What We Need Most 2.0

Call to Worship

To all who are weary and in need of rest

To all who are mourning and longing for comfort

To all who fail and desire strength

To all who sin and need a Savior

We, Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church, open wide our arms

With a welcome from Jesus Christ.

He is the ally to the guilty and failing

He is the comfort to those who are mourning

He is the joy of our hearts

And He is the friend of sinners

So Come, worship Him with us.

Scripture Reading & Reader

Mark 2:1–3:35 (NIV)

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

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Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Chip Shimer is the Scripture Reader.

Post-Scripture Prayer

Pray.

Introduction to Sermon

Good morning, my name is Brandon Morrow and I serve as one of the Pastors here at Moraga Valley! So glad to be with you all, — go ahead and open your Bible to the Book of Mark and today we’re in Chapters 2 and 3 of what we’ve entitled The King’s Speech. Jesus has come, bearing a message, a message of hope and healing for the world — a message that stands in opposition to many of the other messages in the world. This message is a message, not of instant gratification, self satisfaction, or how to dramatically improve your life, level up your marriage, and become the best version of yourself.

Jesus comes to give us a message, not tailored to our wants, but rather, specific to our deepest need.

Jesus has come proclaiming a message of God’s forgiveness — which is the answer to our greatest need.

I want us to look at the beginning of Mark, Chapter 2, so we can see how Jesus Gives What We Need.

Let’s look at verses 1-5

Mark 2:1–2 NIV

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.

Jesus comes into town, and He is fulfilling what He said He would do: in verse 2, “preaching the word to them.”

This is a phrase that Christians use loosely, “preach the Word,” but Jesus is not using loose words to attract people. Jesus’ words carry with them action.

When Jesus is preaching the word, He is preaching what He already said in Mark 1:15

Mark 1:15 NIV

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Not only is Jesus preaching about the gospel of God’s Kingdom, but He’s showing how He rules as God’s King — giving a vision for what life is like under God’s Kingdom, that the Kingdom comes with power and action.

Before we go any further, sometimes Mark’s gospel is called the Action Gospel because it appears that it has an electrifying pace and because Mark uses the word “immediately” so many times — it’s not that the pace of Mark is fast, it’s that the message of Jesus is urgent

Jesus knows its urgent and so do other people — look at verses 3-5 with me and we’ll see how urgent it was for a group of people to get their friend to Jesus

Mark 2:3–5 NIV

Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

This is always a moving segment for me in Mark’s gospel, I imagine the sense of desperation that this group of people have — and there’s a part of me that longs for that same kind of desperation.

There’s something about Jesus, that this group of believe, that lead them to near recklessness to get others to Jesus — I think the reason why it’s so moving, is because I want that. I want the same kind of recklessness that is willing to rip off a roof to get someone to Jesus.

This is a group of friends who have the faith — that if they could just get their buddy to Jesus, He’d be alright.

It’s interesting how Jesus honors the commitment of these friends who believe that Jesus is the only one to fix their friend.

He doesn’t give him physical feeling, at least not at first — he provides forgiveness of sins.

This shows us that physical healing wasn’t the man’s greatest need — forgiveness was the man’s greatest need.

Pastor Robin Sydserff said, “It’s our greatest need because it fixes our greatest problem, a broken relationship with God. Without forgiveness we can’t know God.”

The issue at hand is sin. That’s the far more sinister condition that the paralytic man is dealing with. Sin is the condition far more crippling than any physical ailment.

The British Preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote that:

Sin is not a splash of mud on a man’s exterior; it is filth generated within himself.

Charles Spurgeon

Several weeks ago we talked about sin being an archery term — no matter how hard we try, no matter how much practice we get, we can’t hit the target — but in Mark 2, Jesus speaks of sin like an illness — a filth welled up inside of us that no matter how hard we try, for all the remedies in the world, we just can’t get rid of it.

The way that Mark speaks about sin is as if sin is a terminal illness, that no one can escape the power of its grasp.

That’s an alarming thing to hear — sin is an illness that I can’t stop.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote about the effect of sin in James 5 —

James 5:19–20 (NIV)

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Sin is like a terminal illness, because the only outcome is death.

In verse 6, the teachers of the law, ask a great question, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Who can heal this illness, but God alone? — The teachers of the law are inferring that Jesus is committing a grave sin, one that deserves death — because He is equating Himself with God.

Look at verses 9-12 — Jesus speaks to the issues that the religious leaders have, and shows that He is God, and does have the authority to forgive sins, to heal us in our greatest need.

Mark 2:9–10 NIV

Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man,

In verse 10, Jesus says, “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”

The Son of Man is the most used title that Jesus gives for Himself in Mark, 14 times, and if you remember what the Father says to Jesus at His baptism in Mark 1:11 “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” — The Father is giving His work to the Son, pointing the readers of Mark to the fact that the Only One who can forgive sins, cure our illnesses, is the One who has been appointed by the Father. He has come not only to forgive sins, but to be our forgiveness from sin. The only way we’ll be able to live is through His death — it’s the great swap of the gospel:

He has taken my imminent death and given me eternal life. He has given His own life so that I don’t have to die.

