Let's have word of prayer. Lord, we were just so encouraged by Kurt's sermon, first service, and just how we are challenged, Lord, to look beyond the difficulties in the world that we live in and sometimes neglect to see that you do have a plan, you do have a purpose, and we're so grateful for that, Lord. Pray now as we continue in your word that you would just challenge our hearts, draw us close to you, Lord, and use this, Lord, in a way that would bring glory to your name, we pray in Christ's name, amen. We're going to be in Mark's gospel, chapter 5. Mark chapter 5, and the title of the message is The Power of Compassion, The Power of Compassion. And I was reflecting on the fact that that seems to be very lacking today, wouldn't you say? I mean, I don't Other than maybe those of us that are older, back in the 60s and 70s, there was so much anger, and today it seems to be we're there again. There's just anger and rage all the time, and there's not really much compassion. I mean, even you think this last week in the ISIS situation where the gal was killed, and everybody's angry about it. you know, there is not really a whole lot of compassion. And we all get caught up in that, right? Because we're thinking, well, here's why this happened, or whatever. But still, that's not really compassion, you know? And if we think about it a little bit, we could find ourselves in a similar situation pretty easy. But no one ever had more compassion than the Lord Jesus did. And today's passage is an incredible picture of that, of His compassion. Wherever we go in God's word, it's always good to remember, and Kurt did a really good job of this, we should be asking questions about the background of the passage that we're in. For example, what were the people like who first heard that message? Because there was an original audience, right? And they heard this, and so it's good for us to kind of say, well, where were they at? and what events were taking place as well when this passage transpired. What are some things that we should know that might help us or shed some light on the passage that we're in? And if ever that was true of a passage of Scripture, and it's true of every passage of Scripture, by the way, it's certainly true of our Scripture today. Our passage today, in our passage today, mixed among a huge crowd, we're going to see there's a multitude. There are two people that stand out, and they stand out for very different reasons. One is a man who is at the height of his career. He has power, prestige. He has a position. He has respect. He has money. He has family. He has inside access to the local synagogue, which is a big deal in that period of time. And he can worship God any time he wants to. So he's got this free access. We don't really comprehend completely that because we don't live in that era, but that's the position he found himself in. The other person we're going to look at is a lady who has been brought very low. She's poor. She's been shunned. She's somebody you steer clear of. And we do have a picture of that in the world we live in today, right? There's people that we just kind of steer clear of. I mean, we look the other way. at the light and and we drive on and we just kind of mind our own business and so She's she's untouchable She's unclean and if you touch her you become unclean and not we again We have not really we don't have a concept of that. The the best picture I have was when I was in college in the 70s work was scarce and I ended up getting laid off from the factory I was working at and I ended up working in a nursing home at minimum wage and so which was like $2.50 an hour or something like that so you know put that in perspective but gas was 25 cents a gallon too so but I ended up in this nursing home. I was an aide, no training for it. It was just a big body and they needed help. But there was this one room that the nurse warned me of. She said, now when you go in there, you need to be really careful. This guy has VD. And she said, you wash your hands before you wash your hands afterwards. And I had not experienced that. It was something, if you grew up in the last 30 years, you were told about this. We didn't know anything about this back then. It wasn't even a conversation. But I'll tell you, when I went in there, I was just extremely, extremely careful. There was no rubber gloves or anything, by the way. It's just kind of a weird day and age. So I go in there. So that's that picture of untouchable. Don't touch. And if you touch, you better clean up afterwards. And so here's this lady. She's unfit. She's unwanted. She's often unnoticed. And she wants to be unnoticed. because people know about her, that's just the way that was. So if you had an issue back then, people just knew it. She didn't have leprosy because the leper had to run around saying unclean, unclean, unclean, but really not far from that. And she wants to be a notice because when people notice her, then she's required to stay away or to keep at a distance. So when it comes to entering the local synagogue, She can't the law forbids so and we're gonna see in the past. He just spent 12 years 12 long years that