Reach Out And Touch Lesson for Children

Object:	A bag of objects for the children to identify by touch. Examples: A rock, a baseball, a balloon, a pencil.
Scripture:	When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Mark 5:27-29 (NIV)
As you may know, we have five senses. The five senses are sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Each of these senses is very important to us. This morning we are going to test our sense of touch and discover the power that is ours in the sense of touch.  I have a bag full of different objects. I will ask one of you to close your eyes and I will hand you one of the objects. Without looking, you must to tell me what the object is just by touching it.  (After several minutes of allowing the children to identify various objects by touch, continue with the sermon.) The sense of touch is very important, isn't it? We can often tell what an object is by its size, shape, and texture -- all of which can be learned by using our sense of touch. This morning I want to tell you about a woman who experienced the power of Jesus -- just by touching him. One day Jesus was walking through a large crowd of people. The people were crowding around so that he could hardly move. There was a woman in the crowd who had a very bad sore that had been bleeding for twelve years. She had been to many doctors, but none had been able to help her. She had heard about Jesus and she believed that he could heal her, but there were so many who were people crowded around him that it seemed hopeless. The woman thought to herself, "If I could just get close enough to touch his robe, I would be healed." So she pushed through the crowd and reached out and touched Jesus' clothes. Her bleeding stopped immediately and her suffering was ended. The Bible tells us that as soon as the woman touched him, Jesus felt the power go out of him. He turned to the woman and said, "Your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free from your suffering." Won't you reach out to Jesus today? If you will, you too can feel his power in your life today. Dear Jesus, we long to reach out and touch you and to feel your power in our life. Amen.