How Can We Be a Church That Brings People to Jesus?

Date: July 19, 2026
Series: Stand Alone Message
Passage: Mark 2:1-12
Preacher: Pastor Sammy Rodriguez

Transcript

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If you can open your Bibles to Mark chapter 2. Mark chapter 2. We are taking a break from walking through a book of the Bible. If you remember just a couple weeks ago, we had finished the book of James, walking through that verse by verse. And in August, we'll start the book of Nehemiah. But we are taking a couple weeks' break here in July to last week starting the series on a people on mission, talking about the mission and vision of our church. And the text we'll be in is in Mark chapter 2. Near the edge of a dangerous coastline, there was a stretch of water where ships and boats were constantly being lost in the storms. When the waves would rise and the wind would come, people would find themselves trapped at sea with no way to make it safely. Many lives were lost because there was no one to come and help. But one day a group of people from the town decided to do something about it, to make a change. They came together and said, we can't just sit back and watch people in the coastline there perish and die hopeless with no help. So what they did is they decided to build a lighthouse on the shore. They formed a rescue team. They bought boats, they trained together, they committed to a mission together. And so when the alarm sounded, they didn't hesitate. They would leave the safety of their shores. They would push their boats into the water. They would risk their own lives. Because of their courage, people were rescued. Families were united. Lives were changed. The rescue station became known throughout the whole area. People admired what they were doing. And so they wanted to join the team. They were excited. They wanted to be a part of it. And so the group grew and grew. But over time something began to change. The storms became less frequent. The danger seemed to disappear. There were fewer rescues, fewer emergencies, and eventually the team began to lose sight of why they existed in the first place. They still met together. They still had the rescue station. They still had the boats, but slowly their focus shifted. They started spending more time improving the building than preparing for rescue. They spent more time making the station comfortable than looking out for those still maybe in danger. The place that was built as a rescue station started becoming a place of comfort. And so they got comfortable. And years went by until one day a storm came again. The waves crashed against the shore, the winds began to howl, and once again there were people who were crying out for help, and the alarm sounded. But this time something was different. The team that was once ready to run toward the storm without any hesitation, the people who once risked everything to save lives had become comfortable. The boats weren't ready. The courage wasn't there. The urgency had faded. They had the lighthouse, they had the boats, they had the rescue station, but somewhere along the way, they had forgotten their mission. And they weren't prepared. And the people at sea lost their lives. See, if we're not too careful as a church, we can fall into the same danger. That sometimes the biggest danger is not whether we are gathering, but whether when we gather, we've forgotten the very reason we're coming together. To be a lighthouse in the darkness. That there are people around us in this neighborhood or in our lives every single day who are far from God in the brokenness. And if we're not too careful, we will leave the mission of God for others to do and not see our own responsibility in it. And so this is exactly what our text is going to be handling in Mark chapter 2 is us seeing a people who are committed on a mission to bring people, to bring others to Jesus. And so the big idea question this morning, the text will answer is how can we be a church that brings people to Jesus? How can you and me be a church that brings people to Jesus? And so let us in this moment now stand for those of us who are able to, in reverence for the reading of the Word of God, as is custom here, that when we stand in this moment, we are declaring to God that we are ready to receive his word, that when this book is opened, God is speaking to us. And so we come hungry and receptive, ready to hear from the Lord, starting in Mark chapter 2, verse 1. And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 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. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 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. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, and said to them, Why do you question these things in your heart? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. 