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Aug 16, 2022 18:00pm

Faith TALK: Jesus’ Power

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

T-Talk About It Topic

If you could choose one superpower, what would it be and why?

All of us probably wish we had a superpower to use, but what we may forget as believers is that we all do indeed have a superpower: Jesus! In this Faith Talk, we will look at His power with a specific person. But the amazing thing is this: It isn’t limited to people in the Bible. It is something we all have access to today! Often, we don’t see something as supernatural. Sometimes, we dismiss something that seems supernatural. Many times, we are quick to label something supernatural as “a coincidence”.

Listen, if we believe in a Savior who died and rose from the dead—we must believe that He did do and still does supernatural things today. Whether it was a healing, a miracle, or something that worked out perfectly for you, no doubt, Jesus’ power played a part. In order to activate His power today, there is only one thing we must do….let’s check out our story to see what it is!

A-Anchor To The Bible

Before our story begins, Jesus had just healed a demon-possessed man on the other side of the lake (Sea of Galilee, a freshwater lake). As soon as he got out of the boat, a crowd was there to greet him. Out of the crowd emerged a religious leader who begged Jesus to come heal his daughter, who was dying. Jesus agreed, and as he journeyed to the man’s house, the crowd pressed in around him eager to see him, for they had all heard of Jesus’ power. It was at this moment, our story begins in Mark 5:25-26. Let’s read these few verses now about our leading lady.

Few points to talk about:

A woman had an illness (or bleeding disorder) for 12 years. (Mamas, you can choose to go into detail as the source of her illness—menstrual bleeding. I have young boys, so I will keep it basic: she had an illness for 12 years.)
Because she was sick, she couldn’t be touched by her friends and family.
She was considered “unclean” because of this uncontrolled bleeding and became an outcast because she wasn’t allowed to be around others and socialize.
Doctors could not help her. Plus, she spent all the money she had for them to help, and she only got worse.

Question: Have you ever been desperate for help?

Because this woman’s life was drastically altered for 12 long years, she was desperate and was about to do something a woman in her time was not allowed to do. Women in the Old Testament, by God’s commands, were respected and had many rights, but in New Testament times, they were severely limited in what they were allowed to do:

They were considered to be inferior, second class citizens….a little above slave status.
They were not considered to be trusted witnesses in court cases.
They were not allowed to touch a man, even their husbands, in public.
They were illiterate, not learning the Scriptures as men did.

Read verses 27-28 and see what she did that would violate the laws in place. Few main points to talk about:

She was desperate enough to violate laws (because she was “unclean”) and touch Jesus’ clothes. She had heard of Jesus’ miracles and that was enough for her to believe He could heal her. All she had to do was push her way through the crowd to just touch his garment…she believed this was all she needed to be healed of her illness.

Our lady was facing some serious consequences by taking these actions. Let’s read the rest of the story to see what happened. Read verses 29-34.

Points to talk about:

As soon as she touched the corner of Jesus’ garment, Jesus’ miraculous healing power was transferred to her; she knew that she was healed!
Jesus was surrounded by a big crowd of people, yet he felt His power go out and asked who had touched Him.
The disciples were confused because everyone was around Jesus, probably touching or bumping Him!
Our leading lady came forward, humbly, on her knees telling Jesus her story.
Jesus blessed her with good health and peace; she was finally free of her suffering!

Today, we can’t travel to see Jesus and touch his garment, but we can call upon the name of Jesus and do what this woman did: Have faith that He can help us.

L-Learn God’s Word

Our woman’s faith activated Jesus’ power. She believed. She was healed.

How desperate are you for Jesus’ help today? Press in to Him and believe Him at His Word—our faith is all that is needed for Jesus to work miracles in our lives.

So, the verse we are going to memorize this week is the last verse of our story: verse 34. (I am going to revise it a bit…changing it from “daughter” to “child” so that it can apply to all of us.)

“Child, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

What an encouragement for all of us who have struggled with something. Maybe it isn’t an illness. Maybe it’s something else that makes us feel weighed down. Whatever is plaguing you, seek Jesus like our lady did. While we can’t touch Jesus today, we can certainly pray, memorize Scripture, and write in a prayer or gratitude journal whenever things get or feel too tough.

K-Keep Each Other Accountable

This is the most valuable step of any Faith TALK! It’s focused on keeping everyone accountable in this week’s Faith TALK, as well as the memory verse.

Here are a few ideas to keep everyone in check with this week’s TALK:

Talk to each of your kiddos individually. What are they desperate for help in? Pray with them individually thanking Jesus for helping them with this area. Sometimes, we will see His power work miracles in our lives. Sometimes, the miracle is that He adjusts our perspective on our situation and gives us his power to live with that weakness/challenge.
Pray as a family for other people’s healings—not just your own. Who else needs Jesus’ power in their lives? Commit to pray for them daily this week!
Make a blue friendship bracelet as a reminder of Jesus’ power in our lives. The woman in our story purposely touched the area on Jesus’ garment where a tassel would be. God commanded the Israelites to put blue tassels on the corners of their garments/prayer shawls and to use them as reminders of what to pray. The tassels reminded them to think of God at all times (blue represents ocean/sky/heaven) and to obey His commands.
Motivate each other to memorize our focus verse this week. Write the memory verse on a chalkboard and display it by the door. Have them say the verse each morning and initial they did so.