she has not been allowed to be in any type of corporate worship setting Now I don't know about you, but I mean last week for Bonnie and I being with the church family plane It was just like balm to the soul. It's like just There's just a healing presence of being with the body of Christ, you know, singing songs together, hearing the preaching of the word. None of that for her. So things are about ready to change. Now, do you like love stories? Well, this is a love story, but it is not a love story of two people from vastly different worlds that somehow fall in love with each other. Instead, it is a love story about a savior who shows incredible compassion on two people who, when you take away all the highness and all the lowness of their position, both are desperately in need of the compassion of the Lord. And I have to say, and they both know it. I mean, it's one thing to be in need of the Lord and not know it. I mean, that's kind of the world we live in today, right? People need Jesus. They just, they don't know. They don't know that they need the Lord Jesus. So into this desperate situation, can you find yourself in this position? Do you find yourself in the need of the compassion of the Lord Jesus today? These people might represent the people who are your next door neighbors, the people you work with. It may be the checker in the grocery store. I mean, when's the last time you Thought about them, right? The man who worked on your car last week. Maybe it was you working on your car, that's the way it is in my house, right? On one hand, I'm afraid you didn't see them, but on the other hand, if you're looking at someone in prestige, you just look at them from the world standpoint. So I like watching college football, you know, people say, what is your favorite season of the year? It's football, right? It's coming to an end really soon. So Bonnie's just, you know, she's getting ready for that, you know, low time for me. But you see these announcers in their fancy suits. There was a guy yesterday I told Bonnie said, I need a suit like that, you know. They've got some really fancy suits. But that's all we see, right? And sometimes they irritate us. There's a couple of announcers, especially in the NFL, that I just, I don't even like to hear them, you know. but I'm only looking at them from an outward perspective. I don't really know them. I've never visited with them, okay? So let's take a closer look. Mark chapter five, verse 21. Mark 5, 21. So it says, and when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered about him, and he stayed by the seashore. Now, in Mark chapter five, verses one through 20, Jesus has just cast a demon out, a legion of demons out of a man, and he sends them into the herd of pigs. Remember the story? And he sends them in the herd of pigs, and the pigs go running off the cliff into the water, and they die. As far as I know, it's the first reference of swine flu. I'm here all night, okay? When Jesus cast the demons out of this man, remember how the people react? They say, get out of here. We don't want you around. We can't be around you, we understand there is power there, and we don't want that here, and so they ask him to leave. The only person that wants him to stay is the guy that the demons have been cast out of, and not only does he want him to stay, but then when he knows the people are forcing Jesus to leave, he says, well, let me go with you. And Jesus responds and says, no, I want you to stay here and tell everybody what I did for you. As far as I know, he's the first commissioned preacher of the gospel, and he's a Gentile. Go tell your people. I mean, that's how we share the gospel, right? What did Jesus do for me? And so that's what he's asking this man to do. So Jesus must leave, and now he's come back on the other side where he is certainly wanted. They want him. Because everywhere Jesus goes, miracles are happening. So obviously, a very popular person to be around, and we see a great multitude gathers, and Jesus isn't going anywhere, verse 22. And one of the synagogue officials named Jarius came up to him, and seeing him, fell at his feet. And it treated him earnestly, saying, my little daughter is at the point of death, please come, lay your hands on her, that she might get well and live. So this brings us to a costly request. And again, like I said, when you're looking at a passage of scripture, if you can understand the people that were the first hearers, but also what's going on, it does help. So I want you to grasp what's happening. It's not unusual for people to come to Jesus for help. All kinds of people were coming to him for help. So why is this, what I would say, a costly request? Well, sometimes when we read God's Word, we miss an important detail. This passage says this guy was a synagogue official. It's, as I mentioned, a position of power and prestige and wealth. He is the who's who. People know him, and so he's respected by many. A synagogue official, what does it mean? Well, in each synagogue, there was a man or a group of men who were the caretakers of the synagogue, the overseers, the administrators of synagogue life. It's interesting