DALLAS (BP) — Jesus touched and ministered to the leper barred from human interactions as recorded in Mark 1, Jeff Iorg preached June 8 at First Baptist Church of Garland, Texas, encouraging worshipers to follow the Lord’s example in interactions with people today.

“There’s tremendous pain in our world. The pain is physical, the pain is social or relational, the pain is religious or spiritual,” Iorg, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention  (SBC) Executive Committee, said in the sermon in advance of the 2025 SBC annual meeting. “There’s tremendous pain in our world and all of it is encapsulated in this story of this man called a leper and what he symbolizes for us. And yet he did the unthinkable. The text says he came to Jesus.”

Crowds of the day dispersed to avoid the leper, following the law specified in the book of Leviticus, but Jesus’ compassionate response to the leper teaches the opposite, Iorg said.

“Jesus wanted to break through every barrier in that moment and show every person who was watching that Jesus Christ came to physically touch and care for and minister to hurting people,” Iorg said. “Jesus came to say to all the people backing away, ‘Bring him down here. I’ll touch him because no one is too nasty for Me. No one is too broken for Me. No one is too dirty for Me. No one is too far gone for Me.

‘No one is too despicable. No one is too smelly. No one is beyond the person that I will touch and change in Jesus’ name.’”

Iorg extended the same hope to those worshiping at the 8:45 a.m. traditional service at Garland Baptist Church, where Greg Ammons serves as senior pastor.

“My friends, there is hope for hurting people,” Iorg said. “If you’ve come today and you’re hurting, you’re in physical pain, I have good news for you. Come to Jesus. He’ll either heal you or He’ll help you to live through the pain that’s been allowed in your life.”

Besides physical pain that comes with mortality, Iorg expressed other pain that many Christians deal with today, including the pain of sins committed against them, spouses who wronged them, parents who disappointed them or friends who backstabbed them.

Perhaps someone has experienced religious pain, wondering whether you should attend church, or pondering whether God has given up on you, Iorg said. Perhaps religious legalists caused you to push religion aside.

“Whatever it is today that’s causing the hurt in your life, I’m asking you to do something as bold as this leper and that is to come to Jesus,” Iorg said, “and ask Him to touch your body, touch your soul, touch your relationships, touch your religious convictions, to touch you at the core of your pain and change you.

“And He will do it.”

Iorg encouraged those already active in evangelism to those in pain to draw on Jesus’ compassion for strength to continue when their energy appears depleted.

“Here’s the hard reality. It wears you out, doesn’t it? Anybody else in here ever just get tired? And you wonder, when are we going to get all these marriages healed around here? When are we going to get all these young people taken care of?” he said, continuing with a host of concerns including hunger and illness.

“The only thing that will keep you going is Jesus’s compassion for hurting people,” Iorg said, defining compassion as a thing that was boiling and grinding inside Jesus that compelled and motivated Him to act.

“Brothers and sisters, what’ll keep you going in ministry to hurting people is the compassion of Jesus,” Iorg said, telling worshipers to pray for a compassion “that compels you, propels you, motivates you, stirs up within you. Something that is so energizing in you that it can’t help but come out.”

Iorg thanked the congregation for its partnership with Garden Church in Portland, Oregon., where Iorg’s son Caleb serves as executive pastor.

“I want to thank you for investing in Portland, Oregon,” Iorg said, “and investing in getting the gospel into that very needy city. Thank you, First Baptist Garland, for what you’ve done for Portland, Oregon.”Host pastor Ammons, in remarks before Iorg’s sermon, said 200 members of First Garland participated in 2025 SBC annual meeting Crossover evangelistic events June 7, including 92 sites across Dallas.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.