JESUS HEALS A MAN WITH LEPROSY - Mark 1:40-42

JESUS HEALS A MAN WITH LEPROSY

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Mark 1:40-42, "A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, 'If you are willing, you can make me clean.' Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man, 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured." (NIV)

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We continued our teaching through the gospel of Mark last night at FacePlant SkateChurch. We have been doing our best to come up with relevant ways to teach the skaters and spectators who come out every week about the life of Jesus. Last week, Curtis brought in a weed-wacker and a gas can to illustrate how prayer is like fuel; without fuel the weed-wacker doesn't work. Similarly, without prayer, our life as Christ-followers just won't be productive. We are sticking with small group questions for the older teens, but are doing more object lessons with the younger youth during our small groups in order to continue to drive the teaching home with them.

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This week, I went into detail by dramatizing what a person with leprosy had to go through in Jesus' time. According to Leviticus 13:45, lepers by law were forced to tear their clothes, have absolutely no human contact, hold their hands over their mouths and scream, "tame (taw-may)!tame (taw-may)! which in the Hebrew language means, "unclean! unclean!" What a horrible existence to be ostricized from their community, as well as being ritually unclean and not being able to worship God in the temple. Leprosy is like sin. Sin makes us feel distanced from God and causes rifts in our relationships with others as well. Yet this man with leprosy begs for Jesus to heal him. Then, after possibly years of not ever feeling a human touch, Jesus reaches out His hand and touches the leper. Unheard of in that day! Right after this Jesus says the word and the man was physically healed of the leprosy. But look at the emotional healing that must have taken place when Jesus, moved with compassion and breaking the law, touches the man.

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God cares so much about every detail of our lives. His healing is holistic; desiring to heal us in body, soul and spirit. I ended with another story and eight young people raised their hands asking for prayer; some to receive Christ for the first time and others to rededicate their lives to Christ. It was a wondeful night at SkateChurch tonight. We had great discussion in our small group as well. James, Chad and Ricky took the younger skaters and had a giant group game to further illustrate the truth of what was taught in Mark 1:40-45. God continues to shine His face on us at FacePlant Ministries, giving us more and more wisdom in how to reach these young skaters in culturally relevant ways with the gospel of Christ. We continue to see changed lives week in and week out and thank God for this.

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Christian Jung

FP SkateChurch Pastor