Sunday Service Live Stream: Faith That Keeps Pressing

May 17, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Twelve Years of Morning Mercies

A woman wakes to her thirteenth year of bleeding. Weak hands grasp stained sheets. Coins long spent echo in empty physician’s halls. Yet each dawn breaks with the same miracle: breath in her lungs, strength to rise. For 4,380 days, God’s hand lifted her head before the sun did. The same hand that parted seas now turned her face toward tomorrow’s light. [50:34]

Jesus sustained her through every “we’ve done all we can.” While physicians saw a hopeless case, God saw a daughter in waiting. His mercy arrived not in sudden healing but in daily bread—roof, breath, mind intact. The trial lasted years; the faithfulness lasted longer.

Your “twelve years” may look like chronic pain, debt, or deferred dreams. But each morning’s alarm testifies: God’s hand still holds you. What if today’s weariness is the exact place He proves His keeping power? When you make your bed today, will you count it as evidence of His mercies?

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
(Lamentations 3:22-23, NKJV)

Prayer: Thank God specifically for three things His hand preserved this week—your health, relationships, or mental clarity.
Challenge: Set a midday alarm labeled “Mercy Check.” When it rings, name one way God sustained you today.

Day 2: Touching Through the Throng

Bony elbows part the crowd. Twelve years of isolation couldn’t quench her resolve—she lunges through perfumed robes and sandaled feet. Fingers brush wool threads. Power surges. Jesus stops mid-stride: “Who touched Me?” The disciples scoff, but He knows—this wasn’t accident. This was war. [48:52]

Her courage moved through three arenas: body (weakness), society (unclean status), and doubt (“I’m invisible”). Yet she pressed, not around obstacles, but through them. Jesus honored her gritty faith—the kind that acts while bleeding, believes while bankrupt.

Many of us freeze at the edge of breakthrough. That email you need to send? The apology you must make? The treatment you’ve avoided? Today, do the thing fear tells you to delay. What crowd of doubts have you let block your forward motion?

“She said, ‘If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be made well.’ Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up.”
(Mark 5:28-29, NKJV)

Prayer: Ask God for courage to take one concrete step toward your healing—physical, emotional, or relational.
Challenge: Write down the obstacle you’ve been avoiding. Text a friend: “Pray I press through this today: [obstacle].”

Day 3: Preaching to Your Pain

“If I touch…I WILL be made whole.” She mutters it walking, gasps it crawling. No cheerleaders—just blood and dust. Her lips move before her legs do. Words shape reality: declaring wellness while feeling weakness. The hemorrhage screamed “unclean!”; her confession roared “daughter!” [55:31]

Jesus let her define the encounter. He waited for her testimony before naming her victory. Our words don’t inform God—they align us with His truth. What we repeat in the dark becomes our dawn.

Your pain has a voice. It whispers “failure,” “hopeless,” “stuck.” Answer aloud with Scripture. When the doctor’s report comes, whisper “By His stripes.” When bills pile up, declare “Jehovah Jireh.” What destructive phrase will you replace with God’s promise today?

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
(Proverbs 18:21, NKJV)

Prayer: Confess one lie you’ve believed about your situation. Replace it with a Bible verse written on your palm.
Challenge: When negative thoughts arise today, speak your chosen verse aloud three times.

Day 4: From Unclean to Daughter

Trembling, she confesses publicly what happened privately. Jesus doesn’t say “woman”—He says “daughter.” One word rewrites her identity. The bleeding labeled her “untouchable” for twelve years; heaven’s King calls her family. Peace comes not from perfect circumstances, but perfected belonging. [01:14:19]

Christ prioritizes relationship over resolution. Healing her body took a moment; securing her soul took the cross. Our greatest need isn’t for changed situations, but for changed status—from orphans to heirs.

You might still be in your “twelve years.” But if you’ve touched Christ, your title has changed. How would today shift if you answered to “daughter” or “son” instead of “patient,” “divorced,” or “broken”?

“He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.’”
(Mark 5:34, NKJV)

Prayer: Tell God, “I receive ‘daughter/son’ over every label others (or I) have given myself.”
Challenge: Write “Daughter/Son of the King” on a sticky note. Place it where you’ll see it hourly.

Day 5: Peace Beyond the Bleeding

The crowd disperses. She walks home—same body, new reality. Blood stays dry, but greater miracles brew: peace that outlasts storms. Jesus didn’t promise no future trials, but His presence through them. Her healing was the event; her peace became the environment. [01:14:57]

Peace isn’t the absence of pain, but the presence of the Prince. The woman could face tomorrow’s challenges knowing the same power that healed her body held her future.

