Bring Somebody to Jesus
Mark 2:1-12
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Oct. 11, 2009
*How did you become a Christian? -- Every believer has a unique story, your own story of how God worked in your life to help you trust in Jesus.
*But all of our stories have this thing in common:
-Somebody helped us get to Jesus. It may have been Mom or Dad, a co-worker, friend at school. It could even have been a total stranger, but somebody helped bring you to Jesus, and your life was changed forever.
*Now God wants us to be those helpers. God wants us to bring other people to Jesus. How can we do it?
1. First: Find ways to be a friend.
*The paralyzed man in our story today desperately needed some friends. Think how helpless and hopeless he was in that day. He had no access to the phenomenal technology that we usually take for granted.
*Geoff Thomas explained the man’s troubles this way: “We are told just one thing about him and that is that he was a paralyzed man. -- Nothing else.
*We are not told his name, his age, his marriage status, the job he once had.
-We are given information about one thing: that he could not move.
-Nothing else was as important as that. -- Nothing else was relevant.
*Do you realize his pain? -- The cramps, the stiffness of the joints, the bedsores and all the indignities of his condition.
-Think of his despair. Nothing lay ahead of him but more suffering and death.
-He remembered a time when he played as a boy, and worked hard, but now he could do nothing and was a burden to everyone. -- What a wretched life.
*He could not say, ‘I have had enough of this and so I shall send for the doctor and he will give me the wonder-drug.’ There was no one who could cure him.” (1)
*But then Jesus came to town! And everything could change, -- if he could just get to Jesus. Oh how he needed some true friends.
-And church, there are people all around us today in need of a friend.
-They may be struggling physically or financially.
-They may be struggling in their families.
-Their hearts may be broken. And they need a friend.
*Dick Innes tells us that the word for “friend” among some North American Indians was “one-who-carries-my-sorrows-on-his-back.” Hurting people all around us need friends like that, but most of all, they need Jesus. (2)
*Many other people may feel on top of the world right now, but they have a hole in their lives that only Jesus can fill. And they need a friend who will bring them to Jesus.
*Find ways to be that friend.
-Ask God to put these people in your path.
-Pray for them.
-Listen to them.
-Tell them what Jesus means to you.
-Invite them to church.
-Use your common interests to plant the truth in their lives.
*Brad Black mentioned these ideas to me this week:
-If you love to play golf, play golf with them.
-If you love to hunt, hunt with them.
-If you love to fish, fish with them.
-And use that time to bring them closer to Jesus.
*People all around us need a friend who will bring them to Jesus.
-Find ways to be that friend.
2. And be sure to carry your corner of the load.
*Picture the scene again. Jesus had come back to Capernaum and word spread like wildfire that He was in the house. -- So in vs. 2-4:
2. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
3. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
4. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. And when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
*But everyone had to carry their corner. Everyone had to do their part. These four friends worked together as a team. They started on the mission together in vs. 3, and they finished together in vs. 4. They didn’t give up. They stuck together.
*Think about those friends lowering the bed. Can you imagine what would have happened, if one of them had said, “That’s it! I quit!” -- And then let go of the rope? It would have been a disaster.
*But they didn’t give up. They stuck together, and we have to do the same thing. We must work together. We all must do our part. And there is something for every one of us to do.
*God’s Word makes this point in 1 Cor 12. Here the Apostle Paul compared God’s church to our bodies. Listen to vs. 15-22 from the New Living Translation:
15. If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body.
16. And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am only an ear and not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body?
17. Suppose the whole body were an eye -- then how would you hear? Or if your whole body were just one big ear, how could you smell anything?
18. But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it.
19. What a strange thing a body would be if it had only one part!
20. Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.
21. The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you."
22. In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary.
*Church, we are the Body of Christ. And there is something for every one of us to do. So must work together. We all must do our part.
*No one of us can accomplish all that God wants us to do together as a church. We need each other!
*How can we bring more people to Jesus?
-We must carry our corner of the load.
3. But also breakthrough the barriers.
*Think about the barriers these men had to break through to get their friend to Jesus.
-Their friend couldn’t walk. -- But they carried him.
