Never The Same Again
Sermon Spice – VIDEO ‘The Truth’
You have a great future ahead
I would be lying to you if I said that
You can’t hope for your life to change
If you turn things upside down
This is the truth
I love that video! It’s awesome.
AND – I am sure that if you have never seen it before that you were thinking (before it did the 180)… what a great day to be in church, right? I feel so good. I feel so hopeful.
I still remember how I felt we I first saw it, I started looking for sharp objects…
BUT WHEN – it flipped around, it was so awesome.
God is great. God is good. God is faithful.
Prayer
QUESTION – what would you like to change about yourself or your life? What would you like to be different?
SERIOUSLY – take a moment to really think about it and maybe even write something down on your notes.
Do you want to be less fearful?
More confident?
Have more self-control?
Be less anxious?
More compassionate or courageous?
Have more follow through?
AGAIN – what you like to not only see different but be different in your life?
AND LISTEN – here’s the deal.
IF YOU - would like to change something about your life…
I have some great news for you.
YOU ARE @ the right place @ the right time…
YES – this morning you are in the presence of The One who has the power and is and the desire to change anything and everything!
UNDERSTAND – change (for the good, for the better, for the greater) is what Jesus is all about.
YOU SEE – change is why He…
• Left heaven
• Put on flesh
• And was nailed to a blood stained cross….
AND – because of His death, burial and resurrection… the Holy Spirit was able to inspire Paul to write these words…
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! – 2 Corinthians 5:17
And these in Romans 6…
Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. - Romans 6:4
NOW THIS MORNING – as we look at a passage in Luke chapter 5… We will meet a crippled guy who was lowered on a mat through a roof, by his friends before the feet of Jesus… - a guy who was never the same again.
One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?
(what a great question… ‘why are you thinking these things in your hearts…’)
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."
Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today. - Luke 5:17-26
HEY – I don’t know about you… But I think it would be great for us to leave here today saying the same thing.
NOW – if there ever was a man who wanted to see some radical changes in his life it was this guy.
Think about it…
He had spent years, perhaps his entire life on that little mat.
Years having others carry him around.
Years watching others walk, run and live…
Years unable to move…
Years living his life, stuck on that little 3ft by 6ft world.
UNDERSTAND…
Someone had to fed him, clothe him, clean him
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;
He Eases Your Fears
QUESTION – do you have any fear about change?
About being different?
About putting some thing down?
About picking some thing else up?
About being and doing what you’ve always dreamed of?
About letting go and moving on?
IMAGINE - the scene.
Jesus is in a packed room – standing room only,
I MEAN – it is so crowded that people are standing in the doorway…. AND - all of a sudden Jesus hears some noise above His head… He looks up.
AND – some stuff starts to crumble down on Him. Pretty soon the tiles are being removed and there’s a gaping hole in the roof right above him.
AND THEN – He sees 4 men looking down at him - and a man being lowered on a mat.
QUESTION - how would you feel if you were that paralyzed man? WHAT – would you be thinking & feeling as your 4 buddies were lowering you down…?
You’d probably feel embarrassed, afraid and a little anxious…
I MEAN – what if…
• they drop me…
• the rope breaks…
• I slide off the mat…
• the owner of the house just throws me out for putting in a sun light and messing up his roof w/o a permit…
• the Pharisees give me hard time (there sure are a bunch of them down there, I recognize their judgmental stares)…
• Jesus gets mad at me for interrupting his sermon… (my phone in Ireland)
• what if I am just wasting my time…
• what if, I wind up worse off then when I started,
• what if even Jesus can’t help me)
UNDERSTAND - there were a lot of ‘rational’ reasons for this guy – not to let his buddies lower him through a roof…
BUT LISTEN – he didn’t let the thoughts in his head stop him from moving towards change.
By the way we need to do the same thing….
AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS – if they are already starting to spring up… You need to 2 Corinthian 10:5 thing.
OKAY…
IMAGINE – that you’re the guy, your mat just hits the ground, every eye is on you, the room is absolutely quiet. Everyone is waiting to hear what Jesus is going to say… your heart is pounding, your palms are sweating, your mind racing… you want to look down at the ground.. but you just can’t keep your eyes off of Jesus…
NOW - Matthew in his account of this event records the very first words Jesus said to this man (do you know what they were)… ‘Be encouraged young man.” Mt 9:2
(Greek… ‘don’t be afraid, be courageous..)
