Amen.

Well, again, welcome to CrossLink Community Church. We are a refuge in hope for all people, and that includes all of you in this room. Today, my name is Tyler. I'm the worship and young adult pastor here at our Bowling Green campus. And as you know, we've been in this series called "Going Public," and it's Jesus' active ministry and kind of making himself available and known and active to those around him.

And so, as we dive in this morning, you understand that we're not the only people who are watching or listening to this feed this morning. We have our Glasgow, High Mom, our Morgantown campus, and a vibrant, alive online community. So, can y'all welcome them in for me this morning?

Yeah. So, I got a question I want to ask you. Have you ever watched someone completely lose it over something that seemed ridiculous? Yes. I know you're thinking about UK fans, but that's not what we're talking about right now. Okay? But you see people react or respond in a way that you, in your mind, you're like, "That's not you. That's not who you are or how you act." And a lot of it is because there's things that terrify us. There's things that make us nervous, that make us anxious, that bring about fear.

And you think about all these phobias. Like, there's grown men who will jump out of a car because there's a spider on the seat in front of them. I don't know who those grown men are other than me and my fellow over here. Like, that's, I hate them, to be quite honest with you. I don't know if you remember the movie *Honey, I Shrunk the Kids*. That's showing my age here. And, like, the cockroach is huge. So, I'm slightly afraid of oversized cockroaches for whatever reason.

Or you have the people who aren't willing to get in an elevator because of their claustrophobia. You know, I'm going to tell my mom because she's not in the room, but you know, like, in St. Louis, they have the big arch that you can go in. And you see all over St. Louis. And we went there, I'll never forget it, as a kid growing up, and she, there's like this little, like, cable car thing that you get in that takes you to the top. And she's like, "I ain't doing it." And if you know my mom, you're like, "Oh, yeah. That means you're not doing it." But she wouldn't get in it because she was terrified. Like, she literally would not experience that with her children because she was so scared. We thought about this drugging her, getting her up there, but that wasn't the right move either. You know?

Or do you have people who are scared of, like, really random things like clowns? You know? Like, if you've seen the movie *It*, like, I get that. But there's things that terrify us. Or I was looking at phobias this week and, you know, there are people who are afraid of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of their mouth. Is that some of you in this room? We have a counseling center right over there, if you would like to make an appointment at this time. You know?

Or there's people, here's this one's great. There's people who are afraid of ducks. And not only ducks, but that the duck is actually staring at them. And I don't know, I don't feel like a duck's cute. I've never, you know, seen a duck that scared me. Or there's some, like, people are afraid of balloons popping. There's some where literally people are just afraid of big words. And that phobia actually, ironically, is a big word. So it's kinda funny how that worked out. You know? But there's all these random little things that can terrify us in our life.

You, some of us have phobias that scare us. We have maybe a little more serious ones, like we're scared to death of failure. Man, you're so scared of failing at what you're doing. You're scared of loss. Maybe that's because you've lost someone. Or you're so scared of so many other things, no matter, matter what. Maybe it's rejection. Maybe it's uncertainty.

And what happens with these things that scare us, it brings about a response in us that sometimes is illogical. It's irresponsible. It's irrational. You know, fear has a powerful way of making us become someone that we're not. I mean, think about this weekend, right? As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., he was assassinated because of someone's fear. Fear of sharing a bathroom with someone who's a different color than they were. Fear of sharing a water fountain, a restaurant, life. Afraid of that. Their fear led them to killing somebody.

And you see that today. The political climate is so polarizing, and the ideology is honestly terrifying from both sides, to be honest with you. And it's led people to a state of fear. And we've seen the response, right? We've seen the Charlie Kirk thing. We've seen other people that we look up to, celebrities, you know, whatever. There have been life-altering decisions done to them by other people because they were scared to death. That's what fear has the ability to do in our lives. And it all comes from that thing, whether it's a spider or an ideology. Today, fear has the opportunity to make you be someone you never were. It has the ability to bring about emotion and reaction that would never come if you were yourself.

Now, what happens when that fear coincides and collides with your faith? What happens when certain things happen in your life where you get a result from a diagnosis that you weren't expecting, and fear creeps in? Or what happens when the marriage that you thought was going somewhere beautiful and powerful, that person doesn't look like the person you married anymore? Or the job that you had so much security in has now been taken from you? Or the child that you love so dearly has entered a lifestyle or an action or acted a certain way that you prayed against for the entirety of their life?

