[DON'T STOP REACHING] 9/6/26

Communion declares that Jesus Christ is not a defeated Savior but the One who conquered sin, death, fear, and the grave. The cross looked like defeat, but heaven knew it was victory, because His broken body made a way for healing and redemption, and His shed blood paid for sin. Christ’s words, “It is finished,” declared that the price had been paid, and His resurrection means that believers do not fight for victory but from a place of victory. The blood says they are covered, redeemed, forgiven, and not abandoned or forgotten.

The call to “Reach” comes from Mark 5:25-34 and the woman who suffered with constant bleeding for twelve long years. Her condition was real: she had spent everything, seen many doctors, and only got worse. Yet the text turns when “she had heard about Jesus.” Her sickness, weakness, disappointment, pain, embarrassment, and long delay did not stop her from reaching.

The contrast between delay and denial brings hope to those who have waited a long time. Delay does not mean God has denied His people, forgotten their prayers, or stopped working behind the scenes. God has the final word over the doctor’s report, the bank statement, people’s opinions, past records, and present circumstances. The call is to stop looking at the problem and start looking at Jesus, because whatever a person keeps looking at will shape how they walk.

The crowd around Jesus pictures every obstacle that tries to stand between a person and God’s purpose. Fear, doubt, criticism, insecurity, distractions, painful history, and battles in the mind can all become a crowd. The crowd may bump into them, slow them down, or step on their feet, but it does not get to decide their future. God’s plans, purpose, hope, and future remain stronger than another person’s opinion.

The woman’s reach was a reach of faith. Her words, “If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed,” showed belief before evidence appeared. Faith says, “I can’t see it, but I believe it,” and faith moves a person to pray, worship, step out, and reach for Jesus. One touch changed everything immediately, because she did not merely touch Jesus physically like the crowd; she touched Him by faith.

Jesus called the trembling woman “daughter.” Her healing became more than a changed condition: she found relationship, peace, a new identity, and wholeness. Christ still says, “Come to Me,” not after people fix themselves up, but as they are. The call remains simple for the tired, wounded, waiting, and burdened: just reach one more time.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Victory begins with Christ’s finished work [37:34] Christ’s victory is not a future possibility that depends on perfect circumstances. His cross paid the price, and His resurrection broke the power of death. Believers face battles from the ground Christ has already secured. The fight may still be real, but defeat is not their identity. [37:34]
• 2. Delay does not mean God denied [49:13] The woman’s twelve years remind hurting people that long waiting can test faith deeply. God’s silence does not mean God’s absence, and worsening circumstances do not mean His purpose has ended. God may be working where human eyes cannot see. Faith keeps praying, trusting, and reaching while the answer is still on the way. [49:13]
• 3. The crowd cannot decide the future [54:25] Fear, criticism, insecurity, and the voices of the past often stand like a crowd around Jesus. Those obstacles can slow progress, but they do not have authority to cancel God’s plan. God gets the final word over failure, labels, and opinions. Faith keeps pressing through until it reaches Christ. [54:25]
• 4. Faith moves before evidence appears [56:29] The woman said, “I will be healed,” before she had touched Jesus or seen any change. Biblical faith is not pretending that pain is absent; it is trusting that Jesus is greater than the pain. Faith does not stay at a distance and only admire Christ. Faith moves toward Him through prayer, worship, obedience, and desperate hope. [56:29]
• 5. Jesus gives healing and a new identity [01:03:18] Jesus did not only stop the woman’s suffering; He called her daughter. Her encounter gave her more than relief from a condition, because it brought her into peace and relationship. Christ does not merely change what surrounds a person. Christ changes what is happening inside them.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [34:34] - Communion Prayer
• [37:01] - Victory Through Jesus Christ
• [38:06] - Fighting From Victory
• [41:37] - Introducing Reach
• [43:50] - The Woman With Twelve Years of Suffering
• [45:28] - Reach Beyond Your Condition
• [47:57] - Look Unto Jesus
• [48:58] - Delay Is Not Denial
• [51:42] - Reach Through the Crowd
• [56:11] - Reach With Faith
• [58:43] - One Touch Changed Everything
• [60:49] - A Touch That Reached Jesus
• [62:24] - Come to Jesus As You Are
• [63:18] - Daughter, Your Faith Made You Well
• [66:18] - The Altar Call
• [69:23] - Closing Prayer

Bible Reading

Mark 5:25-34
“And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, “Who touched me?”’ And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” [43:50]

Hebrews 12:2
“looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” [47:57]

Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” [01:02:45]

1 Corinthians 15:57
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [36:54]

Observation questions

1. What details in Mark 5 show how long the woman had suffered and how many efforts she had already made before she came to Jesus? [44:15]
2. What changed in the woman’s actions after she heard about Jesus, even though her condition had gotten worse? [45:26]
3. In the middle of a crowd where many people were pressing around Jesus, what made this woman’s touch different? [01:00:49]
4. What words did Jesus speak to the woman after she told Him the whole truth, and what do those words reveal about more than her physical healing? [01:03:18]

Interpretation questions

1. The woman believed, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well,” before she saw any evidence. What does her example show about the difference between biblical faith and simply wishing for a better outcome? [56:29]
2. Hebrews 12:2 calls believers to look to Jesus. How can continual focus on a diagnosis, financial pressure, past failure, or the opinions of others shape a believer’s walk differently than looking to Jesus? [47:57]
3. The woman’s condition became worse before she encountered Jesus. How does this story help a believer understand the truth that delay is not the same as denial, while still being honest about pain and unanswered prayers? [49:13]
4. Jesus called the woman “daughter” and told her to go in peace. Why is it important that Jesus offered her relationship, identity, and peace—not only relief from her condition? [01:03:28]

Application questions

1. What is one burden, condition, disappointment, or long wait that has made it hard for you to keep reaching for Jesus? What would “reaching one more time” look like for you this week? [01:04:23]
2. When you feel overwhelmed, what do you tend to keep looking at: the problem, the worst possible outcome, other people’s words, or Jesus? What specific practice could help you turn your eyes back to Jesus? [48:10]
3. Fear, doubt, insecurity, criticism, painful history, and battles in the mind can become a crowd. Which of these feels most like a crowd in your life right now, and how can you press through it without pretending it is not real? [53:03]
4. Is there an opinion, label, mistake, or past record that has been speaking too loudly over your life? What truth from God’s Word needs to have the final word instead? [54:25]
5. Faith moves toward Jesus through prayer, worship, obedience, and stepping out. What is one practical action of faith you sense God inviting you to take instead of staying at a distance? [57:33]
6. Jesus invites weary and burdened people to come as they are. Is there any part of your life you have felt you needed to fix before coming honestly to Jesus? What would it look like to bring that part of your life to Him now? [01:02:23]
7. Christ gives victory through His finished work. How could remembering that you fight from Christ’s victory—not for victory—change the way you face a current battle? [38:08]