A DECISION FOR JESUS
Connect Groups Discussion
Life is better together.
Main Passage
IceBreaker Question:
INTRODUCTION
For twelve years, this woman woke up carrying the same problem. She tried doctors, spent everything she had, listened to advice, and tried solution after solution. Mark 5:26 tells us that instead of getting better, she actually grew worse. Twelve years is a long time to keep hoping that tomorrow will be different. Eventually, disappointment can make you stop expecting anything to change.
Then she heard about Jesus. Her circumstances hadn't changed yet, her body hadn't changed yet, and the problem was still there. But something inside of her began to change. Hope was born, and that hope eventually became movement. She got up, went through the crowd, and reached for Jesus.
In Mark 5:34, Jesus tells her that her faith has healed her, tells her to go in peace, and declares her free from her suffering. That's what this message is about. There comes a moment when faith has to become more than something you believe internally. Eventually, what you believe about Jesus should affect how you move toward Jesus. Faith doesn't just believe, faith moves.
Don’t Let What You See Become Bigger Than What You’ve Heard
For twelve years, this woman had evidence telling her nothing was changing. Every morning she woke up with the same condition. Every treatment that failed gave her another reason to stop hoping. Mark 5:27–28 tells us what changed everything: she heard about Jesus and thought that if she could simply touch His clothes, she would be healed.
Notice: she wasn't healed when she first heard. Her situation still looked exactly the same. But Pastor Josué showed us this Sunday that something had already begun changing inside of her. Hope was growing because what she heard about Jesus started becoming greater than what she was experiencing.
That's important because we can easily allow our circumstances to become the loudest voice in our lives. “I've prayed and nothing happened.” “Everyone else is moving forward and I'm still here.” “My family is never going to change.” “I'll always struggle with this.” Or maybe, “I think God does that for other people, but not for me.”
Your situation may be real. Your disappointment may be real. Your waiting may be real. Faith doesn't require pretending those things don't exist. Faith says, “This is real, but Jesus is greater.” Romans 10:17 teaches that faith comes through hearing the message about Christ. So be careful what gets the loudest voice in your life. If all you consume is comparison, negativity, fear, bad news, TikTok opinions, relationship drama, and everybody else's highlight reel, don't be surprised when anxiety gets louder than faith.
Feed your faith more than you feed your fear.
Notice: she wasn't healed when she first heard. Her situation still looked exactly the same. But Pastor Josué showed us this Sunday that something had already begun changing inside of her. Hope was growing because what she heard about Jesus started becoming greater than what she was experiencing.
That's important because we can easily allow our circumstances to become the loudest voice in our lives. “I've prayed and nothing happened.” “Everyone else is moving forward and I'm still here.” “My family is never going to change.” “I'll always struggle with this.” Or maybe, “I think God does that for other people, but not for me.”
Your situation may be real. Your disappointment may be real. Your waiting may be real. Faith doesn't require pretending those things don't exist. Faith says, “This is real, but Jesus is greater.” Romans 10:17 teaches that faith comes through hearing the message about Christ. So be careful what gets the loudest voice in your life. If all you consume is comparison, negativity, fear, bad news, TikTok opinions, relationship drama, and everybody else's highlight reel, don't be surprised when anxiety gets louder than faith.
Feed your faith more than you feed your fear.
?
Discussion Question:
What situation in your life has become so loud that you need to intentionally remind yourself again of what is true about Jesus?
Faith Has Feet
This woman could have heard about Jesus and stayed home. She could have believed every story she heard about Him and still decided that nothing could change for her. She could have thought, “That's amazing, but maybe Jesus does that for other people.” After twelve years of disappointment, nobody would have been surprised if she had simply given up. But Mark 5:27 says that after hearing about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd. Something she believed internally eventually caused her to move externally.
Think about everything involved in that decision... She had to get up, leave where she was, find Jesus, enter a crowd she probably didn't feel comfortable entering, push through people, and reach out her hand. None of those individual steps healed her, but every step revealed where her trust was placed. Her faith was no longer just an idea in her mind. Her faith had feet. Pastor Josué asks a powerful question in the message: What steps do you need to take today?
Maybe you've been attending church, going to Connect Groups, singing during worship, and hearing messages about Jesus. Those are good things, but there can still be a step God is asking you to take. Maybe you need to forgive someone, ask for help, admit you're struggling, or walk away from something that keeps pulling you away from Jesus. Maybe you need to return after drifting, open your Bible again, serve somebody, ask someone to pray with you, or trust God after disappointment hardened your heart. Sometimes we keep asking God for direction when He's already shown us the next step. You don't need to see the entire road to take the next step toward Jesus.
Hebrews 4:16 invites us to approach God's throne of grace with confidence. The invitation isn't simply to know that the throne exists, it's to approach it. Sometimes we're waiting for God to change everything around us while God is inviting us to move toward Him in the middle of it. You may not be able to control what happens next, but you can decide where you will place your trust today. You may not know exactly what Jesus is going to do, but you know who you're moving toward. Faith isn't just believing Jesus can. Faith moves because Jesus can.
Think about everything involved in that decision... She had to get up, leave where she was, find Jesus, enter a crowd she probably didn't feel comfortable entering, push through people, and reach out her hand. None of those individual steps healed her, but every step revealed where her trust was placed. Her faith was no longer just an idea in her mind. Her faith had feet. Pastor Josué asks a powerful question in the message: What steps do you need to take today?
