Tell Them What God Has Done - 09062026

Mark 5:1-20 shows a man who was broken, isolated, tormented, and living among the tombs. The man had been chained, excluded, and treated like somebody nobody wanted to be around, yet even the unclean spirits recognized Jesus as the Son of the Most High God. Jesus steps into a life that nobody else could fix and changes everything. The people then find the same man sitting down, clothed, and in his right mind.

Jesus shows that no life is too far gone for His mercy. The man’s past was real, painful, and visible to everybody around him, but Jesus did not leave him in that condition. The change was so clear that the people who knew him before could see he was not the same. His story became evidence that Jesus changes lives.

The testimony of every believer carries that same kind of transformation. A testimony does not have to include drugs, prison, addiction, or a dramatic rock bottom to be powerful. God may rescue somebody from a destructive life, and God may keep somebody from going down that road. God may carry somebody through grief, restore a family, answer prayer, forgive failure, or show grace in a season when somebody feels far from Him. The story is not mainly about how bad somebody was. The story is about how good God has been.

Jesus refuses the healed man’s request to get into the boat with Him. Jesus instead tells him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He had mercy on you.” The command is simple: go home and tell. The man does not need all the answers, a degree, or every Bible verse memorized. The man only needs to say, “This is who I was. This is what Jesus did. This is who I am now.”

The man goes into Decapolis proclaiming what Jesus had done, and everyone is amazed. His testimony reaches people who may never have listened otherwise because they knew his old life. The blind man’s words, “Though I was blind, now I see,” carry that same simple power. Jesus remains the hero of the story, not the person telling it.

The testimony does not save anybody, but it can open the door for somebody to hear about the One who saves. Somebody who hears that God forgave, restored, carried, or changed another person may begin to believe that God has not given up on them either. Jesus calls His people to identify their “go home,” whether that is family, coworkers, neighbors, friends, classmates, teammates, or even a stranger. God’s mercy is not meant to stay locked in a vault. Somebody needs to hear what God has done.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Jesus changes the same broken person. Jesus did not merely calm the man for a moment. Jesus restored him so completely that he was sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. The people who feared him before could see the difference after Jesus met him. Christ’s mercy reaches into the places that look beyond repair. [06:37]
• 2. Your story points to God’s goodness. A testimony is not a chance to make much of a sinful past or to make somebody look impressive. God becomes the center when a person tells how He forgave, carried, protected, restored, and changed them. A quiet testimony of grace can be just as powerful as a dramatic rescue. [08:41]
• 3. Jesus sends changed people back home. Jesus told the healed man to go back to the people who knew him before. Family, coworkers, friends, and neighbors may never enter a church building, but they already have access to a believer’s life. A changed life becomes a real witness among the people closest to it. [10:25]
• 4. Testimony can become someone else’s hope. Somebody living in shame may hear that God forgave another person and begin to believe forgiveness is possible. Somebody facing grief, failure, addiction, or a broken family may hear that God has not abandoned them. God can use an honest story to help somebody take a first step toward Jesus. [18:05]
• 5. Jesus remains the hero of every story. A testimony does not save people, and it should never make the storyteller the hero. Jesus is the One who saves, transforms, and shows mercy. A faithful story simply opens the door and points people toward Him.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:29] - Time Flies and Priorities Matter
• [01:43] - Tell Them What God Has Done
• [03:26] - The Man Living Among the Tombs
• [05:02] - Sitting, Clothed, and Right Minded
• [06:37] - Same Man, Different Life
• [07:33] - A Testimony of Transformation
• [10:25] - Go Home and Tell Your People
• [12:21] - The Man Proclaims What Jesus Did
• [14:24] - A Personal Story of Mercy
• [16:34] - Your Story Can Give Hope
• [19:08] - Jesus Is the Hero
• [20:50] - A Simple Way to Share Testimony
• [23:30] - Who Is Your Go?
• [27:08] - Do Not Keep It to Yourself
• [28:40] - Prayer for Boldness

Bible Reading

Mark 5:1-20
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
[01:41] [03:26] [05:28] [10:25]

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
[07:48] [08:21]

John 9:25
He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
[13:30]

Psalm 66:16
Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.
[20:31]

Observation questions

1. What details in Mark 5 show how isolated, dangerous, and tormented the man was before Jesus met him? [06:37]
2. What three visible changes did the people see in the man after Jesus freed him?
3. What did the healed man ask Jesus for, and what specific assignment did Jesus give him instead? [10:25]
4. According to Mark 5:20, what did the man proclaim in Decapolis, and how did the people respond? [12:21]

Interpretation questions

1. Why might Jesus have sent the healed man back to the very people who knew his painful past instead of allowing him to travel in the boat with Him? [10:41]
2. How does the contrast between the man living among tombs and the man sitting, clothed, and in his right mind show what Jesus’ mercy can do in a life that seems beyond repair? [06:37]
3. What does 2 Corinthians 5:17 mean when it says that someone in Christ is a “new creation”? What kinds of changes may be visible, and what changes may be more inward over time? [08:17]
4. John 9:25 gives a short and clear testimony: “I was blind but now I see.” Why can a simple, honest account of what Jesus has done be meaningful even when a believer does not know every answer? [13:30]

Application questions

1. What part of your story most clearly shows God’s mercy—being rescued from sin, being protected from a destructive path, being carried through grief, receiving forgiveness, or seeing God restore something broken? [08:41]
2. If you had to share your testimony in three simple parts—“This is who I was, this is what Jesus did, and this is who I am now”—what would you say? Which part is easiest for you to share, and which part feels harder? [21:13]
3. Who is your “go home”: a family member, coworker, neighbor, friend, classmate, teammate, or someone else who already knows your life? What might it look like to have one honest conversation with that person this week? [23:43]
4. Is there someone around you who may feel ashamed, far from God, or convinced that God could not forgive or love them? How could your story help that person see that Jesus has not given up on them? [18:23]
5. What fears make it difficult to share what God has done in your life—feeling unprepared, worrying about being judged, not wanting to share personal details, or something else? What would boldness look like in one small next step? [28:44]
6. How can you share your story in a way that keeps Jesus as the hero instead of making your past, your strength, or your achievements the center? [19:48]
7. What is one specific way you can make time this week to speak about Jesus rather than allowing busy schedules, work, errands, or routines to crowd out the opportunity? [01:14]