A Touch For Serving

Intro: Series - Just a Touch is All We need -

Matthew 8:2 "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."

This is a story that will preach well, though it is not our sermon for tonight, I am merely using it to introduce a three sermon series. This text is a beautiful picture of salvation.

1. The Terrible Disease

-No Cause to Live, No companions to Love, No cure for Life

2. The Touch that Delivered -Notice-Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him!

There are many touches of Christ in the Bible, but there is none to be discussed until you have been delivered. ALL ARE SINNERS, But Jesus came and by grace will touch any that come to Him for deliverance! But salvation is not the only touch of God that we need. Many never seek a touch from God. Many are stagnant. Why?

Enjoyment increases capacity, capacity increases desire, desire increases enjoyment. The more we enjoy the things of God, the more of the things of God we will desire - When we get closer to the Lord’s presence, we will want more of Him.

We look for things to be new and improved. What we need in the church today is a genuine touch from God. Not new, but fresh and improved by the touch of God. Now what does that mean? I do not want a new and improved church, I am not looking for a worldy friendly church. I want a Spirit filled church where God touches His people.

So what kind of church should we be? I’ve told you before:

We need to be a church that is Lively, but not carnal.

We need to be a church that is Separated but not Pharisaical (some are too critical).

We need to be a church that is Spiritual, but not Spooky (Spirit led and controlled).

We need to be a church has great fellowship without losing sight of our purpose, to reach others with the Gospel of Jesus.

(Our main purpose is to reach and disciple souls for the Lord)

More than anything, we need to be a church that has a Genuine Touch of God! What we need in the church today is a genuine touch from God.

As in this passage, those that are saved have been touched by the delivering hand of God, through Jesus Christ. But we must admit that we need a continual touch. Now what does that mean?

In the book of Numbers, chapter 29, God is about to send quail to the ungrateful children of Israel until it came out their noses. But before this happened, God made an opportunity for them to repent. Moses had 70 with him, and God’s power came on them all. Two that did not come, were in the camp, and God touched them. Joshua thought something was wrong and complained to Moses, to which Moses made a very profound observation that identified the problem of the nation of Israel! Vs, 29 "And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!" The problem in Israel, just like the church today, is they all believed, but did not wholly trust the Lord. Moses merely said that it was his desire that the touch of God would be on all of God’s people - no different today!

Do you want a typical Christian life or do you want to be touched by God. Not something against the scriptures, but a real touch from heaven.

Even in the life of Christ, you find where his touch brought blessing. You find different touches by Christ. You even see times that others touched Him, the hem of His garment, and His heart. What WONDERFUL HANDS

I. A Home that Received His Presence - Peter’s home is where Jesus is found often. It was a simple fisherman’s home in the center of Caperaum, not far from the synagogue.

A. He was Willing to Come - Jesus is willing to touch us!

Titus 2:14 "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

B. He was Welcome to Come - Mark 1:30 "But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon (immediately) they tell him of her."

There was a time that Christians’ lives revolved around Jesus and the church, sadly today, the church must revolve around our lives. Is Jesus welcome, or do we neglect His presence?