What does your faith look like in those fearful moments? And so many of you in this room, statistically and even probability-wise, we know the gospel. We know the truth of scripture. We know who this Jesus is. You know the stories. The scriptures we're going to look at today, you've probably heard before. So you know it, you understand it. But when life happens all around you, are you willing to stand on it? Are you willing to stand on the belief that you profess?

Because there comes a point where fear is no longer hypothetical, it's reality. There comes a moment where this isn't someone else's story and circumstance, it's a chapter in the book of your life. And what happens in those moments to your faith? Does it cripple? Does it succumb to the circumstance that you find yourself in? Or does it stand firm? Does it stand on the reality of Jesus in your life? Because that's the question I want you to ask yourself today. How does that belief affect you when fear shows up right in front of you? What do you do?

Because it is inevitable. I'm here to tell you today, whether you want to admit it or not, there's been moments in your life where fear has tried to cripple you. It has entered your life, whether because of an unknown or because of something maybe you even brought upon yourself, or something was brought upon you that you did not even ask for, and you're fearful. What's your faith going to do? What does it look like at that point?

And so that's what Luke 8 teaches us today. We're going to start halfway through it. It teaches us and shows us what happens when a circumstance is met by a miracle and a reaction follows. It's inevitable that a circumstance is coming in your life. It rains on the just and the unjust. You know that, right? Like, even when you confess that Jesus is Lord, it's still going to rain. Life is still going to happen to you because we live in a fallen world. That's the reality of sin. And so when that happens and Jesus steps in, and he moves, and the miracle happens, how do you respond?

And so today, Luke shows us four different responses, or really more than that, but four different stories of how these people respond when fear is the catalyst for their response. How do you and I get to respond today? Because we can. Why? Because of an act of faith. You and I can respond. We will respond. Respond is a neutral word. What I do with it decides if it's positive or negative. That decides if it's positive or negative.

So what you and I can do, we can respond with active, alive, obedient, real, deepened faith. We absolutely can. Because here's what happens: fear will arrive. Fear's coming to your life whether you ask for it or not. It's not, "Well, I don't know if it's going to show up. It might come to you." It's arriving. But how you handle that fear when it arrives is trusting Jesus even when our circumstances are uncertain. And there's so many times in our life we will get to this moment. Fear will happen, it will come, it will try to subdue us. But my faith and trusting in Jesus is how I overcome it.

And so that's what I love is that we can. That's why that's a "we can" statement is because you have to decide if you're going to do it or not. Just like all these people, the stories we're going to look at today, they decided the response that they would make. Action that God took on their behalf. And so we're going to dive right in. Did everybody say amen real quick?

Amen. Come on. All right. Here we go. Chapter 8. One day, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and they set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. My man needed a nap. A squall came down, what a great word too, on the lake so that the boat was being swamped and they were in great danger. And the disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, master, we're going to drown."

So here's where the story starts. He just says, "Let's get in the boat and let's go." They've done that a hundred times. They were fishermen, right? Like, there was no second thought for them to get in the boat and do what they've always done. That was their familiar environment. That's what they knew. That's how they provided for their families. That's what they did before they stepped into the ministry. And so that's what they felt the most. These are seasoned fishermen. There is no second thought about them stepping into that boat.

And sometimes for you and I, it's those familiar environments where the unfamiliar, uncertain moments come. It happens all the time. You thought you knew your job. You thought you trusted your spouse. You thought your kids were on the right path, right? Like, it happens so many times for so many of us in the most familiar places because we've, we kinda get comfortable there, right? We get confident in that. And so they're doing what they've always done, get in the boat. It's, you know, it's, it's, it's ritual, habitual at that point, right? Like, they know what they're doing.

But even in the midst of that circumstance, something happened that they were not ready for, a squall. And what that is, man, it's a great fun word to say, but it also is, is, is essentially hurricane-type weather. It is winds that will destroy you. We know what a hurricane can do, right? We've seen them for years and years and years. We understand the depravity that can come out of it, the destruction that can come out of it. This isn't a normal storm.

And even the Sea of Galilee, it's something that happens a lot. These quick storms would pop up because where they were from a sea level standpoint, but this was different. And even right before the storm happened, Jesus takes a nap. He's like, "You know what? I feel good. I'm comfortable." You know, his humanity is showing, right? Like, he's resting. He's resting. He knows what he's about to do and he's able to rest in it. But not them. The people who knew him the best.

And so their boat was swamped. It means it was just being flooded over. Their boat is going down. There's so much water and wind and rain, they feel like there's no way out other than us to sink and this is it for us. And so their response is not, "Do something, Jesus. Jesus, I know the power you have, go calm the storm." Their fear has overridden their faith because they're in the familiar environment. They're with the people they think they know. They're with Jesus. They've heard the stories, right? They've seen the miracles. And there's more than what scripture even says. It tells us he did more because there are not enough books to handle all the things he did. They were seeing exactly what he was doing. They knew. They knew everything.

