If You Are Willing
Matthew 8:1-4
NOW THIS MORNING – after our break for the Easter Season, where we are jumping back into our verse by verse study of The Gospel of Matthew...
UNDERSTAND – in His Gospel Matthew wants to us to know that Jesus is the promised King...
IN FACT – He makes this clear from the very beginning of His Gospel...
In His genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17)... Matthew shows us that Jesus has the legal authority to Davidic Throne by tracing His family line from Abraham – through David – to Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father.
In Jesus birth Matthew tells us that Jesus fulfilled what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah chapter 40, about the promise King... The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God with us”. Matthew 1:23
In Chapter 2, Matthew tells us the wisemen that were led by God’s Star to worship and brings gifts to... the who has been born King of the Jews... – Matthew 2:2
In Matthew Chapter 3, like any King who would have a forerunner announcing his coming, Matthew gives us JTB... This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ – Matthew 3:3
AND THEN – to give us Jesus’ moral authority, Matthew gives us His baptism and God’s pronouncement... This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. - Matthew 3:17
Followed by Jesus’ victory over the evil one’s temptation... Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. – Matthew 4:10,11
AND THEN – in Matthew chapters 5-7 Jesus goes up on a mountainside overlooking the Sea of Galilee and gave His what is known, as the Sermon on the Mount, His Kingdom Manifesto, a manifesto we spent 38 weeks diving into together. A manifesto about: the values, about the ethics... ABOUT - how life is actually lived, when Jesus reigns as King in the life of those who follow after Him, and...
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Matthew 7:28,29
NOW – understand if we were to ask Matthew to describe Jesus in one word, I am convinced that it would be KING.
AND MGCC – we have lost that (Jesus is the KING) in many respects. IN FACT – I’m not sure we want a KING.
INSTEAD - we want a friend, we want a buddy, we want a shoulder, we want a God who makes our life better but does not interfere with our own wants and desires…
HOWEVER – God knows what we need more than we do, AND GOD KNOWS – that we need a KING,
SO - He gave us Jesus.
AND LISTEN – as King Jesus has…
• The authority to speak (into everyone’s life, ‘you have heard it said but I say to you”… “Those who hear my teaching and put them into practice is like…)
• The power to rule (over nature, over sickness, over demons, over sin death and the grave)
• The desire to include (everyone and anyone in His Kingdom)
• The right to reward (“well done my good and faithful servant, come enter my joy and happiness).
YEAH – in the first seven chapters Matthew wants us to know that Jesus is King, Jesus...
• Has the legal authority to the forever throne of David
• Was born to a virgin as the promised king, who is Immanuel ‘God with us’
• Was announced as King by JRB, worship as King by the wiseman, proclaimed by God as His Son in whom He is well please, and
• On the hillside unveiled His kingdom manifesto
That’s the first seven chapters of Matthew...
AND – this brings us to Matthew chapter 8...
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. – Matthew 8:1
AND LISTEN – it here in Matthew 8 and also in Matthew 9, that we see the authority of Jesus’ demonstrated...In other words... Jesus begins giving proof that He is who He said He is.
The Authority of The King Demonstrated
• 3 miracle stories (Matthew 8:1-17)
• 2 descriptions of discipleship (Matthew 8:18-22)
• 3 miracle stories (Matthew 8:23-9:8)
• 2 descriptions of discipleship (Matthew 9:9-17)
• 3 miracle stories (Matthew 9:18-34)
AND LISTEN...
Here’s s the deal, Here’s the point Matthew is making in these two chapters...
King Jesus possess absolute authority in the world and warrants absolute authority from the world.
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” - Matthew 8:1-4
YEAH – that’s our text for this morning..
Prayer
NOW - when I was a young kid growing up, the most dreaded disease in my world was not measles, mumps or chicken pox.
It was a more subtle and mysterious disorder.
There was no vaccine for it, no antidote, no known cure. There was no method of inoculation.
And it was highly contagious.
