Don't Be Afraid, Only Believe: The Boy They Said Was Nothing

Sermon outline

Whatever report you have been given and whoever has written you off, do not be afraid, only believe, because God lifts up the people others dismiss and raises the dead things in their lives.

1. A synagogue leader on his knees and a woman who only wanted to touch His cloak

   Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, fell at Jesus' feet and pleaded for his dying daughter. On the way a woman who had bled for twelve years and spent all she had did not ask for an audience with Jesus; she only said that if she touched His clothes she would be healed. Jesus felt power go out of Him and kept looking for her, just as God kept looking at you when people rejected you.

   “At one time, you were rejected by people, but God kept on looking at you.”

   • Mark 5:21-34
   • Jeremiah 1:5

2. Don't be afraid, only believe

   Jairus received the report that his daughter was dead, and Jesus answered it with 'Don't be afraid. Only believe.' You may not know how, when or by what method, but God will do it, not because you deserve it but because He loves you. He tells his own story of growing up very poor and being told he would amount to nothing, and answers it with 'But God'.

   Illustration: His mother, a housemaid with a class two education, raised five children alone. He sold newspapers on street corners and loaded newspaper bundles all night for three rand until his hands bled. A teacher told him he would amount to nothing; years later she met him at a class reunion held in the church's building and said she had heard he did very well.

   “I knew one day would be one day.”

   • Mark 5:35-36
   • Isaiah 49:16

3. He did not let anyone follow Him

   Jesus allowed only Peter, James and John to go with Him. Some of you are too nice: you let people into your space who are not celebrating you, who are envious of your success, and you wonder why you are not moving. There are people you need to let go of, and only you can do it.

   Illustration: As a boy his toys were jam tins, a tennis ball and a bicycle rim pushed with a stick, yet even before he was saved he had a vision that one day would be one day.

   “There are some people you need to drop from your life.”

   • Mark 5:37

4. She is not dead but sleeping: watch your words and put the scoffers out

   Jesus chose His words, because calling her dead would have left no force of faith to raise her. They laughed at Him, and He put them all out. We are too hard on ourselves when people leave; hurting people hurt people, and a change of geography does not change a person's thinking. Get rid of the scoffers and keep people around you who believe in you.

   Illustration: In the apartheid years a sergeant who commanded his station swore at him and even walked down a long driveway to check he was really at home sick. Years later, after he had been promoted through the commissioned ranks, he met the same man in Johannesburg and greeted him, and the man went red in the face.

   “God will exalt you in front of your enemies.”

   • Mark 5:38-40

5. All is well: the faith of the Shunammite woman

   The Shunammite woman perceived that the prophet was a man of God and made room for him, and the child she was promised was born. When the child died, her report was still 'All is well'. Some of us have lost our perception of who a man of God is, but honour opens doors, and we have to speak to dead things so that they rise. Jesus took the girl by the hand, she got up and walked, and they were astonished.

   Illustration: A woman who could not fall pregnant came for prayer on a Wednesday night and gave birth ten months later. When she brought her new car to the church yard for prayer, two armed men held them up; he heard the gun click without firing, the men's eyes went wide and they ran. He believes they saw a warrior angel.

   “Sometimes we have to speak to dead things in your life so that they can rise.”

   • 2 Kings 4:8-37
   • Romans 8:11
   • Mark 5:41-43
   • Ephesians 4:11-12

6. It is their loss: you have been endorsed by God

   The world, your family or a painful divorce may have written you off, but it was not you. When people break ties with you, you lose nothing; the loss is theirs, because the presence of God in you makes a business do well. Your identity is no longer a race group: you are a royal priesthood, a born-again child of God with the blood of Jesus.

   “You don't need any endorsement because you've been endorsed by God.”

   • 1 Peter 2:9

7. Keep dreaming big: God restores and gives more than you can imagine

   Whatever the enemy has stolen he must restore sevenfold, and this is your turnaround time. Moods rise and fall like waves, but do not let your belief system change. See yourself in a larger place, with the project finished and the bond paid off, and raise your asking level.

   Illustration: When he held the rank of full colonel he told his boss he was leaving, put his car keys on the desk and wheeled his own chair down the passage. His wife fetched him, and the ministry began at home with a first congregation of himself, his wife and their two sons.

   “God doesn't charge you for dreams.”

   • Proverbs 6:31
   • Ephesians 3:20
   • Proverbs 23:7
   • Psalm 47:1