When Jesus Is In The House

April 25, 1999

“Healing words” or “How do you know when Jesus is in the house?”

Mark 2:1-12

1. When Jesus is in the house, people come to fill the house (Mark 2:2a)

- a full house does not necessarily mean that Jesus is there

- people are drawn to excitement, action; they want to be where something of signifigance is happening (taking the youth group to see Braves game last summer; game was sold out because Mark McGuire was there)

2. When Jesus is in the house, people come to hear the word (Mark 2:2b)

- words of truth

- words of forgiveness

- words of healing

- do you realize how strong the power of the spoken word is? God created the world by a spoken word

- James 3:9-12 - out of the same mouth flow blessings toward God and cursings toward men

- Col 4:6 - Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

3. When Jesus is in the house, people don’t let anything stand in their way to get to Jesus. (Mark 2:3,4)

- they faced obstacles

a. other people (sometimes we let other people stand in our way to prevent us from worshipping God - hypocrites, people that we have a problem with, people that grate on us; who do you come to church to see - people or God?)

b. pride - what is it going to look like when people see me up on that roof digging through it with my bare hands? (it takes letting go of pride in order for you to come to Jesus and say “I was wrong. I have sinned. Will you forgive me?” But for some reason, it seems that it is easier to go to Jesus and say those words than it is for us to go to one another and say those same words. Maybe it is because we willingly recognize that Jesus is our superior, so we can bow before him. But it’s harder to humbly bow before someone that we consider our equal.)

c. expense - who’s going to have to pay in time, labor, and finances to repair that guy’s roof? (what will it cost you to be in a right relationship with Jesus?)

- they overcame their obstacles rather than allowing those obstacles to stop them

4. When Jesus is in the house, people will get their feelings hurt (“so when they had broken through” vs. 4)

- that may seem kind of odd to you that I should say that. Shouldn’t there be peace and tranquility when Jesus is in the house? Yes, if we were perfect and sinless. But the fact is that we are not perfect, nor are we sinless. Though saved, we are still human.

- imagine what was happening as those men were tearing through the roof

a. the homeowner - “that’s my roof they’re tearing into!” (the Sunday school classrooms, the sound system, the pulpit - they don’t belong to the person’s who use them the most. We are responsible for them, but they belong to God. We can’t allow ourselves to get miffed when somebody is invading our territory.)

b. the onlookers - “I’m getting dirt in my hair!” (everything is supposed to run smoothly)

c. Jesus - “They’re interrupting me!” (Jesus was the only one who had a right to get upset, but He did not exercise that right)

- change creates conflict. Expect it. Pray over it before it happens.

5. When Jesus is in the house, people receive forgiveness (Mark 2:5)

6. When Jesus is in the house, there will be opposition (Mark 2:6-8)

- Satan only attacks those that create some reason for him to be afraid

- Questions for you. Answer me out loud.

a. Are people being saved through the ministry of this church?

b. Is this church growing?

c. Do you think that Satan likes that?

d. Do you think that Satan is going to attack us?

- their opposition was not voiced; it was silent (when you have a problem with someone else, and it is a legitimate problem, don’t keep it to yourself. Go to that person, and hash it out. We don’t have the luxury of knowing everyone’s hearts like Jesus did. Now if it’s not a legitimate problem, then you work it out between you and God)

7. When Jesus is in the house, Jesus turns the spiritual into the practical (Mark 2:9-12a)

- Ben is a very loving child. He likes to say “I love you” a lot. That’s great, but a lot of times, he says it because he knows that he is in trouble. Sometimes I respond back to those three little words of Ben’s by saying, “If you love me, you will show it by doing the things that I have asked you to do”