WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.720 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:21.760 I was 23 and stepping into my very first full-time pastoral position. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:26.239 I'd recently finished up my schooling at Moody Bible Institute. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:31.600 My wife and I were married about a year and a half. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:35.280 Our plan originally was we wanted to get back to the West Coast. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:42.079 We're both from Santa Cruz, so from Chicago, we wanted to go to, you know, anywhere on the West Coast, really. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:48.320 And we ended up in Georgia, which was exactly opposite of that direction. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:57.920 And I was hired to do a lead and start a youth ministry at this church plant in Georgia. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:00:59.200 Now think about this. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:01.200 23, newly married. 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:06.480 We bought our first and only home that we've purchased for$160,000. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:12.000 That's not even a down payment for a lot of your houses here today, right? 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:21.519 In the first two months there, we had our very first child, Ella, and then we started this ministry together. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:27.760 You know, when Jenny and I were dating and engaged, we had this prayer that God, would you make us better together than we ever could apart? 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:29.359 And it's just our prayer together. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.480 God, would you make us better together than we ever could apart? 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:36.159 And so when we've been doing ministry all these years, uh it's been a team. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.400 It's been something that we said, man, we're all in. 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.359 So though I started this job, Jenny came alongside. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:46.480 And honestly, I she is an incredible, amazing leader. 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:50.000 Uh I just her gifts and her skills, her ability. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:51.599 Uh uh, it's amazing. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:53.760 I often say she's a better leader than me. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.840 I'm just a better talker uh up front, and that's pretty true. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:03.359 A lot of what God has done over the years wouldn't have happened without uh her leadership. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:14.000 And so we dove into starting this youth ministry together, and it started out in this um, I think it was a Wednesday evening in uh this basement. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:18.639 Now, if you're not from the South or never been to the South, the basement sounds dark and dungy. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:20.879 That's not the case in Georgia. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:22.560 They're amazing, by the way. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:33.120 I mean, the huge, this thing was like 3,000 square foot of just an incredible game area that this uh family opened up to us, and we started having these kids come in. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.639 Um, and Georgia's a little interesting, right? 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:43.120 Um, at least from the West Coast perspective, because it has that Christian culture or that southern charm. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:48.960 In fact, um in Georgia, I remember our very first time going out to eat there. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.240 Uh, the gal asked us what church we went to. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.879 And we're like, excuse me, very thank you. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:56.479 Like, what do you mean? 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:59.280 Um we're part of a church, I didn't know you knew that. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.800 But this was like how waiters and waitresses just started the ordering. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:11.039 They would ask, and if you didn't go to church, you just picked whatever megachurch was around to just pass the test at the beginning, right? 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:19.039 And so there's this Christian veneer and this southern charm that's kind of encapsulates everything. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:33.759 And we started to have all these kids that didn't fit the scope, these party kids, these amazingly wealthy kids, these kids that came from really some tough backgrounds and awkward kids and all the rest. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:39.680 And I remember a year in, my wife said something that was so profound. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:45.360 She said, you know, Ryan, ministry was easy when we didn't really know anybody. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:48.560 Isn't that true? 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:54.240 See, the minute you get to know somebody, it gets messy, doesn't it? 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:59.120 When you stay up on the surface and you just kind of see the outside, it's easy. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:07.199 But then we started to get to know these kids, got to know their families, got to see the hurt and the brokenness, the marriages that were struggling. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:12.719 I mean, unfortunately, we saw deep racism and loneliness and depression. 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:17.120 Ministry was easy until we got to know people. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.639 And then it got messy. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:32.319 And it just became one of those things where we realized okay, we're called to lean into the messiness of life. 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:43.040 You know, I think the reality is, is we're all messy. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:45.920 And we're all a bit of a mess. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:49.680 Welcome to church. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:52.319 I hope you're having a fantastic day. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.439 Jesus sent me to tell you that you're a mess. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:02.399 See, the problem actually, though, in the church isn't so much that we're all a mess. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:14.000 See, when we gather people together and we're a mess, it's kind of like, okay, you part of what you get is a one big mess, but the problem in the church is that we try to cover up our mess, isn't it true? 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:16.000 We try to hide our mess. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:31.279 We try to live up to some Instagram ideal of filtered perfection that we want other people to see and never really show our true selves, and as a result, never really experience belonging or healing or home. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:48.399 See, what would it look like for us to be a church that doesn't simply cover up our mess, but actually helps carry one another in our mess to Jesus. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:06:04.319 See, I think that's a not ordinary church service where we don't just come and we look good, and you do look good, by the way, uh, but we don't just come and look good on the outside, but we're really honest, like, hey, the truth is we're all a bit of a mess, I'm a mess, you're a mess. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:14.800 Uh we all have something going on, whether it's anxiety or pride or lust or loneliness or depression, or maybe you're struggling with your marriage, maybe you're struggling with a relationship, maybe it's an addiction. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:19.360 But we all have something, and we go, you know what, this welcome to church. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:33.519 We're all a bit messy, and we're not gonna hide it, but we're going to then begin to help bring one another, one another to the very feet of Jesus. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:35.120 Mess and all. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:37.360 See, I think that's a not ordinary church. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:41.120 See, church, we talk about this this way, church is the family of God. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:49.680 Uh, and yet sometimes when we gather together, it is uh a little bit like a uh, you know, kind of like an awkward family reunion. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:54.560 And you're going, like, this is how do we engage, how do we do this? 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.800 And listen, think about this. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:03.120 What if the church was once more known for how we love one another? 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:20.480 You know, when Jesus was commanding his disciples, his final words in John 13, 34 through 35, he said this: he said, A new command I give to you that you love one another in the same way that I loved you. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:28.319 By this, the entire world will know you are my disciples by how you love one another. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:44.959 Like mess included and all, Jesus said, What people will see as the distinguishing mark and something that is incredibly irresistible about those who follow me is how well this community loves each other. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:48.319 Mess and all. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:08:02.079 What does it look like for us to once more be known for how we love, or better yet, how do we become a church that deeply cares for one another and simply carries one another to the feet of Jesus? 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:03.680 That's what we want to wrestle with. 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:08.879 That's what we want to become as we uh regather as a church. 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:18.160 Uh if you got your Bibles, would you open up to Mark chapter two, Mark chapter two, verse one, as we wrestle with this today? 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:25.600 And Mark 2, verse 1, we we pick up the story uh, what I'm calling an impromptu uh church service. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:29.600 Jesus was on a teaching healing tour. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:37.600 He was traveling through the Galilean area teaching and preaching, and then he goes to Capernaum, which was their home base at the time. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:40.159 It's where actually Peter and Andrew's house was. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:46.879 And Capernaum is a seaside city, it's a wonderful, incredible town, central trade route. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:52.639 It's where Peter and Andrew based their fishing uh business out of, and James and John as well. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:59.919 And Peter and James uh Andrew's house was uh Jesus' kind of home base for when they're doing ministry in the Galilean area. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:05.360 And so they've just finished this work and they've come back for a little RR. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:20.639 And what happens then is an impromptu church service, and as a result, we get a picture and a vision for how we're to embrace the mess around us and help carry people to the very feet of Jesus. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:26.159 We pick it up in Mark chapter two, and we did this last week, so I thought we would do this this week. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.320 We stood in honor of the word of God. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:30.879 We won't do this every single week, but I thought, hey, why not? 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:31.519 Let's do it again. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:35.519 Would you stand with me in the reading of God's word together? 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:43.440 Mark 2, verse 1 says, A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:50.639 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:55.120 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:10:06.000 Since they could not get to him get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and lowered the mat the man was lying on. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:13.120 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:18.960 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there thinking to themselves, Why does this fellow talk like that? 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:20.480 He's blaspheming. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:22.960 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:30.480 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, Why are you thinking these things? 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:37.039 Which is easier to say to this paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, take up your mat and walk. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:41.759 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:46.639 So he said to the man, I tell you, get up, take up your mat, and go home. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:50.639 He got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:57.679 This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:10:59.759 This is the word of the Lord, amen. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:01.919 You may be seated. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:05.759 It's an impromptu church service. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:07.919 I'm actually going to turn these real quick. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.600 An impromptu church service. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:21.759 And it's here we get a vision for how we're going to embrace uh the messiness of life and carry one another to Jesus. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:37.919 To do this, I want to help unpack four groups that were around Jesus, look at four different groups that were surrounding Jesus, and then give us just simply three practices from this text of how we're going to engage and be that Jesus-centered community. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:44.399 How do we actually really deeply care for one another and carry one another to the feet of Jesus? 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:47.679 And so you notice there's four groups that were all around Jesus. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:58.320 You had the crowd, you had the friends, you had the uh paralytics, or the person not necessarily a group, and then you had uh the religious or the Pharisees. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:02.000 Let's just take a look at all four around Jesus. 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:03.679 The first group was the crowd. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:04.720 Now think about this. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:17.759 Jesus had been away, he's been teaching, and word got out quick, and he wasn't planning on doing anything else, but just get a little bit of RR, and the minute he shows up, a crowd forms. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:26.000 Now, in Capernaum and in the ancient world, then, houses didn't have, you know, the different sections of rooms the way they do today. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:28.879 They were the original open concept house. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:31.519 There was really mainly just one big room. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:33.919 That joke was for my wife, who's a realtor, by the way. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:40.399 Um, there's one big room, sometimes a second room as well. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:44.639 One of the large rooms in that day could potentially hold 50 people. 