“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.
In the Church that has never been seen before you find….
2.) People who are willing to Carry
Mark 2:4
Some men came, bringing to Jesus a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.
Church, it is by God’s design that we are relational people. Now there are a few hermits out there, but both introverted people and extroverted people desire relationships. The Church is interwoven in our engagements with one another.
Our church will never grow unless we are willing to carry one another. Come here Bob get on my back..piggy back ride. You know what? I need some of you to pray for me. Now I know I have done some stupid things as Pastor…but don’t worry I’ll do something dumb again@! Don’t talk about me behind my back, carry me@!
Mark 2:4
Some men came, bringing to Jesus a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.
This guy couldn’t walk, he was totally dependant on those four men. I need to say this. We are not sensitive enough to people with handicaps. These stairs are killers on the knees.
But handicaps are not just in the physical form. But broken people are handicap with their emotions and spirit as well. There are some that have been hurt by the church they previously attended. Some folks are so battered that they may have even questioned their faith. Those are the people that we need to carry! Because the church refuses to carry people.
We shoot our wounded. We are to easily offended. We are too tired to do anything, but don’t want anyone to help us do something! When someone is accused of doing something wrong… the church tries, judges and convicts in a matter of seconds before the defense is ever spoken@! We’ve got to understand the concept of carrying one another which means to lift other people up in prayer and with grace!
I think we are guilty of not providing enough grace to other people when we’ve been granted grace by the Lord for ourselves. Ohhh We can easily sing that old hymn Amazing Grace…but we often forget about “being the wretched old soul.in desperate need of saving in the first place.” People of grace ought to be willing to extend the same grace and not stand in judgement because someone has tattoos
Or because someone smells like pot
Or because they are half dressed
See, Jesus don’t care what you look like, smell like, or where you spent last night at or if you are hung over this morning. He cares about your soul, because He wants to save you, redeem you and love you through the people of this church@!
In the Church that has never been seen before you find….
3.) People who are willing to get Dirty
Mark 2:4
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.
Sometimes it takes effort to get people to Jesus. Sometimes it means that you have to get out of your way to help somebody. Last Sunday, raining, teenage girl walking along side of I75 pooring down rain, lost her TEMP TAG, I got out and helped, follwed her home, talked to her mom, told her what to do $19.
In the Church that has never been seen before you have to get wet. Sometime you have to get dirty. These four men knew they had to get their friend to Jesus. They tried coming through the door. Tried through a window, so they decided to get on the roof and DIG down till they found Jesus!
See before I was saved I was a bad person. I was an addict, I was a sinner, Id rather fight you and deal with problems that way than to try and work it out in conversation. But when I got saved, grace was applied to my heart, God’s grace overwhelmed me in love. And because of that love, God’s grace was suffiecient enough to overcome who I was and made me who I am today!
What is it going to take to get Mission 217 off the ground? Who of you are going to be willing to get a little dirty! What will it take to get you to get those broken people in front of Jesus?
In the Church that has never been seen before you find….
4.) People who will be Faithful
Mark 2:5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
This verse gets me excited. Because when Jesus saw their faith…He forgave and healed in one word. Being forgiven heals. There are some of you here this morning that need to forgive and some of you need to accept forgiveness.
Your faith in Jesus Christ is dependant on forgiveness. You need to be forgiven, but listen to me, you need to accept that you have been forgiven. Accepting your forgiveness is what sustains your faith. But just as much as you need to accept God’s forgiveness, he expects you to be the one to give forgiveness.
In the church that has never been seen before faith works through forgiveness. The Pharisees couldn’t understand that. There are people that are so paralyzed in their sin that need forgiveness so that they can be free@!
In the Church that has never been seen before you find….
5.) People who don’t stand in judgement!
Mark 2:6-8
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?
Church, we each have a story. We have all come from somewhere. We’ve all crawled ot of a pit before! It is just some of us have forgotten that you were a sinner first before you became a saint@!
The coolest and craiziest thing about this passage piece right here is that Jesus knew what they were thinking! What if I could read your mind right now, what would I see? Oh Lord! I have the gift of discernment but I can’t read your mind, just your heart! But Jesus knew what the Lawmen were thinking.
You know what I used to be bothered by what people thought of me. But I have learned something in the past couple of years…that Ron Crapyou has been telling me for years” Kevin your not going to make everyone happy”. I have come to the conclusion Ron that you are right! As Pastor I am not going to make you happy all the time, but when you pout on me, and say I shouldve done this or that, you pass judgement, and that is sin. Now I can handle being judged, but you better think twice before you start judging new peopled that come through our doors.
Devil….I can handle being judged, but take your filthy hands off of my sheep@! We as the body of Christ ought not stand in judgment! INV