NOW - nobody ever elaborated what would happen to you if you contracted this disease. BECAUSE - you never knew exactly what the consequences were.
I MEAN - the mere mention of this particular disease was enough to strike terror in me and my friends.
It was a fate worse than death.
IN FACT - the only way to be safe was to make sure that all carriers of this disease were strictly quarantined, and that you had no contact with them.
Fortunately, it was easy to recognize. This disease was carried by girls. Every girl except my mother was loaded with it. The name of this disease was "cooties"
YEAH - all a carrier had to do was touch you, breathe on you or look at you real hard, and you would be infected.
NOW - nobody was crazy enough to touch somebody with cooties. I MEAN - it was like every carrier wore a big sign that said, "Don't touch me..."
YEAH – I know talking about cooties seems kind of silly...
BUT – I do remember... as a young kid in elementary school talking about people having cooties... and being ‘untouchable’... AND – as silly as it seems, it really was not a label anyone ever wanted to wear.
MGCC – we live in a world where there are a lot of untouchable people. A world where a lot of people have been diagnosed with cooties… AND – as a result, they are at best ignored and at worse ridiculed and attacked…
YOU SEE – because of the color of their skin, their economic status, their language, their education, their physical appearance OR some wrong choices they have made in life… THEY – have found themselves on the lowest rung of the ladder, at the bottom of the food chain…
YES – for many the world points their fingers, hangs a ‘do not touch’ sign and says, “eeeww don’t go near them, they have cooties.”
• It may be the homeless guy on the street corner holding up the ‘I’ll work for food,” sign whose eyes you try to avoid when you go through the intersection.
• It may be the guy or girl at school; who because of; their intelligence, the way they dress or how they look are forced to sit alone on the bus or in the cafeteria.
• It may be that person at the office who is just a little odd, talks about strange things and seems to always have bad breathe… that everyone makes fun, mostly behind their back.
• It may be the person at church who is not that out going, who is hard to talk to, socially awkward and who is a just ‘different…’
THAT – people avoid when they walk down the hallway or grab their seat.
YES – the world is full of untouchables.
IT’S – full of people who are on the outside looking in.
AND – do you know what? The truth be known… All of us at certain times in our lives or in certain settings know what it feels like to be unacceptable, unworthy, outsiders, untouchable.
UNDERSTAND MGCC – this encounter in Matthew 8:2-4, is a story that illustrates how Jesus feels about people who this world would rather avoid…
YOU SEE - the man that comes up to Jesus, has leprosy.
AND – in Luke 5 (a parallel passage), Luke the good doctor tells us this guy didn’t just have some minor case of leprosy, but that He was...
‘filled up’ ‘covered in every part’ ‘permeated with’ leprosy.
NOW - let me take a moment to describe what leprosy is like. The most common form of leprosy in Jesus' day began with a general sense of weariness and pain in the joints. AFTER – that patches would appear on the skin, which were horrifying to the person that saw it, because they were kind of like a death sentence.
These patches would grow into nodules or lumps around the face, so that the person would eventually become unrecognizable. Then they would break open, and there would be a foul stench coming from the person's body.
Eventually, the eyebrows would fall off, pieces of the nose and ears would break off...
The vocal chords would ulcerate, the voice would become hoarse, breathing would become very difficult.
THEN - there would a loss of sensation, which is one of the most dangerous parts of leprosy.
YOU SEE – a leper could cut himself, burn himself, break bones and never know it because they feel no pain…
CAN – you imagine a group of people who would view pain as a good thing? MOST – of us spend our lives trying to avoid pain… BUT – these people would welcome the ability to feel pain.
Several years back Laurie and I led a mission trip to the DR with about 35 students from around the US and one day we went to visit a leper colony.
But as bad as the physical effects of leprosy were the social effects were worse. When a person came down with leprosy, he was banished from the city, made to live outside the gates… Families were torn apart, and lives were broken with despair…. AND WHEN – lepers came into the city, they were forced to cover themselves from head to foot, and cry out, "Unclean!" so that people could avoid contact with them. Some rabbi’s went on the record bragging about throwing stones at them to them a distance or refusing to eat an egg, that was bought on a street where a leper was.
