A Touch Brings New Life

A Touch Brings New Life

Psalm 139:1-6 Hebrews 10:19-25 Luke 8:40- 56

Toby

Look at your hands for a moment. God has placed within those hands the power for you to bring new life into the lives of others through a simple touch. A touch on the shoulder of one who’s discouraged, brings new life. A touch in the hand of one whose afraid brings New Life. A touch on the back of one who is stumbling backwards, brings stability and new life.

Rick

All of human life begins with a touch of something to small for us to see with the naked eye. The touch of a sperm and an egg, brings about possibilities that only God could dream of making into reality. Each one of us here today began with two people touching each other, and all of us being touched by God while in our mother’s womb.

Toby

We are celebrating the first anniversary of the touch of the power God in giving birth to New Life Fellowship. We have spent the last year in labor pains in order to bring forth this new part of the kingdom of God today. It has been a partnership with touches from other churches such as Glenville New Life Community Church, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Highlands Sixth Church, Northfield Presbyterian Church, and the Presbytery of the Western Reserve who have given either through their service of extra giving to help us help others.

Rick

Each child has a personality uniquely its own. Every church will be different from every other church. The vision of New Life is to touch people and to empower them with new life by bringing them into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus made the declaration once, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. It’s not God’s will for us to view life as something to be dreaded, but rather as a gift from God with unlimited possibilities for God to work in and through us.

TOBY

Jesus’ gift of life is not something reserved simply for heaven. His life is available to change people today. He brings new life offering it to anyone who wants to make a change. Our theme for this year is for us to become NUTS for Christ. We are people called to Never Underestimate The Spirit

RICK

One day Jesus was very busy and there was a large crowd around him. But in the midst of this assembly was a man whose daughter was in need of a touch from Jesus. He begged Jesus to please come and go with him because his daughter of just twelve years of age was very ill. The man’s name was Jarius and he was a leader in one of synagogues. When Jesus saw this man and heard his plea his heart was moved to compassion, and he got up to go and bring new life into the heart of Jarius and into the life of his daughter.

TOBY

New Life Fellowship is to be a church, that no matter how small it is or how large it gets, it will always have compassion for the one. One person’s pain will always be felt in the heart of God. Jesus left the abundance of the crowd because a 12 year old girl was sick and in need of a new life touch. He gave up the opportunity to speak to thousands, just to go and see about a little girl whose name we never even learn.

I wonder what became of that child. Everybody matters to God. When God calls you to do a work for him, remember it does not have to be something that everybody else calls great. Just as Jesus was sent to leave the group, for the one, you may likewise receive that call in order to bring new life into the lives of others with your touch.

RICK

As Jesus went on his way, he could hardly get to her because the crowd was hindering his movement. The Scriptures tell us they were pressing in on Jesus so tightly that they were crushing him. The sad thing is they were crushing Jesus, but not touching him. Oh yes they had their hands reaching out to touch him, much as people do today when they go wild over some music star, or political personality, or some movie star.

Some consider it a badge of honor to say, "oh I touched so and so." Jesus never came to be considered a super star, for us to brag about as though he was merely a Michael Jordan or a Tom Cruise or a Whitney Houston. No Jesus is only important to those who know that deep down inside they have a need in their lives that only he can fill.