-The crowd blocked the way. -- But they found a way around the crowd.
-The roof of the house was between them and Jesus. -- But they went right through! (3)
*These men didn’t let anything keep them from getting their friend to Jesus! -- And that’s the kind of passion we need.
*What are you passionate about? What really matters to you? What charges you up?
-Most of us are passionate about our families and our country.
-Most of us are passionate about our hobby or a sport.
*Today Joe Jacoby is the offensive line coach for the Shenandoah Univ. Hornets, but from 1981 to 1993 Joe was a lineman for the Washington Redskins. He helped the Redskins to Super Bowl championships in 1983, 1988 and 1992.
*Joe was passionate about football. He once said: “I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl.” -- When Matt Millen of the Oakland Raiders heard what Joe said, he replied, “To win, I'd run over Joe's mom, too.” (4)
*People are passionate about a lot of things. But our greatest passion in life ought to be Jesus! Our greatest passion ought to be getting closer to Jesus, and bringing other people closer to Jesus Christ. Without great passion, we will never be able to break through the barriers in our way.
*Nigel Mitchell calls for us to have the same passion we see here in the Word of God. Nigel said: “Every time I read this Gospel story, I find myself thinking, ‘What am I doing to bring my friends to Jesus?
-Are there people in my family, in my workplace, in my community, in my street, who need their sins to be forgiven?
-Who need to be made whole again?
-Am I doing enough to bring them to Jesus?
-Am I breaking down the walls, cutting through the roof?’
*Sometimes, when I think about situations that seem to be hopeless . . . I come back to thinking about this verse.
-If ever there was a proof-text for . . . keeping on in our efforts to bring the needy to Christ for healing and forgiveness and wholeness, then it is in this story.” (5)
*How can we bring more people to Jesus? -- We must breakthrough the barriers.
4. But also magnify the Master.
*People in our world need to get a sense of the majesty and power of Jesus Christ. They need to understand that Jesus is so much more than just a man. He is God. This story gives us a better understanding of the majesty of the Lord.
[1] One of the most fantastic things Jesus can do for us is forgive our failures.
-Jesus can forgive our sins! Verse 5 tells us that “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’”
*But the paralyzed man had come there hoping to be healed.
-I wonder if he appreciated the importance of Jesus forgiving his sins.
-I wonder if we appreciate it.
*Johnny Dean gave great insight when he said: “You’re sitting in the waiting room at the hospital waiting to hear whether or not the chest pains your spouse had was a heart attack or something else.
*Suddenly, the door to the trauma unit opens and the doctor walks out. ‘I have good news,’ he says. ‘Your spouse’s sins have been forgiven. God loves both of you very much.’
*Somehow that’s not quite what you wanted to hear. I mean, it’s nice to know that, but what does it have to do with curing the problem?
*Isn’t this typical of our attitude toward God’s forgiveness?
-If I’m sick, what do I care about forgiveness? -- I just want to be well again.
-If I’ve lost my job, what do I care about God’s love? -- I just want my job back.
*But how wrong can we be? The truth is that the forgiveness offered to us by Jesus is the single most important thing in life.
-Without it we have nothing. With it we have everything!” (6)
*Jim Pye adds: “The disability that the man suffered from may have lasted for the rest of his life if Jesus had not healed him. But the forgiveness that Jesus brings lasts forever! Christians, one day we will go to Heaven to live with Jesus forever! There will be no more paralysis, sickness, suffering, death or grief. (7)
*But you can’t get to Heaven without forgiveness, because the Bible tells us that the just payment for our sins is eternal death. And everybody has sinned, so everybody needs forgiveness.
*And the scribes asked the right question in vs. 7: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” -- Nobody. Nobody can forgive sins but God alone. But Jesus Christ IS God. Jesus is God the Son, and He can surely forgive sins.
*The word picture here for forgiveness is “sending our sins away, letting them go, leaving them behind.” And Jesus can do all of that.
-He can give us a pardon for our sins.
-He can cover our sins.
-He can wash them away.
-He can cancel our guilt. -- But only because He died on the cross for our sins, and rose again from the dead.
*We magnify Jesus, because He can forgive our failures.
