Thesis
Drawing from Matthew 8:1–4, Pastor Tyshone Roland shows that the leper's encounter with Jesus illustrates a truth every believer needs: God is not merely able to intervene in our circumstances, He is also willing. Jesus came down from the mountain — He initiates, He pursues, He touches the untouchable. Whatever diagnosis, debt, addiction, or shame a person carries, the same Jesus who healed the leper is ready to respond the moment someone brings their need to Him in faith.
Key points
- 1
Jesus coming down the mountain shows He meets people right where they are — no one is too far for Him to reach.
- 2
The leper's desperation broke through every social and religious barrier to get to Jesus, modeling the kind of bold, don't-care-what-people-think faith that moves toward Christ.
- 3
The leper asked 'if You are willing' — not 'if You are able' — because the deeper fear is often whether God would choose to act for us personally.
- 4
Jesus immediately healed the leper, proving He is both willing and able, and that nothing is too hard for God.
- 5
Prayer and fasting are practical disciplines that increase our awareness of God's movement and draw us closer to Him.
- 6
God can do exceedingly, abundantly above anything we could ask, think, or imagine — our job is to bring the need to Him honestly.
Outline
Introduction: Willing and Able
Pastor Tyshone introduces the central tension: a God who is only willing but not able is powerless, and a God who is only able but not willing is indifferent. Jesus is uniquely both willing and able.
Context: The Sermon on the Mount
Before the leper encounter in Matthew 8, Jesus had just finished the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), teaching on prayer, fasting, and provision, leaving the crowds astonished at His authority.
Jesus Comes Down the Mountain
Jesus descending the mountain is a picture of God always coming down to us — into our depression, anxiety, sorrow, and success — rather than waiting for us to climb up to Him.
The Leper's Desperate Pursuit
The leper broke Levitical law and social shame to push through the crowd, announcing 'unclean' until he stood before Jesus — a model of faith that stops caring what people think when it has heard what the Lord says.
Are You Willing? — The Heart of the Ask
The leper asks not 'can You?' but 'will You?' — exposing the deeper fear that God might not choose to act for someone like him. Pastor Tyshone unpacks why we doubt God's willingness for our own lives even while declaring His faithfulness for others.
Personal Testimony: A Mother's Healing
Pastor Tyshone shares how his mother, unable to walk for an expected six-to-eight weeks after surgery, was healed the same night at a church service — cementing his conviction that miracles are real and nothing is too hard for God.
Call to Bring Your Need to God
The sermon closes by urging every person to stop thinking about their need and start talking to God about it — honestly, specifically, and with expectation — because He is willing and able to respond.
Memorable moments
sometimes when you've been in their depression and you've been waiting for so long, you just don't care what people say
you're either gonna live your life controlled by the law or you're gonna live your life controlled by the Lord
nothing is too hard for God. If you just wait and you worship and you believe him at his word, you will see miracles happen in your life
stop thinking about it and talk to him about it
Paraphrase
If you went to God and said, God, are you willing to help me? I promise you, God will extend his hands so quick and help people.
He's willing and he's able. Don't get to the place in your life where you don't even take your needs to God because you don't believe he will do it. Some
Application
Pastor Tyshone's challenge is straightforward: whatever you have been carrying alone — a diagnosis, a financial burden, a broken relationship, a secret addiction, a nagging shame — stop thinking about it and bring it to Jesus in honest, specific prayer. The leper did not wait for the perfect moment or the perfect words; he pressed through every barrier and simply asked, 'If You are willing.' That is all the faith required. Practically, Pastor Tyshone encourages building a rhythm of prayer and fasting so that your awareness of God's movement grows. Trust that He who came down the mountain to touch one untouchable man is the same Jesus who is willing and able to act in your life — this week, not just someday.
