Why Did People Come to Jesus?

``People today will ask you questions like this. If if you Christians, if you truly believe what they say about Jesus is true, that he can heal the broken, that he can provide peace for the masses, free people from the bondage of sin and shame, even provide hope for eternal life. If all of that is really true, then why aren't there lines outside your churches every single Sunday? Now, that's a good question. That's a very good question because we do believe that Jesus did all of those things. So why isn't everyone coming one step closer to Jesus every single week? [00:42:16] (35 seconds)  #WhereAreTheLines

I want you to think really deeply about that actually before we move on to the next miracle because I have a question to ask. How did people gain that hope? They hadn't heard Jesus. They hadn't seen Jesus. How did the people across the region of Galilee gain this hope of potentially being made well? It's actually not a very hard question. Somebody told them. Right? Somebody had to tell them and that is what inspired them. [00:41:37] (39 seconds)  #SomebodyToldThem

So wherever Jesus went, the evil came out to make its presence known and to go after Jesus. That's why there's so many of these recording. And every time, what's he do? He drives them away again and again demonstrating that power and that authority over these evil spirits. But he did more because each one of those lives of people that he freed, those lives were restored. And Jesus was demonstrating his love and his compassion for every single individual person. But even that wasn't his greatest purpose. Physical healing was awesome but temporary. Restoring a right relationship with God. Now that was eternal. And that relationship will one day bring both spiritual and physical healing, wholeness to the person. [00:40:04] (50 seconds)  #RestorationAndWholeness

Somehow this man had heard the good news. Folks, you know what that means? Somebody went to the unclean person and told the unclean person about this man Jesus. He shared the good news with them. We don't know who or how or why that maybe, just maybe, cleansing, healing was possible. Church, he goes right back to the conversation we're just having. How would they have known if no one told them? This man would have never known about Jesus or his miraculous ways, the things he was doing in the lives of people if somebody didn't tell him. But somebody did, and it gave him hope. [00:50:29] (38 seconds)  #GoodNewsGivesHope

There's no command anywhere in all of scripture. There's not a single one that says, thou shalt only pray in the early wee hours of the dark mornings. That does not exist. But there is a command to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And I won't lie, that is very hard to do in the middle of the day. You see, once you've already gotten started with your own schedule, your own agenda, your own priorities, it's called life, we get distracted, don't we? So when we don't start our day with God first, then we might, if we get a chance, invite him to join us at some point in time during the day doing whatever it is that we might be doing. How kind of us. [00:33:59] (49 seconds)  #SeekFirst

Well, part of that reason is because we followers of Jesus are not doing our job well enough of telling people about our Jesus, of showing them the ways he has changed our lives. If we told the people we know all the ways that Jesus has healed us, all the ways he has transformed us, all the ways that Jesus provides for us, all the ways that Jesus gives us hope in this life, then there would be people lining up to meet the same Jesus just like they were then. But what if you took it to the next level? What if we went and we met them where they are? What if we brought Jesus to them? What if we showed them his love directly in person? What if we helped provide for their needs in the name of Jesus right now? [00:42:51] (57 seconds)  #MeetThemWhereTheyAre

If you had this disease, you were usually banished from your community. You were separated from your family. You could not work. You were isolated. You were forbidden to even worship in the temple. People with this disease were cast aside. They were the social rejects of Jesus' day, permanently unclean. These were the outcasts. Yet even the outcasts, when they heard about Jesus and what he was doing, came to him in hopes of being restored. Verse 40. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees. If you are willing, you can make me clean. [00:48:57] (44 seconds)  #OutcastsFindHope

He instead he corrected their thinking and said, yes, I know that's what people want, but here's what's more important. The people they want more of last night. They want more of the healings, spectacle, more of more of the miracles. They want more of the show. Jesus seems to know that they're not quite understanding what he's all about yet. He's not here for the fame. He's not here for all of the praise, the popularity. So Jesus requests a change of venue. Let's go to a new town where they haven't heard the good news yet. I have come to preach and teach about the kingdom of God. [00:38:07] (35 seconds)  #KingdomNotFame