Four Friends, a Roof, and the Forgiveness We Need

[Music] I wonder in your life at what length you would go to get what you want at what length would you go to get what you want for a family member for a friend maybe a child even for yourself what would you be willing to do to get what you want it was just over Christmas break

our family went to Disneyland with half of America and it was the one time a year that it just poured in Orange County and I heard from multiple sources that when it rains the lines are shorter at Disneyland let me just break that myth right now it's a lie we stood in line in the pouring rain with half the world waiting for hours to get on to Peter Pan I don't know what in the world we're thinking well what would you do to to see your favorite band in concert to see your favorite sports team just just this week if you turned on the television there was the NFL draft and tens of

thousands hundreds of thousands of people pressed in just to hear about a draft of college students who would be drafted into the NFL people were willing to go into Groves into huge groups just to to find out if their team got a good player what would you do to get what you want now for some of us we want something but there's an obstacle ahead of us some of us blame that obstacle for not getting what we want some of us don't know how to get what we want because of these obstacles there's the old adage that goes like this where there's a will there's a way now I wonder if that's true can you just will something can you just will it deep in your heart that I I just I'm going to get that if I try hard enough I'm going

to I'm going to get that and what we find in The Book of Mark we're on a journey together through the Book of Mark one of four books that share the life and account of Jesus time here on Earth and Mark lets us know that Jesus was no ordinary man he did not live a normal life he lived a supernatural extraordinary life demonstrating the power the author authority of God and what God desires for our lives that he wants his kingdom to come in our lives right here on Earth that you wouldn't wait to be in heaven to start to experience Heaven that God doesn't want you to wait for someday to experience more of him so

in The Book of Mark we want to take this seriously and look at the life of Jesus and say how can I be more like Jesus I don't want to just learn about Jesus this is not a history lesson this is a life lesson I want to learn from the greatest leader of all time I want to learn from the god that became man so that I can know him personally last week we introduced Mark for the first time and we found three things at the beginning of this story of the life and account of Jesus number one is Jesus is the way the only way to experience the fullness of God as John the Baptist came to prepare the way he points us to the way Jesus Christ that if you want a lifegiving relationship with God there's one way the enemy has lied to this world

and has told this world there are multiple ways there are many religions you you choose your God and and yet we read in the scriptures Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life there's no other way to come to the Father the one true God but by Me Jesus declared he reveals himself he shows himself so that we all are without excuse that you too can have that life-giving relationship with God through the person Jesus Christ and when you do you trust in Jesus you get God himself the power of the Holy Spirit now you obey the Lord and we talked about water baptism this is one step of obedience it's a symbolism of what Jesus did he died he was buried and he rose from the grave and so it is in your life that you're going to honor God and step into obedience

and when you do trust in the Lord it doesn't mean you won't go into the Wilderness Jesus was immediately LED Into the Wilderness and we will all have Wilderness experiences for we're not in the promised land we're on a journey to get there one day and in the wilderness Satan will tempt us there will be wild animals that seek to devour us but God is with you he is faithful he will never leave you he will never forsake you he will minister to you even in your your darkest hour and so that sets the stage if you continue to read in The Book of Mark Jesus begins his ministry he begins to show the world who he is and what he's able to do Mark records that Jesus casts out an unclean Spirit from a man who was oppressed he

was held back and Jesus demonstrates his authority and casts out the demon and the man is now set free in Mark chapter 1 verse 28 we read and at once his Fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee we're only in chapter one Jesus has just gotten started and his Fame has already spread so much so that we read just a few verses later in verse 32 they brought to him all everyone shout all all who were sick or oppressed by demons they didn't bring a few they didn't bring some if you knew someone you loved could be made well at

what length would you go to bring them to Jesus they brought him all there was a hope for for their children there was a hope for their brothers there was a hope for their spouse there was a hope for their parent that whatever was wrong Jesus is the one that can make it right and Jesus shows his great love for his people he demonstrates his love for the whole world world when we read in Mark 1:34 and he healed many who were sick with various diseases to cast and cast out demons and he would not permit the demons to speak because the Devil is a Lie he's a liar it's his native tongue we live in a spiritual world and demons are speaking they're trying to lie to you right now they're trying to lie to our nation