It's like all of us, like, grew up in the church. I knew it. I was a Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Like, we were there and we're the ones that turned the lights on. Like, that was us. But there's so many moments, and for us especially as seasoned, you call yourself seasoned believers, so many of who think we have deep faith, when the storm comes, what are you going to say? "Master, we're going down." They're like, "Man, you had a really short tenure of ministry, Jesus. I know what else to tell you, you know? You gave it a shot, you saved some people, now it ends with you drowning." Like, that's their concern. Their fear is for the moment. Their fear is for their selfishness in that situation, and maybe even understandably so, because they are in great danger. It's going to hell in a handbasket, to be quite honest with you. That's where the circumstance is going. And they're saying, "Master, master, we're going to drown. We're going down."

I mean, and this is what Jesus says. He gets up and he rebukes, the same word that he uses to cast out demons, which is so powerful. He rebukes the wind and the raging waters. The storm subsides, and all was calm. So just like that, Jesus steps in and changes everything. He steps in and changes everything. He has power over creation. As Colossians tells us, he was there in the beginning. It was made through him, by him, and for him. He was there when everything was made. So he rightfully has the power to control the wind and the rain and the storm.

And you know what? Jesus, Jesus doesn't say, "Man, that was a lot of rain. How many inches do you think we got? Man, you know, y'all got this little thing on your patio or on your porch where like it gauges how much rain they got. It's like, man, how much do you think we got? Four inches?" Can you imagine if that had been snow? And that's the most thing for us. Could you imagine if it was cold enough to be snow? Like, that's what we say here in Kentucky. But he doesn't say, "Can you all believe that storm? Man, can you believe the circumstance that we were in? Can you believe we got out of it?" He goes, "Where is your faith?"

What happened? Were you so distracted by your circumstance you allowed your faith to reveal its shallowness? Because it's going to. And this is kind of like a pop quiz for his believers, to be honest with you, for his disciples, the people who knew him the best, the people who knew him the closest, the people who saw everything, didn't have enough faith to trust that if Jesus is in your boat, you're not drowning. And it could even rain when Jesus is in your boat. The storms of life are going to happen when Jesus is in your boat. But here's the confidence I have that our faith has to override our fear: I'm not going to go down. You will not go down.

And Jesus is trying to reiterate that to them of what happened to your faith. He's not worried about why do you fear, but where does your faith go when the fear arrived? Where'd your faith go? You know me. You've seen what I can do. And they stand there in fear and amazement. And in amazement, it isn't like, "Oh my goodness, they are terrified." It's not like, "Did you see that?" It's fear, and they are just mesmerized, shocked. Bless you, shocked. Can't believe it. Can't believe what he'd just done.

And you know what? They have the audacity, I mean, my Lord, to ask each other, "Who is this guy? Who is he? He commands even the winds and the waters, and they listen to what he says. Who is this guy? How does he do what he does?" It's like short-term miracle loss, like you just forgot everything he just did? Are you a moron? It's like, you've seen everything. You've been a part of everything.

And on the other side of that coin, I hope it gives you peace as well to know you can know everything and sometimes not understand anything. You can read your Bible from front to back and not understand a word that's in it and experience no life change. It's a great book. It's a really great reading, a lot of cool words, a lot of metaphors and parables. But if you don't believe in the one who authored it, you're never going to change. Your life will never look any different. You'll still sit in the storm and be scared to death. You will still sit in the midst of a circumstance that is shaky and uncertain and be scared to death. And Jesus is like, "I'm in the boat with you. I'm here. Can you not trust me enough to believe enough, to know enough, to trust I got you? Regardless of what it looks like."

Because here's what happens: Faith is revealed when we trust the authority of Jesus, which we saw it over creation, over the storm, over the situation. We have to trust him more than we fear the urgency of our circumstance. And your circumstance may be urgent today. I am not downplaying that for you at all. I promise you that. I can empathize and sympathize enough with you to understand. I'm not downplaying the urgency, but I am playing up that our faith should be revealed in who we trust. I don't know when your circumstance changes. I don't know how it changes. I don't know if it ever does. But I know if I got Jesus in the boat, I'm not going down. Amen.

And that's what we've got to believe. That's what his ministry, that's what Luke is trying to get us to understand, that he has the authority over all things. His authority is the only prerequisite needed for your faith. That's it. Because he's got it. He was there in the beginning. He was before time and end time. He will be after time. That is who Jesus is. He removes it.