Your breakthrough may still be forming. But like this daughter, you’ve been given peace as a down payment. What practical step can you take today to steward that peace—cancel an anxiety-driven plan, rest instead of hustle, worship while waiting?

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled.”
(John 14:27, NKJV)

Prayer: Surrender one specific anxiety to Christ. Visualize placing it in His scarred hands.
Challenge: For every worry today, write it on paper, then write “PEACE” over it in bold letters.

Sermon Summary

We celebrate that God’s hand makes ordinary life mighty. We recognize that no area of life can afford to be without God’s touch. We wake each morning because God keeps us, and that keeping is itself a living testimony when cures fail, bank accounts run dry, relationships fray, and doctors say we have reached their limit. We face a draining condition when life leaks away our strength, community, and joy, yet we refuse to let that depletion define our story. We press because faith begins where our resources end and God’s availability begins.

We name the courage that drives persistent faith. Courage looks like getting up the next day after hearing we are done, pressing into crowds of doubt and dismissal, and speaking hope to ourselves when voices around us speak defeat. We practice active faith with four movements: we hear about Jesus, we speak expectant words, we come and press through opposition, and we touch what we believe will heal us. Faith does not sit on the couch waiting for miracles; faith walks into the crowd and reaches.

We learn that contact with Christ brings immediate change and wider intention. One touch stopped twelve years of bleeding and then changed identity from outsider to daughter. Healing showed urgency and also aimed to restore peace, belonging, and future strength. God’s response invites testimony, not secrecy, so that present relief anchors future peace. Even when full deliverance requires process, God supplies keeping grace so that we can rise, work, and worship until the breakthrough comes.

We commit to resisting despair and practicing gratitude. We will not frame testimony by possessions, but by being kept in body, mind, and soul. We will speak truth to ourselves, encourage one another, and press through barriers because a breakthrough often sits just beyond the crowd. We will come together to pray, to give, to be kept, and to bring others into the same hope. Our condition is not our conclusion as long as courage keeps driving us to Christ.

Key Takeaways

1. We need God’s hand everywhere We must refuse any compartmentalization of faith. When we invite God into our mind, family, work, and health, we acknowledge a creator who sustains every detail. This reliance reshapes how we live, turning routine moments into avenues of grace. [22:06]
2. Courage keeps us pressing Courage is the discipline of rising after repeated setbacks and continuing toward Jesus. It turns the habit of despair into steady movement toward hope, even when professionals declare all done. That daily rising accumulates into testimony, because perseverance presses us through the crowd to receive. [49:20]
3. Faith acts, not just believes True faith pairs expectation with action: hearing, speaking, coming, and touching. Faith refuses passivity; it moves through resistance and keeps reaching until contact happens. Each act trains us to trust God’s timing and methods. [66:01]
4. Healing includes peace and family God’s healing often restores more than symptoms; it restores identity, peace, and belonging. When healing arrives, it invites public testimony so the church can multiply hope. The peace from God becomes the resource we carry into future tests. [74:19]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[20:41] - Mighty are the works of his hand
[39:05] - Series theme: Faith that keeps pressing
[39:16] - Scripture readings: Leviticus and Mark
[45:19] - The condition that drained her
[49:20] - God kept waking her each day
[66:01] - Four active verbs of faith
[70:10] - The contact that delivered her
[77:02] - Altar call and peace
[100:01] - Take home truth and closing

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Mark 5:25-34 (NKJV)
Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. Then the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came 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 affliction.”

Leviticus 15:25-27 (NKJV)
“If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.”

Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

Observation Questions

In Mark 5:25-34, what four actions did the woman take to pursue healing (e.g., hearing, speaking, etc.)? How did these actions demonstrate her faith?
According to Leviticus 15:25-27, how did the woman’s condition isolate her socially and spiritually? How does this contrast with Jesus’ response to her in Mark 5?
The sermon emphasized that “God kept waking her up each day” despite her suffering [49:20]. What specific examples were given to illustrate God’s daily faithfulness even in prolonged trials?
What two outcomes did Jesus give the woman beyond physical healing in Mark 5:34? How do these connect to the sermon’s point about healing restoring identity and peace?

