You get by with a little help from your friends!

Suriname is a multicultural nation in South America whose national language is Dutch. Dr. Douglass Norwich shared an eye-witness account in Suriname.

Believers went out and began to share their faith with surprised neighbors, who had never known the Christians to act this way before. That night, many non-Christians gathered at the church---a few of them hostile. One hostile visitor, perhaps in his seventies, had been paralyzed on his right side virtually all his life. Because he could not walk, his friends had brought him on a blanket or rug and plopped him down on the ground in front of Norwood.

This man was not happy. “Your religion is garbage!” he shouted. “My religion is garbage to! I’ve prayed Shiva, and to Vishnu, and to my other gods, and nothing happens. ow you want me to pray to Jesus?”

As he uttered the name of Jesus, his paralyzed arm suddenly shot up into the air. He stared at his own arm, shocked. No one had to pray for him, but when he mentioned Jesus, God healed his paralysis. Norwood reports, “At that instant, he jumped up, grabbed my mike, and began screaming, ‘Look what Jesus did for me?’ as he danced around, waving his now-healed arm in the air.” the other visitors were converted almost as quickly as he was.

Thousands came to Christ over the next weeks and months.

Mark 2:1–12 HCSB

1 When He entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message to them. 3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, thinking to themselves: 7 “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Right away Jesus understood in His spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He told the paralytic, 11 “I tell you: get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12 Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Introduction

Now, folks, the business of the church, and therefore your business and my business, is to bring people to Jesus Christ. Our message is the gospel; our mandate is the Great Commission; our Master is Jesus, who has commanded us to go. We have the privilege and the duty to bring souls bound in the golden chains of the gospel and lay them at Jesus’ feet; no greater achievement on this earth than to bring a soul to Jesus Christ. I want to talk to you today about bringing people to Jesus. Now, look with me in Mark chapter 2 for a moment. Take your Bibles and open your Bibles to Mark chapter 2. We’re going to be on some familiar territory today, but very pertinent. There’s a passage of Scripture that I believe most of us have read many times. There’s a story; it’s such a sweet story; I think most of us were taught it in Sunday School as children: “And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.” That is, Jesus is there, and the publicity gets out that Jesus is in a particular house. “And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne”—or “carried”—“of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.” (Mark 2:1–12)

Use your imagination. I want you to go with me now to a sleepy fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, a quaint village in a beautiful spot. Now there is a house, and in that house is Jesus. It’s the ordinary house of that day: it is square; it’s made of stones; it may or may not have a dirt floor. There is nothing that we know that says it did or didn’t. We know it has a door; most likely it has windows; it has a flat roof. This roof, if it was typical, had been made by stretching saplings around poles across from wall to wall. On top of those poles, mud and straw and sand have been put together, and then on top of that there are tiles. And generally there would be a stairwell going up from the outside, because on the roof there was a place where they dry certain goods and clothes. And sometimes in the evenings they would go up and sit on the roof, very much like one of our patios.

Now this house is crammed with people, there’s no room inside, and people are all around the door pressing to get in. People, I suppose, are looking into the window, because Jesus is there and Jesus is preaching. Now, folks, there was a lot of excitement there that day. And I believe there ought to be excitement, and I believe there will be excitement, where Jesus is present.

Now, let me tell you something else. There ought to be crowds. Never ever minimize crowds. You’re going to find out that when Jesus is present and God is working there is the attracting power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen. The Bible says that Jesus saw the multitude and He had compassion on them. (Matthew 14:14)

You study history: wherever God is moving, there are great crowds. John Wesley—I was reading about his life—John Wesley had services where he would preach to twenty thousand in an open field, can you imagine? No P.A. system. When Moody went to London, he had a great big tabernacle that was built that would seat eleven thousand people. Spurgeon’s Tabernacle was a huge thing, where he preached, in London, England.

