"four Crazy Friends"

Title: “Four Crazy Friends” Script: Mk. 2:1-13

Type: Expository/series Where: GNBC 3-28-22

Intro: Earlier this week someone saw my sermon title and said: “Four Crazy Friends?” Pastor, I’ve got way more than 4 crazy friends, and those are just in my family! There once were three crazy friends at the Un. Of Iowa in the 1970’s. They belonged to the hardest partying fraternity on campus. But in time, one of the young men came under the influence of a Christian campus ministry and turned to Christ. He in turn invited one of his friends to a “Navigator’s Meeting” with pizza afterwards at… True story, that friend thought he was being invited to a sailing club event! In time he fell under the influence of the Gospel. Finally, they both decided to witness to their reprobate fraternity brother who was the worst of all. Those three crazy friends became a pastor and denominational official, a missionary to Africa who translated the Bible into several languages, and a police chief who served his local church as an elder for over 40 years! Today we are going to see a familiar story of four crazy friends who literally dragged their friend to Jesus.

Prop: Everyone needs friends who are willing to risk everything to bring them to Jesus.

BG: 1. Mark’s Gospel is generally accepted as the earliest written. John Mark was the author.

2. 3 Early Church Fathers- Papias, Justin Martyr, and Clement of Alexandria all state that Mark wrote what were essentially the memoirs of Peter.

3. Assuming these were the memoirs of Peter, today’s story must have made a lasting impact on the fisherman when he reflected upon it decades later. Wasn’t just the miracle performed by the Lord, but it was those 4 crazy guys who brought their friend to Jesus!

Prop: Everyone needs friends who will risk it all to bring them to Jesus.

I. Christians Know Their Friend’s Greatest Need Was to Meet Jesus. Vv.1-3

A. This account begins with dramatic flair as 4 men carry their paralyzed friend to meet Jesus.

1. Why did these men take such a bold and radical step?

a. Illust: Apparently, Hippocrates was the first to say: “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” What does that phrase mean? When you it, you mean that actions that might seem extreme under normal circumstances are appropriate during adversity. Well, in our story today, we see 4 men take some pretty drastic measures to ensure their friend meets Jesus.

b. True faith takes risks and will stop at nothing to reach the object of faith. We saw this in the Jesus' healing of the leper, who did not allow social norms or ceremonial law to keep him from the Savior (Mark 1:40–45). He recognized the author of the law and knew that He had the power to do what the law in itself could not; thus, his approaching Jesus honored the spirit of the law, for He sought out the One to whom the law points.

2. These 4 Crazy Friends Persist in the face of setbacks.

a. This familiar account is set at a home in Capernaum, where our Lord has returned after ministering in greater Galilee (1:35–39; 2:1). This is likely the home of Simon and Andrew, the place where Jesus seems to have resided during his previous stay in Capernaum (1:21–34). By now, many people have heard of Jesus, and a crowd of people has come to the door of the home to hear Him preach the gospel (2:2).

b. Under such circumstances, it would be easy for these men to go away, hoping that Jesus will be available later to help their friend. But faith knows that tomorrow is not guaranteed, that today is the day of salvation when Jesus is present. Illust: Today for you my unsaved friend. Just a couple of weeks ago I had the honor of performing the funeral service for a 20 yrs. old fireman, killed in the line of duty. He was on his way to a class for his job. Saw an accident, stopped to offer assistance and was struck by a truck which did not stop in time. Whole life ahead of him. The older I get, one thing I become more certain of is the uncertainty of life.

B. Christians, We Need to Be Reminded that Your Friend’s Greatest Need is to Meet Jesus.

1. Illust: Is your friend depressed? Needs Jesus! Is your friend anxious? Needs Jesus! Is your friend lacking purpose? Needs Jesus! Is your friend confused about sexuality or gender? Needs Jesus! Is your friend addicted to drugs or alcohol? Needs Jesus! Did your friend’s child just die? Needs Jesus! Is your friend a sinner? Needs Jesus! Christian, are YOU convinced of that?

2. Illust: Nearly 30 yrs ago (1993) George Barna partnered with the Lutheran Hour to poll 1000’s of Christians in matters relating to personal evangelism. IN 1993 over 90% of respondents to this poll stated that sharing one’s faith was the individual responsibility of every Christian. Today that number is about 60%! One of the newest Barna research polls, entitled “Reviving Evangelism”. This report makes another shocking find: Although Millennials are some of the best trained Christians in last four generations in how to share their faith, nearly ½ of all practicing Christians of that generation don’t believe it’s right to evangelize. Almost half of Millennials (47%) agree at least somewhat that it is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith. This is compared to a little over one-quarter of Gen X (27%), and one in five Boomers (19%)