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Never Seen Before Series
Contributed by Kevin Hall on Oct 11, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: Activities of the Early Church, What needs to be the Church of Today.
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“Never Seen Before”
Part I
Mark 2:1-12
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
This morning I want to continue to speak to you about the Church. And I want to describe to you the church that “Has Never Been Seen Before.” Let me state this first. The real church has been seen before, but in this generation of people that live in the society today, people haven’t been exposed to the genuine love of Christ.
Now you may or may not like what I preach on the next couple of weeks but I am just going to preach whatever the Lord lays on my heart to preach. The Never Been Seen Before Church..is the church of God that existed some 2000 years ago. It has never been seen fully since, but I believe that Jesus is raising up a church again and I want to be a part of it don’t you??
In the Church that has never been seen before you find….
1.) People who are willing to Gather.
Mark 2:1-2
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
It is hard to go home and be a pastor. I was an associate pastor in my hometown and everyone that knew me before I was saved at some point in my 5 years of ministry showed up and checked to see if I was the same fella. So we find in verse one that Jesus goes back to his old stomping grounds. Have you ever gone back to your old stomping grounds since you have been saved?
Things look different. People change, and things are not the same. In some cases it can be disheartening but it often brings about renewal. So Jesus goes home to Capernum and begins to teach and everyone in his hometown had heard of the things that Jesus had been doing. So everyone wanted to be where Jesus was, they wanted to see if he was the same as he was as before.
See, in the Church that has never been seen before…they like to be togther..no matter what they are doing. Sure there may not be something’s you enjoy doing, but it shouldn’t deter you from desiring to be with the people that you love.
Broken people desire to be connected. That is why they are broken in the first place, that haven’t been able to get plugged in. They have done things in their lives that have failed. They have tried things that they thought would work out and create a safe place in their life and it has blown up in their face. So they are lost, they are undone, they are in an uneasy place. So finding a church who can foster as a family in their lives can help them connect with a Savior that wants to take their brokenness and put them back together
If we are going to be that kind of church we have to desire to be together as much as possible and be willing to love and accept people regardless of where they are at in life.