because you think about this. He could have been the guy that stood at the door and said, Nah, you can't come in today. Think about this when we get to the second person, okay? They weren't necessarily the teachers, however. They were the ones that cared for the scrolls and the facility. They organized the synagogue school. They had oversight and responsibility, supervising activities. They appointed the readers. They appointed the people who would pray and the teachers. So it's a position of power. It's a recognized position. And when he comes to the crowd, people know who he is, okay? And they had, so they had a sense of prestige. They were the people, the woman we're gonna look at is an untouchable. He's the guy you just don't touch. You don't deserve to touch. You don't deserve, you're just glad if he even shows up at your place. And so, although appointed by the people he worked for, the religious leadership He answered to them, now putting this in perspective, what did the religious leaders think about the ministry of Jesus? Is hate too strong of a word? They wanted him dead. I think that's hate. And that's the position the Lord finds himself in at this point, and here this guy works for these people. So ask yourself, was it a risky career move to come to Jesus in front of what we're told is a great multitude? People are watching. They're seeing what's going on. In John chapter three, why did Nicodemus come to Jesus at night? At least in part because he wanted to avoid the crowds. It's hard for your position to be with Jesus. But Jairus can't wait for nightfall. His situation is bleak. He's running out of time. Our passage says Jairus comes up and upon seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet. Are you kidding me? This guy doesn't bow before anybody, except for maybe the high religious leaders. And it gives the impression that he had been looking for Jesus. So follow me here. You have a big crowd. You have a big man who takes a big risk. and has big faith, so a big crowd. This is not a good thing for him. People are watching. The wrong people. And he was a big man, which probably isn't going to last long, by the way. In fact, the Gospels, at least two Gospels, mention him by name, which means that he probably became a part of the early church, and he probably lost his position for what he's doing that day. Now what are you willing to give up for the Lord? And he's thinking about his daughter is dying, right? There's a lot of things that I would give up for the life of a child or a grandchild. So when the gospel is put together, he's probably lost his position. So it's a big crowd, a big man. He took a big risk demonstrating a big faith. It's really surprising that he came to Jesus. Even more surprising, when he arrives, he falls at his feet. This clearly is out of character for a synagogue leader. It just didn't happen, especially when he's falling down before the religious establishment that's just watching what's taking place. They are watching, right? Not because they wanted to see what Jairus would do. They're really concerned about what Jesus would do. And they're watching for any mistake that he might make. And so, yes, they see this take place. Matthew tells us when he fell at his feet, he worshiped him. That's just a big no-no. You just don't do that. And so here we have verse 22, Jairus came up, and upon seeing him, he fouled his feet. 23, he entreated him, saying, my daughter is at the point of death. Please come. Lay your hands on her that she may get well and live. There seems no doubt in his mind what Jesus can do. But he is not assuming Jesus will come. It is a request, not a demand. Now, he is in a position where he can command people all the time, and he has commanded people. So this is an awkward spot for him to be pleading with Jesus to come. Mark records Jairus is in a position of begging or pleading for the master to come. Brings us to a compassionate response, verse 24, and he, this is Jesus, went off with him. And a great multitude was following him and pressing in on him. Remember these words, they're important to a great multitude and pressing in on him. So we see Jesus going, no hesitation, he just moves out. He could have been suspicious, right? This could be a setup. Of course, he's God, so he knows it's not. But I would be like, wait a minute. I remember a few weeks ago, you were with that group, you know? But he goes, he just goes. And so he's going and then there's this growing, this growing multitude that's pressing in. And I want you to picture the crowd. They're making a little space for Jarius because they can't touch him, he's a synagogue official. They're not making much room, and Jesus they don't mind bumping into. So this is this picture, and it says they were pressing in on Jesus. Pressing is a word that means to press in from all sides. It could be used for suffocating, you know? I'm reading this story right now about these kids that are crawling into a cave, and it's getting smaller and smaller. I'm suffocating just reading it. there's no way I'm going to be in that, I mean, I hope not, you know. So the suffocating crowd, in this crowd