[2] But we also magnify the Lord, because He can see into our souls.
*Jesus demonstrated His amazing power here! Yes He can forgive our sins. But vs. 5-8 remind us that He can also see into our souls.
5. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you.''
6. But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7. "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?''
8. And immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?”
*Jesus could see into their souls.
-And He is looking into your heart right now, because He is God.
*Jesus knows everything about you inside and out, past, present and future.
-There is nothing about you that He doesn’t know.
-Jesus knows you much better than you know yourself!
-He knows you infinitely better than you know yourself!
*You can’t hide anything from God! David talked about this in Psalm 139. Listen to vs. 1-6 from the New Living Translation:
1. O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
2. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away.
3. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am.
4. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
5. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!
*Jesus knows you completely. He can read our minds, both the good and the bad. He knows us completely, and that could be a scary thing.
-But the good news is that He loves us anyway!
-And that is why He is willing to forgive us.
*We magnify Jesus, because He can see into our souls.
[3] But we also magnify the Lord, because He can heal our hurts.
*Jesus certainly has power over sickness and death. And according to His perfect will, He can heal anyone.
*The Lord cares about sick people. But in this story His greater purpose was to prove His power to forgive, so starting in vs. 9, Jesus asked:
9. “Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk?’
10. But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic,
11. “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go your way to your house.”
12. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
*Yes, Jesus has the power to heal, so this is a story of two great miracles.
-But the greatest miracle wasn’t the healing.
-It was what Jesus said in vs. 5: “Your sins are forgiven.”
*And you may never get a healing like this paralyzed man, but if you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have already received the greatest miracle of all. So let’s magnify the Master in every way we can, and never give up trying to bring people to Jesus Christ!
*We need to be like Elmer Albright. At work Elmer met a man named Ernie Reisinger. And Elmer started inviting his co-worker to church. In one year Elmer invited Ernie to church 52 times! And 52 times Ernie turned him down.
*Ernie finally did come once, but he didn't come back for weeks. Then Ernie did come back, and he never stopped coming.
*Over that whole year, Elmer never gave up! He kept inviting his friend, and he kept taking him to the Lord in prayer.
*When this tireless Christian’s wife finally met Ernie, she said: “So you are Ernie Reisinger. My husband would often come home in the evenings and though I had his dinner ready he would go straight to the bedroom. And I would go down the hall and listen outside the door. And I would hear him praying for this Ernie. And I would pray that you would either move -- or get saved!” (8)
*Christians, all of our salvation stories have this in common:
-There is an Elmer in there somewhere.
-Somebody helped us get to Jesus, and our lives were changed forever.
*Now God wants us to be those people. God wants us to bring other people to Jesus.
-So find ways to be a friend.
-Carry your corner of the load.
-Break through the barriers. (Don’t ever give up!)
-And magnify the Master every way you can.
CLOSING PRAYER
1. Online sermon “Jesus Christ Has Authority to Forgive Sins” by Geoff Thomas - Mark 2:1-12 - Jan. 19, 2003
2. Quote source: www.actsweb.org/subscribe - Found in ChristianGlobe.com sermon “With a Little Help from My Friends” by King Duncan - Mark 2:1-12
3. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “The Joy of Bringing Men to Jesus” by Donnie Martin - Mark 2:1-5
4. Sources:
http://www.suhornets.com/sports/fball/coaches/Assistant_Coach_-_Offensive_Line?tmpl=/information/directory/bio-template
Dynamic Preaching Aug. 2001 - sermon #2
5. Adapted from 23 Feb. 2003 online message by Nigel Mitchell - Mark 2:1-12
6. Adapted from ChristianGlobe.com sermon “Don't That Just Beat All?” by Johnny Dean - Mark 2:1-12
7. Rev'd Jim Pye, The Rectory, 15, St. Martin's Road, Knebworth, Herts. SG3 6ER Telephone: 01438-817396 www.sermonsplus.co.uk - forgiven.htm Mark 2:1-12
8. “Jesus Christ Has Authority to Forgive Sins” by Geoff Thomas - Mark 2 1-12 - Jan 19, 2003 - www.alfredplacechurch.org.uk/Sermons/mark10.htm