And what is so powerful about this story today is, yes, he shows his authority over the natural realities that we see. He shows what he can do in the midst of a stormy circumstance. But once he gets to the other side, he shows what he can do in the supernatural realm too. And that, to me, honestly, is what is so powerful today.

So he steps ashore. He was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time, this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house. This sounds like my toddler, to be quite honest with you. We're in the middle of potty training, so my man's just, he's there. So that's what it feels like. So for a long time, this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but he had lived in the tomb.

So as soon as Jesus comes off the boat, I mean, it's like 10 to 13 miles from where they were to where they are now. And as soon as he steps off, he has just revealed his authority over the reality of nature and the earthly realm. And as soon as he steps off that boat, he is met with this kind of disagreement, with this kind of argument, with this animosity of the spiritual realm. This demon-possessed man, he comes off and he knows that's who I'm going to. And he goes to say this. He says, "When he saw him, he cried out and fell at his feet and he shouted at the top of his voice the one answer that the disciples couldn't give. The demon says, 'What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?'"

The demon could answer the questions the disciples couldn't. Their fear blocked them from understanding exactly who he was. But even the demon knows. "Jesus, Son of the Most High God." And they thought, especially in the ancient times, if you would say the name of the person trying to cast you out, it would give you a head up. Like, if you would have one up on them. So it's part of why he says it, but also he knows exactly who he's talking to. He knows exactly who he's talking to. And, you know, you wish the disciples would've had that same kind of discernment and understanding, but they didn't. But they didn't.

And so he says, "I beg you, please, please don't torture me. Please don't torment me." You know, that's later to come. But please, please, please don't. Please don't. I mean, petitioning the Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Petitioning that man. That's what this demon is doing. He understands who this person is. It's powerful.

And the story goes on. I'm going to sum it up for you a little bit. He asked who he is, and he calls him Legion, which their name is Legion, and that essentially is, again, an ancient Roman military term to mean thousands, hundreds of thousands of military individuals and soldiers. And so that's what is all in this man. And they said, "Please don't send us into the abyss. Don't send us here. Can we go into these pigs over there? Can we go in those guys?" And Jesus goes, "Yeah, absolutely. Go."

And they go in the pigs and they run off a cliff and fall, and the pigs die. And obviously, you know, you're in Gentile territory, and the fact that there are pigs involved. But they literally enter all those pigs and go off the side of a mountain. And you would think, and there's people all around watching this, you would think that their fear would immediately change into faith, right? That they are witnessing a supernatural miracle right before their eyes. Right before their eyes.

And here's their response. I'm going to stand in front of it because I want it to be a surprise. Okay? When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off. They reported this to the town and the countryside. And the people went out to see what had happened. And when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, praise God, had gone out, sitting at the feet of Jesus, dressed and in his right mind. And they were excited, profoundly motivated to believe and to be commissioned for the gospel, that they would have life changed, that nothing would ever be the same. Afraid.

And there's many theologians much smarter than me who have many opinions on why they got to this point. But what I think is they were worried about one thing: the pigs. Why? Because they lost their ability to make money. They lost their ability to provide, to be rich, to be successful. They weren't willing to give up what it would cost them to follow the name of Jesus. They weren't. They didn't want to give that up. That was how they provided. That was the money. That was how they were known, you know, especially in ancient times, your profession was your identity. Everything came from that. Everything oozed from reality, politically, socially, culturally, economically. It all came from who you were to the job title that you held. And that's what they were worried about.

And at the end of the day, church, I don't want faith that doesn't cost me something, because it will. And for some of us, we're not willing to step out of that fear because our faith is going to cost us a relationship. Our faith is going to cost us a coworker. That I'm going to stand on the powerful name of Jesus. I'm going to stand on the truth. I'm going to stand on biblical marriage. I'm going to stand life. I'm going to stand on creation was created by God. I'm going to stand on what scripture says, and it's going to cost you something. If it doesn't, your faith hasn't been tested yet.

But when it is tested, when life does happen, I want that kind of faith. Don't you today, church? Amen. And I know that is terrifying. Trust me, I understand that my faith has cost me relationships. My faith has cost me my identity. My faith, it has brought things in my life that never would have happened. And for you, what are you willing to let cost to you? What are you willing to let go in order for your faith to reside over you?

Because they go on to even say this, the ones they had seen it, told the people about the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave. It's mind-blowing, to be honest with you. Asked Jesus to leave because they were overcome with fear. So what did Jesus do? He got in the boat and left. Jesus is a gentleman. He's not going where he's not wanted. He's not going where he's not desired. He will let you have your way and your free will to make decisions that you want to.

