Chapel message by Christian Care Ministry staff member Derrick Fickling preached on August 30, 2023
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Outline
I. When Jesus is in the house, it’s okay to follow the crowd.
II. When Jesus is in the house, your current situation doesn’t limit your future expectations.
III. When Jesus is in the house, there is no time for hindrances.
IV. When Jesus is in the house, your next move can determine your final disposition.
Introduction
Whether physical, spiritual, psychological, or emotional, we all need some help along the way. Simply put and contrary to popular opinion, I need you, and you need me. For we may be whole today, but brokenness doesn’t have a permanent address. It may be my house today and yours tomorrow. When friends and families are going through challenges and questionable times, and when brokenness or disappointment comes, it could leave you feeling as if there’s no hope. You could be sick and not have the strength to pray for yourself. You can know you need the help but be in such a state that you just want to be left alone. You can feel that no one knows your situation or that there’s no one that you can reach out to. As my grandmom used to say, if you’ve never been there, keep living. But thanks be to God, we can proclaim that we have a common denominator. In fact, we have the denominator, a common denominator in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Whether it be a coworker or someone in your immediate family, when life happens, you may be their only resource to the source. When life has dealt a bad blow, and that may even cause you to question your very faith in Him, the question to ponder is, can you take me, can you take them, to Jesus?
Mark 2:1-12
1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
As we direct our attention to the text, we find Jesus returning to a familiar place called Capernaum. Now, for all intents and purposes, Capernaum was Jesus’ home away from home. It’s a place where many miracles were performed. They knew that if Jesus was in the house, there lied great possibilities. They knew that if Jesus couldn’t do it, then it couldn’t be done. With all the fanfare about Jesus coming home, the word began to spread quickly. The crowd started coming from all different directions to descend on the house where Jesus was.
I. When Jesus is in the house, it’s okay to follow the crowd.
In Henry Blackaby’s book Experiencing God, he encourages us to stop running here, there, and everywhere, just trying to do something. But he implores us to find out where God is and join God there because when we let Jesus take center stage in our lives, there is no room for the devil to reside. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Here, we see a man who was being brought to the house by his friends to have an encounter with Jesus. Take note that the text didn’t give the name of the paralytic nor the name of his friends. In Scripture, that denotes that it could be any common person. That could be you, me, or anyone. So, anybody with a struggle, weakness, difficulty, or blemish is a candidate for healing. And while I can’t speak for you, I can say that qualifies me. There’s no need to fear because God, the heavyweight champion, Jesus, is in the house.
The story says they brought him on a bed because he was a paralytic. We don’t know if he was born like this or if life just happened. Further, we don’t know whether he was ready to come to Jesus or his friends just said, “It’s your time, and we are taking you to Jesus.” We know people like that, those in a bad situation who want to get out but think they’re too far gone for forgiveness or healing to take place. They want the better but can only see the bad.
II. When Jesus is in the house, your current situation doesn’t limit your future expectations.
Thank God for good friends and people who understand that ministry isn’t about me; it’s all about Him. The particulars of your situation doesn’t matter in the face of Jesus. Therefore, it’s our job as a believer to get them to Jesus. When it comes to healing, Jesus is the only solution.
Our Christian walk may not be easy, but I believe that with Jesus Christ, it’s worth it. When they arrived at the house, it was too crowded to get in. In layman’s terms, there was no room in the inn, and I believe Jesus himself knows something about that, doesn’t He? Undoubtedly, his friends looked front, back, side-to-side but could not find any room to get to Jesus.
What do you do when you don’t know what to do? What do you do when your plan A was your only option? You pray, you get up, you refocus, and you keep leading. You just keep leading.
III. When Jesus is in the house, there is no time for hindrances.
The friends could have easily fallen to the ground disappointed and lost hope. They could have done an about-face and said, “Oh, well, we tried. I can’t do anymore.” But they had a heart of love and care for their friend. They determined that if we can’t get up to him, we will have to go down to him. Friends are there, and they can help us tear down walls and remove barriers. Friends have expectations for us that sometimes we don’t even have for ourselves. For when we link up with the right source, we have the power, as the Scripture says, to run through troops and to leap over walls. The friends decided that they would exhaust all efforts before giving up. That’s a good friend, isn’t it?
They decided to bust up the roof, the hindrances, the barriers to make sure that they could place him right before Jesus because Jesus was the helper. Jesus was the healer, and Jesus was the deliverer.
Look at verse five. It says, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”
Isn’t it great to know that our faith in Him has enough power to heal our friends and loved ones? It assures us that even though I’m not able to believe in God for you, I can trust God because of you because I’ve seen your situation, and I know where you are now.
IV. When Jesus is in the house, your next move can determine your final disposition.
The friends, who may have been believers, received the joy of seeing their friend being healed, but the friend, because he hung in there long enough, because he prayed long enough, because he was quiet long enough, left a changed man even in the midst of the naysayers. In fact, we see that because of his naysayers, he received his total and complete healing. The Lord who created the foundations of the Earth, the One who created time, told the man to pick up his bed and walk. His disposition was changed almost as if in the twinkling of an eye because his friends took him to Jesus.
When Jesus is in the house, they can come broken but leave mended; they can come sick but leave healed; they can come troubled but leave in peace. They can come stressed and leave blessed. They can come bound and leave free. They can come a sinner but leave a saint.
It doesn’t matter what the condition is when Jesus is in the house; all things are made new. The Scripture shows us that when the man was healed, the naysayers, the crowd, they were all left in awe and glorified God. Our purpose in life is to glorify God. Somebody is dependent on you today. The question is, “Are you willing to break through barriers and hindrances to get them to their solution?” That solution is Jesus.
I pray that you are able to say, “Yes, I can take you to Jesus.”
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