Can you see it
Can You See It? - 2/13/05 am / Luke 5:17-5:26
OS: Text
I. Many lessons are found in this one text:
A. Jesus reminds us as His disciples to face adversity and criticism head-on.
B. Jesus also reminds us that there are some things more important than physical wellbeing.
C. The Pharisees and Teacher’s of the law remind us to beware of losing sight of ministry by being overly focused on the law.
D. The one who was healed reminds us to be thankful and to give praise to God for the blessings He gives us.
II. Greatest lesson – we learn from the four men who took up a mission to get this paralyzed man to Jesus.
A. When we make a commitment to be a disciple of Jesus we take upon ourselves a mission to bring people to Jesus.
1. “Just as You sent Me into the world, I sent them into the world.” John 17:18
In our text we find some keys to fulfilling God’s mission in the world.
Week 6: Evangelism: You were made for a mission by Elmer Towns
Luke 5:17-5:26
Review: Six words
1. Purpose: God has a plan for us.
2. Worship: bring pleasure to God.
3. Fellowship: living with others.
4. Discipleship: becoming like Jesus.
5. Ministry: serving others.
6. Evangelism: sharing the good news.
MEMORY VERSE
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;
make the most of every opportunity”(Col. 4:5, NIV).
EVANGELISM – YOU WERE MADE FOR A MISSION
“In the same way that you gave Me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world” (John 17:18, Msg).
“One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. The healing power of God was on him. Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, he said, ‘Friend, I forgive your sins.’ That set the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing. ‘Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemous talk! God and only God can forgive sins.’ Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, ‘Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,’ or to say ‘Get up and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . .’ He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: ‘Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.’ Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it--got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous--and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, ‘We’ve never seen anything like that!’” (Luke 5:17-26, Msg).
FOUR KEYS TO FULFILLING GOD’S MISSION IN THE WORLD
1. They became concerned for their hurting friend.
- Why love is important? It opens doors.
- If you are aware, you must care.
- “We should all be concerned about our neighbor and the good things that will build his faith” (Rom. 15:2, GW).
HOW TO PRAY FOR THE UNSAVED
1. Ask God to soften your heart and give you a real love for those you touch.
2. Ask God to give opportunities to share the good news.
3. Ask God to soften their hearts. God usually does this by pain. So look for hurting people to help.
2. They believed Jesus would save their friend.
- You need a ministry to believers.
- You need a mission to unbelievers.
- If you want God’s blessing in your life, you must care about what God cares about.
- Evangelism is a matter of obedience.
- Don’t let your life be just about you, it’s about God and others.
- “Jesus is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through Him . . .” (Heb. 7:25, TEV).
3. They didn’t just pray for their friend; they brought him to Jesus.
- The man was paralyzed; he could not come to Jesus.
WHAT PARALYZES PEOPLE
1. Loneliness, they are afraid to reach out.
2. Guilt, they are constrained from reaching out.
3. Crowd, they are pressured from reaching out.
4. Sin/blinded, they are blinded to reaching out.
5. Circumstance, they are kept from reaching out.
6. Problems, they are too traumatized to reach out.
- They had a plan and put it into action.
- “Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that my house will be full” (Luke 14:23, NLT).
- Excuse. My life is my witness; I don’t need to do anything.
- Foolish. Let’s get married, but let’s not tell anyone.
4. They didn’t let difficulties discourage them.
- The door was blocked, so they tried another way.
- Question? Are you willing to go through the roof for a friend?
- “God is patient, because He wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost” (II Peter 3:9, CEV).
- There are a lot of good things you do that won’t matter ten years from now? But touching a life will matter.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God. Please contact me at etowns@elmertowns.com and tell us about your salvation experience so that we can rejoice with you.
We can hinder God’s mission: Why is there no way to bring this man to Jesus? Because of the crowd that is already there.
The crowd is there because they want to be close to Jesus.
Because the crowd was focused in on Jesus, they had their backs to the paralyzed man and his friends.
As far as they could see, ministry was happening.
They were basking in their own spiritual experience and didn’t feel the great need and paralysis that was just outside their house.