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 have never seen anything like this. Let's pray together. We ask for me as the preacher that you would fill me, Lord God, that you would use me as a vessel in this moment to speak your word clearly and rightly, Lord God. And for that I need your help. I plead for your help. And I pray for every listener here, Lord God, that they would be not hearers but doers of your word, that they would be hungry to receive it, Lord Jesus. And so we need your help for that as well. And so, God, we pray that we, Lord God, would be a people focused on a mission together. So unite us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. So here we are in Mark chapter 2. We are jumping in the middle of a book in the beginning here in the gospel. The gospel of Mark was written by Mark early with, and he's writing here in chapter 2 early within the ministry of Jesus. And so if you look at Mark chapter 1 and verse 28, it's not on the screens, but this is a moment where Jesus' ministry has begun, and his fame and renown is going all throughout the region of Galilee. And we're seeing the consequences of that here in these first couple verses. It says that he was there in Capernaum after some days, he was reported that he was at home, and many were gathered together. So many people are gathered together, so that there was no room, not even at the door, and he was preaching the word to them. So here Mark creates this scene where Jesus is in a home, and in this home it is packed. It is filled to the brim. I can only imagine just pictured people sitting on the windows or looking through, or no, there's no possible way to even see. There's people standing outside trying to even listen in, telling other people to quiet down, and everyone is hanging onto the words of Jesus, listening to him. It's packed. And then in verse 3, it says, And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And so in the midst of this crowd surrounding Jesus within this home, four men are carrying a paralytic man. Verse 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. You came early, right? To make sure you got there in time, and you maybe waited in line all night, and you're there, and Jesus is there, and you're hanging on every word. You're listening to this new teacher, this prophet speaking about the things of God, and as you're just focused, you start to hear steps above the building and the roof. And you get a little distracted, and you focus back on Jesus, and you focus in, and then out of nowhere you just start to feel something fall on your head and your hair. There's a little bit of a debris or dust from the roof that is falling, and you're wondering what in the world is going on. But you you focus back on Jesus, and then out of nowhere you hear the roof beginning to crack, and the next thing you see is a face looking down at you from above. And that hole in the roof becomes bigger and bigger until you see four men who are carrying down a person, probably maybe tied within a rope as they're bringing him down. And there, in the middle of this crowded room, this interruption happens. Imagine what everyone's thinking in this moment. What's gonna happen? What is Jesus gonna say? And here's what he says, Mark chapter 2, verse 5. He says, something so profound, so out of pocket, so strange for everyone in the crowd. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. And we're gonna dive deep into this verse later, but the first point I want us to see of how we can be a church that carries people to Jesus is number one, it's this, it's clear obstacles. Clear obstacles. See, there were obstacles for this paralytic man getting to Jesus. You see, the the point I want us to really see as we're looking through this text is that we need to be like these friends who are carrying this man to Jesus. And so, what were these obstacles that were there? I mean, the most obvious one was the paralytic man. He couldn't walk. He couldn't physically go to Jesus himself. Not only could he couldn't he walk, but there was a crowd. He wouldn't have been able to make it, and if he was even close by, I mean, he's on the floor and he wouldn't be able to see Jesus or or hear Jesus. The other obstacle was the roof. I mean, there are these obstacles, these things that were preventing this paralytic man from getting to Jesus. And despite all the obstacles, these friends did whatever it took to get him to Jesus. They cleared the obstacles. And in the same way, as followers of Jesus, as a church, as a family of God, we are called to remove the barriers. The obstacles that prevent people from getting to Jesus. What are some of those barriers? Some of those barriers are loneliness and isolation. Some of those barriers are people never actually hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of those barriers are hunger and need where it's hard to communicate the gospel or think about the things of Christ when you are in such a crisis moment. Some of the barriers are misunderstandings of the gospel. Maybe hearing it but not having clarity of it. But there are countless barriers that people have to Jesus. Or they didn't grow up in a church setting or church environment or understanding Jesus. They're barriers that they have. And this is what we do sometimes as a church. That is so wrong is what we do when these barriers are up as we expect people to come and cross those barriers to get to us. What's wrong with that? What we're doing is when we're saying, hey, you come. Hey, just come to church, and we're not willing to go where people are, what happens is we're making them the missionaries. Hey, you have to cross these barriers, you have to cross these boundaries, you have to cross these obstacles to come and be in our environment rather than us what needing to go and the cross to clear all the barriers and obstacles that are before us. These four friends did whatever it took to get their friend to Jesus. Do you have that same heart? Do you have that