they're trying to lie to this world and in the authority of Jesus you stop those lies and when you know Jesus you can speak because they know him as well you have all authority and victory in Jesus name when you surrender to Jesus you s you surrender to the Supreme Almighty Jesus is not equal with the Devil he's greater than the Devil he's defeated the devil and Jesus shows us how we should live in our lives you're not meant to live a normal life you're meant to walk in authority and as those around the region heard about Jesus his Fame continued to spread and people were willing to travel to see Jesus to to meet with him and and his ministry was all about crowds at this

point and in our world we we equate crowds to success Mark is going to show us that's not what Jesus sees crowds do not necessarily mean success because sometimes crowds just want more that people will do some really dumb things in crowds things they would never do on their own they'll dress up they'll dance they'll scream they wouldn't do it on their own they they do it in crowds they wouldn't protest on their own but they'll do it with crowds and as the crowds gather around Jesus he knows very well that many of them just want more miracles

and miracles are not the end all fact they're not even the means because if you experience a miracle you will need another one and another one what you should really want is The Miracle Worker and what he has to give you that he knows what's best for you how many you know that you can make great plans but God's plans are much greater and sometimes I don't even like God's plans because they don't align with my plans but then I look back and say he's a good father he's a good God he never stops being God and in my arrogance my ignorance my youthfulness and all those things I could look back and say I need to trust Jesus I need to look to Jesus and Mark's

going to transition right away in Chapter 2 starting with verse one he's going to move a message through chapter 2 into verse three he's going to let us know that Jesus life was not with without its challenges and its conflict aren't you glad that Jesus went through the same things we go through you follow the lord I'll tell you you will have conflict and sometimes it will come from the place you least expect for what Mark is going to point out that most of the controversy that surrounds Jesus comes from the religious it's not the pagans it's not the marginalized eyes those who were hurting who were sick it's the religious that don't see Jesus fitting into the box that they thought he should fit

into so Mark is going to in his brevity bring us the beauty of how Jesus is going to show us who he is that we too would trust in him turn to him so as we go into Mark chap 2 verse 1 we we we have that in mind let's pray and ask God to speak to us Lord would you allow your word to speak into our hearts today that what you did in this text you still do today so I ask right now in the name of Jesus Christ Yeshua hamashiach my Lord my savior the anointed one of God would your word go so deep into our hearts that we believe your promises we act upon it and the world will never be the same because of who you are through your

people I pray in Jesus mighty name amen amen Mark 2 verse 1 and when he this is Jesus returned to capernium after some days it was reported that he was at home and many were told in verse two were gathered together so that there was no more room not even at the door so Jesus was preaching the word to them Jesus is in capernium one of his favorite places to show who he is it's almost like it was his headquarters you know where there's a headquarters you this this is where the work gets done capernium was that sort of place where

he was he was willing to do when you invite Jesus into your life it's incredible what he would do but if you reject him if you think you don't need him he'll move on to the next place capernium was a place that they wanted more of Jesus and if you want more of Jesus he'll give you more of him as John says in chapter one he gives Grace upon Grace that's why a journey we'd like to State over and over it's all about Jesus this isn't about us this isn't about what we want we we want what Jesus wants and here he is in cernium and he's at a home it it says in verse one whose home is this it's more than likely the home of Andrew and Peter two of the 12 disciples in chapter 1 we read that Andrew and Simon Peter's mother was

sick she she had a fever some say it was covid and Jesus comes into her house he's not afraid he doesn't isolate he doesn't quarantine instead he comes in and with authority he removes the fever the mother is made well this this seems to be the home that Jesus comes back to he he loves Peter not because Peter doesn't fail he just loves Peter Peter seems to take Jesus at his word Jesus doesn't need you to be successful he needs you to take him at his word and he he seems to be at the home of Andrew and Peter and here he is this this house is so packed you can't even get in the door literally people are lining up outside this is like the line at the new