Somehow they didn’t notice.
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;
make the most of every opportunity”(Col. 4:5, NIV).
EVANGELISM – YOU WERE MADE FOR A MISSION
“In the same way that you gave Me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world” (John 17:18, Msg).
FOUR KEYS TO FULFILLING GOD’S MISSION IN THE WORLD
I) Have concern for those who are hurting.
Who were these
A) Christ Cures the Real Need by Donn Heinrich
Luke 5:17-5:26
I. The Crowd (v.17)
A. Pharisees
1. concerned about ceremonial impurity
2. despised the heathen, Gentiles, and sinners
3. overemphasized the external, neglected the internal
B. Scribes — “teachers of the law”
1. studied, taught, interpreted, and transmitted the law
2. concerned primarily with tradition
II. The Crisis (vv. 18-19)
A. Paralyzed Man’s Condition (Physically and Spiritually)
B. Problem of Getting the Man to Jesus (Hinderances)
1. The Crowd
2. The Roof
"Where there is a will, there is a way!”
III. The Cure (v. 20)
A. Their Faith (the four men? Friends, family, and/or previously disabled?the paralyzed man?)
B. Jesus’ Word
1. These words of pardon came in a single sentence!
2. Notice the completeness of the forgiveness:
a. Not “sin”
b. But “sins” – all of them.
3. There were no more conditions for the man’s forgiveness – he already had faith and repentance.
4. The forgiveness was granted immediately!!!
Transition:
Jesus dealt with the man’s greater problem, his spiritual need, rather than his physical one.
Jesus has not only lifted the burden from the soul of the sin-burdened sufferer, but had also proclaimed that the soul was even more important than the healing of the body.
IV. The Criticism (vv. 21-23)
A. Jesus knew what the Scribes and Pharisees were reasoning in their hearts!!!
B. They did not believe Jesus had the authority to forgive sins because they did not believe Jesus was God.
C. Look how Jesus responds to the criticism: Which is easier? “Your sins are forgiven” or “Get up and walk?”
It was easier to say “your sins are forgiven” because no one could prove whether or not his sins really were forgiven.
V. The Control (v. 24)
“Get Up, Pick Up You Stretcher, and GO HOME!!!”
Jesus did the miracle to teach spiritually blind people what God could do for them if only they would believe in Him.
VI. The Celebration (vv. 25-26)
A. The paralyzed man obeyed and glorified God.
1. Not just for being healed
2. But for sins forgiven!!!
B. The people glorified God.
B) Why love is important? It opens doors.
C) If you are aware, you must care.
D) Romans 15 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
E) How often do we pray for those who are hurting?
1) Ask God to soften your heart and give you a real love for those you touch.
2) Ask God to give opportunities to share the good news.
3) Ask God to soften their hearts. God usually does this by pain. So look for hurting people to help.
II) Be convinced that Jesus is the answer for every person.
These four men were convinced that Jesus would heal this man.
- You need a ministry to believers.
- You need a mission to unbelievers.
- If you want God’s blessing in your life, you must care about what God cares about.
- Evangelism is a matter of obedience.
- Don’t let your life be just about you, it’s about God and others.
- “Jesus is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through Him . . .” (Heb. 7:25, TEV).
3. They didn’t just pray for their friend; they brought him to Jesus.
- The man was paralyzed; he could not come to Jesus.
WHAT PARALYZES PEOPLE
1. Loneliness, they are afraid to reach out.
2. Guilt, they are constrained from reaching out.
3. Crowd, they are pressured from reaching out.
4. Sin/blinded, they are blinded to reaching out.
5. Circumstance, they are kept from reaching out.
6. Problems, they are too traumatized to reach out.
- They had a plan and put it into action.
- “Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that my house will be full” (Luke 14:23, NLT).
- Excuse. My life is my witness; I don’t need to do anything.
- Foolish. Let’s get married, but let’s not tell anyone.
4. They didn’t let difficulties discourage them.
- The door was blocked, so they tried another way.
- Question? Are you willing to go through the roof for a friend?
- “God is patient, because He wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost” (II Peter 3:9, CEV).
