way
that they can. Hey, let's pray together. Then let's jump into God's word today. Jesus,
we love you so much. And we thank you for this morning. We thank you, God, that no
matter where we're at, we can meet with you. Lord. We can experience your presence and
your power in our lives. Holy spirit, would you fill our rooms? Would you fill our
hearts today and speak to us God, and only a way that you can. Jesus. We love you. And
it's in your name. We pray. Amen. Hey guys, this morning, I want to spend time in a
passage in Luke chapter eight. I remember the first time I read through this story, it
made an incredible difference in my life. And I remember when I had the opportunity to
go to the holy land and see the place where this story actually walked out, where it
happened.
And I remember just that feeling, that overwhelming feeling of knowing of Jesus, his
love of Jesus has power. And that's my heart. That's my prayer for you today is that
today in this moment, at this time that we would experience the power and the presence
of Jesus Christ. Like never. Before you see Luke chapter eight tells a story of the
leader of a synagogue named gyrus. And one gyrus came to Jesus. Gyrus was distraught
because his 12 year old daughter, she was sick and he knew that she was going to die.
And so he came to Jesus, a father that was a broken heart at a father that was in
despair and desperate and said, Jesus, I need you to come to my house. My daughter is
sick and she's going to die. Now Jesus was at the market. Jesus was in the middle of the
crowd. There were people everywhere. I imagined being at a concert and people being
elbow to elbow, pushing through the crowd. Jesus looked at gyrus and he said, let's go.
And so they began to travel to gyrus his house, pushing through the crowds, pushing
through the people. I can't imagine being gyrus, having that much despair and that much
worry about your daughter. And then to hear Jesus say, yes, I'll come. And so they were
going to the house, but while they were walking while they were going through the crowd,
something else happened.
And I want us to read it in Luke chapter eight, starting in verse 43. It says a woman in
the crowd had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding and she could find no cure
coming up behind Jesus. She touched the fringe of his robe immediately. The bleeding
stopped, who touched me. Jesus asked everyone denied it. And Peter said, master, this
whole crowd is pressing up against you. But Jesus said, someone deliberately touched me
for, I felt healing power go out from me. When the woman realized that she could not
stay hidden. She began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd
heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had immediately been healed
daughter. He said to her, your faith has made you well, go in peace. You see the Bible
identifies five important details about this woman's situation. This woman's story. Now
remember what's going on. Jesus is on this important mission. The ruler of a synagogue
and influential person in the community needed Jesus has help. And in the middle of
going to help him, Jesus stops because a woman in the crowd had touched him. We see five
things about this woman. First, she was physically weak. How do we know that? Because
she had been bleeding for 12 years. She was most likely anemic. She was most likely
fatigued. She was unhealthy, possibly even experiencing chronic pain.
She was sick and we know that she was physically weak because of her condition. Maybe
you're watching or listening today. And you relate to that. You're physically weak.
Maybe it's because of a health situation you're dealing with. Maybe you've been dealing
with chronic pain for years, but maybe you can relate to this woman today. You know what
it is like to be physically weak. Maybe you're just overwhelmed. Maybe you're just worn
out. Maybe you're just exhausted because of the circumstance of your life. You know what
it feels like to be weak. We also know that she was financially drained because some
translations actually say that she spent all the money that she had looking for a cure.
She was poor. She had nothing left. She was done desperate. She wanted it to be well,
she wanted to be healed. And so she went to every doctor. She tried every possible cure
and nothing worked and she had no money left. Maybe, you know what that feels like.
Maybe you can relate to that situation. You're financially drained. Maybe it was because
of the circumstances of 2020 and this past year, maybe it was because of poor decisions.
Maybe it was because of something that happened that you had no control over. It was an
external circumstance. But you know what?
It feels like to be poor, to not have any money, to be paycheck to paycheck, do not even
know how you're going to pay your bills. You could relate to being financially drained.
We also know that she was socially outcast. We know this because of Jewish law regarding
menstruation and women. We know that because she had been bleeding for 12 years, that
she was a social outcast, that she could not be around people that she not be around her
family. She could not be around the crowd. She was considered on clean. And so, because
that she would have been a social outcast. Maybe you can relate to that. Maybe you're
watching right now and you feel alone. Maybe you can be in a crowd full of people and
you feel alone. You feel like nobody cares. You feel like nobody is aware. You feel like
nobody loves you. You feel ignored or you feel like people do know you and they don't
want you around. You know what? It feels like to be a social outcast. We also see that
she was spiritually rejected again because of the Jewish law. She was considered unclean
and she cannot not participate in religious ritual or even in worship. She was
spiritually rejected. Maybe, you know what that feels like. Maybe you have been hurt by
church. Maybe you have been rejected by Christians or by church people. Or maybe you
feel like you're rejected by God.
Even if you're not, maybe you feel that way. And you feel like because of something that
you've said or something that you've thought or something that you've done, that God
doesn't want you, that he has rejected you, or maybe you just have a misunderstanding
about something that you've read and God's word. And because of that, misunderstanding,
you feel unloved and unwanted can relate to feeling spiritually rejected. And lastly, we
know that this woman was emotionally distressed because the Bible, since she was
horrified, when Jesus asked the question who touched me, she was horrified. She came in
fear and trouble. why, because she had done an unconscionable thing. She was unclean.