Star Wars ride you really want to go on that you're going to wait in line for a long time there are some things that just require more time to to wait because everyone else wants a piece of this and everyone wanted a piece of Jesus more than likely they really wanted to experience the miracles of Jesus and Jesus was here in capernium my daughter recently went to Israel and she got to go to capernium how cool is it that you can go to the same place where Jesus walked you can go to the same city that we're reading about here she took some pictures and she she put them up on Instagram I got one of those pictures this is this is actually a picture that my daughter took in capernium and this this is what they say today do we have that picture we got this picture they

call it the town of Jesus the town of Jesus the town of Jesus come on what do you want Ben to be famous for I pray that we would put up a sign and boast we are the town of Jesus this is the place he does Miracles this is the place he visits this is the place where the house gets so full we should welcome lines if people can't find parking they're willing to park down the street they're willing to walk here they're willing to do whatever it takes we're willing to wait in line and say it's worth the wait I don't know what you're going to experience but it's worth the waight you don't call it the town of Jesus unless Jesus does something great Jesus often wasn't welcome even in his own Hometown you show up in Nazareth they're like oh aren't you just the carpenter

son we're not sure we want to celebrate you maybe we want to push you off a cliff that that's what happened in Jesus when you think you have Jesus figured out you want to get rid of him but not in capernium there there's a huge crowd and what does Jesus do with this huge crowd he preaches the word of God preaching the word of God hallelujah that's what Jesus came to do he didn't just come to do Miracles he came to preach he came to demonstrate the Gospel Power that God is real that his word will last forever as Isaiah says oh the grass withers the flowers are going to fail but the word of God will endure forever these

scriptures are described as living and active no other book is alive but the word of of God it is sharper than a two-edged sword the word of God will go into places in your heart where no one else can go and Jesus is preaching his very word he's demonstrating who he is it's in this place that while he's preaching Mark tells us in verse three and they came bringing to him a paralytic so so many came for miracles but what do Jesus doing he's preaching they brought a paralytic someone paralyzed carried by four men and when they could not get near Jesus because of the crowd they removed the roof above him and when they had made an opening they

let down the bed on which the paralytic lay this story is found in both Matthew and Luke as well as Mark so if you want to read this account in its entirety you want to read all three accounts and see the tremendous details that there are five guys not the burger company but there are five guys that have come to experience Jesus what did you come expecting today what are you expecting in your life and when they came there was an obstacle the obstacle was actually the crowd that came around Jesus

the people around you might look like an obstacle to you it might look like God's working in everyone else's life but your own and what looks like an obstacle might actually be the very opportunity to experience God in a whole new way these guys come and they they can't even get in the door they can't even see Jesus inside the house they came expecting a miracle but maybe they would have said what so many people would say today maybe it's just not God's will we prayed we heard stories but we showed up and God didn't make a way many of us in our own Hearts have come to that kind of

conclusion maybe God hasn't done it because it's not his will that they could have complained but Mark doesn't tell us they complained how many you complain when you see crowds it's okay to get relentlessly real at church not many of us like it when there's crowds we want to be all alone We complain about traffic but do you know you're a part of the traffic you should complain that you decided to get in your car that day too we like to complain about all sorts of things but but these guys they they don't complain but instead we're told that they made away this text accurately

reflects the Early Middle Eastern home the Galilean homes in this region they would have been small many of them would have just been one room they had flat roofs the roof would be flat and they would put pillars over the roof they would cover it with sticks and then they would they would take mud and it would composite the the roof and if you really had money you would put TI on top of that for the rain and because it was flat what they would do is they would utilize the space and they would have outside stairwells not inside but on the outside it's on this day that these four friends take the paralytic and instead of going home they get up on the

rooftop they can't see Jesus maybe they can hear him but they decide to do something that's improbable it doesn't seem to make any sense but they begin to unpeel the tiles they be they begin to take rocks and scrape into the dirt they get their fingernails and they they begin to pull out pieces of the roof as they made a hole they can see Jesus when you have other people in your life you can come up with all kinds of crazy ideas I don't know what this guy's name was on the mat he's not named we don't know his age we do not even know why he's

paralyzed he could have been paralyzed from birth but maybe he was paralyzed trying to do wheelies on his donkey or his camel or something sometimes men do stupid stuff we don't know the exact reason that he's in this position or this place but we know that there's four guys that are willing to do whatever it takes to get to Jesus and sometimes when you can't see a way you need someone else to speak into your life and say there there's got to be another way maybe we can't get through the front door but we can come up with the door maybe it's not through the natural way maybe we need to go to a higher place maybe that door that you think is closed is not the door that God wants you to go through Maybe God wants you to