- There are a lot of good things you do that won’t matter ten years from now? But touching a life will matter.
A) Roof Problems by David Oaks
Luke 5:17-5:26
Roof Problems
Heritage Church, Sunday, August 19, 2001
(I am using this title and idea that I was challenged to by a really powerful pastor at a conference I attended last year named Heidi Neumark).
A few years ago we had a roof problem in our home. We patched. We sealed. We repaired, but we still had a leak. We eventually had to do what were trying our best to avoid, we just replaced the roof. It was an incredibly frustrating problem because where the leak appeared inside our home was nowhere near where the actual leak was on the roof. I wonder how many of us here have gone through the exact same situation?
Here at Heritage we have had roof problems from day one! We’ve patched our roof over and over but we still have leaks. Folks who know lots more than I do about metal buildings have said to me that it is impossible to build a metal building that doesn’t leak. If that is true, that amazes me!
The Bible tells a story about a roof problem in the days of Jesus’ ministry that I would like for us to study today.
17Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
20When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
25Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!” Luke 5:17-26 NKJV
Here we have the story of Jesus teaching to a full house. Folks had come from “every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.
He is teaching to a full house and the scripture makes a special note that there was a special presence of the Lord there to heal them.
Things to notice in the story:
1. Jesus is healing and teaching people in a structure that is not big enough.
- Imagine the anxiousness of the crowd as they wait to see what Jesus would “pull out of his hat” this time.
- Consider that there could be a degree of frustration.
- Imagine the uncomfort of being jam-packed into a facility that wasn’t built to accommodate such a crowd.
- Imagine the awkwardness of your personal space being violated.
2. A paralyzed man cannot get to Jesus because of the crowd .
- Here is a man stuck on this mat, in a life that is going nowhere.
- Here is a man with God given potential to rise up and glorify God but instead he remains paralyzed on a mat and there seems to be no way to bring him into the presence of Jesus.
- It is important to notice: Why is there no way to bring this man to Jesus? Because of the crowd that is already there.
3. The crowd is there because they want to be close to Jesus .
- Many churches would be thrilled to see such a crowd gathered to see Jesus.
- Many would feel quite successful with such a crowd and feel satisfied.
- It would be easy for a church with this kind of crowd problem to feel satisfied and successful.
4. Because the crowd was focused in on Jesus , they had their backs to the paralyzed man and his friends.
- This crowd had a Godly desire to pursue truth in the personhood of Jesus Christ.
- As far as they could see, ministry was happening.
- There was no roof problem. The roof was just fine!
- They were basking in their own spiritual experience and didn’t feel the great need and paralysis that was just outside their house.
- The great and compelling need of the outsider was not in their face so they somehow didn’t notice.
- The way the crowd had positioned themselves around Jesus was blocking the way for any others to get to Jesus.
5. This paralyzed man had friends who would stop at nothing to get him to Jesus.
- Vs :19 says that “when they could not find how they might bring him in…”
- This verse tells me that they tried to get in but the crowd wouldn’t allow it.
- The crowd was so focused in on Jesus that they missed this wonderful opportunity for ministry to this precious but hurting man.
- They were so focused on receiving they missed an incredible opportunity to love this their neighbor, as themselves.
- If this man’s friends had decided to go back home to business as usual, that would have been the end of the story. No one in this story would have mourned this missed opportunity for ministry.
- It is likely that we would never have known about this mans need or been witnesses to his wonderful healing but (here is the key) he had friends who would stop at nothing to get him to Jesus.
- He had friends who were so focused on seeing him brought to the love of Jesus that they would fight against the issues of the crowd and structure.
6. These “friends” brought the man to Jesus by changing the structure of the house.
- They went for the roof! Not a window. Not a backdoor. Not a wall. The roof!
- Roofs speak of limitation. We have sayings like: “The roof’s the limit” Or a popular term in our culture is: “Glass ceiling”
- The roof speaks of:
- Limited vision. Smallness of vision.
- Small thinking that doesn’t allow for the opportunity for God to bring the masses of hurting and wounded people to the church to be healed.
- Little minds and small ideas.