comes a woman, likely her face is veiled in some way, hidden from view because she must not be seen because she has a costly condition. She's not allowed to be there, Mark 525. And a woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was not helped, but rather had grown worse, upon hearing about Jesus, came up in the crowd behind him and touched his cloak, for she thought, if I touch his garment, I shall get well. Well, What's going on here? Did she think she wasn't worthy to touch Jesus? I mean, he's with a synagogue official. Everybody knows what worth is. Is that what she's thinking? I mean, we don't really know what's going on in her mind, but we do know, so we do know, at least we can look back at it and see what the Old Testament said the law was. So she's doing this in stealth because she's not allowed to do it publicly, so let's review just forbidden laws. We don't know exactly what's wrong with her, we don't know what the cause is, we know that it would have caused embarrassment, that there was certainly a danger of death, there were severe physical effects, but we know that there was an Old Testament law about what's happening here. Leviticus, two different parts, chapter 12 and chapter 15, talk about a fact that a woman would be unclean in this condition for seven days after the condition went away. And how has she experienced this? For 12 years, for 12 years. She's not known what it's like. It's not cleared up. She's been unclean. It's really hard for us to grasp the position that she's in. And then we read about her financial loss. At one time, she must have been a woman of some means, because she had paid the doctors to help her, and nobody could. My stepfather-in-law says they're practicing medicine. They're practicing, they haven't figured it out yet. So they're practicing medicine on her, and things get worse. Now she's exhausted all her means, and she has only one option. Actually, that's the best way to come to Christ. when you know he's the only option. And her only option is Jesus, and now she stealthily comes. She must resist the desire to cry out, because this would reveal to the crowd who she is, and from experience, she knows that would spell disaster for her. As soon as they realized who she was, they would have spread out and they would have made her leave. So financial loss, but we see her faithful labors. She heard about Jesus believing about his healing power. She believed it. She violates acceptable boundaries in the Old Testament. She goes among the crowd. She would have been bumping against people, and you just have to realize this, if you bumped into her, You were unclean for seven days. That's just the way the law was. Like it or not, that's what God's standard was. And so ceremonially, anybody around here would become unclean, each one that touched her. Verse 27, we read, after hearing about Jesus, he came up in the crowd behind him and touched his cloak. For she thought if I just touch his garment I shall get well and immediately the flow of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. And that's like Praise the Lord. Just Jesus acted natural, right? So we have then a compassionate confrontation. Now this might be kind of odd for us to consider. Jesus is God, he knows everything that's going on, right? So Mark 5.30 says, immediately Jesus perceiving in himself that the power proceeding from him had gone forth, he turned around in the crowd and said, who touched my garment? That's a strange, that's a strange question. It just, it is strange. I know that you read through scripture, I do too, too fast, but it's a strange request. Had you been there, you would have thought the Lord's words are strange. Who touched my clothes? We see the strangeness in the disciples' response. Verse 33, the disciples said to him, you see the multitude pressing in on you and you say who touched me? What kind of question is that? I'm sure the disciples had a lot of questions of the Lord like that. He was always doing something that they didn't understand. Are you kidding me, Lord? There's hundreds of people pressing in on you. It's suffocating. Hundreds have touched you, and you ask who touched you? This is embarrassing, you know? It's a strange question, yet one person in the crowd knew what Jesus meant. This is the woman, and she comes before him in reverence at this point, verse 32. He looked around to see the woman who had done this. Now, just stop for a second. Is she doing anything wrong? I mean, would you do what she's doing? I would be so there, right? This is my only hope. I would so be in that position, just like I'd be in the position of Jairus going, Lord, please come. With one glance, Jesus singles her out. He confronts her with his penetrating eyes, and we might wonder why. Why not just leave her alone? She's already risked so much to come. Why not just let her quietly walk away being healed? The Lord knows this, he's God, you know? He's not surprised. In fact, he planned this before the foundation of the world that's gonna take place, okay? So why doesn't he leave her alone? Why doesn't he just, Jesus being there could enrage the crowd, right? When they realize