Josh Brake (00:01)
Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Breakthrough Church Podcast. I just wanna share a few testimonies and just give a few updates. are, man, we're about 13 weeks in. We just had our 13th service on Saturday and it's been a while since I've recorded an episode, but ⁓ man, just so grateful for all that the Lord is doing and has done. just a few ⁓ things. ⁓ This last week,

I went back to UTD and ⁓ we were bringing a sign to campus that said, need healing prayer question mark. And we would post it up and then just stand there and people would come up and say, I need prayer. Or we would just stand there and kind of just ask people if they needed prayer for anything. I was told that I couldn't bring the sign anymore because of the new Senate bill. And it's an expressive activity linked to a non-staff faculty or student organization. So I am not allowed to bring it anymore, but.

We're gonna put it on a t-shirt. ⁓ Because they can't tell us not to wear a t-shirt. ⁓ Anyways, ⁓ so we went on campus this last week without the sign and just walked around and said we were praying for people. And got to pray for a few people and it was really cool one moment. There was a couple of guys that came up that were walking by and I asked if they needed prayer and they said no. And they were kind of hesitant though. They're like, nah, I think we're okay. I think we're okay. And I was like, okay, well, I know you have finals.

I know you want prayer for your finals. And I was kind of like being silly and joking. And they were like, you know what? Okay, yeah, sure. We'll take prayer for finals. I was like, okay, great. So I prayed, asked what finals they needed prayer for, prayed for them. And then just got to talking about their religion. And one of them was Muslim, one of them was Christian, but doesn't go to church anywhere. And I just said, okay, well, hey, we're breakthrough church and we pray for people on campus all the time. ⁓

Etc, etc. And I said, do you guys have any pain in your body that you need prayer for? love to pray for it. And one of them, the guy who's a Christian says, actually, yeah, I had a bunion on my toe. We got it fixed surgically, but there's still pain that I have. And even now I have pain. And I said, okay, how much pain are you in? And he goes, I mean, you know, I feel it. It's not really bad, but I feel it. And I said, okay, well, there's a woman at our church that

She got healed of a feet pain due to bunions as well. And as I'm saying this, she was actually there on campus with us and she walked up and I was like, hey, tell him, tell him about your feet. So she testified and I prayed and said, amen and told him to walk around and his pain was gone. He said, let me be clear. He didn't say my pain is gone. He said that actually feels better. That really feels better. And I was like, amen. Praise the Lord. We talked a little bit more.

And then walked off and as he's walking off, I was like, hey man, how's your foot feeling as you're walking? He's like, no, for real, it feels good. Like that's the Holy Spirit. And I was like, amen, that's the Holy Spirit. And so he walked away and I just was so encouraged by that. And then we get to service on Saturday and going through the book of Mark, the kingdom of heaven is at hand today. And the future rule and reign of Jesus is here in the present, breaking in and bringing healing and wholeness to all parts of creation. And it's such a powerful message.

The book of Mark is so fun to study and teach on. so I taught on Mark chapter five, was Jairus, he comes to Jesus. Jairus is a ruler of the synagogue and he comes to Jesus and says, Jesus, please come, my little daughter is sick and she's at the point of death. And if you lay hands on her, she'll be healed and be made well. And I talked about the faith of Jairus to come to Jesus, that it's a done deal, that if Jesus comes to my house and touches my daughter, she will be healed and she will live. For Jairus, his faith meant,

It's a done deal. If Jesus comes to my house and touches her, it's a done deal. And we talked about how faith is not asking Jesus wishfully. It's not wishful thinking. It's like, no, it's a done deal. And how that's the faith of the kingdom. And then right away, Jesus leaves and honors his faith. He leaves a whole crowd of people that probably have needs, healing needs, deliverance needs, they're poor, homeless. And he leaves all those people because this one man gyrus

comes to him with faith and Jesus honors the faith of this man. And so on his way, a woman meets him with a discharge of blood. She's been having this discharge of blood for 12 years, spent all the money that she's had on physicians, they can't help her. In fact, she's only gotten worse. She's unclean ritually, so she can't be around anybody. So she's isolated physically, she's isolated spiritually, she's sick physically, probably gonna die, that's the implication. And she risks it all out of faith. She says, if I just touch his garments,