Being a leper was a horrible thing. AND - I’m sure it caused many, if not most people to wonder if God had abandoned them, by allowing it, or cursed them, by causing it.
In Scripture the leper is a symbol of the ultimate outcast: infected by a condition he did not seek, rejected by those he knew, avoided by people he did not know, condemned to a future he could not bear.
In a chapter in his book, Just Like Jesus, Max Lucado writes; the story behind the man that we meet in Matthew’s Gospel. TRY – to put yourself into this man’s sandals as I read what Max wrote...
For 5 years no one touched me. No one. Not one person. Not my wife. Not my child. Not my friends. No one touched me. They saw me. They spoke to me…But I didn’t feel their touch. There was no touch. Not once. No one touched me.
What is common to you, I coveted. Handshakes. Warm embraces. A tap on the shoulder to get my attention. A kiss on the lips to steal a heart. Such moments were taken away from my world. No one touched me. No one bumped into me.
What I would have given to be bumped into, to be caught in a crowd, for my shoulder to brush against another’s. But for 5 years it has not happened. How could it? I was not allowed on the streets. Even the rabbis kept their distance from me. I was not permitted in my synagogue. Not even welcome in my own house.
I was untouchable. I was a leper… Oh, how I repulsed those who saw me. 5 years of leprosy had left my hands twsited. Tips of my fingers were missing as were portions of an ear and my nose. At the sight of me, fathers grabbed their children. Mothers covered their faces. Children pointed and stared…
Some think I sinned. Some think my parents sinned. I don’t know. All I know is that I grew tried of it all: sleeping in the colony, smelling the stench. I grew so tired of the…bell I was required to wear around my neck to warn people of my presence. As if they needed it. One glance and the announcement began, “Unclean! Unclean! Unclean!
LISTEN – here’s the deal.
LIKE - the leper many people today suffer from a condition they didn’t create. They are rejected by people they know. Avoided by people they don’t know.
Condemned to a future they can not bear…
UNDERSTAND – they didn’t ask for those wounds…
THE - pain and heartache they carry are not of their own choosing. BUT – nevertheless, they like the leper, are put outside the city… One author writes...
The divorced know this feeling. So do the handicapped. The unemployed have felt it, as have the less educated. Some shun unmarried moms. We keep our distance from the depressed and avoid the terminally ill.
We have neighborhoods for immigrants, convalescent homes for the elderly, schools for the simple, centers for the addicted and prisons for the criminals.
The rest simply try to get away from it all. Only God knows how many…are in voluntary exile – individuals living quiet lonely lives infected by their fear of rejection and their memories of the last time they tried. They choose not to be touched at all rather than risk being hurt again. Lucado
A man with leprosy came (fell on his knees, with his face to the ground and begged Him), "If you are willing, you can make me clean." - Matthew 8:2
NOW - those last 9 words really stuck out to me as I prepared this conservation…
"If you are willing, you can make me clean."
QUESTION – why did the leper say that? If you are willing
LIKE – why did he think that Jesus may not be willing to heal him? LISTEN - the leper didn’t have any question whatsoever as to whether or not Jesus ‘could’ do something about his condition… NO – unbelief was not his problem…
INSTEAD - his problem was that…he wasn’t sure if Jesus ‘would want’ do anything about it.
I don’t know – perhaps all those years of having people; avoid him, shun him, ignore him, ridicule him, throw stones at him, isolate him… had made him feel pretty unworthy. “Jesus I know I’m pretty disgusting; I know that I’m not worth very much, I know that you have the power to make me clean. But I’ll understand if you don’t want to, who could blame you, look at me, no don’t look at me. Sorry to bother you, I’ll think, I’ll, I’ll just go now, I’m probably not worth you time anyway.”
QUESTION – is that where you are this morning…?