Maybe you've been attending church, going to Connect Groups, singing during worship, and hearing messages about Jesus. Those are good things, but there can still be a step God is asking you to take. Maybe you need to forgive someone, ask for help, admit you're struggling, or walk away from something that keeps pulling you away from Jesus. Maybe you need to return after drifting, open your Bible again, serve somebody, ask someone to pray with you, or trust God after disappointment hardened your heart. Sometimes we keep asking God for direction when He's already shown us the next step. You don't need to see the entire road to take the next step toward Jesus.
Hebrews 4:16 invites us to approach God's throne of grace with confidence. The invitation isn't simply to know that the throne exists, it's to approach it. Sometimes we're waiting for God to change everything around us while God is inviting us to move toward Him in the middle of it. You may not be able to control what happens next, but you can decide where you will place your trust today. You may not know exactly what Jesus is going to do, but you know who you're moving toward. Faith isn't just believing Jesus can. Faith moves because Jesus can.
?
Discussion Question:
What is one step toward Jesus you already know you need to take but have been postponing?
If Grace Has Roots, It Should Produce Fruit
For twelve years, this woman had been identified by her condition. Even thousands of years later, we often refer to her simply as “the woman with the issue of blood.” Think about how easy it is for one painful chapter of someone's life to become the label everybody attaches to them. We do the same thing today: the kid whose parents divorced, the girl who got rejected, the guy who failed, the person with anxiety, the one who messed up, the one who got cheated on. Eventually, if you hear a label enough times, you can start believing it yourself. What happened to you can slowly become how you see yourself.
But Jesus never called her by her problem. After she came forward and told Him the truth, Jesus looked at her and called her “Daughter.” Jesus didn't only heal her body... He restored her identity. The crowd could identify her by what had happened to her, but Jesus identified her by relationship. Everyone else could see twelve years of problems, while Jesus saw someone who belonged. People may recognize your struggle before they recognize you, but Jesus knows exactly who you are.
Sometimes the most damaging labels aren't even the ones other people give us, they're the ones we repeat to ourselves. I'm a failure. I'm unwanted. I'm too far gone. I'm the one who ruined everything. I'll always be like this. Second Corinthians 5:17 teaches that anyone who is in Christ is a NEW creation, the old has gone and the new has come. Your past can explain parts of your story, but it doesn't have the authority to determine your identity. Your worst moment doesn't get naming rights over your life. She arrived carrying an problems and left with peace as a daughter. Jesus didn't pretend those twelve years never happened, but He also didn't allow those twelve years to define who she was. Jesus doesn't define you by what happened to you. Jesus reminds you who you belong to.
But Jesus never called her by her problem. After she came forward and told Him the truth, Jesus looked at her and called her “Daughter.” Jesus didn't only heal her body... He restored her identity. The crowd could identify her by what had happened to her, but Jesus identified her by relationship. Everyone else could see twelve years of problems, while Jesus saw someone who belonged. People may recognize your struggle before they recognize you, but Jesus knows exactly who you are.
Sometimes the most damaging labels aren't even the ones other people give us, they're the ones we repeat to ourselves. I'm a failure. I'm unwanted. I'm too far gone. I'm the one who ruined everything. I'll always be like this. Second Corinthians 5:17 teaches that anyone who is in Christ is a NEW creation, the old has gone and the new has come. Your past can explain parts of your story, but it doesn't have the authority to determine your identity. Your worst moment doesn't get naming rights over your life. She arrived carrying an problems and left with peace as a daughter. Jesus didn't pretend those twelve years never happened, but He also didn't allow those twelve years to define who she was. Jesus doesn't define you by what happened to you. Jesus reminds you who you belong to.
?
What label from your past, your struggle, another person's words, or your own thoughts, do you need to stop allowing to define you?
THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE
This week, don't try to fix your entire life. Take one intentional step toward Jesus. The woman heard, she believed, she moved, and she reached. Ask yourself honestly: What does moving toward Jesus look like for me this week?
Maybe it's forgiving someone, asking for prayer, talking honestly with your Connect Group leaders, getting back into Scripture, coming back to church consistently, removing something that's pulling you away from God, apologizing, asking someone for help, or praying again after you've stopped believing anything could change.
Whatever your step is, write it down and actually do it. Don't wait until you feel more spiritual. Don't wait until everything makes sense or until the crowd disappears. The woman didn't experience the story from her house. She got up and moved toward Jesus.
Let's Pray.
Maybe it's forgiving someone, asking for prayer, talking honestly with your Connect Group leaders, getting back into Scripture, coming back to church consistently, removing something that's pulling you away from God, apologizing, asking someone for help, or praying again after you've stopped believing anything could change.
Whatever your step is, write it down and actually do it. Don't wait until you feel more spiritual. Don't wait until everything makes sense or until the crowd disappears. The woman didn't experience the story from her house. She got up and moved toward Jesus.
Let's Pray.
Pray Together
Pray for Surrender
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
Proverbs 16:3
Ask God to help you surrender your gifts, resources, plans, and future to Him.
Pray for Obedience
“If you love me, keep my commands.”
John 14:15
Pray for sensitivity to what God is asking you to do today—not simply what worked yesterday.
Pray for the Next Generation
“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.”
Psalm 145:4
Pray that God would use your life to equip and encourage others to go farther than you have.
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
Proverbs 16:3
Ask God to help you surrender your gifts, resources, plans, and future to Him.
Pray for Obedience
“If you love me, keep my commands.”
John 14:15
Pray for sensitivity to what God is asking you to do today—not simply what worked yesterday.
Pray for the Next Generation
“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.”
Psalm 145:4
Pray that God would use your life to equip and encourage others to go farther than you have.