Sickness to Witness: Touching Jesus, Noticing Others

Jul 05, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Holy Audacity to Touch Gospel Garments

A woman’s trembling fingers brushed the fringe of Jesus’ cloak, defying religious rules and social shame. Her act wasn’t polite or passive—it was desperate faith in motion. For twelve years, she’d been labeled “unclean,” isolated from community, drained by failed solutions. Yet she fought through the crowd, believing one touch could rewrite her story. Jesus stopped everything for this “nobody,” calling her “daughter” and commissioning her as a living testimony. True healing begins when we stop negotiating with shame and grab hold of grace. [35:03]

“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”
(Mark 5:25–28, KJV)

Reflection: What invisible “uncleanness” do you hide that keeps you from pressing toward Jesus? How might reaching for Him today—messy desperation and all—change your story?

Day 2: When Twelve Years of Desperation Meets One “Immediately”

Four thousand three hundred eighty days of disappointment dissolved in one divine moment. The woman’s chronic bleeding symbolized a life leaking purpose, but Jesus transformed her into a fountainhead of testimony. While others saw a nuisance, Christ saw a daughter needing affirmation. Her healing wasn’t private—it required public confession, turning personal victory into communal witness. God specializes in rewriting marathon struggles as sudden glory. [35:25]

“And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?”
(Mark 5:29–30, KJV)

Reflection: Where have you resigned yourself to “slow leaks” of discouragement? What would it look like to confront one area with bold faith today?

Day 3: Noticers Become Rooftop Wreckers for the Broken

Herschel and Tiffany waited by a mailbox, wondering if anyone cared enough to retrieve them. Like the paralytic’s friends who tore through a roof, true noticers inconvenience themselves to bring others to Jesus. The woman with the issue of blood needed advocates in the crowd—people who’d make space for her desperation. Ministry isn’t about programs—it’s about seeing the Walmart worker, the grieving widow, the outcast, and refusing to walk past. [44:01]

“And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
(Mark 2:3–5, KJV)

Reflection: Who’s “waiting by the mailbox” in your world? What relational roof needs tearing open to bring them to Christ?

Day 4: Blood-Stained Hands Can Hold Salvation Bracelets

Polio-swollen feet. Backward pants. Odometer fraud. Jesus isn’t repelled by our mess—He’s drawn to it. The woman’s “nasty blood” became her testimony accelerator when she surrendered it to Christ. Like the Filipino woman tugging a preacher’s shirt or Eli trading black clothes for baptismal waters, our worst shame becomes God’s spotlight. Redemption isn’t for the presentable—it’s for those brave enough to say, “This had better work.” [01:02:00]

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
(Isaiah 1:18, KJV)

Reflection: What “unpresentable” part of your story is God waiting to transform into a salvation bracelet for someone else?

Day 5: Your Worst Mess Becomes God’s Milkshake Ministry

Skin cancer scares, funeral home visits, and odometer-tampering felons—God brews kingdom purpose from life’s bitterest ingredients. The woman’s twelve-year disaster became a sermon illustration for eternity. Like Wilbur shocking deacons or Monica loving a gender-confused teen, our healed wounds become cups of living water. Ministry isn’t about perfection—it’s about exclaiming, “Taste and see what He did for me!” [01:07:43]

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
(2 Corinthians 1:3–4, KJV)

Reflection: What sour experience in your life could God sweeten into spiritual nourishment for others this week?

Sermon Summary

Mark sets off fireworks in chapter 5 with his favorite words, immediately and straightway, and the text races into a crush of bodies where Jesus walks with gospel garments flowing. A woman shows up sick of it after twelve long years, all her money gone, every shot failed, and the problem only worse. The crowd swarms, but faith speaks low and stubborn in her heart, if I might touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. The crowd presses, but the touch is personal. The excuses stack high, but her soul keeps saying, excuse me, pardon me, till her fingers find the fringe.

Jesus stands as the hands-on God who notices. Virtue leaves him as healing finds her, and he stops the parade to seek the one who touched him. The disciples see the mob, but Jesus sees the woman. She fears and trembles, then tells all the truth. Jesus answers with immediate acceptance, Daughter. Your faith has made you whole. Go in peace. From sickness to witness, the text calls her out of the shadows to stand as family and to speak openly of what God just did.

