Bringing Our Friends To Jesus

Mark 2:1-12

Start off with a little illustration: Beach towel…have a small child lay down on the towel, and then have “friends” bring the child to Jesus, who tells them to get up and walk. 

Mark 2:1–12 “When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!””

A few questions to see how well you were paying attention:

How did his friends help the paralyzed man?

How do you think the man felt when Jesus healed him?

Do you have a friend that you could tell about Jesus?

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There will be people in our lives who don’t know who Jesus is or they may not know what is true about Jesus!

We can all be people who do what these men did for their friend. WE can bring people to Jesus.

You can invite them to come to church with you.

Or, as you read and remember the stories about Jesus, you can share those stories with other people. I have found that often times when people share difficult moments in their lives, God will bring to my recollection Scripture or principles that they need to hear.

We can be that kind of people!

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Gather the kids on stage around the towel.

Invite everyone to touch it.

As you touch this towel, think about someone that you could invite to church, or tell them about Jesus.

Say a prayer: Dear God, thank you for friends. Thanks for showing us the example of these friends who brought a paralyzed man to Jesus. Thank you for healing the man. Please help us to be bold and invite our friends to church and to tell them about Jesus. Amen!