I'm gonna be healed. And sure enough, she goes, touches the garments of Jesus, and power flows from his body into her body, and she feels immediately that she's healed of her disease. Jesus also feels something go out of his body. He feels power leave his body into her body, and she's completely healed. And Jesus looks around and says, hey, who touched me? And the disciples are like, Jesus, what do you mean who touched you? There's tons of people thronging about, pushing into you. Everyone's touching you. What do you mean who touched me? And Jesus looks around.

He's looking for the woman with faith that touched his garments. And notice, Jesus doesn't even say, who touched me. He says, who touched my garments? Jesus was so sensitive to the ministry of the Holy Spirit through him that he knew not just who that someone touched him, but how that person touched him. And I think that it touched him in such a way where he was like in awe, I believe. It doesn't say this, but I think Jesus was in awe that somebody thought that just touching his garment could actually result in his healing.

and her healing. And so he looks around and finally she comes to him in fear and trembling, can't believe she's just been healed, a little scared because she's unclean, but not anymore, but she was unclean and she touched a bunch of people to get to Jesus, worried that there's gonna be some sort of consequence for that. She comes to Jesus at his feet and Jesus says, little daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease. And Jesus says, pointing out her faith as the thing that caused the power to flow from his body into her.

And I talked about faith activates the power of Jesus, that faith that he can do for you what you need most, that faith, it actually activates the power of Jesus to flow from him into her body and she's completely healed. And Jesus wants her to know it's your faith that did this. It wasn't a physician, it wasn't money or resources, it was faith that healed you. And he's trying to stoke her faith, stir her faith and show her that,

Faith matters in my kingdom. Like faith is how things get done in my kingdom and go in peace and be healed of your disease. And he says, be healed of your disease, which is so interesting because she already was healed. But I think Jesus is giving her permission to remain healed. And the implication is that she could get sick again. And Jesus is giving her the key to sustain healing, which is faith. How many people have I prayed for that they're healed in the moment, everything is gone, they feel great, only to find the next day or two it comes back.

What's happening there? I'm sure a lot of things are happening there. One of which could be that their faith decreased and their condition came back. Now, why would Jesus operate like that? I think Jesus operates like that to keep us dependent. I don't know, it's just one of the rules of the kingdom is faith activates the power of Jesus and faith sustains you. Faith doesn't just sustain your spirit when things are.

when your life is discouraging or when there's tough times that you're dealing with, faith can sustain you in those moments. Why can't faith also sustain the healing that took place in your body? It's just how it works. And I think in our country and Western world, our rational minds, we don't think about things this way. But if you think about it medically, you take an antibiotic and if you stop the antibiotic before it takes its full course and you take every pill, then that sickness is gonna come back even stronger. Faith is the same way. You gotta finish the prescription.

You have to continue in faith so that your healing remains. ⁓ And so Jesus, he tells her, be healed of your disease, because he knows that faith is not what just got you healed, it's gonna keep you healed. And so as they're having this delay, sure enough, Jairus' daughter dies, and some people from his house come to Jesus, and they're like, hey Jairus, don't bother Jesus anymore, your daughter is dead. And Jesus looks at Jairus and says, hey, don't listen to them.

Do not be afraid, only believe. Jesus is protecting his faith. He's saying the faith that got you here is the faith that's gonna get me to your house to heal your daughter. Do not be afraid. He knows that fear kills faith. Fear kills faith and it leads to doubt and unbelief. And when there's unbelief, the kingdom of God does not break in. In Mark chapter six, at Jesus' hometown, Jesus goes there and they take offense at him because they know him. He's familiar to them.