IN OTHER WORDS – “take heart, cheer up, don’t give up, don't be afraid. It’s ok. You’re not bothering Me, I’m glad you came, I can help you…”
AGAIN - the very first thing Jesus does is He eases this man’s fears – Why? because Jesus cared about how this man he felt.
POINT - Jesus cares about how you feel.
• If you’re discouraged He cares about your discouragement this morning
• If you feel lonely, He cares about your loneliness.
• If you are feeling frustrated
• If you feel worried, frightened, insecure, anxious, confused about the future, He cares about that.
AND LISTEN - if change if being different (if standing up, getting off your mat and walking out of the place you’ve been for so long) scares you – he cares about that too…
QUESTION…
WHY is Jesus’ first response to ease our fears?
ONE REASON – is because Jesus knows that it is;
Fear Keeps Us From Changing…
AGAIN – the first thing Jesus does is, He eases this guys fears and he infuses him with courage (He encourages him)… Why? Because fear keeps us from changing.
• What’s going to happen to me
• What if I can’t do it? what if I fail? What if I fall?
• What if I am worse off then when I started.
• What if even Jesus can’t help me?
QUESTION - when the great people of faith that we read about in the Bible were asked to change and move forward out into the unknown – do you know what their first reaction usually was? FEAR.
Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Esther, David, the disciples…
ALL – were afraid…
IN FACT – the command to not be afraid is the most frequently given command in the entire bible.
The Bible says in Proverbs 12:25; “Anxiety in your heart weighs you down (anyone weighed down this morning)… but an encouraging word cheers you up.” (NLT)
CIRCLE - an encouraging word cheers you up…
(have you found that to be true)
And that’s exactly what Jesus starts with. He gives this guy an encouraging word.
A second reason Jesus eases yours fears before he does anything else, IS BECAUSE…
Fear is what keeps you from getting close to God…
YOU SEE - in the final analysis, when we boil it all down the reason we’re not closer to God is because we’re afraid to get closer to God…
LET ME – repeat that… the reason we’re not closer to God is because you’re afraid to get closer to God
OKAY, HERE’S – what usually happens, we decide to get closer to God, and almost immediately we start thinking things like…
WHAT IF…
• He asks me to do something I don’t want to do or makes me uncomfortable
• I have to give up control? (You will.)
• I don't like it?
• I don’t measure up to God’s standards?
• I make a promise and I break it, I’ll feel like a failure? (Understand failure is not falling down… IT IS – simply choosing to stay down.
• I can’t change?
• I can’t do this?
• God doesn’t like me because of what I’ve done in the past?
UNDERSTAND – many times it is fear that keeps us from getting closer to God. BUT – we need to push through that fear, because the reason we’re afraid is because we don’t really know who God is. BECAUSE - if we knew Him… yes, we would fear Him, but we wouldn’t be afraid of Him.
REMEMBER - God is love (perfect love)…
AND - “Perfect love drives out fear.” 1 John 4:18:
DO YOU – hear what I am saying?
THE - better you know God the fewer fears you’re going to have in your life.
REALLY – there are only 2 choices when it comes to fear…
Fear God, fear nothing else. Don’t fear God, fear everything else.
Always Fearful, Never Afraid
NOW – David was a guy who knew a lot about fear.
I MEAN - he spent much of his life running and hiding from King Saul…
AND – running and hiding from his own sin and failure…
BUT – checkout what he prayed in Psalm 34:4
“I asked the Lord for help
WHY – did He ask the Lord for help?
BECAUSE – he trusted him…
AND WHY – did he trust Him?
BECAUSE – he knew Him
and He answered me and He freed me from all my anxious fears.”
Do you have any anxious fears today?
Would you like to be free of them?
UNDERSTAND – God can set you free!
AND LISTEN – He frees you by reminding you that He is always with you in this journey of change…
• To a reluctant 80 year old hiding in the desert called to be his deliverer, God said; – “I will be with you”
• To a frighten, overwhelmed General who was about to take on a superior enemy God said – “…be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
• To 12 guys who were no doubt freaking out because of the magnitude of the task of making disciples of all nations, Jesus… “And surely I will be with you always to the very end of the ages.”
AND – to anyone in this room today….