same attitude to do whatever it takes? You know what oftentimes is the biggest barrier of the gospel going forth to a lost and dying world? It's you and me. It's you and me. I mean, think of all the excuses these four friends could have made. Hey, we'll find another day. You know, when it's less crowded, and uh, you know, this Jesus guy, I think he'll hang around, we'll find a different time and easier time. Or man, look, look at this crowd, and we we we can't get through this crowd or this roof or who's gonna pay for the day, the damage of the, you know, think of the excuses. It's hot out, it's it's messy, it's difficult. Is Jesus even gonna do it? They could have been the barrier that prevented, but they didn't allow that. And in the same way, the enemy will create obstacles in our own hearts for why we can't bring others to Jesus. It could be fear, rejection, laziness, shame. Here's the truth. Aren't you glad that someone brought you to Jesus? That there was someone in your life, whether it be a friend, a family member, a relative, whoever, who brought you to Jesus, who picked you up and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ to you, who went through the obstacles. And there are barriers. There's barriers of the paralytic man in his heart that prevent him. I mean, I can only imagine as his friends are picking him up picking him up and carrying him to go and say, Jesus is here. This is what we've been hearing, this is what we've been waiting for. And for the paralytic man to say, I'm not worthy. He doesn't want to see me. He's got more important things to do. They did whatever it took to bring him to the feet of Jesus. And God has called us to do the same. To see a broken and lost world around us, to do whatever it takes. What a great example of this, of seeing that video of Chip. Of taking pretty much two months of a summer where it may be a time to relax and take a break and chill out and say, no, I'm gonna give these two months to go to a country like Malaysia where people need the gospel of Jesus Christ. To do whatever it takes to learn the cultures and the customs to cross these cultural boundaries to give the gospel of Jesus Christ to people who need it. So, how can we be a church that carries people to Jesus? We have to clear the boundaries and obstacles. Second thing is this we need to work together. Right? We need to carry the broken together. Look at verse 3. And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. This was not a job for a single person. It would have most likely been impossible for one person to do this alone. To get through the crowd, to tear down the roof, to bring the man down on a rope to Jesus. It was a group effort. Every single one of them played a role in bringing their friend to Jesus. And in the same way, every follower of Jesus, every single person in here has a role to play, to bring people to Jesus. That it's not the job of a pastor or staff, it is every single follower of Christ to make the gospel known, to bring the hurting before Christ. Can I tell you this? That we need you. We need you as a church, as a family of God, to be a light in this community. And we cannot do it by ourselves. We need you for the Hope Cafe to serve and care for people giving meals and sitting with them and talking with people coming made in the image of God who are hurting and broken. We need you to help with the clothing drive this Saturday. That people coming who need clothes. Not only to provide for them in that way, but to give them the gospel of Christ. We need you for the back-to-school bash. That's the following Saturday of families coming who are needed to get school supplies, but not just get school supplies, but again be loved and care for and hear the gospel. We need you on the adoptive block to come and hit the streets and pray over families and people and share Christ with them. This isn't a one-man mission, but this is the family of God coming together to play a role, to play a part, to make the gospel known. And you know what a great obstacle is it's the enemy. We have an enemy who is threatened by the presence of the springs. He is threatened. I know that for a fact. Because he wants to do everything that he can to prevent us from doing the work that we're doing. Even right now on a Sunday morning, when he sees a family coming, hearing the word of God preached, worshiping together, being called out, he's afraid of that. And so he will do anything he can, either within your own life personally or the life of the church, to make us not come together. I mean, think about this place here is a home turf for him. This is a place for a long time. For generations that he has caused brokenness and abuse. And he wants to continue to do that. And we're not going to let him do that. But we're going to come together as a family and work together to come alongside each other. And he wants us to be lazy, to be fearful, to be isolated. But we have to come together to encourage each other, to lift each other up. What if it was just three of them instead of four? Could they have done it? What if one of them said, you know what, I'm tired, I need to sleep in a little bit? I'm a little hungover from the night before. Wake up distracted with the things of the world. This would have been a different story. Maybe Mark would have written about it, or maybe he didn't. About the three men who tried. But the fourth one wasn't there. We need to