actually make a door he wants you to see the creativity of the creator that the way God works is not through the natural eye but he's so creative that sometimes he makes you come up with a way if you want to stand apart and follow the ways of Jesus you've got to know he's unorthodox he's not going to work in your life the way that he works in someone else's life get ready for God to do the extraordinary and you start following him you're going to start seeing the creativity of God he's going to make a way where there was no way John Maxwell writes of this text leaders who practice the law of Victory don't allow obstacles to stop their progress they determin to find a way to reach their goal and to help their team

win fulfilling a dream often does not come easier within the realm of the conventional in this case practicing the law of Victory forced the men to dare to do the difficult the unorthodox and even the costly thing I mean does homeowners insurance even cost some cover something like this I mean can you just imagine what it would have been like to to be in the presence to be in that room and and to start to look up to see pieces falling down on the ground this just doesn't make sense but I just want to ask you the question would you do whatever it takes for your friend for your family member for someone in your church whether there's

an obstacle would you be willing to do whatever it takes would you be willing to go to places that no one else is going would you be willing to do things that no one else is doing would you be willing to take risks would you be willing to work with other people would you be willing to work hard would you be willing to have faith that Jesus actually is able to do what you came here to meet with him to do because the determination of these four men shows us that they're willing to do do whatever it takes and sometimes when God wants to work through your life you've got to be willing to do whatever it takes Jesus used to love to teach him what's called Parables they're fictional stories and he would tell us in these Parables a a bold truth and he would use

these hyperboles and these exaggerations to get our imagination stimulated that when there's something not right you keep going to God because he's the one to make it right like a widow that goes to a mean judge and she just is persistent to the point that the judge who is angry and hates God gives her what she asked for because she's persistent are you being persistant Jesus tells us to invest to not waste your life well God has given you your life the air that you have are you are you willing to invest that to say God do with my life what I can't do on my own and Jesus says in these Parables that it will be multiplied way more than you could do on your own Jesus says that the word of God is like a seed and if that seed would just

get into the right soil it will do exponentially more than you could ever do on your own 160 30 times more than you could do on your own so the question is how badly do you want to get to Jesus or or can you come up with some some excuse cuz I'm I'm here to tell you today if you're looking for an excuse you will find a lot of them there some of you say I grew up in the church I was hurt by the church I don't like the church that's what's going to stop you from getting to Jesus the religious folk some I'm so busy my kids are busy got Sports everywhere I work everywhere I'm so busy I don't know I don't have a whole lot of time for Jesus you're going to spend eternity with him yeah yeah if you have to cut

something out to get to Jesus do it your sports aren't going to get your kids successful they got a point half a percent chance even to be a professional but they got 100% chance of following Jesus if you put him a priority but you've got to be willing to say we're going to go to places no one else goes I know the crowd's down here but we're going up there we're going to get dirty I don't does make sense but he's there and we're going to believe God's best in this case it says in verse four they removed the roof above him maybe it's time for some of us to remove the roof it's time for us to make an opening sometimes you're not going to go through the door you thought you would go through you've been praying the wrong

prayer God open the door God open the door God open the door and God's like I want you to make the door I want you to be a part of the work he's inviting you into the miracle he's inviting in you to get your hands dirty so that you could see that he's not just going to make an easy way you got to appreciate this you got to go through something and because of the remarkable faith of these four friends we don't even know if they're family they friends or who these guys are but they bring someone broken they bring somebody trapped they bring someone who's got a physical limitation they bring somebody who actually we learn from this text is spiritually limited do you know that's why the church is so important the one Level Playing Field every single one of us have I don't care what your age is what your economic status is what

your career status is the one thing we all have in common is a spiritual need every single one of us if you're a lawyer a doctor or you're you're houseless today we all have a need and this is what Jesus does in verse 5 and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic son your sins are forgiven so they they lower this man down to Jesus with ropes that's dangerous don't you tell OSHA about this one that just doesn't meet the work requirement needs they didn't have hard hats on they lower the friend to Jesus he looks up at