The crowd here is a mirror. Many surround, few truly touch. The noticer is Christ, and the call lands on the church to be noticers too. Who is pulling on your coattail? The Spirit keeps putting people in plain sight, from the gathering graveyard guy to the quiet one in line at Walmart. Ministry takes something out of a person, so the Word must be poured in if any life is to be poured out. Jesus models that rhythm, then invites his people into it.

Mark stitches her story between the graveyard and a little girl’s bedroom. The least likely become the loudest witnesses, and an unclean woman’s holy audacity teaches a synagogue ruler how faith looks in real time. Jairus gets interrupted, but the interruption instructs him. God sets his eye on the contrite who tremble at his word. The text keeps saying everyone is somebody in the body of Christ. All faces, places, races, and social graces are seen by Jesus, and the gospel glow is meant to be noticed, not hidden under a bushel.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus notices hidden, trembling faith [36:54] Jesus halts the parade to find the one who touched him, then names her Daughter and sends her in peace. The text shows how Christ refuses to let a private miracle stay private when a public mercy will restore a whole life. Honest confession meets welcome, not shame, and fear becomes family under his voice. [36:54]
2. Ministry pours out what Word pours in [35:25] Virtue goes out of Jesus, and the pattern still holds. Spiritual care costs soul-energy, so neglect of Scripture makes a person brittle under strain. The wise servant keeps soaking in the Word, not to stockpile trivia, but so there is something living to give away when needs pull hard. [35:25]
3. Crowds press, but few truly touch [55:12] A multitude surrounds Jesus, yet only one draws power by faith. Proximity to holy things is not the same thing as contact with Christ. Spectating entertains the mind, but faith reaches through noise and pride until it lays hold of the hem. [55:12]
4. Be a noticer of coattail pulls [57:39] The kingdom advances when someone pauses long enough to ask, Are you having a good day, and then listens. Hidden griefs and quiet desperations tug at attention all week long. Love learns to recognize those tugs as assignments, not interruptions, and answers them with presence and prayer. [57:39]
5. The least likely become loud witnesses [01:05:43] The woman steps from sickness to witness, like the graveyard man before her and like Jairus after her. God delights to make trophies out of castoffs, not so they shine, but so Christ’s welcome does. Expect unlikely evangelists, because grace burns brightest where everyone else wrote a person off. [65:43]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[31:09] - Fireworks in Mark 5
[32:09] - Purpose and prayer for noticers
[33:30] - God loves all faces and places
[35:03] - Reading the woman’s story
[35:25] - Virtue flows and ministry costs
[36:26] - Fearing, trembling, telling all the truth
[36:54] - Daughter, your faith made you whole
[37:21] - Twelve years of trying everything
[43:28] - The gospel glow needs room
[52:50] - Reaching for his coattail
[55:12] - Many surround, few truly touch
[57:39] - Who is pulling on your coattail
[58:07] - Could you love the graveyard guy
[61:05] - A tug on a t-shirt in the Philippines
[65:43] - Least likely, best evangelists
[71:19] - Will and Eli find life
[76:45] - Jairus interrupted, faith instructed
[77:26] - The one God looks to
[77:57] - Charge to be noticers and go

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Mark 5:25-34 (ESV)
25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 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. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Observation questions

What specific obstacles did the woman face before reaching Jesus, and how did she respond to them?
How did Jesus’ reaction to being touched differ from the disciples’ perception of the crowd’s behavior?
What phrase did Jesus use to address the woman, and what does this reveal about His view of her?
In the sermon, what examples were given of people “pulling on coattails” in everyday life? (e.g., [56:11], [01:01:05])

Interpretation questions

Why do you think Jesus insisted on identifying who touched Him, even though many people were pressing against Him?
The sermon mentions that “ministry pours out what the Word pours in” ([35:25]). How does this principle connect to Jesus’ experience of power leaving Him during the healing?
The woman’s healing was private, but Jesus called her to publicly testify. What might this teach us about the relationship between personal faith and communal witness?
How does the contrast between the crowd’s “pressing” and the woman’s “touching” illustrate the difference between superficial proximity to Jesus and genuine faith?