AT – a place where though you do not doubt that Jesus ‘can’ do something about: your condition; your life; your problems; your struggles… You do doubt (because of how you see and feel about yourself and your belief in the lies from the enemy, that Jesus would be willing to do anything about it?
A man with leprosy came (fell on his knees, with his face to the ground and begged Him), "If you are willing, you can make me clean." (Filled with compassion), Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” - Matthew 8:2,3
UNDERSTAND
WHEN - Jesus saw this guy…
WHEN – He heard those words come out of his mouth…
If you are willing He was filled with compassion…
NOW - the word for compassion is the Greek word for bowels ‘splachna’ and it literally means that Jesus’ guts were stirred.
LISTEN - what Jesus saw (a man being destroyed by a terrible disease) and what he heard (the voice of a man who did not think he was worthy to be healed)…
deeply bothered Jesus... LIKE - it tore Him up, it stirred His guts. IN FACT - some older manuscripts actually say that when Jesus saw this leper He was filled with anger.
ANGER – at this terrible disease that was not a part of His original plan for man.
ANGER – that this man created in His own image felt so unworthy and so alone.
ANGER - that this man would feel that even God would not want to help him.
NOW – I am sure that this leper was: blown away, was surprised, by the way that Jesus treated him (a man labeled by all as unworthy and untouchable…)
BUT – it should not surprised us…
Because Of who Jesus is, God in the flesh.
AND LISTEN – one thing that had been apparent in the Scriptures written prior to Jesus’ arrival, is that God has always been concerned about the pain, the sorrow and the hurts of His people…
LET ME – share a few passages from the OT that underscore this truth…
The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey… - Exodus 3:7,8
MGCC - God sees, He hears, He’s cares...
AND – not only that…
BUT GOD - can do something about your hurts…
He can rescue you, He can bring you up out of your hurt and into a new and better place.
YES – God has always had special place in His heart, for those who live on the margins of society.
IN FACT – there are nearly 400 passages that speak of God’s concern for: orphans, widows, prisoners, aliens, the homeless, the poor, the hungry, the sick, the disabled…
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:18,19
QUESTION – have you ever in the midst of your hurt and pain, felt like God didn’t care..?
THAT – he didn’t hear your cries or see your pain?
THAT – he must have forgotten all about you?
God’s people in Isaiah’s day felt that way.
They were hurting, the pain was real, their situation hopeless… AND - to make matters worse they felt that God had either forgotten them… or that He just didn’t care… CHECKOUT… what God said to them… in response.
Yet Jerusalem says, "The LORD has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us." "Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on my hand. Ever before me is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins. - Isaiah 49:14-16
The pain, the sorrow, the broken things in your life matter to ME!
Understand when you flip through the pages of Scripture
On nearly every page, you see a God who cares deeply about the hurting and outcast. A God who is passionate about helping his people, defending those who need Him and rescuing those who are in trouble.
THAT IS WHY - Scripture repeatedly calls God; a shelter, a fortress, a rock, a refuge and a strong tower…
WHY? - because that is exactly what hurting people need
LET ME – read just a few more passages that express how God feels about the hurting and what He wants to do for them…
Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the LORD— rejoice in his presence! Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.
Psalm 68:4,5
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit. - Psalm 34:18
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. - Psalm 56:8
What powerful pictures…
A father to the fatherless
A defender of widows
Placing the lonely in families
Setting the prisoner free
Giving them joy
Being close to the brokenhearted
Rescuing those crushed in spirit
Collecting all our tears in a bottle
Keeping track of all our sorrows
A man with leprosy came (fell on his knees, with his face to the ground and begged Him), "If you are willing, you can make me clean." (Filled with compassion), Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. - Matthew 8:2,3
Instantly the raw sores and dead flesh and missing parts of his nose, ears, hands... and his insensitive nerves were restored to perfectly normal health.
I love how Max Lucado describes what this leper was thinking on that day…
Of course it was risky. Of course it was reckless. But what did I have to lose? He calls himself God’s Son. Either he will hear my complaint and kill me or accept my demands and heal me.