He's like, this is Jesus, we know his family. He grew up among us. Who does he think he is to be talking this way and to be doing these things? They took offense at him and Jesus could not do a mighty work there except he healed a few because of their unbelief. He marveled at their unbelief. Fear gives way to unbelief, which blocks the kingdom of God from breaking in, which is why Jesus came. So Jesus knows that that's what might happen to Jairus' faith. So he looks at Jairus and says, do not be afraid, only believe. It's like, no Jairus, hey, we're on track.

It's okay, there was a delay, but it's not really a delay. My timing is perfect. Trust me, trust me, trust me, let's go. So he goes, he doesn't let the crowd come with him anymore. It's just Peter, James, John, Jairus, and Jesus. They go to the house and they get there. And the weeping and the mourning and the grieving process has been started. And there's professional whalers there in that culture. You would hire whalers to come and wail at the top of their lungs to grieve and mourn. There's flutists, people playing the flute.

It was all just everything. Everything in this house was speaking of death. That a death has occurred and Jesus goes in the middle of it and says, why all this commotion? Why are you weeping? She's not dead. She's only sleeping. Now who does Jesus think that he is? He is, he's literally standing in the middle of a house where someone has just physically died and everybody started the mourning process and Jesus puts it to a halt and in the face of death says she's not dead. She's only sleeping. Who can do that? Who?

alone can do that. Jesus, because he would later then go conquer death by dying himself. He would be in a room that speaks of death called the grave and that he would breathe again and come out of it victorious and conquering the grave. And so in this moment, Jesus can look at this whole environment that's speaking of death and defy it in his face and say, she's not dead, she's only sleeping. And the people in the house laugh at him. So what does he do? Probably what you would do.

You would do the same thing. I believe you would do what Jesus did. He kicked them out of the house. This is so bold. Jesus kicks the homeowners, the family members, the hired hands. He kicks them out of the house and only lets Peter, James, John, himself, Jairus, and Jairus' wife, the child's mom. Those are the only people that are left. They go into the room where the child is.

And Jesus takes the girl by the hand. So tender, this tender moment, just think about this. Jesus, the King of glory, high King of heaven, puts on flesh, comes, puts his hand on this daughter's hand and says, talita cumi, which means little lamb, get up, or little daughter, arise. It could also be little lamb, it's time to get up. This is a phrase she probably heard after nap time or in the mornings when her parents,

trying to wake her up and Jesus speaks, little lamb it's time to get up. As she gets up the kingdom broke in brought this dead body back to life. In the book of Luke it says that her spirit returned to her.

She came back to life because the one who is the resurrection and the life touched her and spoke a word that defied her physical condition. That is death itself. And that word brought her back to life.

And this is only possible because Jesus would become a lamb. He would become a lamb and he would be slain, accused, tortured, beaten.

Unrecognizable, hanging on a cross, naked, despising the shame.

took death on himself, went to the grave, dead, body stopped breathing, yielded up his spirit, went to the grave. Three days later, the Holy Spirit brought back Jesus Christ from the dead, resurrected him, conquered death, conquered the grave, conquered sin, the root of every physical ailment, every sin, every sickness, the root of it all is death and Satan, hell itself. Jesus went there, conquered it, came back with the keys of Hades in his hands. This is why Jesus can defy

death in this home because he would defy death in his own body. Come on, this is the kingdom, yo. If this doesn't get you fired up, I don't know what will. But how does this all happen? It all happens because there's a few people who have faith. Faith is so important to Jesus. me. Faith is how Jesus gets things done in the world. It's how the kingdom of God breaks in. When Jesus sees somebody with faith, he sees a channel through which heavenly power can flow.

And so when Jesus sees faith, he honors it by leaving the crowd for the one. He stokes it by identifying it in a woman and saying, it's because of your faith you've been made well. And then he guards faith. When fear creeps in, Jesus rebukes it, says, do not be afraid, only believe. And it's by faith this woman was healed of her disease and it's by faith the little girl was risen from the dead. This is the role of faith in the kingdom of God.

