VBS 2019

VBS Encounters with Jesus

07-28-2019

Welcome to VBS Sunday at Maranatha

Last week was our VBS here at church

The kids and adults were able to experience different encounters with Jesus

Their verse all week

John 20:31 NASB95

31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

The Bible was written so that you and I would Believe that Jesus is the Christ

The Bible is written so you that you and I would believe in Jesus

And that by believing in Jesus we would have life true life

This morning I wanted to share with you an encounter with Jesus from the Bible

One particular story I wanted to share with you comes to us from the book of Luke

a young man and his friends are going to encounter God

Luke 5:17–18 NASB95

17 One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.

This sets the story for us

Jesus has at this point into his ministry gained some local fame

He is teaching and there were a lot of people present

This might have been the first recorded house church

But Jesus is teaching and the crowd is so great that some guys show up late and there isn’t a sets for them

It must have been something important for them to gather that many people

Jesus must have been such a big deal in that time for people to pick up their friend who couldn’t walk there and take carry him there in hopes of maybe getting him some healing

Those people had that much faith in Jesus they got their early in hopes of touching him, or him speaking to them

Those guys desired so much to encounter the living God based just off what they heard about him

They understood that if and when they encountered Jesus that Jesus could and would heal their friend

Church that is faith

They had faith and its because of that faith that drove them to an encounter with

Jesus

Church the questions must be asked but would carry your friend to meet Jesus

Do you have faith that Jesus is who He says He is

The intersting part is they hadnt met Jesus yet, all they had done was hear about him

Church are excited after you hear about Jesus, are you encouraged?

This is why praise time and fellowship are so important to the body

you might say something that encourages another believer and not know, all because you share about what God is doing in your life

I can tell you this these kids this last week were introduced to Jesus and were given truth to help grow their faith in Jesus

Luke 5:19 NASB95

19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

These men had so much faith in Jesus that they just had to do with whatever they could to get their friend of Jesus

Church I wonder how much faith we have in Jesus

Because church if we believed what we say we believed about Jesus there isn’t anything that would stop us from telling people about Jesus

Or bringing people to Jesus

This verse is all about their desire to get their friend to Jesus

Often times we allow the distractions of life to get in the way of our goal and that comes from not having our priorities in the correct order

When we allow the distractions of this life to get in the way we don’t have the first things first

Think about it they were willing to damage someone else's roof to get their friend to Jesus

Most of us would go well we can just watch a video of it later or we don’t want to impose or dig through someones roof just to get our friend to Jesus

These up to this point haven’t even had an encounter with Jesus yet and they were ripping though some strangers roof to get their friend to Jesus

All because church the believed what they had heard about Jesus

Do you believe Jesus is who he says he is church?

maybe the first question we should ask is do you know what Jesus has said

Do you know that He says not to worry

Do you know that He says his burden is light

Do you know that He says He will give you and I rest

Do you know that He says I love you

Luke 5:20–24 NASB95

20 Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” 22 But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 “But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.”

They encountered the living God Jesus Christ

Jesus goes on to explain to them that because if their faith, because the believed without seeing

That this guys sins are forgiven

Church this is called faith

When you and I believe without seeing

Now right now you and I cannot see the physical God but we can read about Him and when we believe without seeing church that is called faith

These guys encountered God and simply because of their faith that moved them to rip through a roof he was healed!

Then Jesus begins to answer the na sayers in the room

See people start to say things under their breath and Jesus is going to answer them

Some of the people are looking to catch Jesus up in a lie or up in a technicality

Because in this time God is the only one who can forgive sin

So in vs 24 Jesus answers those na sayers and tells the man to get up and walk

Luke 5:25 NASB95

25 Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.

Church this guys gets up and walks out the room

This man is healed because of his faith and his friends faith that caused them to move to action

Their faith caused them to dig through a roof in hopes of lowering their friend down and him meeting Jesus

Jesus says that their faith has made them well

Martin Luther said it is IT was their faith in Jesus that gave them life that resulted in action

The questions maybe you need to write down and begin to answer them

Do I have faith in Jesus

Do I know what Jesus said

Do I believe what Jesus says

These guys did

Because they encountered the living God

Last week church we averaged 104 people each night

We averaged 45 kids who encountered the Living God last week

Closing

Maybe you are here and you have faith in Jesus but you simply need some friends to help you out

Or maybe you are struggling can I encouraged you to run to Jesus, simply be still before the Lord and allow Him to speak

Or maybe you are here today and you do not know Jesus

This morning was the first time you have encountered Jesus

We want to invite you to have a personal relationship with Jesus

Jesus said no one comes to the Father but through me

We want to invite you to the front and open the Word of God up and show you through scripture how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus this morning