Who wants to change.
Who wants to be different.
Who wants to live the life they’ve always dreamed of, God says… ‘do not fear – for I am with you.’
GOT ANY – fears about change?
UNDERSTAND - there is only one place to push through and really get rid those fears…
DRAW CLOSER to God…
Pray, read His word, seek His face…
Jesus eases our fears… NEXT…
WHEN – you come to Jesus and say I want to change, I want to be different, Jesus…
Eliminates Your Guilt
Notice the second thing that Jesus says to this paralyzed guy, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
(Time out!)
THIS - man didn’t come seeking forgiveness.
He came for healing, so why did Jesus look at him and say, “Your sins are forgiven.” I MEAN - what’s going on here?
YOU KNOW – I think that most of us if we were honest would have to admit that we (like the man in Luke 5) spend more time asking God to change the external circumstances of our life THEN we do asking Him to change us – on the inside…
BUT UNDERSTAND - Jesus always looks beneath the surface, beneath the symptoms and He deals with the root, with the real issue.
AND WHEN – Jesus looks at this man, He sees more then his physical paralyze – He sees the deeper issues, the deeper wound, Jesus sees the sin… Jesus looks down at this twisted, motionless body on a mat. AND – he sees not only a broken body… HE – sees a broken soul.
NOW – you may be thinking what kind of sins could a paralytic commit anyway?
LISTEN – Jesus knows that the deadliest sins are the ones that you can commit without so much as lifting a finger… envy, jealousy, resentment, anger, bitterness, pride, arrogance, slander, gossip…
AGAIN – Jesus not only saw a broken body laying there on that mat, he saw a broken soul – and Jesus knew that this brokenness must be dealt with before this man could really be healed BEFORE – he could change…
AND – it is the same way with us. A healing needs to take place before we can change. AND – what many of us need to be healed from is guilt. YOU SEE – the reason some of us can’t get on with the future is because we’re still stuck in the past. WE’RE - trapped by guilt… GUILT - over things that we’ve done or should have done.
LET ME – tell you how this works…
We begin to allow ourselves to dream of changing of living a new and better life… AND – just as soon as those dreams start to pump us up…
WE – begin to feel unworthy of doing or being that… because of our past…
SO - Jesus see this guy in Luke 5 and He deals with the real issue here.
He says “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
UNDERSTAND – Jesus didn’t just want this man to walk… He wanted him to run, to be free, to live….
QUESTION – can you think of three more powerful words then – ‘I forgive you’… Most of the world is dying to hear three words – I forgive you. Everybody needs to hear these three words – I forgive you WHY?
Because we’ve all blown it. We’ve all messed up. We’ve all made mistakes. None of us is perfect.
So we all need forgiveness.
AND – I am sure that you have found out by personal experience that guilt can be an incredibly paralyzing emotion. Probably the most paralyzing emotion of all.
GUILT - robs you of; your energy, your strength, your joy and your future. CHECKOUT – what David wrote;
When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat.
(ever felt that way, maybe you feel that way right now)
Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not conceal my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You took away the guilt of my sin. - Psalm 32:3-5
QUESTION - “Should a follower of Jesus Christ ever feel guilty?” Yes… for about 2 minutes.
YOU SEE - that’s about how long it should take for you to recognize you blew it, that you have sin in your life, admit it to God - confess it and say, “God, I want to change.”
Jesus Christ wants to ease your fears and eliminate your guilt…
SO THAT - you can change.
IN FACT - that’s what the blood-stained cross is all about. Jesus paying a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay.
AND LISTEN – Jesus sets the standard for what forgives is at it’s best.
Jesus forgives instantly…
Isaiah 55:7 “God is merciful and quick to forgive.”
[Circle “quick to forgive”]
God is quick to forgive. He never makes us wait. He never delays (He always runs to meet the prodigal).
He never says, “I’ll think about it.”
The moment you ask for forgiveness, it’s instant. What a deal!
Jesus forgives completely
YEAH I know that the concept of complete forgiveness is something very hard for us to grasp… I MEAN - we rarely receive it and seldom give it (instead, you and I are very proficient at keeping a record of wrongs, am I right?)
BUT – checkout these God-breathed HS inspired words….