Interpretation Questions

Why did Jesus call the woman “daughter” (Mark 5:34) when others labeled her as unclean or an outsider? What does this reveal about how God defines our identity?
The woman spoke hope to herself before receiving healing: “If I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well” (Mark 5:28). Why is speaking truth to ourselves critical in seasons of despair, and how does this combat doubt?
The sermon stated, “Faith begins where our resources end and God’s availability begins” [43:44]. How does the woman’s story challenge the idea that faith is passive or merely intellectual?
Galatians 6:9 says, “Do not grow weary in doing good.” How does this verse relate to the woman’s 12-year struggle and the sermon’s emphasis on courage as a daily discipline?

Application Questions

The woman “pressed through the crowd” despite opposition. What is one situation in your life where you need to “press through” resistance this week? What practical step will you take to move toward hope instead of staying stuck? [59:34]
The sermon highlighted speaking truth to ourselves as a way to combat despair [57:37]. What negative thought or lie have you been believing lately? Write down a Bible-based truth you can speak over that situation daily.
The woman’s healing restored her identity and peace, not just her body. Are there areas in your life (relationships, mental health, purpose) where you need God’s “keeping grace” to sustain you while waiting for breakthrough? How can you practice gratitude for His faithfulness today? [50:59]
The sermon warned against compartmentalizing faith: “We need God’s hand everywhere” [22:06]. What part of your life (work, health, family) have you tried to handle alone? How will you intentionally invite God into that area this week?
Jesus told the woman to “go in peace” as a resource for future trials. What testimony of God’s past faithfulness can you share with someone this week to multiply hope? [14:19]

Sermon Clips

50s

#PressThroughFaith

“When you're not getting what you expect, gotta be careful what you feed yourself. She heard. She heard that Jesus was passing by. She knew because of his history, if she pressed through, he honors faith. She heard, but then she said, if I could just get through this crowd, touch the hem of his garment, everything with me is gonna be alright. Can I tell you today, I don't care what the devil trying to tell you? If you get close to Jesus, everything gonna be alright. Trouble don't last always, but you gonna have to press.”

34s

#EyesOnJesus

“Real courage will press through the crowd because you ain't here to see the crowd. You're here to see Jesus. I came to preach this morning because some of us get discouraged by the crowd, But you gotta remember why you come to church. If you speak to me or not, I didn't come to see you anyway. I came to see Jesus. And there's gonna be some stuff you gotta press through so that you can get what you need.”

49s

#ShareYourTestimony

“She gets what she needs and she shrinks back and Jesus said, hold on. I never do anything for you privately for you to go quiet publicly. I I ain't gonna let you get a undercover blessing. Everything I've done in your life, I want you to step forward and tell other people that if it had not been for the Lord who was on my side, where would I be? I ain't never done nothing for you privately for you to sit down on me publicly.”

33s

#FaithInAction

“See, this this god don't want us to have dumb faith. Dumb faith is to believe you could speak it into existence without filling out an application. I ain't gonna move. I'm just gonna sit on my couch all day and wait for the company to mail me a application, and the UPS man gonna say that till I fill it out, and then they gonna take it and turn it in for me. No. Real faith don't sit still.”

45s

#UnexpectedBlessing

“Whenever you live by faith, god will give you more than what you expect. I wanna show you why you ought not be hesitant when it comes to your god. She wanted physical healing. Show you two things, a and b, I'm done. Notice the immediacy of her healing. The bible says soon she touched it, the blood stopped. See, after twelve years, one blessing caused her to forget how long it took to get the blessing.”

49s

#SpeakHopeToSelf

“Just because you hear negative doesn't mean you have to think negative. Watch your watch your watch watch your your mother Jackson, what she shows us is that she got it, but it ain't got her. She she watch this. She says within herself, if I could just touch the hem of his garment, I will be made whole. Hold on. She ain't touched it yet. She's preaching to herself before she gets what she needs.”

63s

#TwelveYearTestimony

“Child of God, this morning, imagine the crushing weight of twelve long years. Four thousand three hundred and eighty days, waking up to the exact same nightmare. For more than a decade, this woman walked into clinic after clinic hoping for a breakthrough only to leave empty handed and still sick. Every single consultation ended with the same devastating sentence. Ma'am, we've done all we can do. She spent every dime she had on cures that only left her physically broken and financially bankrupt. She was living with what some scholars suggest she was living with a slow leak.”

28s

#WaitOnGod

“God can do one thing for you and make you look back over your life and say it's all been worth it because God's been good. Somebody can testify, pastor, I waited. I learned to wait on God, and waiting on God is never wasted time. God can give you one blessing that reminds you that aren't you glad you didn't give up?”

Ask a question about this sermon

St.Thomas Missionary Baptist Church This sermon · AI assistant

What does faith that keeps pressing require?

How did Jesus redefine her identity after healing?

What four active verbs described her faith?