And for some of us today, we can't figure out why we're sitting in such unforeseen circumstances and confusing circumstances. Why? I mean, why is my marriage in shambles? Why do I hate my job? Why are my finances in shambles? Why is my relationship with my kids? Why is it in just up in the air? Why are all these things happening? It's because you've asked Jesus to leave, not even by your word, but by your actions.

When's the last time you opened the word of God with your children? When's the last time you went and anointed them with oil and prayed over them and gave them back to the Father? When's the last time that you said, "Lord, I need you. Do what you've got to do in my life. I don't care if it costs me my job. I don't care if it costs me my relationships. I'm going to break free from this addiction. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to get closer to you, no matter what, how much it terrifies me, no matter how much it scares me, because I fear the Lord more than I fear a human being." Even if it costs you and I something.

And what I love about this is you see this response from the man who was healed. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him. He begged to go with him. And Jesus sent him away saying, "No, no, no. Return home and I need you to tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over the town how much Jesus had done for him. His fear could have defined him, church. I mean, again, I don't mean to be crude, but I mean, the man was running around butt naked, like he was showing his whole self to the community as a demon, showing all of his sin and his shame and his guilt. But you know now what he's clothed in? Righteousness. You know what now he's clothed in? Mercy. You know what now he's clothed in? Grace. You know what now he's clothed in? Goodness. You know what now he's clothed in? The supernatural reality that that demon had no hold over him. That's what he knows.

And he could've went home and just been like, "Man, thank the Lord that's over. I'm glad to wear clothes again and I'm not in a tomb." Like, he could've easily just went home and just been happy with the miracle that he experienced because of his fear. But his faith said, "I gotta go with you. I gotta go where you're going. I have to do what you're doing." That's what I want. And he could have negotiated. And Jesus says, "No, no. Here's what I need from you. Need you to go home and tell everybody what happened." He didn't say, "But I bring so much to the table, okay? People gotta hear my story. They know it's good. I mean, look at me, you know, like they need to hear that." He didn't do that. He went away and did exactly what the Lord told him to do.

Sometimes your life change is going to ask you to step right back into where you came from. Yeah. And that is scary. I get it. It's fearful. But you can still be faithful if you're willing to stand on something true. He knew what changed. You know the life change you've experienced. It was real. The supernatural feeling you have in your soul when you went from death to life and your shame and sin went out the window. That is real. Now go home and tell everybody about it.

And I get it, man. There's moments in my life, there are so many things I'm embarrassed of that I've done over the course of my life that it's sometimes hard to stand up on this stage, to be honest with you, because I feel so unworthy. I feel like a failure. I feel like I've done things that I can't, I can't take back. But you know who takes me back every time? The same one that freed this man from the demon that possessed him.

And so now, how do you and I respond? Because here's what we could do. We're responding, and we have to obey. That's the key here today, church. Is yes, you can respond. Again, respond is neutral. You're going to do something. You can respond and tell Jesus to get out, or you can tell Jesus to tell me where to go. And that's what he did. He responds and obeys the authority of Jesus.

Because here's the option: it's comfort and resistance. And comfort eventually leads to allowing things to happen, no matter what around you. Leads that you, you comfort, then you conform. And you're no longer standing on scripture. And that's, we've seen this in the church. We've seen this in our homes. We've seen this all across Western, the Western Hemisphere. Like, we just keep moving and moving because we're saying, "I don't want to offend nobody. I can't say that." We just keep moving and moving and moving till we become part of the problem instead of part of telling them about the solution.

And so what we need to be today, church, is have the kind of active faith that responds and obeys. Responds and obeys. It's a both and. It's not an either or. You don't get one or the other. You respond and you obey. You respond and you obey and you step directly into who God called you to be. This guy was under the power of demonic authority. Now he's under the power of kingship authority. What a change. What a powerful change. Don't tell me that same thing can't happen for you today. Don't tell me that same life change. The power of scripture is alive and well. The supernatural ability of Christ is alive in you. He tells us, "You'll do even greater things than I," and we just saw what he did. That same power is alive and well today, but it's only activated if we obey. That's the only way that we get the opportunity to bring it to life.

I don't want fear that resists. I want fear that runs directly into the arms of Jesus and trusts him with it. And so this next story we're going to talk about, we just got a couple more, is the moment now. Jesus, he's coming back. He's asked to leave. It's just so baffling, but he was asked to leave. And then now he decides he's coming back across the Sea of Galilee in a much different opportunity here and experience.