Application questions

The woman’s desperation drove her to push through obstacles to reach Jesus. What persistent need or struggle in your life requires that same kind of “holy audacity” to bring to Him?
Jesus noticed one person in a crowd. Who in your daily routine (e.g., coworkers, strangers, family) might be quietly “pulling on your coattail” for help or connection? How could you intentionally slow down to see them this week? ([57:39])
The sermon emphasized that “ministry costs soul-energy” ([35:25]). What habits or rhythms could you build to ensure you’re regularly “poured into” by God’s Word so you’re prepared to pour out?
The woman’s story became a public testimony. When has God worked in your life in a way that others need to hear? How could you share it this week, even if it feels uncomfortable?
Jairus’ interruption became an opportunity to grow his faith ([01:16:45]). How do you typically respond to interruptions? What practical step could you take to view them as divine assignments rather than inconveniences?
The sermon asked, “Could you love the graveyard guy?” ([58:07]). Who in your community is culturally or socially “unlikely” to receive love? How could you tangibly reflect Christ’s welcome to them?

Sermon Clips

57s

#BoldFaithWins

“let me ask you something this morning. Who's pulling on your coattail? Could you love the Gatorade graveyard guy? And one more thing this morning as I'm saying, listen, there was a guy named Jairus and he had a daughter had been sick for twelve years. When she was born this woman got an issue of blood and Jesus was headed to Jairus's house. His daughter had the Jairus virus and this woman pulled Jesus's coattail and it stalled Jesus. Jairus was interrupted, but he got to looking at this woman and saw that she had the holy boldness to pull on Jesus's coattail and that she had been healed. And that poor little woman had been sick for twelve years taught that rich powerful synagogue ruler an important lesson.”

78s

#RescueThroughLove

“And so I I went off into the country, was about a fifteen minute ride and I went to get them. And I could just imagine on the drive out there, Herschel and Tiffany waiting by the mailbox wondering, do you think he's gonna come get us? And when I went to the door, she come to the door and she was crying. I could tell that Tiffany had tears in her eyes. I said, come on, baby. I said, you're you're my kid today, you and Herschel. I said, I'm gonna take you home too. And so I took them to church and Millington ran two services. And so I went to the side door and I ushered them in because they went to the second children's church, and I put them with a godly older couple who, you know, were just real good at loving people. Now Tiffany and Herschel were they were a they were beautiful, beautiful kid. Great skin color. They they they had their parents were from different races, and they were just be the mom had to be working on Sunday and so the mom that's why the kids got to be picked up. That 11 year old and nine year old taking care of himself, a single mom. And so I went to get them after church and I couldn't find them. You know what? They just I looked up and Herschel and Tiffany were down at the front. They had just gotten saved. Hallelujah.”

69s

#StartTheConversation

“``Do do you want more of Jesus? Give all you know of yourself to all you know of Jesus? Let me tell you something. Every time pastor Chris, when I get to thinking about what a wonderful fellow I am and how miss Monique is glad, you know, she's happy to have me and all this wonderful stuff and how how I'm just just like all this stuff. I get so I get so sick of it. I get so depressed and all this. But when I forget myself and I go to Walmart and I ask Miss Monica never has trouble with going me going to Walmart with her because I get to bother people. It's fun. And I get to walk up to people and I ask them, are you having a good day? That's a great conversation starter. You wanna witness somebody, really ask them, are you having a good day? They'll talk. They like to talk. Do you ever notice that people like to talk about themselves? It's like, I'm having a good day. Don't ask them how you're doing. That's southern when you're going to elevate. How you doing? Everybody say, I'm alright. Are you having a good day? It elicit a response. And nobody I bet you I don't know if anybody in that crowd asked her if she's having a good day, but she made her way to the front as she touched the Lord Jesus.”

