Never The Same Again

He had never known the sense of independence we prize so much

And nothing could be done medically – no surgeries, no rehab programs, no treatment centers

And anyone in his condition – had to go through life as a beggar, laying on the side of the road waiting for a few coins to fall

NOW – he dreams… AND – sometimes in His dreams he has…

A healthy body, a job, a family, children to run and play with

BUT THEN – he wakes up, staring at…

• a ceiling in a room that he would never walk out of…

• a body that holds him in prison

• a mat that comprises his entire world

YOU KNOW – this week as I thought about this guy, laying on his mat, unable to move… wanting to move, wanting to be somewhere else, wanting to be someone else… BUT physically stuck, paralyzed.

I got to thinking: about the countless people in our world who are emotionally paralyzed?

People (in our world, in our community and maybe in this room).

People who have spent years maybe even their whole lives… unable to move… wanting to move… Frustrated - wanting to be somewhere else, wanting to be someone else…

BUT - they can’t. They’re stuck…

NOW - there are many paralyzing emotions in life…

YOU - can be paralyzed BY: fear, worry, grief, loneliness, anger, guilt, resentment or by a past hurt to name a few.

AND - when you’re emotionally paralyzed you feel helpless, you feel hopeless… AND - you begin to say things like;

• “My marriage is never going to get any better...

• I’ll never be able to handle all of this pressure

• I’ll never break that bad habit…

• I’ll never be able to forgive the one who hurt me

• I never move beyond the pain from my past and be normal.

• I’ll never do the things I dream of doing

• I’ll never become the person I want to become

• I never be able to do what I’ve dreamed of doing?

• I never overcome the cycle of destruction that is such a part of my family history.

NOW - there are three emotions in particular that paralyze our potential, and keep us from changing and becoming all that God desires us to be;

• Our fears about the future; (got any?)

• Our regrets about the past; ( I know you have some of those) and….

• Our doubts about our ability. There is no way I will be able to pull this off.

(fears – regrets – and doubts)

WE LOOK - in front of us, to the future and we are afraid to change; WE LOOK - behind us to the past and we think, ‘I’m not worthy – I don’t deserve to be different, I don’t deserve a new life;

And then - we look at ourselves and think, ‘I don’t have what it takes to change, to be different, to get off of this mat…’

NOW – the good news, is that today; as we look at this paralyzed guy in Luke 5 (a man whose life was radically changed by Jesus)

I MEAN – things were so much different when the sun set that day then we it rose… I for one don’t even this guy sleep for a few days.

AGAIN – in Luke 5 we will see that Jesus Christ is BOTH able and willing to help us resolve all three of those issues.

Our fear, our regrets and our doubts…

BROTHERS AND SISTERS – when you come to Jesus and you say, “Lord, I want t to change…I want to be different…I want to get off of tis mat…” The first thing Jesus Does is;