Now, when Jesus returned, a crowd had welcomed him, for they were all expecting him, anticipating him to come. And then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about 12, was dying. I mean, to be honest with you, you could end with that and experience a miracle of heaven. You could end with this story in this moment right here, to be honest with you.

Because Jairus, he's a Jewish leader. He's a pastor, so to speak, in the Jewish community. He is who people go to with their problems. He's the one who sets up the services, who sets up everything, who is in charge. I mean, he has such power politically, socially, economically. I mean, that's what he has at his fingertips. And you know what fear doesn't do? It doesn't allow him to think about all that instead of getting on his hands and feet in front of Jesus. Why? Because he cares more about the healing of his baby girl than the standing and the status he has in the synagogue. That's what he cares about.

And sometimes for us in life, it takes dire situations for us to get on our hands and feet. I wish it wasn't, but some of us are ornery. Okay? And sometimes it takes those moments to get on our hands and feet, get on our hands and knees, and get in front of Jesus and say, "I help. I don't care anymore. I don't care what brought me to this point. I don't care what people are going to think about me. I don't care what I might lose. I'm getting on my hands and knees and I'm coming to you. Father, save my marriage. Save my relationship with my children. Save me from my addiction. Bring me security that only comes in you. I'll do whatever I have to do, Jesus. I'm getting on my hands and knees and worship you." That's what he did. That's what he did. A pillar.

And what's crazy is you have this. And so Jesus says, "Yes." He's on his way. He's like, "All right, man. I'm coming. I'm coming to you. I'm coming to your house. I heard your cry. I'm coming." And so then the crowds almost crushed him. And it's a way where the people were so near him, he couldn't move. It's like anytime you're like in a mosh pit or you go to a, you know, a big concert and you want to get right in the front so you wait all day, you know, and you go there and you're all close to everybody, and no one ever wears deodorant in those places. And I don't understand it. But you would think you're going to be here all day, bring an extra thing of deodorant, you know. But that's another story for another time.

But they're all just squeezed around him, like literally just like moving like that. That's how crushed and tight they are. And so in the midst of him moving on someone else's behalf, here comes a woman who needs him to move on her behalf. There was a woman there who had been subject to bleeding, a hemorrhage, for twelve years. Again, just as long as this sweet baby girl's been alive, she has been struggling with this. But no one could heal her. She came up behind him, she touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

There's other gospel accounts that said she has spent every dime that she had for healing. She has tried everything. Every physician, every doctor, every ritual, every pagan ideology. She has done everything possible. She has paid everything that she had to try to be healed. She's done everything, and nothing worked. Nothing brought the healing that she desired. And to be honest with you, I would trust her fear. I mean, what other options do I have at this point? What else do I have?

And you know what's great is the object of her faith means so much more than the depth of it, because she knew who she had to get to. She knew it. And her fear of what other people thought, her fear of people being around, none of it stopped her from getting to the feet of Jesus. And what's great is Jesus is wearing this cloak, and it has four tassels on the end, which most Jewish rabbis or leaders would wear. It was to be in reverence of the law of God, the law of the commandments. The Pharisees were obviously longer because they could show they were more reverent, but he wears this.

And what a connection of the old covenant being fulfilled by the new, that she grabbed ahold of him. And when she came up and touched the edge like that, she grabbed ahold of what? Let go, son. Like that, like she grabbed ahold of that, of his cloak. So, no, I'm not, I'm not letting go without something happening to me. I'm not letting go until Jesus moves on my behalf. I'm not going anywhere. I will, I will do whatever I have to. I will crawl. There's no telling how she got there. She probably crawled beneath all the people because you couldn't see anything. Everyone was so tight. She did what she had to do, and she held, held ahold of him.

And for some of us today, if you would grab ahold of Jesus, you would finally see the life-altering change you have been waiting for. Grab ahold of him. He's waiting for you. And look at, he's just, he's just available. Same thing. Jesus was in their boat. Jesus is just available. And she's healed immediately. And again, we don't know what brought her to that moment. It's irrelevant, to be honest with you today. Who cares? Because some of us think that, you know, my life being in a moment like that, I brought that upon myself or my sin or my shame. No, that's so irrelevant for this. The only thing that matters is the next step.

Because this is what happens. Jesus asks, "Well, who, who touched me?" Great question. "Who touched me?" And they all denied it. They're like, "Well, wasn't me. Sure, I didn't do it." And he goes on to say, and Peter's like, "Listen, master, there's a lot of people around you, they're all probably pressing against you, you know, they're all pretty close, someone just probably rubbed up against you on accident. It's okay. Everything's fine." And he said, "No, no, no, no. Wait. Someone touched me, and I know that power has gone out from me."