Those were my thoughts. I came to him as a defiant man. Moved not by faith but by a desperate anger. God had wrought this calamity on my body, and he would either fix it or end it.
But then I saw him, and when I saw him I was changed…Before he spoke I knew he cared. Somehow I knew he hated this disease as much as, no – more than I hate it. My rage became trust, and my anger became hope.
From behind a rock, I watched him descend a hill. Throngs of people followed him. I waited until he was only paces from me, then I stepped out. “Master!”
He stopped & looked in my direction as he did, so did dozens of others. A flood of fear swept across the crowd. Arms flew in front of faces. Children ducked behind parents. “Unclean!” someone shouted. Again, I don’t blame them. I was a huddled mass of death.
BUT I scarcely heard them. I scarcely saw them. Their panic I had seen a 1,000 times. His compassion, however, I’ve never seen. Everyone stepped back except him. He stepped toward me. Toward me…
5 years ago my wife stepped toward me. She was the last to do so. NOW – he did. I did not move. I just spoke. “Lord, you can heal me if you want to..”
Had he healed with a word, I would have been thrilled. Had he cured me with a prayer, I would have rejoiced. But he wasn’t satisfied with speaking to me. He drew near to me. He touched me. 5 years ago my wife had touched me. No one had touched me since. Until today.
“I am willing.” His words were as tender as his touch. “be healed!” Energy flooded my body like water through a plowed field. In an instant in a moment, I felt warmth where there had been numbness. I felt strength where there had been atrophy. My back straighten, and my head lifted. Where I had been eye level with his belt, I now stood eye to eye level with his face. He was smiling…
He cupped his hands on my cheeks and drew me so near that I could feel the warmth of his breathe and see the wetness in his eyes. “Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded for people who are made well. This will show the people what I have done.
AND SO – that is where I am going. I will show myself to my priest and embrace him. I will show myself to my wife and I will embrace her. I will pick up my daughter and I will embrace her. AND I will never forget the one who dared to touch me. He could have healed with a word. But he wanted to do more than heal me. He wanted to honor me…Imagine that unworthy of the touch of man, yet worthy of the touch of God.
MGCC – 2000 years ago...
A man with leprosy came (fell on his knees, with his face to the ground and begged Him), "If you are willing, you can make me clean." (Filled with compassion), Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. - Matthew 8:2,3
NOW THERE – are 2 things that I want to say as we wrap up this morning…
AND B/S – either one or both apply to you this morning.
“Hey, listen up”
“I Am Willing”
UNDERSTAND - the truth is;
• Some of you are lonely
• Some of you feel like outsiders (even in here)
• Some of you have problems and issues
• Others feel ashamed and unworthy of the touch of Jesus because of some sin or mistake in your life (in your past or in your present)
• Some of you don’t like where your life is or where it is headed at this moment
AND LISTEN – nearly every one of you knows that Jesus Christ has the power to do something about your condition… BUT – like the leper because of the way you see yourself… YOU – are not so sure He is willing to do anything to help ‘you’ out.
BUT REMEMBER – Jesus embraced the leper while he was still full of leperosy.
B/S – his condition did not turn Jesus off, or turn him away… and neither will your or mine.
IN FACT – his condition that moved Jesus to turn to him.
BOTTOM LINE…
IF – you feel alone, isolated, hurt, shut out or unworthy this morning…
WILL – you do what the leper did?
WILL – you forget all the barriers, will you run to Jesus, will you fall down before him and ask him to hear you, to cleanse you, to empower youtouch you.
UNDERSTAND - the time to approach Jesus is now!
It is now that you need him.
It is now, precisely when you are aware of the fact that you're not worthy to approach him, that you need to approach Him.
All you have to do is come and fall on your knees.
Say, "Here's the problem' -- whatever it is. 'I know I'm not worthy – but if you are willing……"
AND – Jesus will look down at you with eyes full of compassion and say, “I am willing.”
“I am willing to help you, to touch you…
YOU – matter to me!”
