Miracles | Week 5 | Joshua Paul | Echoes Church · Rewind

Miracles | Week 5 | Joshua Paul | Echoes Church · Rewind

Joshua Paul · May 27, 2025

Big Idea

A desperate faith turns into a disciplined, active faith that presses through the crowd to touch Jesus, not just His blessings.

There is hope for anyone who feels unseen, unclean, or stuck in years of disappointment: Jesus notices and restores those who move their desperation into disciplined, active faith. Being merely near Jesus is not the same as reaching for Him, and He wants to heal us completely and restore our identity, not just fix our circumstances.

Key points

1
1The bleeding woman's twelve years of suffering and isolation set up her desperate faith.
Pastor Joshua walks through Luke 8:43, noting she had spent all she had on physicians and was ceremonially unclean, meaning total isolation from community and family for twelve years. He points out she was desperate (spent all she had) and disappointed (could not be healed by anyone), yet did not let that disappointment harden into bitterness.
2
2Desperation can make you bitter or it can make you bold — the difference is who you're living for.
He contrasts the two possible responses to prolonged disappointment, arguing this woman chose boldness instead of bitterness. He connects this to walking by faith and not by sight, illustrating trust with an everyday example of trusting gravity without fully understanding it.
3
3She activated her faith by touching the fringe of Jesus' robe and was immediately healed.
Working through Luke 8:44, Pastor Joshua notes she approached from behind in humility and fear, not feeling worthy to face Jesus directly, yet she acted anyway. He draws out that faith is active, not passive, and that pursuing Jesus can mean risking rejection from the world to receive restoration from Him.
4
4Jesus asked who touched Him not from ignorance but to highlight that only one person, out of a crowd surrounding Him, reached out with deliberate faith.
From Luke 8:45-46, he explains that many were pressing against Jesus physically (casual contact) but only the woman touched Him deliberately, tying the Greek word dunamis (the root of 'dynamite') to the explosive power that went out from Jesus. He challenges the idea of merely being near God's presence at church versus deliberately reaching for Him.
5
5Being around the presence of God is not the same as pressing into it — like sitting near a fire but still being cold.
Pastor Joshua uses his family's camping trips to illustrate that proximity to fire does not guarantee warmth; you have to draw near to feel its heat. He applies this directly to how attention toward Jesus is different from intention to pursue Him.
6
6When the woman revealed what happened, Jesus called her 'daughter' and restored her identity, not just her body.
Referencing Luke 8:47-48, he highlights that this is the only recorded time in the Gospels Jesus uses the word 'daughter,' showing this was personal restoration into family and community, not merely physical healing. He quotes John Mark Comer's line that 'we either heal together or we don't heal at all' and 'if we don't reveal it, God can't heal it.'
7
7Desperation matched with discipline becomes the doorway to revelation and full restoration.
He closes by naming things people may be hiding — bitterness, judgment, envy, lust, greed — and says these keep people bleeding in isolation and silence. He calls people to move past shame into a bold, disciplined act of faith so Jesus can restore not just their situation but their soul.

Application

Pastor Joshua's charge is to stop hiding in the crowd and take the bold step of desperate, disciplined faith.

Reveal what you've been hiding
Whether it's shame, sin, bitterness, judgment, envy, lust, or greed, stop bleeding in isolation and silence and bring it into the open before God.
Move from desperation to disciplined faith
Don't just feel desperate for breakthrough — take an actual bold step of faith this week rather than staying passive or bitter.
Pursue the Healer, not just healing
Chase after Jesus Himself rather than only what He can give you; come to His feet, not just for His favor.
Raise your hand and let someone stand with you
If you're desperate for God to move in a way you can't fully understand, raise your hand, let someone near you place a hand on your shoulder, and activate your faith together as a community.

Take it into your week

Sign in to ask Rewind about this sermon

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Twelve years. That is how long this woman had bled — twelve years of doctors, dwindling resources, and a body that would not heal. By every law of her day, her condition made her unclean, cut off from worship and from the people she loved. Pastor Joshua Paul drew our attention to a fork in the road that long suffering creates. Desperation can curdle into bitterness, or it can be forged into boldness. What determines which one wins, he said, is who you are living for. This woman could have hardened. Instead she pressed forward, reaching for the hem of Jesus' garment. Notice she did not wait until she felt strong or worthy. She came as she was, depleted and desperate, and that very desperation moved her toward Jesus instead of away from Him. Maybe you are carrying something that has worn you down for far longer than you ever expected. The invitation today is not to pretend the years have not been hard — they have. It is to let that ache point you toward the One who heals, rather than letting it close your heart.

For reflection

What long-standing struggle in my life could become a reason to draw nearer to Jesus rather than a reason to grow bitter?

Pray

Ask God to turn your weariness into a reason to reach for Him.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Most of us know what it's like to wait a long time for something to change. This message looks at a woman in Luke 8 who had waited twelve years — and what she did with that desperation.

Discussion questions

1
In Luke 8, the woman had suffered for twelve years before this moment. What do we learn about her from the way she presses through the crowd toward Jesus?
2
Pastor Paul drew a line between people who were merely around Jesus and the one who deliberately reached out to Him. What might that difference look like for a group of people who gather regularly around Jesus?
3
The sermon described how we can chase what Jesus can do for us rather than Jesus Himself. How would you describe the difference between pursuing healing and pursuing the Healer?
4
When Jesus calls the woman 'daughter,' He names and restores her rather than shaming her. What does this moment reveal about how Jesus treats people who come out of hiding?
5
The message suggested that real healing often requires coming out of hiding and into community. Why might it matter that the woman's story didn't stay private?
6
Pastor Paul described faith as choosing to trust what we cannot fully comprehend, like trusting gravity without testing it each morning. How might that picture of disciplined faith change the way we draw near to God?
Related passage

Pray together

Ask God for the boldness to draw near to Him with intention rather than just proximity, trusting Him not only to meet our circumstances but to restore our souls.

Sign in to save this message.

Topics

Activated Faith Coming Out of Hiding Healing and Restoration Identity in Christ Pursuing Jesus

Powered by Rewind · make your church's Rewind →