WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:06.959 Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:16.399 Y'all, I uh we just had Tex Mex for the first time a couple days ago, and uh I think we're gonna have that every day now, let me tell you. 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:18.239 Uh we're big fans. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.839 Hey, um before we go any further, I do want to do something real quickly, though. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.920 We got to spend some time with uh your elders last night. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:32.399 And I didn't run this by y'all, so I'm sorry, but um you guys, the future of Gateway is really bright. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:34.240 Like it's really bright. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.240 The Lord is doing something remarkable in this place, in this house, and through these leaders. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:45.359 And I just want you to know, man, I'm I'm sincerely so honored to be here uh to get a small glimpse of it. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:48.240 And I'm I'm so excited for the future of this community and this church. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:49.280 It's really, really exciting. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:50.719 Would you do me a favor, by the way? 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:56.240 Can we just make uh like an obnoxious amount of noise and welcome the people that are joining us online wherever they're joining from? 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:58.079 Just like great, yeah. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.959 Uh as was mentioned, my name is uh Ian. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:06.239 I'm here with my lovely wife, Katie. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:10.480 Here's a photo of our family right here looking cooler than we normally look. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:12.239 You'll you'll see it in a there there. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:12.560 We are. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:15.840 So Owen, Redmond, and Ezra, seven, six, and two. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:18.400 So we're sleeping a lot in our house right now. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:22.480 Let me tell you, I am a recovering homeschool kid from Detroit, Michigan. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:24.239 Um, where are my homeschoolers at? 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.560 Any of the oh, right on. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:27.040 Okay. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:33.840 Uh moved to Chicago where I met the love of my life, and then we moved on to Nashville and are part of the bridge for the last four years, and we're just loving it. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:36.400 Um we're gonna be in Mark chapter two today. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.879 If you want to turn or swipe that right now, you can. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.439 And I just I love this series that y'all are in. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:45.920 I just think this is such an important word, such an important topic for us to dive into. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:49.680 And something that we do at the bridge every week that I'd love to invite you into. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.120 It's something that a mentor taught me like 20 years ago. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:57.760 Uh, every time before we approached the word of God, he would say, It's important to assume this prayer posture. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:59.599 So I'd love to invite you to this posture. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:04.879 And I know that we prayed a lot today, but if prayer is simply keeping company with God, can we do it too much? 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:08.400 And so he would say every time, he said, This is a posture that says two things. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:10.400 It's a posture of letting go. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:15.759 And listen, I have no idea what you need to let go of today, but I trust that God does. 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:18.240 And it's also a posture of receiving. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:22.879 And listen, I have no idea what you need to receive today, but I trust that God does. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:28.000 So with this posture, I invite all of us to go before the Lord as we pray, and then we'll jump right in. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:34.479 God, thank you for the gift of your presence right here in our midst. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:39.199 God, would you open our eyes to how it is that you are at work in us and through us and all around us? 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:40.400 Thank you for this community. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:43.919 Thank you for its leaders, for what it is that we sense that you are stirring here, God. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.680 Help us to let go of whatever it is we we maybe we've been white-knuckling in this season that we've been clinging to. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:51.599 Help us to let that go to you. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:53.919 But also, God, help us to receive. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.599 We don't want to just simply sing songs and hear words, Holy Spirit. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:01.199 We ask that you would do a work in us that only you can do, God. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:03.199 Would you move in our midst? 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:05.439 Help us to receive exactly what it is you have for us today. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:10.560 We thank you and we love you, and we pray all these things in the resurrected name of Jesus. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:12.080 And all God's people said. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:13.680 Amen. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:19.919 Have you ever um you ever looked back at an old photo of yourself and thought, what was I thinking? 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:22.479 You ever had that experience before? 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.719 There was a time in my life where I thought I could pull off long hair. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:28.240 Here's exhibit A. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:35.919 Um I'm guessing by your laughter, you're with me. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.240 I cannot pull that off. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.280 This is the perfect example of why we need community. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:45.599 This is why I look at this photo and I think that I not have any friends. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.400 No one to pull me aside and say, Hey, Ian, we love you, bud. 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:50.319 Um, that look is not for you. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:57.599 Uh, a couple months ago, my seven-year-old asked me, he said, Papa, um, have you ever heard of teenage mutant ninja turtles? 00:03:57.840 --> 00:03:59.280 And I said, Child. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.680 And then I showed him this photo of me from college. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:08.879 Um yes, Shredder's mask is made of aluminum foil. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:14.000 And I will tell you, we couldn't find any paint, so instead we used green food coloring. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:16.160 Some of you are ahead of me. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:18.560 That does not come off nearly as easily. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:22.160 And for like the next week or two, everyone kept asking me, Are you feeling okay? 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:24.160 You look a little sick right now. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:28.000 And I tell those stories, I trust you with those stories to say this. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.199 Uh, community informs trajectory. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:35.360 Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.639 As Darren Hardy writes in the compound effect, he said, according to research by social psychologist Dr. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:50.639 David McLellan of Harvard, the people you habitually associate with determine as much as 95% of your success or failure in life. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:54.800 Community informs trajectory. 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:57.680 Show me your friends and I'll show you your future. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:04.160 It reminds me of this timeless truth from the book of Proverbs that says, walk with the wise and become wise. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.680 Walk with the foolish and paint yourself green. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:08.560 I think. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:11.680 I put was at it. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:19.680 Now, I think at this point, most of us intuitively know like who we spend time with, who is investing in us, and who we invest in matters. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:27.360 But the truth is, a lot of us are trying to go through this thing called life relatively alone, and the statistics are staggering. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.079 Here's just a few from the National Library of Medicine. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:34.319 Uh, 52% of Americans report feeling deeply alone. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:38.639 73% of millennials say they are repeatedly lonely. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:50.720 47% say their relationships with others are not meaningful, and 58% of Americans right now say they sometimes or always feel that no one even knows them well. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:58.319 So if you're wondering if a sermon series on community mattered or was timely, there's your answer. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:05.600 In fact, the same study revealed that 25% of people admitted they have no one that they consider a close confidant. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:07.680 One in four. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:10.639 I mean, do do the math, right? 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.040 One, two, three, no one for you. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:16.879 Sorry, just one. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:25.519 That's we we are in a dire situation when it comes to actually knowing others and being known. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:35.920 In addition, loneliness is likely to increase your risk of death by 26% and is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:39.120 Now, I'm not suggesting we all go take up smoking now. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.319 That's not what that's not the conclusion that I'm going for. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:49.439 And I know that when I share stats like that, some of you are very surprised by that, but others of you are thinking, yeah, that sounds exactly right. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:55.360 And I want you to know that what I'm what I'm gonna share is I I am not speaking from a place of like I've arrived. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:07:04.000 In fact, this is an area of my life that I have deeply struggled in to truly know and and be known, to actually journey faithfully with other people. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:08.160 I have been in these loneliness statistics numerous times myself. 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:14.720 And what I'm hoping that we'll see today is that isolation was never God's plan for us. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.519 It was never his design for us. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:24.560 In fact, there's a TED talk by a guy named Johann Hari who talks about this experiment in Vancouver in the 1980s involving rats. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:36.079 And the experiment is essentially this when rats were isolated for a long period of time and given the option between uh pure water and drug-laced water, they took the drug-laced water every time. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:47.519 He said, But then when you put those same rats in a community of other rats and allowed them to actually spend time in their community when offered the same option, they very rarely went for the drug-laced water. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:55.439 And he said, as humans, many of us have this same kind of behavior that when we live in isolation, we often try to fill the void with some kind of addiction. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:08:03.600 And it might not be a substance, it could be an addiction to success or an addiction to platform or recognition. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:06.720 And then he made this comment in this TED talk. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:11.199 He says, the opposite of addiction isn't sobriety, it's connection. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.600 And I just found that to be so profound. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:18.160 God designed us from the very beginning for connection and community. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:21.360 We saw this all the way back in the book of Genesis, right? 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:28.079 Each day God creates, he kind of steps back and he gives himself a celestial high five and he goes, Oh, that's good. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:35.519 I'm not sure he said it like Matthew McConaughey, but I'm assuming he was stepping back and he was just sort of marveling at what they created. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:40.399 And the first time that he steps back and says, Oh, that's not good, is when he sees Adam alone. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.759 Loneliness and isolation was never a part of the plan. 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:50.960 And as Lisa did a brilliant job last week talking about, God is unto himself a community, Father, Son, and Spirit. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:55.759 And so we are made in the image and likeness of a God who is community. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:01.759 So I would raise this question: how can we know the God of community if we ourselves are not in community? 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:10.559 If we are made in the image and likeness of a God who is relationship, why would we think that we could fully know God outside of relationship? 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:24.080 Eugene Peterson puts it this way: He says, There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus, no wholeness in the Christian life apart from an immersion in and embrace of community. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.039 I am not myself by myself. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:31.279 And with every passing year, I find that to be more and more true. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:34.240 So we're gonna dive into uh Mark chapter two. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:40.480 And again, I loved last week Lisa talked about uh how she likes brick and mortar Bibles, and I uh I think I think I agree. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:53.200 So if you have a Bible, whether brick and mortar or digital, turn to Mark two, and it's a familiar story, but I I want you to suspend maybe the conclusions that you already have and see if maybe God doesn't want to teach us something new in this story. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:56.000 So I'm gonna read the first couple of verses starting in verse one. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:01.919 It says a few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:03.519 So Jesus is coming home. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:10.639 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:15.600 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:25.440 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it, and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.320 Okay, so a little bit of uh uh context here. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:33.519 So Jesus is returning to Capernaum, and at this point he's no longer like an unknown rabbi. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:39.440 People have heard of him, crowds are starting to gather, and apparently so many that sometimes you couldn't even get into the house. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:41.679 Word has spread, people are talking. 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:46.480 Now, Capernaum was a thriving fishing village on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:52.480 After being rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus kind of made Capernaum sort of his home base. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.279 So when he came home, it was a big deal. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.320 And then we meet this paralyzed man. 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:05.279 And this man was not just lying on this mat, he was living on it. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:10.159 This is hard for a lot of us to comprehend, but that was his entire existence. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.519 I don't know how big it was, but I want you to imagine what life must have been like. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:18.240 He couldn't leave the mat, he couldn't dress himself, he couldn't go to the bathroom by himself. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:22.080 There was no way for him to provide for himself. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:29.440 And this is just conjecture, but do you think he ever had dreams at night where he dreamt of dancing with his wife? 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.399 Or like running with his kids? 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:38.480 And then every morning he would wake up again, struck with the reality of his circumstance. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:42.000 But he does have one thing going for him, and that's his friends. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:45.039 And these are these are real friends. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:49.039 These are like through thick and thin types of friends, not just acquaintances. 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:50.559 They had compassion on him. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:55.360 And when they hear that Jesus, the miracle worker is in town, they have this thought. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.080 We have to get him to Jesus. 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:01.679 So they get to the house, and there's no room at all, not even outside. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:08.399 So verse 4 tells us this uh since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they quit, gave up, and went home. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:10.399 Right? 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.000 Isn't that what your text says? 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.399 They sat outside waiting, hoping that they could see Jesus eventually. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:22.320 No, it says they got to the house, assessed the circumstances, and they got creative. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.559 They got resourceful, they got innovative. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.879 This is how real community looks. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.840 Gospel community is persistent. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:33.279 It doesn't look at circumstances and say, well, I guess this isn't gonna work. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:34.559 I guess we'll just go home. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.639 It sees problems, it sees obstacles, and says, we're gonna have to get creative. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.960 I'm told that there's something called Texas grit. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:41.840 Is that true? 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:43.360 This is what Google told me. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:47.519 Uh, you tell a Texan they can't do something and they'll just find another way. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:49.120 Is that true? 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:51.679 This is a picture of Texas grit. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:53.279 Can't go through the front door? 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:54.559 All right, we'll just go on the roof then. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.200 I imagine maybe the architect was like, I have an idea. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:01.759 Now, in the first century, uh the roofs didn't look like what maybe many of us would imagine. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:04.240 They weren't they weren't pitched, they were often flat. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:06.960 And they were used in a lot of cases like patios. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:10.720 They were made of uh two feet of reeds, dried mud, and sticks. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.720 And so this would have been an endeavor. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:19.919 So anyway, they they climb up this roof and they just kind of start remodeling and they lower the man right in front of Jesus. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:28.399 Now, again, for a lot of us, this story is really familiar, but I want us to pause and imagine what that must have been like for the different people in the story. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.759 One, um, imagine you're the owner of the house. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:37.919 Like you start feeling debris in your head, and he's like, I don't think State Farm's gonna cover this. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.200 Like, I don't know. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:43.120 Two, imagine you're in the crowd. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:45.360 Imagine you're someone who doesn't like interrupt. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:47.039 Imagine if that happened in here. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:50.879 Like in the middle of me talking, stuff just started falling, and they're like, hey, don't mind us. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:53.120 We're just lowering a body in front of you all. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:55.840 Like, what must have that experience been like? 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:57.919 And then three, and I've never really thought about this. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:59.919 Imagine you're the guy on the mat. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.360 Can we all admit that would be a little awkward? 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:07.039 Like, he knows he's crashing the party and he's like slowly being lowered. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:11.840 He's like, hey guys, so sorry that they're doing it. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:12.720 It's not mine. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:19.039 So before we read the second half of the story, I want to make a couple observations about what we know and what we see so far in this story. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:22.720 Number one, in community, we carry each other's mat. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.039 And here's what I mean by that. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:26.639 Every single one of us has a mat. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:33.600 Some of us, our mats, are very obvious, they're very external, with very real needs. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.159 But for many of us, our mats are much more hidden. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:40.960 It's maybe a crippling fear, it's financial stress, it's marital tension. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.519 The truth is, we all have a mat. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:47.120 In this story, this man's mat represents his brokenness. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:51.679 And often it is our brokenness that keeps us away from community. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:53.519 It keeps us in isolation. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:55.600 I don't want you to actually see my stuff. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:58.559 We're afraid to let people get too close. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:05.440 Here's the truth I want to tell you today is this that God meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:22.080 God meets you exactly in your circumstance, in whatever brokenness you're carrying, whatever thing that you've been trying to keep secret or keep people at arms, like God meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be, not where we post about where we want to be. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:28.320 Ask yourself today, do I actually allow people close enough to see the actual tough stuff in my life? 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:33.200 Now, the flip of that is another question that's been challenging for me is whose mad am I carrying? 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.440 Am I actually knowing other people well enough? 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:43.440 I think this paralyzed man's friends could have thought, we don't want to get too close to that because that might require something of us. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:47.759 We often keep a distance from people who are not like us or appear a little messy. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:52.240 But here's the truth that I find again and again and again presence is the medium of love. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:54.559 Who needs your presence this week? 00:15:54.799 --> 00:16:00.000 To say, hey, I might not have any easy solutions for you, but I'm I am with you in the midst of this. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:04.159 Number two, um, in community we do the hard work. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:07.360 In community, we do the hard work. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:13.039 Someone else's miracle might be on the other side of your ordinary obedience. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:15.519 God might be calling you to pick up someone else's mat. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:19.919 They carried him through the streets, they scale a house, they dug a hole, and they lowered him into the house. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:25.919 And sometimes we think that like community and best friendships just sort of like happen, but is that actually true? 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.879 Think about your most meaningful relationships. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.360 Have you fought once or twice? 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:33.840 Have you guys gone through the fire together? 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:40.000 My my guess is the relationships that mean the most to you probably have some stuff that you've gone through. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:44.960 In my experience, gospel community is way more forged than found. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:49.200 We tend to think that we're like, oh, I'm just gonna like trip and like, oh, these are my these are my people. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:50.159 This is amazing. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:51.039 That would be great. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.039 And sometimes I think that happens. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.000 More often than not, it takes hard work. 00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:57.600 You gotta fight for it. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:58.720 You gotta lean in. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:03.200 Here's what I would say: intimacy requires intentionality. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:11.279 And we know this, like in marriage, and yet for some reason in gospel community, we just think it sort of happens accidentally. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:14.240 Are we willing to do the hard work? 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:28.799 Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus, says it like this From him, meaning Jesus, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its, what's it say? 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:29.920 Work. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:36.400 We are meant to be joined together with Jesus as the head, but each part does its work. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:39.279 Lisa talked about this last week too, and I thought it was brilliant. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:43.839 I think there's a reason that the New Testament lists 59 one-anothers. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:53.119 It is hard for me to imagine that we were meant to live out all 59 one-anothers 90 minutes one day a week. 00:17:53.519 --> 00:18:03.279 To live out the one another's other New Testament, if we want to be New Testament Christians, it's gonna require more than just simply attending a gathering once a week. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.839 As important and as essential as that is, it's it's deeper, it's more enigmatic than that. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.440 It takes work to live this out. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:11.039 Are we willing to do the hard work? 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:15.519 And then number three, in community, we bring others closer to Jesus. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:22.000 In community, it's not just about like a good hang, singing songs. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:25.200 It's not even just about enjoying each other, as important as all that is. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.000 In community, we bring others closer to Jesus. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:35.680 Whether you've been on this journey for 30 years, 30 days, or 30 minutes, that is what we are all called to do, to point people back to the King. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.519 Not to us, not to our movement, not to our church, but the resurrected Jesus. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:42.079 And we say, Can I get you a little closer to him? 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:44.400 And can you help when I need it? 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.279 Whatever the reason is, you are you are welcome. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:55.279 Whatever story you bring to this moment, that's an invitation for all of us to take one step closer to Jesus. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:56.880 But that's not the whole story, though. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:58.240 That's not even the whole point, actually. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.559 Verse five, he goes on. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:08.960 It says, When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:14.240 When Jesus saw what? 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:17.200 Their faith. 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:19.519 Not the man on the mat. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:28.000 Jesus doesn't see their vandalism, which is probably what I would have seen. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:31.759 He doesn't see the remodeling that they've done. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.279 He sees their faith. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:42.000 He doesn't scold them, he doesn't freak out, he sees their belief that if we could just get our friend to Jesus, it would make the journey worth it. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:50.400 Jesus honors a few guys destroying the house he was teaching in, who would stop at nothing to get this guy to Jesus. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:55.039 I think that is the greatest picture of intercessory prayer I've ever come across. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:59.119 Do we live with that kind of tenacity, that kind of urgency? 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.640 If I could just get you to Jesus, no, I don't have all the answers. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:04.000 Yes, I still have my own stuff. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.160 Yes, I'm still broken in certain places. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:18.240 If I could just get you to Jesus, do we pray with that kind of urgency, that kind of longing for our friends and our family and our neighbors and even our enemies, those who persecute us? 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:25.119 Man, if I could just get you to Jesus, are we raising the roof of heaven to get our needs before God? 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:30.960 Because here's the truth: there will come a time in your life when you can't carry yourself. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:36.240 There will be times, and maybe that time is right now where your faith feels weak. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:44.319 Moments where discouragement feels way too heavy, days when you feel paralyzed by grief or addiction or fear or failure. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:48.960 Is our faith characterized by that kind of tenacity? 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:53.519 Man, if I could just get you to Jesus, I'll just stop at nothing. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:55.920 I'll dig a hole through the roof if I have to. 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:01.359 Do we pray prayers so bold that it sometimes makes people around us nervous? 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:06.400 Now there's something that I I had never I didn't know until I was preparing for this message. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:08.799 So Jesus calls this man son. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:17.200 And I didn't realize this, but this is the only time in the Gospels that Jesus refers to someone as a son. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:25.359 And the reason that's significant is that in the first century, it was the family's responsibility to care for someone who was paralyzed. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:30.960 But this text gives no indication that the family is even in the picture. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.079 So again, I want you to put yourself in the shoes of this paralyzed man. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:40.000 Jesus has not even yet physically healed him. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:41.119 He is still on his mat. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:48.799 He's not physically healed him, but with this word son, he is relationally healing him. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:54.079 He's doing something even deeper, more profound than just a physical healing. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:58.559 Sometimes the healing that we need is deeper than just physical. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.720 This guy, I assume, thought that he would never hear the word son again. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:06.559 But he hears it. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:09.119 He hears it from Jesus. 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:14.160 And that might be the only word that someone today actually needs to hear. 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:18.079 Is that if you're in Christ, God looks at you and says, You are my son. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:20.720 You are my daughter. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:25.359 I don't see all of the brokenness, all of the shame, all of the missteps. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:29.279 No one has the right to define you except the one who made you. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:31.119 And he said, You are loved. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.559 The truest thing about you in Christ is that you are loved. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:35.920 Is that you are set free? 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:40.960 So Jesus speaks this word, son, a word that he never thought that he would hear again. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:43.680 Doing a work that was invisible to everybody else. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:48.400 In Christ, we're not only set free, we're adopted into a new family. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:54.160 I would say it like this: church is not an event you attend, it's a family you belong to. 00:22:54.880 --> 00:23:01.119 It's not just something that we drive to, it's something that we belong to, that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:05.039 This is why this conversation around community matters so much. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:12.480 And listen, I don't know, I don't know what your family is like, but when I go to family reunion, I expect at least one toddler to freak out. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:15.039 I expect that weird ant to be that weird ant. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:19.200 Like its family is messy and does the hard work. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:29.279 Now I wonder at this point in the story, when Jesus says, son, your sins are forgiven, do you think his friends are on the roof thinking, wait, what? 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:31.759 That is not what we came here for. 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:36.240 Like, thanks, Jesus, but we didn't, we didn't come to have his sins forgiven. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:38.319 We came for him to get his legs. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:39.839 That's why we carried him here. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:41.440 That's why we broke through the roof. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:50.160 In fact, I imagine even the paralyzed man has been thinking, maybe his entire life, man, if I only had this one thing, then my life will be set, then I would be free. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:58.799 And Jesus is actually saying, no material prosperity, no physical condition, nothing is more important than having a right relationship with God. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:06.400 He's saying, You think that this thing will be the answer to all your problems, and I'm actually giving you the thing that you most need. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:13.599 Gospel community doesn't just help us carry our burdens, it helps point us to the real healing that only Jesus can bring. 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:22.319 It's not that Jesus is unconcerned with our circumstances, but his priority is always a right relationship with the Father. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:24.559 That is always priority one. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.680 He wants for you the thing that matters most. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.039 But then the story goes on in verse six. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:38.319 Now, some teachers of the law were sitting there thinking to themselves, why does this fellow talk like that? 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:39.920 He's blaspheming. 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:42.400 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:49.359 Immediately, Jesus knew in his spirit that this is what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, Why are you thinking these things? 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.599 Which must have freaked them out, don't you think? 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:54.000 Can you imagine thinking something privately? 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:55.920 And Jesus goes, Why are you thinking that? 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:59.440 I don't know that I would have been cool in that situation. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.440 Why are you thinking these things? 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:08.079 Which is easier to say to this paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, take your mat, and walk. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:11.920 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:17.680 So he said to the man, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:23.599 So he got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:32.319 This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this. 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:34.960 So there's a bit of a scuffle here. 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:40.160 Jesus is making the claim here that all sins are ultimately against him. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:43.279 And so he asks, okay, you tell me. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:44.720 Which is easier? 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:50.480 Jesus knows that forgiveness is infinitely more difficult because it's ultimately going to cost him his life. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:52.960 He knows where this is headed. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:57.119 Jesus knows what we need and has supplied it. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:01.039 Jesus is the sum and substance of all of God's promises. 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:02.400 And I want you to hear this today. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:05.440 If you are in Christ, you lack nothing. 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:09.920 That in him is the fullness of God's promises. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:11.519 He knows what we really need. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:17.359 Some of us have been killing ourselves trying to acquire what's given freely in Jesus. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:24.240 And one of the greatest lies that I see as a pastor is that we are just one success away from true happiness. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:27.440 We are one success away from true contentment. 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:30.880 God, if you would, if you could just do this one thing, then I would be complete. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:31.920 Then I would be whole. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:34.240 And Jesus is saying, none of that makes you whole. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:35.599 I make you whole. 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:41.119 What you need most in this life is what only I can give you and can only be had as a gift. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:44.160 It's not a ladder you climb, it's not something that you earn. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:47.039 You simply receive it as a gift of grace. 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:50.319 And then I love the I love the way this story ends in verse 12. 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:58.640 This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:04.079 The word amazed in the Greek is the word eggseme, which some commentators have translated. 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:06.640 They were blown away. 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:11.359 Their minds were blown at what they had seen. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:17.279 I believe that God wants to do in us and through us more than we could even ask or imagine. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:23.200 Gateway, I believe God wants to blow us away with what He is going to do in you and through you. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:25.519 This is my verse 12 is my prayer for you all. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:28.559 That we we're praying prayers now, and God's saying, that's cute. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:41.279 I'm gonna do even more, even things you might not even have boldness to ask for, to bring healing and restoration and community and gospel intimacy to this house, to this community, to this family. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:47.039 I believe God wants to amaze us with what he's gonna do. 00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:56.160 So I have just a three-part challenge for us, and I uh I'll be honest, I tried really hard to make these like clever, or at least an acronym, like a good pastor. 00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:59.279 Um, and I they're not, they're just really on the nose, okay? 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:01.279 So lower your expectations. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:05.200 Number one, get connected. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:06.240 Ooh. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:07.759 See what I mean? 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:09.119 It's not it's not clever. 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:11.279 That's just that's my that's my plea for you. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:15.920 If you've been like playing church, keeping people at a distance, like get connected. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:17.519 Like, don't let another day pass. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:20.079 Just just lean into gospel community. 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:22.960 Carry the mats of those who need it and allow them to carry yours. 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:25.920 It won't always be easy, but it will always be worth it. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:27.759 I love the way that Francis Schaefer put it. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:34.319 He says, our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:37.599