It gets things done. It lets the kingdom of God advance. So I preached on this on Saturday. I wanted to give you a recap, but I also hope to build your faith. Because I think the whole point of that story in Mark five is to teach us the role of faith in the kingdom. And without faith, it's impossible to please God, Hebrews 11 tells us. Hebrews 11 also tells us that faith is a substance and it's a conviction of things not seen and things hoped for. Substance meaning.

It's a reality that we stand on. It's not just a wishful thinking. It's substantial. holds weight. And when we enter into faith, we standing on a reality that is outside of this world. It's called the kingdom of heaven. When we have faith, it hits us like a substance, like alcohol. It hits us like a substance, like alcohol, it changes us. Like alcohol, you drink too much of it, it changes you. You begin to think differently, talk differently, walk differently, act differently. When faith hits you like the substance of alcohol, it hits you like a substance, faith does.

And you begin to act different. You begin to talk different, walk different. And it's all in line with the kingdom of heaven that you can't see, but you can hope for it. And when faith hits your heart, the realities of the kingdom become so real to you. You act as if they are right in front of you and true. Which is why this woman can risk making everyone unclean just to touch his garment. Which is why Jairus can risk all of his job.

His favor with the Pharisees and the Roman government, he can risk it all because his daughter is dying and by faith I'm entering into the kingdom of heaven and thinking, I'm knowing and believing and it's a done deal that Jesus, if he touches my daughter, she will be made well. This is faith, it causes you to do crazy things. And the way that we build faith is by looking to Jesus, Hebrews 11, or Hebrews 12, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. ⁓ One of the things Jesus loves to do is author faith in you.

So if you find yourself low in faith, maybe you got something in your life, you're like, man, there's no way this is gonna happen. Just like this woman who was struggling with the discharge of blood for 12 years, 12 years.

Some of y'all have been dealing with things longer than that. And she doesn't give up. She goes to Jesus by faith. And if you're like, man, I've given up and I need fresh faith. You know who does that? Jesus. He loves to breathe fresh faith into your heart to believe the kingdom is coming. The kingdom is here. Maybe you're like Jairus and you're desperate. Maybe it hasn't been going on for very long, but it rapidly, this condition or this situation in your life came on quickly.

And you're like, I need Jesus now and I need faith. And he wants to offer that in you. So we look to him. He went to the cross. In faith, Jesus went to the cross for the joy set before him. Why would he have joy when facing the darkest moment of his life? Because in faith, he knew that his darkest moment would result in resurrection, not just for himself, but for many. Jesus showed great faith when he went to the cross. And now because he's alive, he authors that same faith in you and I. Come on.

Let's have faith. Faith is how Jesus gets things done. And when you're low in faith, he activates it. He authors it. And faith is what activates the power of Jesus in your life. So take heart, persevere, run with endurance the race set before you. If you don't see it today, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, have faith. Jesus's kingdom is here today. It's not just later, it is now. So I just, I preached that on Saturday and then we actually had a time of prayer. I just felt like,

the Lord put on my heart, someone had a right shoulder issue and sure enough, somebody came forward with a bad right shoulder, prayed for him and he got, his symptoms at least seemed to have been completely healed. ⁓ And then another person came forward and it was his other shoulder and I prayed for him and his shoulder got healed as well. And so I just feel like God is doing a healing work and breakthrough. I've shared this over and over with you guys and it's rooted in a theology that the kingdom is here today, it's rooted in the love of the King that is Jesus Christ.

It's rooted in His power. It's not our performance. It's even not really our faith. Our faith matters, but it's His power that actually does the healing. So I just want to be a community of faith, right? Where like faith is so high in the room. Man, Jesus, when He sees faith, He just is attracted to it and His power flows through it. So ⁓ man, be encouraged today. I hope that your faith rises and that you see Jesus as somebody who can actually break in to your current moment and bring healing.

and bring help. And so God bless you. Thanks for tuning in and come visit us on a Saturday night at 5 p.m. if you need healing or you know somebody who needs healing. ⁓ Bring them on a Saturday night. We would love to pray for them. All right, God bless. Have a great week. See ya.