Doin' the Most

Welcome

Hey family. Welcome to the Pittman home. We are so glad that you would join us in our home and allow us to join you in yours. It is my most sincere desire to ensure that you know that you are in our prayers. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks have turned into month(s), no matter the time that passes, God isn’t passing you by. Your church family is with you. Stay connected. Stay encouraged. Stay engaged. We have virtual communities, prayer requests, praise reports, social media, resources to strengthen you. Don’t let this season go to waste. I believe He can and will make beauty from ashes if we press in.

Chronicles of a King

Today we continue in our series, Chronicles of a King. Over the next few weeks, we are going to continue to examine powerful moments in the life and ministry of Jesus. Get caught up on the series because I believe each pericope, each section is rich in encouragement. Our foundational passage is...

Luke 4:18–19 ESV

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Scripture

Mark 2:1–12 ESV

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!”

Language Highlight

Immediately: Without hesitation, straightaway; Enthusiastically

Today I want to talk for a moments about focus and mamba mentality. (Kobe Bryant) Doing whatever it takes to win. In our culture there is a phrase, “doing the most”. In essence, it means a person that is extra; that goes above and beyond. It can have a negative connotation to it but the more I consider it, I believe we see all throughout the ministry of Jesus where people went out of there way to get to Him…let’s talk about it. Today’s message is, Doing the Most.

Prayer

Lord, we thank you for being with us. We ask for open eyes, open hears, open hearts, the name of Jesus.

Illustration

When I think of people in our family, pretty much all of you are A LOT. Your mom break is capable of breaking out into a song and dance at any moment, like we are in the middle of Tyler Perry play. Our life is a musical. Your brother with his imaginary jump shots. Then you…where do I even begin? Your independence and focus is a beautiful thing, but you do not like to sit still...

Transition

I think by nature, we all have a version of ourselves that is capable of turning up a little bit. A version of ourselves that knows how to get after it and not taking no for answer. It does however make me wonder, why are we able to wait in line for hours for our favorite amusement park ride, but struggle to consistently hop online to engage the community and presence of God, we can’t give it an hour. We can scroll social media, but we have a difficult time reading the Word of God. This is not condemnation, it is an observation of our culture where we do value Jesus, we just don’t prioritize it. We value people, we just don’t prioritize them. We value healing, we just don’t prioritize them.

Our priorities determine our reality

Observations

Jesus

This is early in the ministry of Jesus but the word is getting out. After a quick tour, he goes to HQ, Capernaum. He is in His home, and it draws a massive crowd. Notice, Jesus did ministry in villages, synagogues, on water, mountains, wilderness…and homes! There is a place for miracles in your home, as long as your home makes a place for Jesus. The home is filled to capacity. Scholars believe that means around 50 people. It was filled with visitors, followers, critiques, Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus was preaching the Word of God; not spiritualizing His opinion.

4 Men

They hear that Jesus is in town. So they prioritize their life by making decisions to change the reality of their friend. They get their friend, carry him to the place where Jesus is and they can’t get in. It is at capacity. They could not get to Jesus because of the crowd. The crowd was preventing them from getting to Jesus. The crowd became an obstacle. What are things that are barriers that can keep people from Jesus?

Fear, insecurity, condemnation, shame,

The men could have been content with that. They could have waiting until the gathering was over and approached Jesus afterwards, but there was something in them that said, we have come too far to give up now. They climbed on the roof, with their friend in hand, “unroofed” or dug a hole in the roof, got a rope of some sort, lowered their friend into the presence of Jesus. They did the most! What are some of the things we can do, to position ourselves/friends and/or family, in the presence of God?

Image God: be an example. People will struggle to surrender to the God we serve, if there is no evidence that we serve God. I can either impact the world or I can imitate it, but I can’t do both.

1 John 2:15 ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Jesus sees their faith

There is something so powerful about this statement…Jesus see their faith!!! It wasn’t an intellectual endeavor. It was not a silent hope. It was not a private prayer…it was noticeable.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Can Jesus see my faith in my marriage? Work? Family? Time? Finances? Mark’s miracle stories. The noun or verb appears in four healing narratives (Mark 2:1–12; 5:25–34; 5:21–24, 35–43; 10:46–52; cf. Mark 6:5–6a). It always involves actions that transcend human obstacles or limitations and cross social boundaries (crowds—Mark 2:4 and Mark 10:48; futility and shame—Mark 5:26–27, 33; death—Mark 5:35). And in each case faith is seen in the actions taken to receive Jesus’ help. The woman’s actions in Mark 5:25–34 prove to be an expression of her “faith” and a paradigm for similar efforts by others in Mark 3:10 and Mark 6:56 to “touch” Jesus.

Points

Miracles are never painted on the canvas of comfort.

Persistent

They did not leave it in committee either. They got going! Jesus lauded this type of action in the enigmatic saying, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12). Those who really want something spiritually and “go for it” are the ones who get it. When the four tore through the roof, they took the Kingdom by violent, determined force. Such faith unleashes God’s power. Stop thinking a closed door means no, when the yes is on the roof!

Creative

Their faith was also creative. Undoubtedly some were standing by who, seeing the others’ success, said “Why didn’t I think of that?” The answer is, they did not believe as passionately and love as much as the four. A faith which truly believes that Christ is the only way will be inventive!

Sacrificial

Also, their faith was sacrificial. Somebody would have to pay for the roof or fix it, and that would take time, labor, and expense. A faith that brings Christ’s power to the world is always willing to pay the price.

Closing

Jesus says to the paralytic, SON! One moment with God can change your identity. He says that his sins are forgiven. This created a problem for the critiques. We will address this a little more in this weeks episode of After the Message. However, I want us to see something…

Jesus addresses the core issue unforgiveness. As long as he was in an unforgiven state, he was unable to move forward. There is few things that can paralyze us more than unforgiveness. Many of us have been buffering in paralyzed prison of pain because we haven’t processed forgiveness.

Jesus heals the man and he immediately jumps up, grabs his mat and walks past the very people that initially blocked his path. The crowds response was…we have never seen anything like this. If we want to see what we have never seen, we have to do what we have never done!