who she is, can you imagine? They know her, they know about this lady, they know she's unclean. I hope you can see from my previous point that this is a compassionate confrontation because he's about ready to do for her what would have taken months or even years to take place. He's about ready to give her a wonderful gift. He's healed her already, right? He's going to restore her position and everyone will know it. This is how the Lord works. Verse 33, but the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. You can just see she's an emotional basket case. She's lost it all. She's falling to his knees and she's crying. We don't have a record of their conversation or the implication, but it implies from the Greek word there that she tells him everything. It's a time-consuming conversation amongst the crowd, and everything stops, and Jairus is there going, oh yeah, I've told her to leave the synagogue before, you know, and he's there, and he's concerned about his daughter, right? And so, in reverence, I say in reverence, because in fear and trembling, there's pure reverence. She's aware of what has happened, she's cured. And so we read the second person, the passage, who worships him. Jairus did, and now she is worshiping him. She knows who's before him. Had things happened any other way, the scorn in the crowd would be horrendous. But now they can say nothing because Jesus has come to her rescue. And it'll settle things for people. They, you know, it's just, it's such a gift. Verse 34, and he said to her daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction. Everybody's watching. Everybody knows this is she has been rescued from her inward disease and her outward disgrace. The master has rescued her. And people see it. A synagogue official sees it. He's standing right there. I want to try to illustrate this for you. Years ago, I had a friend who was on a school board who, because of a state mandate decision, had to make some really hard decisions for the school district that he served as a board member with. And I found out later that after he and the board made that decision, I know one man that actually left the community, but after that happened that he grew up in that community. He told me friends that he'd gone all the way through grammar school together, all the way through high school together, through college together, wouldn't talk with him. They shunned him, they would turn the other way when he and his wife would walk in a public setting. I didn't know this was happening. I always feel like being dumb is a real gift of God to me. So we're at a school program and I saw he and his wife sitting there and I went over and greeted them. How are you doing? We're friends. It's just normal for me to go and greet them. It's funny because I never even thought about it until a different conversation that nobody was sitting with them, that nobody was around them. I didn't even think about it. I just went over, they're my friends. I went over there and said hi to them. How are they doing? I had no clue what was happening that night until he and his wife walked into church. a few Sundays later. And they came to church. I was a little bit surprised to see him there. After the service, he told me why he was there, in tears. He told me of the pain that he was going through. He told me of the shunning that he had experienced from people in the community. He said this, nobody in the community would talk with me or have anything to do with me, and then you, the local pastor, comes up and greets me like I was your best friend. I'll never forget that. And he said, and everybody saw it. Did everybody see it? Was everybody watching? I don't know, but that's this position that this woman is in. Jesus, the master, heals her of her inward disease, her outward disgrace, and everybody sees it. Everybody that needs to see it sees it. What a compassionate rescue. Then we read as we go on. It's a costly delay, verse five. While he was speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official saying, your daughter has died, why trouble the teacher anymore? But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, do not be afraid any longer, only believe. And he allowed no one to follow with them except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. In a moment, I want to elaborate on what possibly is happening here, but for now, I just want to grab three quick points, and that is, we hear this. We hear, no need, no fear, no crowd. Jesus hears them say, there's no need to bother the teacher any longer. This is a useless situation. This is hopeless. There's no need, don't trouble him. And then we have this no fear, Jesus, no fear, just faith, right, just faith. Don't be afraid, only believe, he says to Jairus. Don't be afraid, that's easy to say. They've just told him, his daughter has died. And then there's no crowd, the big multitude is told to stay there. to stay away. Even the disciples, except Peter, James, and John, it brings us to a compassionate commotion, verse 38. And they came into the house of the synagogue official, and he beheld a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in, he