- The way things have ALWAYS been done!
- Thus far and no more.
- These friends showed unusual vision, creativity and persistence in removing the limitations on the hope and desire God has for hurting people.
- They busted a hole in the roof! They removed the limitations on the faith, the hope and the love God gives to us.
- They had a “Whatever it takes to get this hurting man to Jesus!” attitude.
- They were willing to dismantle the existing structure to see God work.
7. The result: They saw the glorious and wonderful power of God.
Some considerations for being a church without “roof problems.”
1. Have a prodigal friendly atmosphere.
- Be careful to not be so focused on Jesus meeting our needs that we don’t even notice the broken folks all around us trying to get to Jesus.
- A prodigal friendly atmosphere begins when folks drive on the lot.
- Nobody “owns” his or her seat.
- Come to church to BE a blessing…
- Generations of people have been trained to come to church to GET a blessing.
- Archbishop William Temple once exclaimed that the church is the only society in the world that exists for the sake of those who are not members of it. In the same vein, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing from a Nazi prison in 1944, stated:
“The church is the church only when it exists for others...”
- It is for this reason that one of the requirements for membership here is that you help us warmly greet and help make our guests feel welcomed in our Sunday celebration service.
- One of the greatest ways we celebrate our guests here at Heritage is in the wearing of our nametags. This is for the comfort of our guests.
- Some park far away so our guests can park up close.
- We are called to deconstruct the church for ourselves in order to build the church that exists for the hurting, pain-filled and soul-searching outsider.
- We don’t want a church that exists primarily for its members but one that exists for those God wants to bring in.
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2. Have music that is culturally relevant.
- Not too long ago the Wall Street Journal reported that twenty years ago churches bought two hundred and twenty thousand large organs a year to provide music in their sanctuaries. Recent figures show sales down below seventeen thousand a year (and those are in likely in churches struggling to find someone who knows how to play them!).
- Yes, our music here is loud…
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3. Have sermons that are relevant.
- A new generation tires of sermons that are theologically and homiletically correct but boring and irrelevant.
- The messages should push the hearers to confession of known sin and obedience to God.
- They should emphasize the now-ness of the Kingdom of God; that we enter into eternity when eternal life enters into us.
- A prodigal hugging church would use everyday language and avoid so much “Christian-eze.”
- As an outsider I HATED such “brother/sister” talk…
- A prodigal hugging church would encourage the use of contemporary translations of the Bible.
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4. Celebrate what God is doing. (As opposed to continually begging God to bless OUR agenda!)
- One of the greatest ways to be a part of God’s presence and power is to get on His agenda.
- Prayer is so vital because it helps us identify what God is doing so we can join him.
- The key is to recognize what God is doing, follow His lead, and give Him the glory. The church service then becomes a celebration of what God is doing rather than a rally for what the church members will do.
- One thing God is blessing in America: Casual dress (helps destroy class distinctions).
- A church that really cares that hurting and wounded outsiders are ministered to:
- Anticipates and recognizes the presence and power of God.
- Looks for God’s message. They seek the Spirit’s promptings. They bask in His presence.
- Gives God permission to interrupt the service. This in no way suggests a lazy or lackadaisical approach to worship preparation. On the contrary, true spontaneity is birthed from a combination of advanced planning and sensitivity in the moment. Skillful preparation in advance and humble receptivity during the service creates the opportunities for the Holy Spirit to move.
- Reverences the precious opportunity for the moving of God’s Spirit and the hearing of God’s word.
- Bathroom breaks should be minimized.
- My mom MADE me go before church (whether I needed to or not!).
- Reverence: to honor greatly; to greatly respect.
- Pick up any garbage around you.
- If you have a baby: PLEASE BE SENSITIVE TO THOSE AROUND YOU.
- Mom’s have a God given desensitization to their children’s cry.
- Until we can get a good “cry room” use the TV in the lobby.
5. Response:
- If you have been hurt by the church “crowd” allow us to seek your forgiveness.
- Will you give Jesus the opportunity to heal your walk?
- Ask God to help your attitude toward those outside our faith or church family.