When You’ve Lost You’re Grip

WHEN YOU’VE LOST YOU’RE GRIP

Mark 3:1-5

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A Mom discussed peer pressure and cigarettes with her 12-year-old daughter. Having struggled for years to quit, she described how she had started smoking to "be cool."

As she outlined the arguments kids might make to tempt her daughter to try it, the daughter stopped her mid-lecture, saying, "Hey, I'll just tell them my mom smokes. How cool can it be?"

2. Opposite in Nature

a. Diane Renzi and her mother were having a mother-daughter talk about the qualities to look for in a husband. She stressed that husband and wife should be as much alike as possible in interests and backgrounds.

b. Diane brought up the point that opposites often attract. “Diane,” her mother said emphatically, “just being man and woman is opposite enough.”

B. TEXT

1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

C. THESIS

1. Church, we need to be taking new ground! But it's going to require us putting forth effort and being equipped to do the work of the ministry.

2. Openness and honesty are essential for conversion, but also are essential for wholeness AFTER conversion.

3. Many times complete wholeness in Christian’s lives is never achieved because they have a hidden shame, or a traumatic disfigurement from the past that they can’t bear to face.

4. We're studying a man who had, what was to him, a shameful deformity and we’re going to see how Jesus healed it. The same pattern would be good for us to follow.

I. IMAGINE A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THIS MAN

A. SABBATH AWAKENING

1. As the rays of a Sabbath sunrise fell across the sleepy town of Capernaum, a family in a modest dwelling began to stir. The husband and father struggled awake, wiping sleep from his puffy eyes.

2. He reached for a basin of water and a towel with one hand. It seemed strange, this appendage flopping at his right side.

3. It had been this way for so long that he has almost forgotten about having two hands… But what did it matter now? He would never be rid of this useless, withered hand that brought him constant shame.

B. HIS INWARD BATTLE & QUESTIONS

1. Once again the painful memories of the past came back to overwhelm him. He thought about what that hand had kept him from becoming, separating him from the success he saw others enjoy.

2. His dreams and aspirations had been dashed into a million fragments by the deformity. The flood of tormenting questions came back to him: Does my wife still respect me? Do my children still love me? Does God even care about me?

3. And try though he might, he couldn’t stop the profusion of hot tears coursing down his cheeks. “If I could only be rid of this thing… If I could only do something with this withered hand -- I could build my life again!”

4. So with his mind muddled with sad thoughts, this poor man began his trek toward the Synagogue – and destiny!

C. THE EVENT AT THE SYNAGOGUE

1. As he approached the synagogue, he immediately noticed a larger number of congregants than normal. There were even some representatives from the high priest at Jerusalem!

2. He made his way and sat down toward the back so that all the important people could sit in the better seats. The synagogue quickly filled and just before service, there was a collective gasp and everyone stood up as Jesus, the great Prophet of Nazareth, entered the room.

3. After the reading from the Torah, expounding its meaning, and singing a hymn, the synagogue ruler invited Jesus to say a few words.

Jesus spoke about the real nature of the Sabbath; that it was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

4. Suddenly Jesus turned and looked at the man with the shriveled hand and told him to stand and commanded him to stretch forth his hand! As he stood he felt a strange sensation in his body.

5. As he poked his deformed hand toward Jesus there was a rush of power and tingling but went down his arm. It was as if someone was inflating his arm; it grew longer and longer and suddenly the fingers popped out to full-length.