And she reached out to touch a clean person. She had willfully and knowingly approached
someone while she was unclaimed. And she had been exposed. She had been exposed in
public. Everybody heard what she had done. And the reality is, is in this culture and
because of what she has done, she could have been stoned. She could have been punished.
She would have been killed for it, but she wasn't washy. Why I want you to see what
Jesus did here, what Jesus did in this situation and how Jesus can do that. The same
things in our life today. You said, we have to understand first Jesus has enough time
for you. Remember what it says in verses 44 and 45 coming up behind Jesus. She touched
the fringe of his robe.
The bleeding immediately stopped. Who touched me? You see, he stopped even though Jesus
was on an important mission, even though there was a 12 year old girl that was about to
die. Jesus stopped to minister to this woman. Jesus had enough time for her. And Jesus
has enough time for you. I will never forget a moment in my life where I did not have
enough time for somebody that was working at a local hospital. And my office was across
the street. And I was called to a meeting in the main building, a walk through the
parking lot. I walked by the emergency room and as I walked by the emergency room, there
was a woman sitting there and she was sobbing. She was crying her eyes out. And I asked
the question ma'am are you okay? And she said, no, I'm not okay. And my response, I was
so worried about getting to my meeting. I said, sorry. Ma'am I hope you have a better
day. And I kept on walking and that haunts me because I don't know what was going on in
her life may have just received devastating news. She may have just had a family member
pass away. There may have been an unexpected diagnosis. I don't know, but I did not take
the opportunity to minister when God gave, gave it to me. I didn't make enough Tom, but
here's what I, what about Jesus? Jesus has enough time for you.
Jesus will make time for you because Jesus loves you. Second thing that we see is that
Jesus, he has enough power for you. He has enough power for you. You said in verse 46,
someone deliberately touched me for, I felt healing power go out from me. Here's what I
love. She didn't even really touch Jesus. She touched the fringe of his rope. She
touched the tassels on his prayer, which represented his authority, touching the tassels
of his clothing. She was healed. I don't know about you, but believe in a God who still
does miracles today. He did miracles then and he still does miracles. I've seen God do
miracles in Haiti. I've seen God do miracles and Nicaragua. I've seen God do miracles in
Athens and in Huntsville, God still does miracles. I've seen him be creative. I've seen
him heal. I've seen him cast out the demonic, seen him take situations that seem
hopeless and impossible and change them in an instant. You see, we serve a God that
still does miracles. And Jesus still has enough power for you. If he can raise himself
from the dead, then Jesus can speak a life and hope and healing into your situation.
And number three, Jesus, he has enough compassion for you in this moment where this
woman was exposed in front of the crowd in this moment where she could have been
punished, where she could have been stone, where she could have been ridiculed, where
she could have been humiliated Jesus. He calls her daughter. He speaks to her and love.
And with grace and compassion and says, daughter, your faith has made you well, go in
peace. You see, there is nothing. There is nothing that this woman could have done to
help herself. Nothing worked. She was desperate. She was helpless. All she knew is that
she had to get to Jesus and Jesus had compassion on her. Some of you are watching right
now and you were dealing with health issues. You feel like a social outcast. You were in
a spiritual rut. You are paralyzed by fear or worry or anxiety or depression, or maybe
you're a student and your parents are getting a divorce or maybe your family is
struggling with finances or maybe you're watching. And you weren't even thinking about
harming yourself. You think the world would be better off without you. Listen, you are
stuck. You were stuck because you believe the lie that God will not give you more than
you can handle. That is a lie. God will give you more than you can handle. So you will
turn it back over to him and allow him to handle it.
Jesus has compassion for you and he loves you more than you could ever a magic number
for your pain can become your purpose. Your mission, yes can become your ministry. Your
tests can become your testimony because here's what happens next. As Jesus gets done,
having this conversation after he has healed this woman physically and probably even
emotionally and spiritually, because of the way he treated her, he moves, continue to go
to gyrus house. And as he's going to gyrus his house, one of gyrus, his servants came to
him and said, master, you can leave the teacher alone. Your daughter is dead. So while
all this is happening, okay, well, Jesus is doing a miracle over here. Over here. A
little girl has died. I can't imagine. Imagine being gyrus. I can't imagine just
understanding a daddy's heart. I can't imagine how he felt. He was probably devastated.
He was overwhelmed with grief in that moment. And he was probably mad. He was probably
angry with Jesus. Jesus. If you hadn't have been doing that, then you could have been
over here helping my daughter. And Jesus has no come on. We're going to keep going.
She's not dead. She's just asleep. And people didn't understand what Jesus was talking
about. And when Jesus got to the house, people were already there and there were already
morning and they were crying and they were wailing. And Jesus said, why are you crying?
She's just asleep.