Don't tell me Jesus is not concerned with your individual circumstance and situation. Don't you tell me he doesn't care about you. He knows you. He knits you fearfully and wonderfully in your mama's womb. He knows every hair or lack of hair on your head, my bald man. Come on. He knows you. He knows everything about you. You're never too far gone. You've never been sick for too long. Your shame isn't too big. None of these things matter because he knew her. He knew that she touched him, and he knows that you, if you will just as well. He knew someone touched me. I felt that. That's who Jesus is for us. He wants that intimate relationship with you. He already knows the thoughts you think before you think them anyway. He wants to know you deeply today. And don't let fear get in the way of that. Don't let fear stop you from holding the hand of Jesus.

Because I know what can happen. And all she did was this: she moved. Because you see this, the woman seeing that she cannot go unnoticed, here's this word, came trembling. So this is her. She is shaking. Like she is literally shaking, trembling in fear. Can't believe what just happened. Can't believe the healing. Can't believe what she did. She probably can't believe that she had the audacity to grab the cloak of the Savior. She is literally shaking. She falls at his feet. And in the presence of all these people, she says what she did. She told him how she had touched him, how she had been instantly healed.

And then here's what he says to her: "Daughter, your faith has healed you." It is the only time he uses that in the whole New Testament. You know why that matters? Because her name is irrelevant because who her God is is evident. It doesn't matter what her name is. It matters that she's a son or daughter of the living King. And she hasn't been talked to that intimately in years. No one's made her feel welcomed. No one's made her feel loved. No one's made her feel seen. She's been cast out by community. If anyone got close to her, they were deemed unclean, ceremonially. Like anyone who got near her would be just as affected.

And so the God of the universe, the God who calmed the seas, who calmed the winds and the rain, said, "Daughter, look what your faith did." Because you, that did not win. That did not have victory. That was not the deciding factor for her. You know what it was? Her faith. And he says, he says, "Go in peace." And that's to live in peace is what that word means. That your life should be so enamored and consumed by the power of God that the peace of God that passes all understanding is what you have now. Don't worry about another thing. Don't worry about another thing because you move towards me.

And here's the thing: she had a lot of good excuses today. I mean, she's tried everything. Nothing worked. Why would you think this is the moment that it all finally works? She had every right to make excuses not to go towards him. And some of you, you do too. You've been hurt. People have done things to you that are unimaginable, and I'm so sorry. There's so many situations that this could be where an excuse is right for you. But what happens when your faith moves you towards Jesus? Confidence. Fear has no right. Fear speaks loud, but allow your faith to speak louder.

And what is so just kinda baffling about this story is that there is this, like, beautiful moment here. Like, healing has happened. She's probably rejoicing. She probably crawled there and ran away back. But in order for her to have her triumph, tragedy had to happen because Jesus was there with her. Jesus was there. And so there's this other situation where fear feels like the only option, where hopelessness feels like the only emotion, where disaster and death are the only result.

Because here's what happens: Jesus was still speaking, someone from the house of Jairus said, "Well, your daughter is dead." Think about this. This is probably a Jewish leader, someone in that faith, said, "Well, your daughter's dead. Just don't bother him anymore. It's not worth it. Your daughter already died. Just take your time getting here. Take the scenic route, you will." And how many times in your life today have someone said, "You're not worth it"? Just, "Yeah, man, there's no way that relationship is reconciling. No. No. No. Don't even bother." To be honest with you, it's not worth your time. Just don't. Just just don't. Crawl back in your hole where you came from and don't come out again.

But what does Jesus have to say? "Don't be afraid. Don't you dare let your condition or even your circumstance define your faith. Don't be afraid." No. No. Here's what I need you to do: believe. And that believe is pistis. So that word means I have convicting, acting, living faith that I have heard enough, that I have seen enough, that I do know enough to believe. That's what he's saying. "Don't be afraid. Believe in me. Believe in who I am. You saw what I did. Believe in me. Don't you dare be afraid."

And he goes on. When he arrived at the house, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James. This is one of the first times we see that beautiful connection with those three. And the child's father and mother. While everyone else was wailing and mourning for her. So Jewish tradition, they would literally pay people to come and cry. Some of y'all would make a lot of money doing that. I'm just kidding. But they would pay people to come and wail and just scream and, you know, really put on a show, son. Like, that's what they would do. They would pay them, and they would make a lot of money doing this. And they would come and wail and greet. And they're like, "What's her name? Daughter." You know what I mean? Like, they just, just disgusting, to be honest with you.

