In a crowd of billions, does God really see you and the things you carry? This sermon takes us to the Sea of Galilee, where two utterly different people push through a pressing crowd to reach Jesus: a respected synagogue leader and a woman who for twelve years had no right to touch anyone (Mark 5). Jesus stops at the worst possible moment and turns the whole zoom of his attention on one person. Listen, and then ask whom you notice in your own crowd.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Luke 8:40-56 weaves together the stories of Jairus, a synagogue leader, and an unnamed woman. How did their places in society differ, and what did they have in common as they sought Jesus in the crowd?
- The woman had been ritually unclean for 12 years, and Jesus takes a dead girl by the hand. What might it have meant to the first hearers that Jesus touches the unclean and calls the woman "daughter"?
- Jesus stops and asks "Who touched me?" while Jairus's daughter is dying. How do you understand this delay and the words He then speaks to Jairus: "Don't be afraid; just believe"?
- The speaker mentioned that we sometimes picture God as a watchmaker who looks down and sees only a crowd. In what situations is it hardest for you to believe that God's attention is zoomed in on you?
- The sermon described the thought: "If I can't help everyone, I won't help anyone." Where do you see this in your own life, and what changes when you choose to do for one what you wish you could do for everyone?
- Who in your everyday crowd can you notice this week, and what is one concrete way you can point them to Jesus?