work together. We need one another. Third point is this communicate the gospel. Communicate the gospel. Where do we see this in our text? Well, this is where we really shift from the example of the forefronts to the example of Christ in our passage. In verse 2, we saw that when they were gathered together, he was preaching the word to them. What is the word? What is the message? We see in Mark chapter 1, the word that Jesus is preaching is the kingdom of God, the good news. To repent and believe the gospel. The kingdom of God is at hand. He's preaching the gospel. Jesus is preaching the good news. And so what happens? Verse 4, just a reminder, they bring down this paralytic man to the feet of Jesus, and Jesus says these words. When in verse 5, when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. I mean, imagine this. Imagine if you're one of the friends and you spend all this time, maybe hours, getting your friend who's paralytic before Jesus, and Jesus is gonna come, he's gonna heal him, like I've heard he's been able to do, and we've waited, and this is our moment. And Jesus says, Son, your sins are forgiven. I'd be upset. I'm thinking, I gotta carry him all the way back. And there's gonna be traffic with the crowd, and sins are forgiven. Heal him. But Jesus was doing something here. Look at verse 6. There's another group of people within this crowd. It says, now some of the scribes, the scribes or the Pharisees, these religious people of the day, they would have known the Bible, the Torah, the Old Testament. And it says the scribes were sitting there questioning in their heart, why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus here makes a remarkable statement. Sons, your sins are forgiven. And the question that the Pharisees have is absolutely hundred percent correct. Who can forgive sins but God alone? They are absolutely right. What they were missing in this moment is not realizing that standing before them was God in the flesh. So they were blaspheming. What is blasphemy? Blasphemy is claiming or doing something that belongs only to God. And so how does Jesus respond to this? Verse 8. And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves and said to them, Why do you question these things in your heart? Jesus in this moment saw through the hearts and minds of these religious men that they were questioning these things. And then I want you to think about if you're a scribe in this moment. I mean, here's Jesus who's reading your heart and mind and saying, hey, why are you questioning these things? I mean, I would be in the moment, I would be a little worried. How's this person know? But I'm thinking, I don't know if you ever had a moment with your mom where you like you wanted to talk back, you didn't talk back, but you thought about what you want to say. But you still she could still heard it. I don't know if that's ever happened to you. But Jesus is doing this with these cribs where he supernaturally is able to see within their hearts and their minds of these questions within themselves. And so verse 9 it says, which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise, take up your bed and walk. Okay, I want us to see what's going on here because we can we can miss this. What is Jesus saying here? See, the easier thing for Jesus to say is your sins are forgiven. Why? Because there's no way to prove whether it happened or not. Right? If I went up to you and I said, hey, I just deposited a million dollars in your bank account. And I just said that right now. I mean, there's no way really to prove it. It takes some time. Maybe you go, you visit, you look at your app, but in the moment, there's no way to prove it. But if I said I had some monopoly money and I said I can turn this monopoly money to actual cash, I have to be able to prove it in the moment. So Jesus is saying the easier thing for me to do is to say your sins are forgiven. Because you don't know whether I did it or not. But verse 10. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, Rise. I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. What's Jesus doing here? Jesus is performing a miracle you can see, so that I can prove a miracle happen that you can't see. Do you see that? He's saying, I'm gonna do something that you can see a miracle to prove to you the miracle that you could not see. That when I said his sins were forgiven, his sins were forgiven. And so I'm gonna prove to you that his sins were forgiven by me saying, get up and walk. And that's what exactly happened. Here's the other thing Jesus shows us as we're talking about being a people on mission. The greatest need was not for this man to walk. The greatest need was for his sins to be forgiven. Because what does it matter if he walks to hell with new legs? What does it matter if someone who is hungry gets a meal and goes to hell on a full stomach? What does it matter if we put new clothes on somebody and they pass away and stand before God? Yes, we we care for the needs of people physically just as Jesus is doing. But we know the ultimate reason is that their sins would be forgiven, that they would hear the gospel of Christ from our lips. That's why we do what we do. Verse 11. It says, I say to you, rise up, pick up your bed and go home. And last verse, 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. Jesus proved he has the power to forgive sins. Praise God. Jesus has the authority to forgive not this