QUESTION – do you hear the voice of your shepherd crying out to you…
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest…” - Mt 11:28,29
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." - John 7:37,38
YES – some people God brought here to tell them,
“I am willing…”
(salvation)
AND – to others, to those who have experienced the healing touch of Jesus, He brought you here to tell you;
Be My Touch In This World…
UNDERSTAND - Jesus did not call his followers or his church, to be a quarantine zone. Think of it this way. Imagine a hospital where the one rule in the hospital is no germs are allowed inside. Imagine a hospital where the doctors say, "This has been a successful day. I was not infected. My patients were loaded with filthy germs, but I kept them all outside. They all died, but I didn't touch any of them. I didn't get infected."
LISTEN – we have not been called to avoid infection.
We're called to save souls.
We’re called to touch the lives of hurting people…
UNDERSTAND - to consider our lives a success if we avoid infection and suffering is to make a mockery of the cross.
B/S - we live in a world where sin, where suffering, where pain is contagious.
SO - we learn to keep our distance. If we get too close to somebody, we might get infected by their pain.
It may not be convenient. It may not be comfortable. HOWEVER - we cannot wash the feet of a dirty world if we refuse to touch them…
When the church stops looking out for the little guys or caring for the bottom heap or specializing in the forgotten, the freaks, and the mistakes, it has ceased being the church. - Leonard Sweet
MGCC – God calls us, His church, to be His healing touch for those who:
• Feel left out
• Feel unworthy, unacceptable, unclean
• Feel like they have been banished to a life outside the gates
AND LISTEN... here’s the deal
Sin and suffering are not all that is contagious.
There are other things that are infectious.
Enthusiasm is infectious. Laughter is infectious.
Faith is infectious. Love is infectious. Caring is infectious.
UNDERSTAND - the secret to health and spiritual life is not to isolate yourself from sin and suffering. (Besides it is not possible, even if you wanted to do it).
NO - the secret is to be so filled with the life of Jesus, to be so filled with the spirit of God that when you touch the world, it doesn't infect you.
You infect it with the love and compassion of Christ…
ONE – writer calls this the immaculate infection.
AND MGCC – that is exactly how The Kingdom works…
Jesus in His ministry twice used the image of yeast in his teachings… Once to warn his disciples (Mt 16) of how the teachings and the negative and judgmental attitudes of the Pharisees can spread…
Man, He sure was right about that.
BUT Jesus also uses the image of yeast to talk about the kingdom of God…
The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour the yeast permeated every part of the dough.
Matthew 13:33
NOW – that little bit of yeast does not seem like much in all that flour. But the woman puts it in… AND THEN - comes back latter and the yeast has spread everywhere…
UNDERSTAND – the flour (may not know it) but it doesn’t stand a chance, it’s just a matter of time..
SO IT IS - with the kingdom of God it cannot be stopped… The darkness does not stand a chance against the love, hope, compassion and touch of the Christ (through His followers)… It’s infectious.
SURE – helping one person, preparing one meal for the homeless, painting one house, being kind to one person, bringing in just one item for the kids @ BB
Compassion Sunday
may not seem like that much in this huge flour of need, called our world… But look out… BECAUSE – before long the K of G, will permeant every part of the dough.
OKAY – here’s the deal..
WE’VE – got to go out of this room and start infecting our world with the compassion, with the love, with the touch of Jesus.
YES – we need to start spreading germs, little germs of...
joy, of faith, of hope, of love…
YEAH - we need to identify who the hurting people are in ‘our’ world are.
• It might be a neighbor.
• It might be somebody that you work with.
• It might be a person that's difficult to love.
• It might be the person sitting next to you right now
AND – then we need to go out and infect them with the healing touch of Jesus Christ…
MGCC – 2000 years ago...
A man with leprosy came (fell on his knees, with his face to the ground and begged Him), "If you are willing, you can make me clean." - Matthew 8:2,3
MGCC – I cannot wait to see and hear about the effects of what we in this room begin doing this week for Him!