Later on in Mark 2:17 Jesus confirms His ability to stop the death-inducing effects of sin

Mark 2:17 NIV

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The greatest need we have can only be met by Jesus, and Mark 2 is a beautiful picture — if you would destroy personal property to get your friend healed, how much more would you do to cure their incurable disease? What would you be willing to do to get them to Jesus?

I do not understand how a man can be a true believer in whom sin is not the greatest burden, sorrow and trouble.

John Owen

This is the severity of our situation — it is our greatest burden, sorrow, and trouble. Nobody is escaping this outside of Jesus.

This is the Christian commandment of evangelism, of proclaiming the gospel of God’s forgiveness — risking every possible humiliation because I have to get someone else to Jesus.

This past week Pastor Dave and I spent time at the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the annual gathering of our denomination, and we heard a week on our denominations “Gospel Priorities,” and we listened for hours upon hours, talk after talk, about our denominations commitment to reaching the lost, to sharing the gospel, to ripping the roof off to get others to Jesus.

I’m grateful we’re a part of a denomination that is burdened, full of sorrow, deeply troubled by the fact that sin has a strong grip on so many — and the thing that’s needed most is Jesus — the only one who can forgive sins.

This will be, one of my top priorities, while serving Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church — the primary reason because I think it’s Biblical, and I believe that the Bible in its totality has ascribed only one intention to God, that He would save mankind. — The other reason is because Mark 2 has drawn such a vivid picture for me.

Two weeks ago our middle son was having some health complications that we were worried might be more severe — thank God they’re not, and thank you for praying for us — and I’ll be honest, there’s a side of me — that is most unpleasant, that could have come out of me — because I wanted to make sure my kid got the care he needed. I am not content on stabs in the dark, I want definitive proof that my son is going to be okay, I want to exhaust every possible scenario to make sure he gets the healing his body needs — and I would rip every hospital to shreds until I get it.

That’s Mark 2 and the story of the paralytic man, that’s Jesus and His affection for sinners headed towards their death, and that’s the church on it’s mission to save the lost and make disciples.

It sounds less fanatical when you put it like that, — it sounds dire, urgent even.

At the end of Mark 3, there are two groups that try to get in the way of this very important message, and Jesus delivers to them a very stark warning:

Turn with me to Mark 3, starting in verse 20, and we’ll take a look there.

I find it kind of funny that Mark 2 begins in a house, and Mark 3 ends with Jesus at another house — and at both places there’s conflict — if Jesus comes to your house, you’ve been warned.

As Jesus enters another house, a crowd gathers and swells so big that Jesus can’t move his elbows to eat — and Jesus’ family shows up to haul Him off, “Jesus isn’t well. We’re sorry!” Verse 21, “They went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’”

The teachers of the law show up in verse 22, “He’s gone absolutely mad! Bonkers! Out of his mind! Probably demon possessed.”

So Jesus calls over his family and the religious leaders and speaks in a parable, and let just give you the gist of the parable: “Don’t get in the way of the forgiveness of God.” Jesus goes, “Don’t call me crazy, getting in the way of God, when I’m giving them exactly what they need: the forgiveness from God.”

Bearing the message of forgiveness to a world that needs it is costly — it’s disruptive — it challenges the status quo — it violates the sensibilities of those closest to us — we can look at Jesus’ own family for that. When we choose the gospel of God’s forgiveness, it may imply that deeply held bonds are challenged: like family ties, — but since we understand what’s at stake, we’d be willing to strain other areas of our life because we know that forgiveness with Jesus is worth it.

Jesus doesn’t quite sever the relationship to His family, but He does show his priorities:

Look at verse Mark 3:35

Mark 3:35 NIV

Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus and His Kingdom align with those who prioritize the proclamation of God’s forgiveness, who come with the message that only Jesus can save you from your sins.

Bottom line: we cannot stand in the way of others getting forgiveness that they desperately need.

Even further than that, I would say that we need to do everything within our power to get others to Jesus

Who are you willing to rip off the roof for, to get them to Jesus?

I’m going to give you three tools today, to help you join Jesus in His urgent message of forgiving the world of their sins.

Join us for our class on how to Share Your Story, this Tuesday night, from 6-8:30 PM. We’ll feed you, equip you with how to share your story to help point others to Jesus who grants forgiveness. Sign up online at mvpctoday.org

One of the best ways to rip the roof off to get somebody to Jesus — is through prayer. A good chunk of our staff pray Luke 10:2 during the week — Luke 10:2 “He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” — We pray for people by name to come to faith in Jesus. Every day of the week my phone goes off at 10:02 AM and I use it as an opportunity to pray for someone to come to faith in Jesus.

The last way you can help usher people towards Jesus is through something I call, Napkin Evangelism. — The reason it’s called that is because you can do it on a Napkin… Make two columns and on one side write DO and on the other side write DONE. On the left hand side this is going to be a place in which you write down things said by the other person in conversation, where maybe they’ve kept the duty of transformation or earning as something they could achieve. On the right side of your graph, you’re going to write what the gospel truth is to their statement. For example: someone might say that there are many ways that lead to eternal life, but the gospel truth for that is that Jesus is the only way — I give you this tool because sometimes you don’t have a roof to destroy, but you might have a napkin handy