She Touched Me

What does it mean to truly touch another person, and what happens when we allow ourselves to be touched by something greater than ourselves? This sermon takes us on a journey through two powerful moments in the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus calms a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee and heals a woman who had suffered for twenty years, simply because she reached out and made contact with his cloak. At the heart of both stories is a profound truth: faith is not the absence of fear or suffering, but the willingness to reach out anyway. The disciples cry out in panic during the storm, and the woman trembles as she falls at Jesus' feet, yet in both cases, the response from Jesus is not condemnation but compassion. We are reminded that God never promised us a life without storms. What he promised is that we are never in the storm alone. As we reflect on these passages, we are invited to ask ourselves where we are holding back, where we are afraid to reach out, and what it might look like to extend our hand toward others the way Jesus extended his toward those who were suffering, outcast, and hopeless.