WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:01.840 So good morning, Central. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:06.240 I'm just gonna address the the white elephant in the room right away. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:16.160 So a couple weeks ago, I was in the Grand Canyon um hiking with my good friend Joan and my good friend Brenda, beautiful Brenda back there, and my good friend Tammy, who I don't think is here today. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:23.679 And I wish I could tell you like I wrestled a cougar or fought a rattlesnake or something like that, and I tripped and fell and broke my foot. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:24.640 But I really didn't. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:27.760 I I blame my friend Bob Ruprecht, who's right here also. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:34.479 And often Joan and I and my friends are it's it's not your you don't have the microphone, Bob. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:40.880 So often Joan and I and Brenda and Tammy will be hiking and walking, and here's Bob. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:42.240 You guys need to slow down. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:44.000 You're walking too fast. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:45.359 This isn't a power walk. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:47.600 You need to look them up and look at what God gave you. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:50.880 And I did, and I tripped and I fell and I broke my foot. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.479 And that is exactly how Bob sounds in my head. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:00:59.520 Because you heard him before. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:00.719 It's not my phone. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:03.520 But it is. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.840 So anyway, this has not been fun. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.200 I'm not a very good patient. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:09.120 You know how to pray for my husband. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:13.280 And I think it's hilarious how God provides m what, right? 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:14.799 Yeah. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:21.599 It's hilarious how God always provides material because today I'm talking about the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:23.040 So thank you, Jesus. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:28.560 So anyway, we are in the sixth week of a 10-week series called Story, Context, and Symbol. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.000 And we hope you've been enjoying it. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.200 So far, we've talked about Jesus being anointed. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:39.280 We've talked about the strength of Samson, the blind man that is healed at the pool of Saloon, the temptations of Jesus. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:42.239 And last week, Ryan talked about uh living water. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:47.760 And if you've not heard any of those sermons, we would encourage you to go online and take a listen because they are really a blessing. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.439 I really love this whole series. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:51.280 It talks story, context, symbol. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:55.200 It's like taking a story out of the Bible, the Word of God, and breaking it down. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:02:02.400 So not only are you reading a story, because how many of us are guilty of like reading a story and just kind of clouding over the whole thing and then getting on to the next one. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:04.959 But you actually then dig into it and you find the context. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:09.439 So the story itself is like who are the characters, what's happening, and why is it happening? 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:15.680 And then the context is like what's behind the scenes, like why are we in the place where we're at and why is this stuff going on? 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:17.919 And then finally, we encourage you to find a symbol. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:28.800 So another level of meaning, meaning to the story, or what's something that you can pull out of the story that can actually apply to your life or apply to the story as you read it in the future and apply it to our world. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:37.759 So we will continue through this series through like the second part of July, I think, and then we're gonna move into a series called a feast first Peter, and that's gonna be a short one. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:43.759 And then we're gonna end our summer and go into the Fall Fest with the You Pick series, which is very famous around here. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:51.280 You guys get to pick what we talk about, you get to make requests, and then we will do our best to teach you through those messages. 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:56.719 But if we fail, I would encourage you then to go back to story, context, and symbol and figure it out on your own. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:06.639 So today, as I shared, I'm going to be talking about the pool of Bethesda, not to be confused with the pool of Siloam that Ryan talked about, where he was healing a man with mud in the water. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:11.759 There are two different pools, two different stories, both healing with Jesus in different ways. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:14.319 So before we begin, let's pray together. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:21.599 Jesus, I thank you for this opportunity that I can share your word and we can share about your many healing ways in our lives. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.680 And we recognize, God, that we are all broken in different ways. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:29.039 And often it's hard for us to ask for help. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:44.240 Um, and so I pray that if there is anyone in this room today, or if they, as we go home and we go into this mission field and we recognize someone that needs healing, may we have the strength to come alongside them and help them and guide them to you for your powerful healing in our lives. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:50.639 Sometimes it doesn't always look like what we want of God, but we know that you are miraculous and you can do all things. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:55.599 And so I give you these words and um this day, and I thank you for the opportunity to be here. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:56.639 In your name we pray. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:57.520 Amen. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:03:59.919 So, story, context, symbol. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.560 Let's begin with the story that Jamie just shared with us. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:06.960 And Jamie read out of the standard version, which is the black Bible that you have in your pews. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:08.800 I love reading different versions. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:19.120 Some of my favorite is like the NLV or the NIV, but also I really enjoy the message version of the Bible, which is, if you've not heard of it before, it's just a story version of the Word of God. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:22.800 And I wanted to share that version with you today, and the words will be up on the screen. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:28.000 Soon another feast came around, and Jesus was back in Jerusalem, near the sheep gate in Jerusalem. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:32.079 There was a pool in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:36.240 Hundreds of sick people, blind, crippled, paralyzed, were in the alcoves. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:43.120 One man had been invalid for 38 years when Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:44.800 He said, Do you want to get well? 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:49.680 The sick man said, Sir, when the water is stirred, I don't have anybody to put me in the pool. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.399 By the time I get there, somebody else is already in. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.839 And Jesus said, Well, get up, take your bedroll, start walking. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:57.439 Man was healed on the spot. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.519 He picked up his bedroll and he walked off. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:01.279 That day happened to be the Sabbath. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:04.319 The Jews stopped and healed the man and said, It's the Sabbath. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.120 You can't carry your bedroll around, it's against the rules. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.839 But he told them, the man who made me well told me. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:12.560 He said, Get up, take your bedroll, and start walking. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.240 They asked, Who gave you this order to take up and start walking? 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:20.480 But he but the healed man didn't know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:24.560 A little later, Jesus found him in the temple and said, You look wonderful, you're well. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:28.319 Don't return to a sinning life, or something worse might happen. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:32.399 The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:36.959 That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus, because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:41.199 Now there are a lot of similarities in this message compared to what Jamie read us. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:47.279 This is probably a little bit easier version, but in summary, what happened is Jesus visits this healing pool called Bethesda. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:50.560 He heals a man that has been waiting there for 38 years. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:56.079 He does it on the Sabbath, which is a big no-no, and he tells the man, go and sin no more. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:05.519 The characters in our story are Jesus, the lame man, hundreds of other sick people that are sitting around the pool, and of course a few people, Jewish people. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:14.240 The story is only found in the book of John, which I find interesting because most of Jesus' miracles are shared throughout the Gospels and throughout the New Testament. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:17.680 So because it's only in the book of John, what we hear is what we get, right? 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:18.959 It's our interpretation of it. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:27.360 And so if we're missing any small details or we have questions, it's a little bit hard to figure out how to answer those questions, which then forces us to go into the context. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:29.360 What's going on behind the scenes? 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:34.639 If we don't know the answers, then we have this opportunity to dig a little deeper and find out what it is. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:38.160 So, Jesus is in Jerusalem for these three festivals. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:42.079 They're also called the Holy Days, which required all men to be in the city. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:44.639 Sorry, women were not invited to these parties. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:51.680 The three parties are the festival of Passover and unleavened bread, the festival of the harvest, and the festival of shelters. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:56.240 Now, does that sound to to anyone else like rush week on a college campus? 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:57.040 I mean, right? 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:58.720 Any reason to throw a party, right? 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:01.519 My bread didn't raise, let's throw a party. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:03.680 But it's a big deal in those days. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:13.600 And either way, Jesus is in town and he goes to visit this pool of Bethesda, which is derived from the Hebrew language meaning house of mercy or house of grace. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:29.839 We don't know why he goes there, but this place that is known to provide healing waters, supposedly created by an angel that would descend in seasons throughout the year to stir up the water, and then those who are sitting around the pool would race to the stirred water to be healed. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:31.839 The first one in the pool wins, right? 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.079 The first one in the pool is the one that is healed. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:39.279 So you can imagine the clusters of people that needed healing sitting around the edges of the pool. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:48.800 They were physically, mentally, emotionally wounded, and if they believed this story to be true, then when the water was stirred, they would be the first to get in. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:54.399 So they would wait, day after day, month after month, possibly year after year. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:58.480 And then they would race to this false hope to be the first in the pool. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:02.879 I think it's safe to say that all Viking fans can relate to this story. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:17.839 Waiting, season after season, day after day, game after game, sitting on the edges of our seats, hoping for the Super Bowl God to descend upon us, and the Vince Lombardi trophy would be handed to us to heal our committed hearts. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:22.560 And then we have another 14 in two years, and the New York Giants come in and take it away from us. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:24.480 Feel my pain? 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:25.759 So we get it. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.319 We understand the pool of hope. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:36.320 And Jesus comes to the pool to heal the one man, not two, not the many that were sitting around, just the one. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:37.840 Or did he? 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:44.799 Then he slips away into the crowds in the streets of Jerusalem, and the man gets up and walks away with his mat. 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:50.639 And all of this happens on the Sabbath, which is supposed to be the day of rest, the day of worship. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:57.440 He is then approached by some Jews who are concerned when they see him walking and carrying his mat on this day, on the day of Sabbath. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:04.960 And they're living and abiding in their rules, and they don't see that what just happened was mercy at the house of mercy. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.240 Should they be surprised when they find out that it's Jesus? 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:09.840 No, not at all. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.559 By this time, they have heard of Jesus, this teacher that calls himself the Messiah. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:19.120 They've heard of his miracles and his anti-establishmentarism. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:23.759 And they, along with the Romans, are out to get him because he is a threat to them. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:28.159 Which then explains, right, why Jesus sneaks away after he heals this man. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.799 He doesn't need to be acknowledged for what he does. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:43.440 Later, Jesus sees the man in the temple and he tells him simply, go and sin no more, which kind of makes me as the reader, and I'm guessing some of you wonder, did the man commit a sin and that's why he's lame? 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:47.679 Or was Jesus just simply saying to him, I healed you, you're welcome. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.039 Now you may go off and live your life and sin no more. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:58.879 The story and the pools are all fascinating to me, especially after seeing them in March when a team from Central went to Israel and Jerusalem. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:04.799 The pool and the alcoves that can be seen today are significantly below the level of the city. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:11.600 That's because Jerusalem really is a tell site, which is a mound that has been built over several centuries of occupation. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:17.120 Since the time of Christ, the city has been destroyed and rebuilt time and time again. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:27.360 So the pools and the alcoves of Bethesda were unearthed by a German archaeologist in 1956, are actually below the surface of the city and close to the church of St. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:40.159 Anne, near the shape gate, and are true to the location that is described in this story, which is super cool to me, and I'm thinking the whole team that went to Israel, because we were like right there where this actually happened. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:51.679 In fact, several pools were found, some as deep as 40 feet, that would have been used in the time for rituals or mikvas at the time of Jesus when he healed this man, or even before his time. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:58.639 It's an amazing sight to see, and the story really came to life for me as we were a part of the context. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:00.639 We were a part of the land. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:05.279 But also through the context, I found many symbols that jumped out to me. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:11.679 Now, for you as the reader, maybe you're hearing for this for the first time, some of the symbols for you might might have been the water. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:16.240 The people thought that the water was healing, but really Jesus was the living water. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:18.240 He was the healing water. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:21.679 Or maybe when you heard the story, you thought the symbol was the Sabbath. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.600 John 5, 9 through 10 says, At once the man was cured. 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:27.600 He picked up his mat and he walked. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:29.919 The day on which this took place was the Sabbath. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:34.399 And so the Jewish leader said to the man, who has been healed, it is the Sabbath. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:36.960 The law forbids you to carry your mat. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:40.720 Jesus scandalously healed a man on the Sabbath. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:42.480 And it wasn't the first time. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:49.200 He healed Peter's mother-in-law, a man with a withered hand, a blind man, a crippled woman, a man with droopsy. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:53.679 He even was so scandalous that he ate wheat with his disciples on the Sabbath. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:55.600 I know that sounds crazy. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.080 He was just eating, but that's actually work considered. 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:03.279 So his new MO was becoming scandalous for the religious leaders. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:08.639 He was bringing the way, the kingdom of heaven to earth by disrupting the laws of the land. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:14.960 So the symbol of the Sabbath could be for you the power of Jesus in your life over the powers of the world. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:18.480 To me, the symbol was the bed, the bed mat. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:19.679 Why? 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:21.360 Well, for many reasons. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:29.039 I connect with the bed because the bed is safe, it's comfortable, it's a hiding place, it can be an excuse for me. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:32.480 And I can't help but wonder if the lame man felt the same. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.600 When I was a child, the bed was my safety net. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:37.120 Who remembers playing the game? 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:39.679 Toxic water, snakes, and monsters? 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:41.279 No one? 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:44.879 Well, you guys have such sad childhoods. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.840 For my sister and I, this was like a no-brainer game every night. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:55.440 So our bedroom was up in the top level of the house, which really was an attic, but you know, my parents called it a bedroom. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:59.440 And the light switch was on one side of the room, and our bed was on the other side of the room. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:10.960 So the obstacle was to get to the bed without the toxic water, which was the floor, or the snakes, which were any of the weird things that we left on our bedroom floor, or the monsters that were under a bed could attack us, right? 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:17.840 When we finally jumped into the bed, the sense of relief was so overwhelming to my pumping heart and exaggerated mindset. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:24.159 It was finally safe and it was comfortable, and it was the perfect hiding place from those monsters. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:27.679 And at times it was an excuse for things that ailed us. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:37.679 Not only did it save me from the fictitious monsters, but also the emotional and physical monsters in my young life that had a hold on me and I couldn't escape from at the time. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:42.559 So I would retreat to my bed and my bedroom often in my life. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:51.679 So I see this bed as a symbol for so many of us in our hurts, in this world, and in our relationship with Jesus. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:57.279 And the enchanted question that Jesus asked the man then becomes a challenge for all of us. 00:13:57.519 --> 00:13:59.200 Do you want to be healed? 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:08.720 Now, the first many times that I've read this story and I've read that question, I kind of framed it in my mind as more of like Jesus is this magic man or this charismatic man. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:10.639 It's like, hey, do you want to be healed? 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:12.240 Like, I'm the guy, right? 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:19.600 But when we were in Israel, Kent, our guide, phrased it in a different way, or at least I was in a place that I heard it in a different way. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:23.360 He phrased it as, do you want to be healed? 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.240 Are you ready to get off of your bed? 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:29.519 Sounds quite different, doesn't it? 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:31.919 Do you want to be healed? 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:43.759 How long do we live in distress and pain, physical, mental, spiritual, personal, before we are on our knees asking for God to heal us? 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:49.600 This paralyzed man, friends, lived for 38 years on his bed mat. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:50.960 38 years? 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.120 That's half of your lifetime. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:56.480 I can only imagine the defeat he must have felt. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:59.840 And really had no one walked by to help him? 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:02.240 No one in 38 years? 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:05.279 Or was he not in a place to receive it? 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:07.200 Did he not see them? 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:19.600 I would think if I were in his position and I was sitting so close to the pool that as soon as that water would start to stir, even if it was a bug landing like on the surface of the water, I would have been falling into that pool, right? 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:20.879 You think that? 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:25.679 But his entire focus was on himself and the false hope of the water. 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:31.200 He didn't even recognize Jesus when he asked the question, do you want to be healed? 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.039 And he made excuses. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:35.679 He literally said, I can't. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:37.440 No one will help me. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:40.320 Do you know anyone like that? 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.159 Someone who lives in pain? 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:48.879 Someone who chooses to stay on the bed rather than finding a cure? 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:50.879 Most likely you do. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.960 I've been there, not happy about it. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:05.360 But I've sat dangling my feet in the pool right on the edge, complaining, feeling sorry for myself, listing lots of reasons not to seek help. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:14.080 I'm too busy, I don't have time, I'm too tired, I need to walk the dog, I can do it myself, I don't need help. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:17.360 And I curl up in my bed, self-defeated. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:19.919 Can you relate? 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:26.240 And when we relate and we live there, we look like this. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:34.720 We are like the man and hundreds of others sitting on the pool of false hope. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:36.639 And why do we do it? 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:39.200 Because we feel safe. 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:41.840 No one can hurt us there, right? 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.360 And it's feel comfortable, it's what we know. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.799 How many people do you know sit in abusive relationships because it's what they know? 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:52.639 And you're like, get out of it. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:57.840 From the outside looking in, we can have a million reasons of why they should be out of that relationship. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:16:59.360 But it's what they know. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:00.960 It's comfortable. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:04.319 Or it makes a perfect hiding place, doesn't it? 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:08.640 For those who have dealt with addiction for years and brokenness. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:12.640 I can hide in my addiction, I can hide on my bed mat. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:20.079 I don't have to answer to anybody, nor do I have to face my issues in the past or my brokenness. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:31.359 Or perhaps you like to just live on the bed mat because it's a good excuse and I can get attention from it, negative or positive, and I can get sympathy from people. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:34.240 And what does Jesus do in that? 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:37.440 He says, get up and start walking. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.880 In our story, Jesus brushed off the excuses. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.799 He entered into the situation of misery and he healed him. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:49.039 And that man got up, he picked up his bed mat and he walked. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:51.920 His healing wasn't in the false hope of the pool. 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:55.920 It was in the stranger that gave him renewed life and renewed faith. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:57.359 And that was Jesus. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:05.519 And I have to believe that he also gave renewed hope for all of those sitting and watching and waiting to be healed on the side of the pool. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:10.880 How many on-watchers do you think became believers and followers that day? 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:12.480 They were healed. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.839 And Jesus does the same for you and for me. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:18.880 Is it easy to live in our pain and in our suffering? 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:20.720 No, absolutely not. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:30.000 And Ryan and Ben and I and this team and this staff would never want to be saying to you, get up and just start walking, because that feels cold and hard. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:40.720 But I would hope we would say to you, we're going to walk alongside you, we're going to introduce you to Jesus, and we're going to let you know of the promises and the hopes that he has in your relationship with him. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:42.880 And Jesus does just that. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.839 Have hope and promises, even in the worst scenario. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:52.079 When there is no earthly cure to our wounds, Jesus will be your hope and your healing water. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:59.599 Our family friend walked this journey 18 years ago this month when his seven-year-old son Tucker went home to be with Jesus. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:02.559 Tucker fought liver cancer for nine months. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:04.079 Is that fair? 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:05.200 Nope. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:09.119 No child, and no parent should ever have to walk that path. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:20.240 But I believe Jesus healed him on his mat, on this bed, as Tucker and his family heard the news that there would be no cure and this little boy prepared to die. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:24.960 Prior to his cancer, Tucker and his dad rarely talked about Jesus. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:32.559 They did the social thing of going to church on Sunday and went to Sunday school and things like that, but it was not a daily conversation for them. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:37.440 But through the nine-month journey, Tucker started asking the faith questions. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:39.039 Who is Jesus? 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:40.960 What does heaven look like? 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:43.359 And will you be there with me, Daddy? 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:51.839 And the day Tucker died in his daddy's arms, he confirmed his healing in his last words when he asked his dad, Am I going to heaven? 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.680 And his daddy said confidently, absolutely, buddy. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:59.039 Because he knew and trusted in his faith. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:11.359 Tucker experienced the grace of God and healing in that confidence, and fear did not have a hold on him because he believed in the healing waters of Jesus and he opened his heart to his eternity. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:14.880 Matthew's gospel says, Ask and it will be given to you. 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:16.480 Seek and you will find. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:20.000 Knock the door at the door and it will be opened for you. 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.240 And that is what Tuck experienced. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:27.200 And as the scripture says, seize the moment, that is what that family did. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:32.799 Friends, our God is excited to bless his children that pray and have a relationship with him. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:40.240 It may not be what we pray for, but he is always, always a giving God who will love and who will heal us well. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:48.240 Central, as we move into the worship song and the ushers come forward to receive your gifts, ask yourself this. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:50.160 What is your bed? 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.759 What is the place where you are stuck? 00:20:54.240 --> 00:21:04.079 The thing on which you are fixated, the false hope that takes your eyes off of Jesus, and then ask yourself, what will get you up and remind you to start walking? 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.119 Because that is where Jesus desires for you to be. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:13.680 He desires for us to take our eyes off of our own pools of Bethesda, the pools of false hope. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:19.759 And he wants us to move into a place that is a part of his plan and where we can be fully healed. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:28.799 And in and through that, friends, the false hopes of this world will go away because we will be living in the healing and the hopes of Jesus. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:29.759 Amen.