In the Bible times, the Bible says when Elijah the prophet was preaching, all Israel went out to hear him. Can you imagine the crowds that must have been there? There were great crowds when John the Baptist preached down by the river Jordan. On the day of Pentecost, three thousand souls were saved in one service. Now if three thousand were saved in one service, how many people do you think must have been there in order for three thousand people to have been saved in that one service?

Thank God for the crowds. Thank God for the numbers. But in this story the emphasis is not so much on the crowds; the emphasis is on one man that four men brought to Jesus. He was a paralyzed man, and these four men said, “We’ve got to get him to Jesus.” They got a palate, or a stretcher; one man got at each corner; they brought him there; and they couldn’t get into the house because there were so many people round about. So they had to think. They said, “We know what we’ll do: we’ll take him up on the roof, we’ll tear up the roof, and we’ll let him down at the feet of Jesus.”

People are on the inside. They hear a noise. They hear a pounding on the roof. Little bits of sand begin to fall down their collars; the splinters float down. They look up. They can see the sunlight, and then they see a hand that reaches in, and then another hand, and then another, and another, and another—eight hands are pulling back the tile and the roof. Suddenly there’s an opening in the roof—I would imagine it’s about two or three feet wide, about six feet long. And then they see four faces looking down. And then they see coming down a stretcher, and they’re lowering it by ropes—pretty smart, pretty ingenuous, pretty creative. And here comes this man—he’s paralyzed—right down to the feet of Jesus. And the Bible says in verse 5, “When Jesus saw their faith,”—the faith of these four men—“he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Mark 2:5)

You see, his great need was not primarily for his body, but for his soul, his spirit—the forgiveness of sins. Now, what a wonderful, wonderful story that is! We all know that story, and thank God for it; but I want us to learn something today about a concern for souls, because in my estimation, the thing that is needed in Bellevue Baptist Church today, about as much as anything else, and in the churches of those of you who are listening to me today wherever you may be, is this: a genuine and compassionate concern for souls.

Now I want to tell you what kind of concern they had.

What lead to the Miracle we see before us:

Come from away

there were other types of people.

There were the crippled. They have a physical problem.

They need help. they need someone to take them to Jesus.

Then there were the careless.

1. Always hanging in the back are the Critical.

1. The unnamed heroes were the friends who had a Compassionate Concern.

They listen to Jesus, but they don’t apply His Word or share his concern. They simply take joy in what they get, not what they give. they want the light to shine on them. They are not satisfied unless the wind fills their sails.

If you ever find yourself always asking what you can get out of Jesus and the church rather than what you can give to Jesus. When you stop thinking about who you can bring to Jesus, you’ve left your high calling. And you will experience the high price of low living at some point.

Simon Sinek met a Navy Seal and asked who makes it as a Seal. the Seal said, I can’t tell you who will make it, but I can tell you who won’t make it. The Star athlete that never struggled in his life. He used to the light and the attention, he has never been tested to the core of his being. He won’t make it. The guys who think they’re a leader because they delegate the responsibility, none of them make it through because they don’t know how to get down in the dirt with others. The big tough guys with the big muscles trying to prove to everyone how tough they are, none of them make it through.

He said some of the guys that make it through look like skinny scrawny guys like pre-captain America. Some of the guys who shiver and shake with fear, they make it through. He said, when these guys are emotionally exhausted, when they have been physically extended, someway, somehow, they’re able to dig down deep inside themselves to help the guy next to them. Service, giving to another, having their back is what makes some of the highest performing teams in the world. It’s not their intelligence and not their strength. It’s their willingness to be there for each other.

These are the people that find a cloud with every silver lining. They have a PROBLEM FOR every praise.

1 Corinthians 10:9–13 (NLT)

9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. 12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Critical people need Jesus more than they realize.

Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (C. The Critical)

There were some who criticized these people for getting that man to Jesus and they criticized Jesus for what Jesus did for that man. They said, “Who can forgive sins, but God only?” You know, it doesn’t take a lot of size to criticize. It’s so easy to criticize. It’s so easy to find fault. People come to churches, you know, and they look around. They don’t like the sermon. They don’t like the singing. They don’t like the special music. It’s too hot. It’s too cold. They didn’t do this. They didn’t do that. They don’t like the ushers. They don’t like the teacher.Hey, folks, listen. If you’re looking for something to criticize, any place you can find it. I’ll tell you something else. If you’re looking for a blessing, you can find it, too. There were people there that day, and there was the very Son of God working miracles in their midst, and here are these poor folks carping and criticizing and finding fault.

2 Christ doesn’t need any more Critics or Careless Christians.

It’s one thing if people don’t like you because of Christ. But its a whole other world if they don’t care for Christ because of you.

2 He wants you to be Creative in bringing people to Christ.

2 Use the Power of Cooperation to bring people to Christ.

Some people will come through events. Some through friendship. Some through

Take aways:

Remember the joy of your salvation.

Come from away

The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, may not seem like the obvious inspiration for a feel-good musical — but the heartwarming true story behind the sold-out Broadway hit Come from Away is a tale of generosity and kindness that’s stayed largely under-the-radar for years.

With critics singing its praises, celebrity visitors already flocking to it (including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who brought first daughter Ivanka Trump and UN ambassador Nikki Haley to Wednesday’s performance) and a Best Musical Tony nomination all-but guaranteed, Come from Away is already on track to be one of Broadway’s biggest success stories of the year.

But the true story behind it is one that deserves all the standing ovations.

The action takes place on the Canadian island of Newfoundland — thousands of miles away from New York City’s World Trade Center, Washington D.C.’s Pentagon, and Pennsylvania’s Somerset County.

With the Federal Aviation Agency immediately closing the United States’ airspace in the hours following the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history, Canadian air traffic control stepped in to help.

As part of Operation Yellow Ribbon, they landed 38 jumbo jets and four military flights bound for the United States at Newfoundland’s Gander International Airport — the nearest sizable airport on the continent.

Ironically, Gander was a thriving military post during World War II, and for years was used as a refueling point for transatlantic aircrafts unable to make it across the ocean. Until 9/11, the very high-powered jumbo jets that landed there that day virtually put Gander out of business, since their tanks were big enough to make the trip without stopping.

As a result of the detour, 6,759 passengers and airline crew members — plus 9 cats, 11 dogs, and a pair of endangered apes — arrived in Gander, descending on the small northeastern town (and its nearby villages) and nearly doubling its population of 9,651. One might expect residents to feel overwhelmed by the onslaught heading their way. (After all, the sheer amount of people presented a startling logistics crisis — with challenges surrounding food, housing, transportation, supplies and translators.) But the Canadians lived up to the their kind reputation, and opened their doors to the American refugees — dropping everything to host and comfort them until the airspace reopened and all flights once again departed (roughly 5 days later).

Perfect strangers were invited into people’s homes – where meals, beds, and new clothes awaited them. Striking school bus drivers put down their picket signs and volunteered to transport people from their planes. Schools were converted into makeshift shelters. Restaurants and bakeries donated food, while pharmacies provided everything from diapers to medication to feminine products.

Group cookouts were planned. Phone and computer centers were set up. Walmart cashiers invited perfect strangers home for warm showers. An empty airline hanger was turned into an animal shelter, where the pets — many of which were traveling alone — could stretch and run.

No one was charged for anything, NPR reported. When asked what they owed, “the plane people” were often told in response , “You’d do the same for us.”

Do you remember being hopeless, crippled, hungry, spiritually thirsty before finding Christ. Someone took you in and shared the gospel. Someone opened their heart, home and church for you.

Our remembering our time before and of our salvation reminds us to pass it on.

What would it look like if we reached as many people for the Lord over the next year. We will be housing kids in a Daycare etc. Touching families in outreach and services.

Consider the crippled state of other’s without Christ.

Be thankful for opportunities to serve.

Examine your heart to avoid the crippling effect of carelessness and criticism.

James 4:6 NLT

6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”