And they laughed at Jesus. They laughed at him. They didn't understand what he was
doing. How many times is Jesus moved into your life? And you just didn't understand what
he was doing. And he went up to the little girl's room and the Bible says that he spoke
in Aramaic to Letha Kuhn, little girl get up. And she did, the little girl was dead. And
he brought her back to life again with just a spoken word, with just a few phrase, that
girl was brought back to life and then place went from warning to celebration and all,
and one day sure. Think about this for a minute. Okay. How old was the woman who was
dealing with the issue of blood? How long had she been dealing with the issue of blood?
12 years? How old was the little girl? When she got sick and died, she was 12 years old.
Have you ever considered that gyrus needed to see a miracle right in front of his eyes
in order to have the faith, to see his daughter raised from the dead that maybe 12 years
ago, this woman started bubbling and this woman acted in desperation to get to Jesus.
It'd be healed publicly so that gyrus would have the faith to know that Jesus could
raise his daughter from the dead. Your pain becomes your purpose and maybe you're
watching and listening and you have lived in pain.
Maybe you have been in a mess and maybe you have experienced tests. I'm telling you, God
can use those. If you will let him to make an incredible impact on this world and in
people's lives, he can. And he will, if he's yeah. Is three 20 says now all glory to God
who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more
than we might ask or think God will do it. If you ask him, maybe you're here this
morning, maybe you're watching. And there's something deeper that you need. Maybe you
need a spiritual healing. Maybe you need your relationship with God restored. Maybe
you're watching. And there has never been a moment in your life where you have trusted
Jesus Christ, where you have placed your faith in him. You see Jesus lived a perfect
life. He did these miracles. He loved people, but ultimately he lived a perfect life so
that he could be the center lamb of God, a substitute for you and for me so that he
could take it the wrath of God so that we wouldn't have to, Jesus lived a perfect life
and then gave himself up to doubt on our cross. He spilled his blood so that you and I
could be forgiven of our sin and set free from our past so that we can live a future
full of purpose so that we can have an eternity with God after.
But it's the decision that only you can make a decision to place your faith in Jesus.
And I want to give you the opportunity today, if that's you, and you would say, Jason, I
want to place my faith in Jesus. I want to ask you to stop what you're doing right now
and pray this prayer with me. God, I've been going my own direction with life. I've been
doing my own thing. I am a sinner separated from you. And today I realize I need a
relationship with your son. Jesus Christ. God. I believe that Jesus died on a cross for
me. And I believe that three days later, Jesus rose again from the grave to prove to
everyone that he is your son. God, would you forgive me? Would you change me? Would you
give me a brand new life today? Jesus, you are my Lord. And I'm going to follow you for
the rest of my life in Jesus. It's in your name. I pray amen. Now, if that was you,
congratulations, that is the greatest decision that you can make with your life. And the
Bible says that all of heaven is celebrating your decision and we celebrate with you and
with heaven today. But please don't change this channel. Don't turn this video off
without letting us know, because I want to reach out to you and pray for you by name.
I want to give you resources that will help you grow in your faith and become more like
Jesus and be everything God has called and created you to be. So I want to ask you,
would you please fill out our digital connect card either on our website or if you're
online, you can find it in the post above or in the comments below. Give me a name and
email address. Just some way to reach out. We love you. We are for you. Jesus loves you.
And he is for you. And we truly want you to experience God's best life for you. Now, at
the end of every service, we dedicate Tom to prayer and to worship. And so in just a
moment, we're going to worship together one last time today. And if you have any prayer
requests at all, it doesn't matter how public or how private we invite you to let us
know. If it's a public prayer request, you can post in the comments below online. Or if
it's private, you can fill out that prayer card online. And we have a prayer team ready
to intercede for you to pray for your specific requests to lift you up to Jesus. And it
would be our honor and our privilege to do just that let's worship together. And if you
need prayer, let us know Jesus. We love you so much. We thank you for your power. We
thank you for your compassion.
We thank you that you have Tom for us, God that you have love for us, God and father, I
pray for each and every person watching and listening. I don't know what's going on in
their lives, but God, I know you do. I know that you care. I know that you were aware
and God I ask you, would you move in their lives in a way that only you can God, would
you move in their lives in miraculous ways? God, would you move in such a way that
everybody would know that it was not coincidence, that it was not something that they
did, but Jesus, it was because of you because you worked because you moved in the
situation. Jesus, we acknowledge that because you raised yourself from the dead. You
have the power to speak a life into our circumstances. Jesus, would you speak life
today? Jesus, can people feel your power and your presence in such a real way in Jesus.
We're going to give you the honor and the glory and it's in your name. We pray. Amen.
Thank you again for joining us for this morning service. We truly hope our time together
made an impact in your walk with God. If you made the decision to trust Jesus as your
Lord and savior. Congratulations following Jesus truly is the greatest decision you
could ever make.
Please let us know by filling out the digital connect card, we want to reach out to you
and help you grow in your faith. Remember our pastoral staff is always available for
ministry. If you need pastoral care or have a prayer request, please submit the care and
support form@findrefugehere.com slash care. And a member of our pastoral team will
contact you. If you are a member of our church, family and would like to financially
support the mission and the vision of refuge church. There are three easy ways to give
online by text, or you can mail a check to the church office, refuge church. We love
you. And we hope to see you again soon, but until then have a great week.