them and says to him they counted on Jesus doing something that they couldn't do on their own you ever gone rock climbing when you go rock climbing it's easy to Bay somebody down but you're not getting them up are you tracking with me they could bring him down but there's no way these four guys are bringing him up we're taking him down to you Jesus but we're not able to bring him back up to us and Mark notes when he saw their faith say their faith their faith not

his faith their faith when he looked into their eyes when he saw the sweat on their brow when he saw the dirt under their fingernails when he looked through that hole and he saw these four I'm just looking for four today four people that believe The Impossible when he saw their faith he said your sins are forgiven their faith your sins are forgiven be easy to read this text and say Jesus Jesus that's not why we brought him that's not the point of why we brought him down to you Jesus did you miss it we want you to do what you've

been doing to everyone else we're expecting more but Jesus knew that faith is something so much more than the physical it is supernaturally spiritual he saw their faith now how can you see Faith according to the book of Hebrews chapter 11 faith is is conviction of that which is not seen in the King James is evidence of that which is not seen so faith is the Assurance of things hoped for you don't have it yet but you have faith in the god that's able to do it that's faith faith is the Assurance of things hoped for the conviction of Things Not Seen now how could he see their faith I'll tell you how because faith will all always be followed by action always you want to know if someone has

Faith they live like it I don't know about you but I'm tired of Christians not looking like Christians I grew up in an unchurched home and my unchurched family acts like better Christians that Christians act like someone should see your faith and and and see who you believe in don't you be looking like the Universalist or the Jehovah's Witness you look like Jesus they should see your faith the half brother of Jesus James he was a James was he's a hard preacher I'll tell you why James is a hard preacher he can preach because he put it into practice James didn't believe that Jesus was the Son of God he had to experience it the gospels tell us in the The Living

accounts of Jesus his own family thought he was crazy I don't know if your family thinks you're crazy but Jesus own family they they try to settle him down hey Jesus maybe you shouldn't talk like this maybe you shouldn't go there and do that but James when he accepted Jesus for who he is his life was changed and he gets bold and this is what he says James 3:17 so Faith by itself if it does not have works is dead so so if you claim to follow Jesus and you don't do something about it it's dead and Jesus saw their faith it was alive they did something they were willing to go they were willing to get dirty when we have faith your actions should back it up it's not saying that your Deeds your Works what you do will save you it's if you're saved you'll do

something about it and as a result Jesus said says out loud for every single person around them to hear remember huge crowds son I just stop right there that that sermon will preach son do you know your identity in Jesus Christ today you're a child of God you're a daughter of God you're a Son of God that should shape you that should change you that should that alone should just change your whole world I'm a Child of God I'm not a slave to sin I'm not going to claim anything other than the reality that my identity is shaped by who Jesus says I am and I'm a son oh he doesn't stop there gets

better the best short sermon Jesus ever preached your sins are forgiven wait wait forgiveness we came here so that he could walk that's that's what his greatest need is I don't know about you but one thing I've learned in my life is I often have my priorities messed up with God I think I know what my greatest need is but he really knows what my greatest need is and sometimes when I pray sometimes even in my actions I'll do what I think is best not realizing that God has even even better plan do you know what your greatest need is today it may not be what you think I hear people all the time say if I just was out of this financial crisis my life

would be so much better if I was just out of this if I didn't have this debt others would say if I didn't have this addiction if I wasn't so depressed I'm just stuck in this depression I'm stuck in this relationship what do you think is your greatest need because if you think that's what's stopping you you actually are wrong depression isn't your greatest need to be set free from your addiction is is not your greatest your physical disability is not your greatest need to be set free from your greatest need is a savior a savior of your sins and it's in this place that we are presented with the crisis of the generation we live in the world does not

think they need a savior of their sins so if you don't know who Jesus is you won't know how important it is that he says your sins are forgiven and we live in a generation that doesn't agree that we're even in sin so they don't know that we need a savior called Jesus Christ and this is the LIE of Our Generation that Jesus is not that important but unless you understand the severity of sin you will never understand the importance of the Savior Jesus Christ you see sin separates you from God and if you don't know you have sin you are already separated from God for the Bible tells us that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God every person has sin there's different severities of sin but we all have sin so we are all separated from God Jesus stepped sin removes that separation and calls you a son and a