man's sins, but your sins and my sins. Jesus has that authority. And this again, the very fact that Jesus has this authority is proving to him he is God. Right? If you offend me, let's say you come and offend me, and my wife comes up to you and she says, I forgive you. She can't forgive you. Because you didn't offend her. And Jesus is saying, your sin, all your sin, I it offended me. Because I'm God, I am your creator. We see that in the Bible in Colossians 1 that Jesus created all things. He is before all things, and all things are for him. And so because he has been the one offended from our sins, he can forgive. Why is this important to talk about as we're under this point of communicate the gospel? We have to have a right understanding of who Jesus is to be able to preach the gospel rightly. You know, a perfect example of this, we were at Adopt the Block going door to door, knocked on a house, and there was a family that opened up, and there was a young girl who was there and her older brother. And um we gotta just talk to her and encourage her and um ask how we can pray for her. But she had mentioned that some people had stopped by and they had brought a Bible. And so I said, Hey, can I check that Bible out? Is that alright? Can I just check it? And so she goes in the house and she gets the Bible, and it's what I thought would it might be. And it was a New World translation, which is the Bible from the Jehovah's Witnesses, which is a different Bible. It's 99% the same Bible, but they have minor changes. And so we opened, I said, Hey, do you have another Bible in the house? She said, I do. She got another Bible, and it was a good translation of the Bible. And I said, Hey, let's turn to a verse together in the Bible. And so we went to John chapter 1, verse 1. And I said, You read your version, and I'll read my version here, and we'll see if there's any differences. So we read it together. It's in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. And we know from that passage that the word is Christ. And then we read the other translation, it says, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was a God. Lowercase G. And I said, Do you see the difference? She said, Yeah. And I said, I know this is strange, but I said, it may be good for you to throw that away. And she's like, Okay, okay, I'll I'll talk to my dad about it. I said, Okay. Here's the thing: if Jesus is a God, lowercase G, he doesn't have the power to forgive your sins. He doesn't have the authority to do that. But the word of God is clear that this is who he is. And here's the sad truth, and it speaks of how important it is to do what we do on Saturdays on Adopt the Block. How much more do we need to be out there on the streets speaking the true gospel when there are people with a false gospel that the enemy is using, that he has used. I know people within our church members who said, Hey, they're Jehovah's Witnesses who are coming by our street here in the neighborhood, who now are now picking it up, taking them to go to church, which isn't a church at all. And my heart thinks, what if we hadn't got to that door first and gave them the true gospel of Christ? How can Jesus say this? Your sins are forgiven first because he's God, second, he can do this because of the cross. We know the Bible is clear that there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. And Jesus could stand there and say, Your sins are forgiven. Why? Because he would pay the price. He would take the penalty and the sins of this man. That's why he could say that. So what is Jesus doing? Jesus is preaching the gospel, he's preaching the forgiveness of sins. And we need to love this. I'm telling you, when it becomes a duty, then that's when the laziness settles, that's when the guilt settles, that's when, oh, I don't want to do this and I don't want to be challenged in this way. But when we love the gospel, when we think about how Christ has forgiven me of my sins, then it will be the motivator for us to go to share Jesus with others. And here's the practical thing, because there may be some of you, how do I do that? I don't know how to do that. Ask somebody. Come, ask me. Come on a Thursday night, ask one of our leaders here on a Thursday. Come on a Saturday. I'm telling you, you say, hey, I don't know what it looks like to share the gospel. Come on a Saturday. I'll say, hey, join my group. Join this person's group. Let them know. And you just watch. And you know what will happen. You'll say, you know what? I can do that. I can share my story. I can share the gospel of Christ. How can we be a church that brings people to Jesus? Last point of this celebrate in God's glory. Look at verse 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. Nothing like this. This crowd is amazed. They give glory where glory is deserved to God. They give worship. And here's my prayer. See, all that we do is not about anyone in this room, but about God. That when we see God beginning to work, that when we see God beginning to change lives in this church and in this community, we would say the same phrase. That we would be amazed and glorify God and say, we have never seen anything like this. What can we see when we work as a family together? You know, my favorite part of this verse, and I share this part, and then we'll come to a close, is Jesus in ver uh, or Mark writes in verse 5, it says, when Jesus saw their faith, he says, Your sins