A Madman
February 3/4, 2024
Cam Aitken, Outreach Pastor

The Story
They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
“What is your name?” he asked him.
“My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.
A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside.
The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. Then they began to beg him to leave their region.
As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:1-20 CSB)

How Bad the Situation is
1. . . . a man with an unclean spirit . . . lived in the tombs . . . often had been bound with shackles and chains . . . always crying out and cutting himself with stones (Mark 5:1-5 CSB).

- As dire as this situation is, when Jesus shows up, no one is too far gone.

- What person, situation, struggle, or spiritual battle do you feel might be too far gone?

2. . . .the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind . . . (Mark 5:14 CSB).
- Jesus has authority, superiority, and power over every spirit, over every situation, and over every struggle. He drives the unclean spirits out and this man is transformed. He had been demon-possessed—past tense! When Jesus speaks in our life, there is a new future, a new present, and old things can be past tense.

- What in your life is in the past tense that Jesus has set you free from?

- What in your life are you asking Jesus to set you free from and to put that thing in the past tense? (For example: "I was filled with bitterness but now..." or "I had been buried under the shame of that sing but now...")

3. Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you (Mark 5:19 CSB).

- Who are your own people that you need to go and share your story with?