And this is what happens. They stopped. Jesus said, "Wait. She's not dead. Praise God Almighty. She's just asleep." She's not dead. And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. Like, "Man, this guy must be new around here. She's dead. She ain't been breathing." He must not really get it. I mean, could you imagine the ignorance that it took for that? Oh, there's no way. She's been dead for too long. There's no coming back from this. You just go ahead and bury her and call it a day.

But he says, "My child, get up. Awake. Awake." Her spirit, it returns, and she stood up. And then obviously she needed a sandwich to eat, you know? And her parents were astonished. And what's beautiful, it's a different response. So the disciples were amazed in fear. They were astonished in reverence. The Jewish family, not the disciples, the followers, they were astonished in reverence. And he said, "Don't you tell anyone about what happened." I'm like, "No, Lord. I got a lot to say." He says, "Don't you tell anyone."

But for Jairus and their family, fear was not the final option. Their faith spoke louder. It was stronger. It was more confident. It was bolder. That's what their faith was able to do. And we've seen these stories all today as Jesus speaks and the storms stop. Jesus commands and the demons flee. Jesus touches and bodies are healed. Jesus calls and even death lets go.

What you and I can know is what they can know is that Jesus remains sovereign. He's not changing for your circumstance. He's changing your circumstance. That's who he is, our sovereign God. Where if you would allow that truth to remain, your fears gotta go. It doesn't matter what the conditions look like. It doesn't matter. Allow your faith to speak stronger and louder than your circumstance. I don't know how it ends for you. I don't, I don't, I don't know how that moment. And then you may be so confused. There may be so many things unknown going on in your world, and I'm so sorry. I may not know what's going on in your world, but I know who holds it. You know that old song? He's got the whole world in his hands. I'm thinking through singing it, but now is not the time. He's got the whole world in his hands. And guess who that includes today? You.

Believe in his sovereignty. Believe in who he says. Believe in these words that as his ministry comes to life off these pages, believe that his life was sacrificed for your life. And that's where your faith comes from. That's where we can trust in the sovereignty of God. And you and I, we have to make a decision. I would put your foot in the ground today and say, "Who am I going to trust more? Fear that trembles or faith that saves? Fear that confuses or faith that is certain? Fear that is overridden and taken over your life, or faith that rids everything away from me other than my hope in the name and the powerful, mighty movement of Jesus?" I'm going to trust the author and perfecter of my faith. And fear doesn't stand any chance against that. Nothing. I'm afraid that same belief and stronghold is for you today.

Let's pray together. Y'all, Father, we love you. Man, we are so thankful for a God who is so involved in the lives of his children. That you're not distant, you're not far removed, but you are consistent and constant and available. We see that through the life of your Son, Jesus, who stepped into circumstances, who stepped into moments and changed them. And so, Father, even when fear cripples in or creeps in, let faith be louder. Let it be more confident. Let it be more bold because we trust you. Your sovereignty outweighs everything. Today, we're going to trust in the sovereignty of a good God. We love you, and we worship you. In your name, we pray this morning, church. Amen.

Come on. Can we give God a hand clap of praise today? Amen.

Well, again, may the God of heaven richly bless you. You are dismissed. We'd love to see you at our new members gathering after the 11:00 service. Have a great Sunday, y'all.

Subject: When Fear Comes, Let Faith Speak Louder

Dear Crossland Community Church,

I hope this finds you choosing faith over fear after our time together this past Sunday about letting faith speak louder than the storms and the things that terrify us.

On Sunday we walked through Luke 8 and watched Jesus calm the storm, meet the demon‑possessed man, heal the hemorrhaging woman, and raise Jairus’s daughter—four moments that show how fear can make us forget who Jesus is, and how faith (when it moves and obeys) changes everything. We talked about how fear will arrive—sometimes in familiar places where we thought we were safe—and how faith is revealed when we trust Jesus’ authority instead of surrendering to comfort or compromise. We also wrestled with the cost of authentic faith: the townspeople chose their pigs and their income over the healer, but the healed man obeyed and testified, and the healed woman grabbed the hem of Jesus’ cloak and was made whole.

So here’s my straightforward challenge this week: name one fear that has been running your life and do one obedient thing against it—open the Bible with your kids, tell one person how Jesus changed you, or pray and ask God to show you where you’ve been quietly asking Him to leave. Don’t settle for comfort that costs your witness; grab ahold of Jesus like that woman did, step into the obedience He’s calling you to, and let your faith speak louder than your fear.

Blessings,
Crossland Community Church Team