daughter so unless you understand the severity of your sin you will never understand the seriousness of needing a savior and so instead of wanting forgiveness from Jesus you'll want some other Miracle but I'll tell you if Jesus gives you that Miracle you're going to need another one so he heals you of your sickness you will get sick again he heals you of your ailment you you you will have another ailment he heals you of this relationship well I tell you the next relationship will have problems as well you got to understand your sin David knew this well in Psalm 103 he said bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all

his benefits and he says this here's why I bless the Lord because he's the one who forgives all your iniquity who heals all your diseases who redeems your life from the pit who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles David's describing what you get in Jesus Christ you should want to bless him because of what he done for you he's forgiven you your sins he's given you hope HED is the Hebrew word God's steadfast love it's his it's his kindness that leads you to repent to do something different in your

life my friends you need to hear out of this text clearly what Mark is trying to point out to us forgiveness is our greatest need because if you die without forgiveness you are eternally separated from God so Jesus demonstrates for us what was true then is still true now the greatest need in our lives is forgiveness and when you understand your sin you understand the greatness of the Forgiveness found in Jesus that your bitterness your anger your rage is gone in Jesus Christ your covetousness to want more thinking more will satisfy you is gone in Jesus Christ your jealousy to want what everyone else has thinking you would be satisfied with someone else with a different circumstance with a

different relationship with different parents that jealousy is gone in Jesus Christ when you start to understand Jesus you want his heart not your heart because you realize that what's in me will not satisfy science proves this when you're forgiven you have life Jesus told us you can't bear the burden of stress bring to him he'll give you rest you can't carry it on your own you can't the only way to get joy the only way to get peace the only way to get true love is actually found in Jesus and here's what happens and I'll try to go through this quickly verse 6 and 7 now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts why does this man speak like that

he's blaspheming who can forgive sins but God Alone the these are the religious leaders those the ones that would teach the scriptures I just want to warn you about this real it because we've seen this particularly over the last two years I I don't mean to be a critic but I I do want to challenge our hearts when it comes to the authority of Jesus sometimes we look at other people who are smarter than we are who have more credentials than we have and they have a higher level of authority than we have and we just take them at their word because they're in a position of authority this could be politicians it it could be people in the medical field doctors and in this case it's religious Authority and so what will happen is someone who has higher credential in you you actually can just assume they are right because they have what you don't have but when you have Jesus Christ you have God himself the Holy Spirit and he

will give you a discernment that cannot come with credentials so just because someone says I don't know about the ways of Jesus he's blaspheming it doesn't mean they're right are you tracking with me you need the discernment of God more than the discernment of man many intelligent men have made wrong decisions God is good and never fails he's perfect his ways are always right and this kind of logic that these religious leaders had is a right logic God Alone is the One That Forgives because God Alone is perfect and holy that's what David was saying he forgives all our iniquity God Alone forgives so they were right in their thinking but they were wrong in saying it wasn't Jesus Christ because he is God so today you have to choose is Jesus divinely God

with authority to forgive sins or is he a blaspheming a blasphemer is he a fake is he false is he is is he fraudulent he can only be one or the other he is either God or he's not there's no in between the LIE of the devil is you you can keep Jesus at a distance as a good guy a good teacher a part of the religious way no no no he's either God or he's not and religion sometimes will say you need to keep Jesus at a distance Jesus knowing what's in their heart verse 8 immediately perceiving in his Spirit what they thus questioned within themselves said to them why do you question these things in your hearts which is easier to say to the paralytic your sins are forgiven or to say rise take up your bed and walk which is easier Jesus is

challenging them and there seems to be silence the king of questions silences the religious having three kids we often play the game would you rather you ever played that game and you ask real serious questions like would you rather eat a jar of mayonnaise or a jar of mustard and you have to choose one you're simply saying this which is easier which is EAS you're saying in your mind would I rather be in a room of spiders or a room full of snakes which is easier would you rather you start to ask those question Jesus said would you rather me forgiven sins or dear Miracle which is greater and there s silence that's a hard would you rather Jesus I'm not sure about that one and Jesus wants to show all of history who he is in some sense he's asking which is the biggest

burden having a disability or sitting your heart you think about this what is your biggest burden in your life and the purpose of Jesus is not just to give you miracles it's to set you free in your heart and we read this but that you may know Jesus said that you may know the son of man has Authority on Earth to forgive sins he said to the paralytic I say to you rise pick up your bed and go home and he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all so they were all amazed and glorified God saying we never saw anything like this here's the Heart of Jesus that you would know praise be to God he didn't say that you would be more religious that you'd be more like a church folk that you would follow more rules that you would know what would you know that he is the son of man one of the favorite titles we'll see throughout the Book of Mark he's quoting out of the