are forgiven. Notice that it wasn't his faith, it was their faith. It was the faith of these four men that moved the hand of God. And I want to know, do you have faith of what God can do in your life? Of how God can use you to bring others to his feet. Do you have faith of what God can do here in this community? And believe. A story I've shared before, I think maybe exactly a year ago. So once it's a year, you can share the story again. That's how it works. There was a story of a father and a son, and the father was dropping off his son to school. And so it was a normal routine. They got in the car and they drove a couple blocks down to where the school was, and he got ready to drop his son off and said, Hey, I'll be back here to pick you up. Just like every single day, every single time at the same time of day, I'll be back here to pick you up from school. So he kisses his dad on the cheek, and he goes into the school, and father goes and gets ready to go to work, and he starts driving to work, and as he's driving to work, a massive earthquake happens. And the ground begins to rumble and change, and this father starts noticing some of the buildings around him beginning to crumble and fall. And so he does what any father would be thinking in this moment and rushes to the school where he left his son. And he gets to the school, and there the school building is in crumbles, pieces, rubble. And so he runs to the rubble and he he thinks of where the class would be that his son would be, and he starts to move the rubble and picking up stone after stone and stone after stone, and hours go by, and the uh firefighters come and they begin to be there moving things, and he is hours and hours, stone after stone, stone after stone, looking for his son, and even after hours, twelve hours, thirteen hours, fourteen hours, the the firefighters say, Hey, there's no hope. But he continues and continues hour after hour after hour until he hears the voice of his son. Saying, Dad, Dad, I'm here, and so he begins to move the rubble and move the rubble until he sees the face of his son. And they embrace in tears. But to his father's amazement, he wasn't by himself. There's all his classmates who were there with him, still alive. And he said, Dad, I told them that you made a promise. That if they would stay with me, you would comfort me. Brothers and sisters, this is the gospel of Christ. That we have a God who came and searched for us. Who died a death that we deserve for our sins against him we offended him. And he has the power to forgive sins because he hung on a cross and died for us, that he searched for us. And three days later rose again. Proving that he was God. And he's made a promise. He says, I'm coming back. And who are we gonna be as a church? Are we gonna go to the streets of Sulphur Springs? Are we gonna go into the classrooms and neighborhood and workplaces and say, He's coming back? My father's coming back. We can communicate the gospel. Here's just the practical thing I just ask of you. Because would you take a side? Just like that friend. Just like the friend of the paralytic man. And you would stand up and you would take a part of the mission and say, I'm here. I'm here to bring people to Jesus. I want to learn how to do that. Let's pray, Lord Jesus. We need you. We need you. We cannot do this on our own. And so as we begin to even think about sharing the gospel with others, there's so much fear, anxiety, a sense of being underqualified, or what that looks like. And so, Jesus, we pray for your help that you would use this church here to be a lighthouse. That we wouldn't just come and gather and be comfortable, but each one of us would play a role in bringing and carrying people to your feet. Because you are worthy of it, Lord God. You are worthy of it, Jesus. So we pray in this moment you would have this time together. In Jesus' name. Amen. Would you stand in this moment as we respond? Here's the thing, some of you, some of you, it's going to be impossible for you to bring people to the feet of Jesus because you've never been there. And this is an opportunity today that if you want to do that, that there will be people here down front. I'll be here, some others, to do what Jesus did, and to explain the gospel to you that you can receive forgiveness of sins. But there may be some of you, you have been at the feet of Jesus, but you have real wounds, real hurts, real troubles, real discouragements in your heart that are preventing you to be able to be in that place. And there's wisdom in knowing that. And maybe you need to come down and just receive prayer. You need guidance and receiving healing and encouragement so that you can be in a place to help others. Or maybe you want to come down as a declaration of just saying, I want to carry my side. We need to do this together, guys. I just be vulnerable with you before we go into worship and respond. This is hard work, guys. It's hard work. This community, it's not easy to serve in a place like this. There is so much need and brokenness. And you know what? It is so easy to come here and sit around and be comfortable. But to actually be a church to love and care for people, made in the image of God. That's hard work. And we need one another. So let's respond to the Lord to the Lord and worship and just say, We're here and we need you. So you want to receive Jesus, you need prayer, whatever it is, let's take this moment to respond.