Pastor Troy Murphy continued his teaching series on faith (More Than A Feeling) on Sunday, February 7. Here are some highlights from the message:
*Jesus rarely shows up on our timetable. The spirit of God shows up as a divine interruption. It can be when our tension is high or when we’re feeling low. But we have to be willing to stop what we’re doing, or what we think is important, and listen to God’s call in our lives.
*In the story of the bleeding woman (Mark 5: 25-34), we need to understand how different a woman’s place in society was during this time period compared to today. Women were barred from public speaking. The law prohibited them from reading scripture out loud. Women weren’t allowed to be heard. Worship in the synagogue was segregated between men and women. It was a very different picture. So the woman in the story even approaching Jesus would have been taking a major risk.
*Besides her gender being a strike against her, the woman in this story was bleeding and thus would have been considered “unclean” in the eyes of religious leaders. Anyone who touched her would have also been considered unclean. Since she had been bleeding for 12 years, she would have been an outcast and couldn’t be around other people or worship with others.
*The woman was broke from spending all her money trying to find a cure for her illness. She was most likely single and unable to bear children. She endured physical pain for a long period of time. Seemingly everything was working against her, which compelled her to turn to Jesus.
*How many of us could have endured 12 years of pain and suffering? Some of us wouldn’t last 12 days. When we face a problem that persists, we tend to say, "God where are you? This is taking way too long." We want God to answer now. We want to see progress or results in our lifetime, on our timetable. We tend to put conditions on our faith and expectations on God.
*Shame is a feeling of guilt, regret or sadness that you have because you know you have done something wrong. Imagine the embarrassment this bleeding woman felt. She was ashamed and alone.
*Like the woman in this story, we live with shame. The curse of sin creates in us this question we keep asking, “Are we good enough?" We keep hearing voices from the outside world and our inner selves, which in effect sentence us to a lifetime of shame. It doesn’t have to be that way if we turn to Jesus.
Click to watch Sunday's service