said to them, why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep. So we see Jesus controlling the crowd. Jewish funerals had three basic elements that would take place in that tradition in that period of time. First one was you would grieve loudly, loudly, you would well. They were, they practiced at it and if you were a family member You would tear your, so we wear our best clothes to funerals, right? They wouldn't do that because whatever clothing you wear, whether you're a family member or not, you had to tear it in the service. That's part of the mourning thing. For a family member had to tear it right over the heart. They had to make a rip right over the heart. Another person that wasn't a family member could just make a rip somewhere near the heart. And then they had to wear that clothing off and on for the next 30 days. And so this is this picture, that's the first thing that happens. And so the second element was there was paid professional mourners. Now years ago, I didn't know what Saturday Night Live was, okay? I had never seen it, never heard it. I'm up late watching TV one night and this commercial comes on. And the guy says, have you ever wanted to be at a funeral and you couldn't make it? Well, we have come up with what we call a mourner's box. And it was a cassette player, that's how long ago it was. It was a cassette player of just somebody wailing and mourning through the cassette. And he said, so for, you know, $25, you buy this and you can have this brought to the funeral instead of you and you've got a mourner's box there. And then the commercial's going on, I'm thinking, this is horrible. So, and then he goes, we think this could change funerals, and pretty soon the next picture is that there's like 10 mourners box mixed in with the people, and the boxes are mourning, and the people are mourning, and he says, I mean, this could revolutionize all services, and pretty soon the pastor's cassette tape or mourning box, and all the audience's mourners box, and there's just a cactus there, casket, sorry, there, maybe there was a, And I'm thinking, this is just like the most ridiculous. Then it says, whatever the Saturday night loves, welcome to Saturday night live. You know, it's like, it was a spoof. There, they had paid mourners. I'm not making it up. They got paid. There were people that were especially good at loudly wailing and mourning, and that was their job. And so that's the second thing. And the third element was the playing of flutes. I don't know why. You know, if you're paying a mourner, why pay for somebody to play the flute? But that happened too. So it's a loud scene. Jesus comes on, comes into, and he says, the funeral is over. It was a compassionate commotion, but notice how they respond. Verse 40 says, and they began laughing at him. Their laughter was a gloating. It was a gloating as if this is a really stupid remark. It's a laughter of one who feels superior. It's a mocking laughter. Have you ever had anybody laugh at you like that in a mocking way? They probably think, we have him now. This guy going around doing miracles, you know, aren't they in for a surprise. So who are these people who said your daughter has died? Why bother the teacher? Well, they're the ones who probably didn't want him to go to the Lord in the first place. He probably said, Jesus is here, he's back, I hear he's back. You know, it's my only hope, I'm going. They're going, you know what, think about your job, Jarius. This could cost you everything, you know? Don't go. And so here these people are, these folks that warned him this could cost you a job, and of course then you have the paid professionals thinking, well, it could cost us our job too, you know? We read, putting them all out, This is Jesus in a magnificent, majestic authority saying, get out. Literally, the Greek word says, back out. Back out. The funeral is over. These words would shock the crowd. Can you imagine? They would be offended. They would offend the mourners who were doing what tradition had dictated. And the Lord explains, and he says, stop it. Get out of here. The child is not dead, but asleep. We read in verse 40, he took the child's father and mother and he laid his, and his own companions and he entered the room where the child was. More literally, it could read, he took them into his arms. Can you see that picture? of Jesus putting his arm around that mother who's just lost her daughter and that dad and just saying, come with me, come with me, compassion. And he says, come with me, do not fear, only believe. And why not? the one who said, I am the resurrection and the life has entered the room. And Jesus was dominating death, really. He redefines death at this point. Something for you to remember as you read other parts of Scripture after this, okay? In that moment, he redefines death as a temporary condition. He uses a metaphor, an analogy of sleep. Sleep is a temporary disconnect, you know. Don't you like to disconnect from the world sometime and just go to sleep? You're insensitive to the environment around you when you're asleep. You don't hear the conversations. You don't participate