You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God's people. But God let Christ make you alive, when he forgave all our sins. 14God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.” Col 2:13,14
I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more
– Hebrews 8:12
• Jesus forgive all your sins
• He wipes them out
• He takes them away
• He nails them to the cross
• He remembers them no more
QUESTION - which of your sins did Jesus Christ die for? All of them. Here’s the point. If Jesus forgives you, don’t you think you should forgive you too.
UNDERSTAND - If you feel guilty over a sin that has been confessed and repented of that guilt is not from God. I guarantee it. It’s already been forgiven. That guilt is from the devil. You need to forgive yourself.
He forgives us freely…
In other words, you’ll never be able to earn it and you will never deserve it (so stop trying). God’s forgiveness is a gift.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8,9
AGAIN – what change, do you want to see happen in your life?
Jesus came so that you can change…
IF – today July 22, 2018… - you tell Jesus that you want to change…
• He will first ease your fears; “Don’t be afraid, be encouraged, I love you, I care about you – and I can handle it..”
• AND THEN - He will, eliminate your guilt; “My child, let it all go.. I have already taken care of your past, yes all of it… All you need to do is accept my gift of forgiveness and move forward. Remember, I paid it all. Even for you. Understand I want you to have a new and better life.”
And third…
Jesus enables you to do what seems impossible
Think about this.
Jesus asked this guy to do the very thing that he has been unable to do for his entire life. This man is an invalid.
He has been carried everywhere that he’s ever gone.
And Jesus looks at him and says, “I want you to stand up and take up your mat and get out of here! You’re healed.”
Why in the world did Jesus do that?
Why did he ask him to do the impossible.
BECAUSE - He wanted to stretch his faith.
UNDERSTAND…
Faith is not something you believe.
Faith is something you do.
Faith is not something you think about.
It’s something you act on.
Faith is not an opinion or a conviction or a philosophy.
Faith is an activity.
It’s obeying God and doing what He says to do even if it seems impossible.
Faith is…
• Building an ark in the desert
• Stepping into a valley to face a giant
• Having a child when you are old
• Leaving everything to follow Christ
• Forgiving those who hurt you
• Praising God in a fiery furnace.
AND LISTEN…LISTEN…
All of those ‘huge things’ began with small steps of obedience.
• David took that first step into the valley
• Noah drove down to Lowes with his shopping list
UNDERSTAND – when it comes to change and a new and better life… Dream big and start small.
QUESTION - what is God asking you to do that looks impossible? What is He asking you to believe?
What is He asking you to change?
Where is He asking you to go?
How is He trying to stretch you?
AND – what are you thinking in response?
• I’ll never be able to break this habit...
• I’ll never be able to recover from that failure...
• I’ll never be able to start over...
• I can never forgive that person who hurt me
• I’ll never be able to go back and face what I have been running from
• I’ll never be able to be different...
• I'm not ever going to see my dream realized...
• I'm never going to become what I’ve always wanted to be…
• I’ll never be able to Do that SAY that BE that or GO there…
AND YOU’RE RIGHT – you never will… (On your own)
YOU - need Jesus. Who once said to His guys who were looking at something that to them could not and would not ever happen.
With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." - Mark 10:27
UNDERSTAND - your greatest need today is not for relief of your problems. NO - your greatest need is to see how big God really is…
HIS GREATENESS is indescribable
HIS POWER is uncontainable
HIS LOVE is immeasurable
YES – your greatest need is to understand… His greatness, His love, His majesty and the power of His forgiveness.
AND - the more you understand how big and how loving God is the smaller your problems become and the possible change looks.
AND - here’s the really good news.
When God asks you to do something that seems humanly impossible, like…
• Going another round in your marriage
• Forgiving that hurt
• Overcoming that habit, that struggle that has been holding you back for years
• Doing that very thing you have tried and failed at more times then you can count.
When God asks you to do something that seems humanly impossible,
He gives you the power to do it.
LISTEN - the moment that man on that mat decided to get up, the instant he leaned forward to push himself up - Jesus gave him the power to get up.
POINT - making changes in your life, moving forward, being someone different, does not solely depend on you…
ISN’T – that good news!
UNDERSTAND – this change process, this becoming someone different is a partnership
AND – the first leg of that partnership is…
God IN Us…
Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling, because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases Him… - Phil 2;12,13
Do you hear what that is saying…?
IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN - God is working in you helping you to do what you cannot do on your own!!!
HELPING YOU - to change, to be new; to be different, to go where you have never gone before, to be who you were created to be…
UNDERSTAND – David, Moses, Gideon, Joshua did not do what they did on their own… INSTEAD – they partnered with God…
Christ in us our hope of glory… - Col 1:27
SECOND – it’s a partnership with other believers…
UNDERSTAND – this guy in Luke 5 did not and could not get to Jesus on his own…
He got by with a little help from his friends…
It is a very vulnerable thing to have someone carry your mat. When somebody’s carrying your mat, they see you in your weakness. They might hurt you if they drop you.
There is a gift between these friends: trusting vulnerability and dependable faithfulness. This mat, which according to society should have created a great gulf between him and them, Instead became an opportunity for servant hood and acceptance.
This group becomes the Fellowship of the Mat. Wherever human being love and accept and serve each other in the face of weakness and need, there is the fellowship of the mat.
Here is the truth about us: Everybody has a mat. Let the mat stand as a picture of human brokenness and imperfection.
It is what is ‘not normal;’ about me.
It is the little ‘as is’ tag that I most desire to hide.
BUT it is only when we allow others to see our mat, when we give and receive help with each other, that healing becomes possible. Every effective AA meeting is a Fellowship of the Mat.
So are healthy family and churches. Because everyone has a mat.
Maybe your mat is a temper you can’t seem to control. You lash out at the people you most want to love... Maybe your mat is fear… Maybe it’s the inability to trust, or the need to be in control, or the inability to speak the language of the heart. Maybe your mat involves a terrible secret of some awful thing you did that you still feel guilty about. Maybe it is a crushing sense of failure, or inadequacy, or plainness, or loneliness.
Sometimes people spend there whole lives doing ‘mat management.’ They pretend they don’t have a mat. They appear to be so healthy and strong that the people around them assume they could walk anywhere they want to…
Their primary goal is to hide their brokenness from others’ eyes.
If this is you, you may get quite good at hiding you mat. You may convince everybody of your strength and competence. But you will not live in community.
So let me ask you a personal question:
Who carries your mat for you sometimes.?
Who do you show your weakness and struggles to?
Who do you ask to pray for you?
Who do you let see your brokenness?
If you want a deep friendship, you can’t always be the strong one. You will sometimes have to let somebody else carry your mat.
That is what happens in the bible story.
This group of people become friends.
It requires formidable character and internationality.
Perhaps – because one man’s vulnerability is so visible, they all become more honest about their mats. Against all odds, they form a little community: The fellowship of the mat…
Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. – Galatians 6:2
Shepherd in Ireland….
OKAY – here’s the bottomline…
IF - you want to change you need to do the 4 things that this paralyzed man did:
#1 - You need to turn to Jesus
Where would the guy in Luke 5 be if he didn’t do that? If he didn’t turn to Jesus?
#2 - You must believe that Jesus can and will help you change.
Do you believe this?
Do you believe that your God is able and willing to bring about change in your life?
#3 - You must do whatever He tells you to do even if it seems impossible.
Question: What would have happened if this man had not done what Jesus said to do? What if he’d just come to Jesus and believed that He could and would heal but he didn’t obey him? Didn’t stand up?
HE – would never would have gotten off of his mat…
What a tragedy to have been healed but to never have walked in that healing.
• To be forgiven and not…
• To be free and not…
#4 - Partner with God and a few other believers…
I have strong reason to suspect that Christians sitting dutifully in church congregations, for whom ‘going to church’ means doing a variety of spiritual activities, have been given resources that if released could powerfully heal broken hearts, overcome the damage done by abusive backgrounds, encourage the depressed to courageously move forward, stimulate the lonely to reach out, revitalize discouraged teens and children with new and holy energy, and introduce hope into the lives of the countless people who feel rejected, alone and useless.
Maybe ‘going to church,’ more than anything else, means relating to several people in your life differently. Maybe the center of Christian community is connecting with the few…” - Larry Crabb
YOU – don’t have to stay the same…
Change… real/positive change is possible… In fact it is probable…
• Because – the all powerful God walks with you into your future
• Because – God can erase any failure
• Because – God is working in you to help you become all that He
desires
• Because – there are people that you can partner with…
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. – Ephesians 3:20,21