Book of Daniel 7: 13- 14 I saw in the night visions and behold with the Clouds Of Heaven Daniel says There came one like the son of man and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all the peoples and the Nations and languages should serve him his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed I need you to see who Jesus says he is he is the one the D Daniel claimed hundreds of years before he was born he is eternal the Ancient of Days the king of all Kings he has all dominion and all power and authority and Jesus says I am that son of man that Daniel described he didn't call himself the son of David because many in his generation would have been confused and

thought he would be a conquering Christ a conquering King that would overturn the Roman Empire he didn't come to overturn political rule he came to overturn our hearts he came to change people not political Powers he's not a Republican and he's not a Democrat he came to show you that God became a man so that you would know him personally so that he would speak to you whatever that is holding you back today I want you to see the reason Jesus does the miracle of allowing him to walk was not because of these four friends is for the critics when I read this story I I I start to wonder had these religious not been there that day he may have left

still a paralytic but there was still a mighty Miracle sometimes you can't see the greatest Miracle of all but it's happened the miracle of someone saved from their sins Jesus is going to prove his authority he did so to proclaim the promises that are found in his word he healed the paraly get get your map and go [Music] home you you maybe came in here today and you're not paralyzed physically but you have a paralysis in your life you're Paralyzed by fear you're Paralyzed by

insecurity you're Paralyzed by anger you're Paralyzed by uncertainty the unknown of of what what's next you're Paralyzed by addiction maybe it is something physical I know right here in this room there are all kinds of physical ailments there's cancer there's immune issues what is it that's holding you back and Jesus I want you to pick that up and you carry your map so the very thing that defined you is the very thing you're going to carry with you the very thing that that was under you is the very thing you're now going to have authority over the very thing that used to define who you are no longer defines you because you are changed you're a son you are [Music]

forgiven but that miracle was not the greatest miracle that day he could have left that day and twisted his ankle sprained his ankle and had to go home limping how many know that happens sometimes you have a great big miracle you say thank you Jesus while you're dancing you twist your ankle he could have fallen off another d donkey broken both his hips it's not just the way it works if you get a miracle right now you you will need another miracle until you're with God in glory so I got to ask you today what do you need in your life I want to start with those that need forgiveness if you have something in your heart that you want to be liberated from today you don't need to say it out loud you don't need to let anybody else know what it is God knows exactly what

it is he wants to forgive you right now I'm just going to ask if you need the forgiveness of Jesus Christ today would you just surrender a hand up to God right now say I need that forgiveness I want to be set free from whatever that is holding me back someone something that was done to you could have been decades ago but you need Jesus to forgive you right now Jesus you see these hands surrendering today that they are children of God your word says to all who do receive you who believe in your name you call children of God so we declare that promise today in the mighty name of Jesus that you've forgiven us of our sins we are forgiven that's who we are we're set free we're liberated so may we live like it Lord may we forgive just as you've forgiven us seven time 70 Lord give us the power and authority to forgive those that are unforgivable that

God we would love those who have hurt us we would pray for those who persecute us God we want to live out your ways right here on Earth as it is in heaven you could put your hands down I want to ask those today that have a paralysis or something stopping you could be physical could be emotional could be relational maybe it's even spiritual something stopping you you had to have people carry you your whole life codependency you've had to have doctors help you I don't know what it is but if you need to be set free from something today would you just raise your hands up right now I want to pray for you right now the paralysis of fear is something stopping you right now [Music] depression Lord you know exactly what's happening and every single person that needs you to do a miracle I declare miracles in