socially. You're asleep, but it's temporary. And Jesus was saying for this girl, she's just sleeping, it's temporary. This isn't permanent. The followers of Jesus will get what he's saying here, and from now on, they will refer to death as sleep. And as something temporary, as something that only affects us until the resurrection, my mom fell asleep recently. But it's just temporary, because she put her faith and trust in the resurrection and the life. So Jesus both dominates and redefines death. Praise the Lord. Verse 41. And taking the child by the hand, he said to her, Talitha, come, which translated means, little girl, I say to you, arise. And immediately the girl rose up and began to walk, for she was 12 years old. And immediately they were completely astounded and he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and he said That and he said that something should be given to her to eat. I call it hushed hunger No She's hungry. Give her something to eat. We don't know how long she's been sick. Probably needed food and certainly water. First he says, keep this to yourself, possibly for their own protection and privacy. And he says, feed her. She's alive. She has needs. Let her eat. How compassionate the Lord is and how faithful. And just a question, does this same Lord care for you? I mean, does he know about every situation in your life? Everything that's going to happen this week or happen last week? Of course he does. Does he want to help you? Does he want to say to the cruel things happening in your life or the cruel people, back away. Back off. Get out of here. Lamentation says this, just if you're taking notes, chapter three, verses 19 through 26. Lamentation 319, remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I recall, therefore I have hope. The Lord's loving kindness never ceases. We sing it, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I have hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord. Tobias Thomas, I'm sorry, Thomas Obadiah Chisholm was born in 1866. He had a difficult early adult life. His health was fragile. There were periods of time when he was confined to the bed, unable to work. Between bouts of illness, he would push himself to work one or two jobs that he could get just to make ends meet. And he comes to faith in Christ at 27 years of age. And he found great comfort in the scripture, especially Lamentations chapter 2, where I just read that, you know. It was one of his favorite verses, chapter 3, verse 22 and 23. His favorite passage, it was, of the Lord's mercy that were not consumed, because his compassions fell not there, knew every morning. Great is your faithfulness. So he continues to plug through life, difficulty with frailty and all that, but he decides he wants to serve the Lord and he goes on a mission trip. And while he's on a mission trip, he writes to a good friend of his named William Runyon, an unknown musician at the time, and he writes him poems. And Runyon found one of the poems so moving that he decided to compose a score that would go with the lyrics. The hymn's name is Great is Thy Faithfulness, published in 1923. For several years it got very little recognition. It wasn't really a big deal to people. But they probably thought it was some type of new music trying to invade the church, you know, you don't want that to happen. Until it was discovered by a Moody Institute, a Moody Institution professor who loved it so much he asked it to be sung in many of the services and still it didn't really become that popular, but it became the unofficial theme song of Moody Bible Institute. It wasn't until 1945 when George Beverly Shea began to sing Great is Thy Faithfulness at Billy Graham crusades in the evangelistic crusades that the hymn was heard around the world. Thomas, this frail Thomas Chisholm, went on to live 67 more years. He died in 1960 at 94 years of age. But here's the words. Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever will be. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars, and their courses above, join with all nature and manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow blessings all mine with ten thousands beside Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies. I see all I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me. I The same faithful Lord cares about every detail of our lives, right? Your life and my life. and will walk with us, and we can trust in him. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you are such a faithful God, so trustworthy, and we realize, Lord, we've had many who have not been trustworthy in our lives, yet you are, Lord. You're a faithful God, and we wanna be your faithful people. We wanna respond, and Lord, we thank you for these two people that we looked at today from such strange and different situations. Yet your compassion was upon both of them. Lord, you are a compassionate Savior. We thank you for that, Lord, for your love and care for us. And we pray that that would generate us into a compassionate people who love those who know you and those who need to know you, and that we would be your witnesses, we pray in Christ's name, amen.