70s

#ReachForJesus

“And this woman is this woman is coming and she's wondering who's gonna love her and she's willing to be in the ministry. Number two, she's a searching woman who reached for his coattail. Are y'all still with me this morning? You still with me? Say amen real loud. You can you can touch Jesus because he's a hands on God. And she came and she was searching and she had the holy audacity to think that she might have an audience with Jesus. Did you come to have an audience with the Lord Jesus Christ here this morning or you just come to check-in to church? You see this woman had a lot of excuses standing in her way. There was a big crowd. And you know how we come to church with excuses and we're mad and we're grumbly, we're grumbly hateful instead of humbly grateful, and we're complainers, we're whiners, we're not winners, and you need to abstain to complain. You you need you need to put your gospel garments on, tighten your belt, and be the man or woman of God that he's calling you to be.”

61s

#LoveTheOutcast

“And then let me ask you, who's pulling on your coattail? You know something, let it it it is it's something to understand that that people people come with problems and, you know, something you may have something that that somebody needs. Could could you could you can you can touch Jesus. And she wasn't gonna be denied. Could you could you love the the gathering graveyard guy? You see, he he he he had a significant bunch of problems and yet God reached out and touched him. But in this case, this woman was she was a maybe she read a newspaper report. The Gathering graveyard guy miraculously healed. What do you think that the Gathering graveyard if he could heal him, he would heal me. And so that's why she was there.”

79s

#UnexpectedImpact

“my wife had miscarried. Dan David, my six foot tall son, and I don't know how that happened, but he's a rainbow baby. And miss Monica was having some prop so she miscarried, and Dan David, we found out and, you know, was expecting and miss Monica had had a little bit too much sun and was ordered for bed rest for about a week and the doctor was not pleased with us. But so she's, you know, laying on the bed. One day she heard a knock. I was I was either in seminary at Mid America or I was working for doctor Rogers at Loveworth's Finding Ministry. I don't know what was going on. But then I think I was but anyway, I think I was taking seminary classes. But anyway, she had her knock on the door. She thought it was a next door neighbor, the lady, the next door neighbor worried about her. And in walked mister GT and he says, hello. And she says, I'm back here. And he stood at the door like a gentleman took his hat off. And, you know, and he just looked at her checking on her. I didn't ask him to. And it was the first time I was told that he had ever prayed out loud for somebody. And he prayed over my son who's now killing it. He's a great kid guy as well. You never do know who's gonna make a big impact in your life.”

58s

#MeetThemWhereTheyAre

“And so he sent words, he'd tell that preacher not to come see me. Well, that first Sunday I could, couple of Sundays later, I went and sat with him, drank lemonade on on the front porch with him in swing a swing. He said, preacher, you come drink lemonade with me, but don't you ever ask me to come to church. I said, uh-huh. Okay. Look at it. And so then there's another guy named Robert Rickard. Robert just come out of a halfway house because he was a used car salesman and he got convicted of running the odometer back on the car. Like, you think he was buying a car 62,000 miles, had a 111 on it. Okay? Alright? And he call he asked to see me one night and it was dark and I I got down and says, Lord, I just wanna talk to you right now because I think I'm getting ready to see you face to face because I I thought this guy looks like he's in a mafia. And so I went to see him and Robert was already ready. He was crying by the time I got there and he wanted to get saved because his family was coming to church there. It was awesome.”

31s

#PourInToPourOut

“and to give your life away. He that finds his life shall lose it and he that loses his life shall find it. Your life is not your own. You don't own yourself. But I wanna tell you this, an issue of this disclaimer that you know something, every time you minister to people it takes something out of you. That's why you have to be in the word of God because you gotta be pouring in because you're always pouring out. And if you're not in the word of God every day, I'm just telling you, if you're not in the word of God, if you're not soaking in the word of God, you're gonna snap when the strain comes.”

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Sickness to Witness: Touching Jesus, Noticing Others

Devotional

Day 1: The Holy Audacity to Touch Gospel Garments

Day 2: When Twelve Years of Desperation Meets One “Immediately”

Day 3: Noticers Become Rooftop Wreckers for the Broken

Day 4: Blood-Stained Hands Can Hold Salvation Bracelets

Day 5: Your Worst Mess Becomes God’s Milkshake Ministry

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Sickness to Witness: Touching Jesus, Noticing Others

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