the mighty name of Jesus because that's who you are we want to make a way today Lord I just join with our family and friends here today with the faith of those four that were willing to dig ad door we're digging a door to you right now Lord we say have your way today tell us what to do next pick up our mats go home spend time with you whatever it is Lord we're here when the critics come at us Lord may we believe that you're not finished yet that the very thing that looks like it's stopping us and opposing us might be the very opportunity for you to do an even greater Miracle so whether it was a parent that shamed someone in this room we declare today God that you just use that person to demonstrate the freedom that's found in

you God whatever it is today we we want to be obedient to your will and your way we love you Lord Jesus J we thank you for what you've done we thank you for the finished work of the cross that you took our sin so that we would be set free you demonstrated your power and authority by your spirit when you Rose from the grave on that third day Jesus we declare that Authority and that power today that you're still doing Miracles even right now in this moment we intercede for B right now we pray specifically for a miracle we we pray specifically for his kidneys that God you would reverse that which the doctors can't explain right now in Jesus mighty

name we say kidneys live kidneys be restored kidneys work the way that you designed them to work that the body functions the way that you the Creator made him fearfully and wonderfully made in the mighty name of Jesus come on if you're in agreement with me today would you just shout amen amen amen is not the end of a prayer it means I agree with it I stand in agreement that means so be it it's true so when you pray and you say Amen you're confirming what you've prayed you're saying that's true the Bible teaches us to pray without ceasing so I just I want to just take a moment we're going to we're going to just end this service just a little differently okay if you need prayer

today I want you to ask for it maybe this is you getting up out of your mat making your way over to to the higher place there's a prayer team right over here to the right I want you to go get prayer may maybe you're not even able to do that we've got prayer cards throughout this room that you can go fill out that prayer card and put it in any of the boxes believing in faith that God hears your prayers we will pray over those don't do this Al you're not meant to do life alone if we got anything from that story that's what it tells us you can't do life alone you carry somebody for them you bring somebody back with you to church next week we need to take a Next Step what is it that you're going to do next do

something what is your obedience based on the words of Jesus you can't stay the same in front of Jesus if he tells you to walk get up and walk that paralytic could have looked at Jesus and says you're a liar I've been like this for a long time who are you to tell tell me what to do I'm here to tell you he's always right if he tells you to forgive forgive if if he tells you to ask ask if he tells you to seek seek go go to the words of Jesus and you're going to find his promises are true every time so prayer is right over there right over to your right there's a team of people that will pray for you you want to follow Jesus for the first time today they'll give you a Bible they'll pray with you and tell you some next

steps we're going to we're going to close with a song but here's how this going to work we're just leave with a little different attitude if you sense just a little different atmosphere today or a little different environment because it is my my heart's just a little different today believing that the church needs to be the church today so there's going to be a song playing and in this song this is your chance that when you're leaving if this is your church you join us on Mission financially you honor God with your finances you could do that in person you could do it online if you're visiting in person we don't want your money we want you to understand God's up to something good and we invite you into that so we invite you into that today we invite you back next week we invite you to take growth track learn more about Journey learn more about who you are learn more about who God is and how it changes everything you find your purpose in that

we just want you to take a next step if you're visiting we're so glad so right now in this moment the band's going to play and this this is going to be your dismissal here you could stay and you could worship for just another minute or two if you need to go get your kids go get your kids if you want to go Fellowship go do it out in the the lobby area if you want to come up here and just get on your knees before a holy God this just acts as an altar it's just like oil the oil is not what's holy it's a holy God that's holy so I just want you to take your next step so if you got to go to the next thing I I understand that but we're just not going to rush this dismissal sometimes we sing an next song and then we have a pastor come up and say here here's the announcement and then you leave that's just going to be a little different right now now so you can get up and you can leave but I just

want you to honor the people around you just honor them and we're going to just do it a little more gentle a little more quiet just in a a place of response I guess that's the word I'm looking for from you you respond to Jesus in whatever way you need to respond through prayer through asking maybe you know somebody next to you that raised their hands and said they need a miracle maybe you lay hands on them and you pray pray for them we're just going to be the church right now so I'm so grateful you came today church is not over we are the church may the Lord bless you and keep you may his face shine upon you so that you are transformed and walk in The Obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ Our Savior of our sins the miracle working

God God bless you