HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Gospel of Mark #25

Pastor Clanton

Woodland Church

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

(Mark 7:28–30, NLT) “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.” “Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.”

(Mark 7:31–37, NLT) “Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns. A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him. Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!” Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly! Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”

1. JESUS DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING.

(Mark 7:33) “Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone.”

2. JESUS SPEAKS THE DEAF MAN’S LANGUAGE.

(Mark 7:33) “He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.”

3. JESUS SIGHS IN PRAYER.

(Mark 7:34) “Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!”

(Isaiah 35:5–6a, NLT) “And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!”

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,

Your loosened tongues employ;

Ye blind, behold your Savior come;

And leap, ye lame, for joy.

(O For a Thousand Tongues, Charles Wesley, verse 4)

GROWTHWORK

1. JESUS IS A LION.

(Revelation 5:5, NLT) “But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

2. JESUS CAN HEAL ANYONE OF ANYTHING.

(1 Thessalonians 5:23, CEV) “I pray that God, who gives peace, will make you completely holy. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept healthy and faultless until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.”

3. JESUS’ MIRACLES ARE NOT COOKIE CUTTERS.

(Mark 7;29-30 NLT)“316Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.”

4. JESUS REMOVED THE BARRIERS.

(Mark 7:24, NLT) “Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret.”

(Mark 7:31, NLT) “Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.”