We Care, God Cures

Mark 2:1-12- And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.

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.

Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.

And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,

“Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

But 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?

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,

“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

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!”

We are caregivers, God is the cure giver.

Often we don’t care for others because we are afraid that we don’t have the answers or can solve somebody’s dilemma. God lifts that burden from us and tells us “Just care for others and leave the cure giving to Me.

Verse 3-Four men-This Is When Four Of Kind Beats A Full House!

Verse 4-They Uncovered The Roof-They removed the lid of human limitation.

There were two ladies - both of whom were concert pianists - both of whom had had strokes - one was paralyzed on the right side - one was paralyzed on the left side - so that neither of them could play the piano. Somehow they found each other and began to play as partners - one played the right hand part - the other played the left hand part.

All of us have times in our lives when we’re on a stretcher and need help.

We don’t know when those times will come - we can’t schedule them - pencil them in on our calendar. A death, a illness, maybe unemployment or problems at work or at home, they come without warning.

What really hurts people is when people find themselves on stretchers and they feel that no one cares or there is no one there to carry their stretcher.

A stretcher has four handles. In your mind, think about those handles.

If you were to put a name on each of those handles - the name of a brother or sister in Christ who would carry your stretcher?

Could someone count on you?

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.