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:54.639 So when we're imagining and understanding this, there's there's about 50 people crowded in and outside, all clamoring to hear from Jesus. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.279 He has compassion on them, and he begins to preach to them. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:07.039 And yet then these men come up with this friend who's paralyzed, trying to get this guy in to see Jesus. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:16.320 And you just can imagine they're packed in and they're going, like, okay, hey, I got I got this guy, and the crowd, and somebody at some point had to say, dude, you're a little late. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:17.759 We're already in. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:21.519 Um, why don't you find him when he's kind of roaming around? 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.559 He's actually in the middle of a great story right now. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:25.600 You should hear it. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:26.559 Oh, wait, you can't. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:27.200 You're outside. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:28.159 Never mind. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:33.679 And here's something that's been deeply challenging to my heart about the crowd. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:40.799 The crowd unintentionally hindered access to Jesus. 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:50.960 You know, um, a commentator uh notes that in the Gospel of Mark, we see the crowd in all sorts of ways. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:56.639 We actually see Jesus' response to the crowd, that the crowd, uh, he often has compassion upon them. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:07.200 But one of the things we see through the Gospel of Mark that's uh repeated about the crowd is they often hinder access to Jesus. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:21.759 And I just have been wrestling and wondering about our gatherings, about our time, about us as the church, and like how do we actually hinder access to Jesus? 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:28.000 You know, I think at best they were unaware, right? 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:37.360 At best they were unaware that there was a problem, that they were unaware that they were hindering access to Jesus, but at worst they were unconcerned. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:39.679 Didn't care. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.960 Literally, somebody had to not care at some point, and they had reason not to, by the way. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:57.600 Uh paralytic, uh, the belief for them was if you are suffering, it is because of your sin, and because he is a sinful person, he's suffering justly, so leave him outside. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:14:59.840 So we're unconcerned about him. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:04.240 I didn't do the wrong you did, you don't get access to Jesus. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:05.440 I'm gonna be here. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:12.879 And I think this happens to us is that we begin to look down on people because they're not where we think they should be at. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:22.320 But I think sometimes it's not just that for most of us that we're just unconcerned, we're unaware. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:29.679 You know, I thought about it in our way we gather here, and even when we do our like little meet and greet thing. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:41.840 I think one of the ways that we're unaware of hindering access to Jesus is when we're unintentionally just not looking or friendly to other people. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:58.559 You know how many times I've heard over the course of the life of our church somebody saying, Man, so-and-so met me and they welcomed me, and it just made me feel like I was home and I belonged, and so I stuck. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:16.399 It's like when we do that, see, we can we can go out here and go, it's amazing and it's wonderful, and we want to see our friends and family and people, and and that is so good, and that's a part of it, but we actually have to have eyes to look around and see, man, who's not connected? 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:20.000 Who's who's standing and like going, like, I have nobody to talk to? 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:22.000 This is the most awkward thing in the whole world. 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:29.039 We're doing this meet and greet, and I can't even really go to the cafe um to get coffee to feel comfortable. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:35.279 See, the crowd, they're unaware that they hindered access to Jesus. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:35.919 First group. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:37.759 Second group is the friends. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:45.840 Now, now the friends, notice, uh they cared, right, enough to carry their friend to Jesus. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.240 They cared enough to carry their friend to Jesus. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:49.200 Think about this. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:54.159 This paralyzed man, he cannot get to Jesus on his own at all. 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:55.519 There's no hope. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.360 He can't walk to him. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:00.639 It's uh just unless Jesus maybe passed by him. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.440 His friends go, okay, we're gonna carry you. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:08.559 And then we're so concerned about you getting to Jesus. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:12.480 Um, unconcerned crowds don't concern us. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:16.799 See, because okay, we can't get through the door, okay, the windows blocked. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:18.640 Hey, let's try to roof. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:20.720 You know what I was thinking about this house? 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.039 What would be amazing is a skylight. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.359 All right, this house could use a skylight. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:27.200 I'm sure they would want that. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:40.720 Uh in uh Capernaum and in um in Israel at that time, houses were built so that the roofs had these long beams across, then some thatching across, sometimes tile over that as well. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:46.400 And then they'd use clay and hay and mud to build a waterproof tite on the top. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:51.359 And the roof actually was one of those spaces like a deck is for us today in that day. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:55.039 So they in the evening would go up there and enjoy and hang out. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:01.839 Um, there'd often be some grass or even some uh garden stuff growing up on there, and so these men could climb up. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:07.440 There's a staircase on the outside of houses, they would climb up the staircase and then dig through. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:14.880 It was actually quite easy for them to do this, move the tile out and um then drop their friend down. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:17.119 Man, think about the friends. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:18.000 Listen to this. 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:23.039 The friends were deeply concerned for their friend and wanted to help. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:26.319 They believed Jesus not only could but would help. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:27.519 He had the ability. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:31.680 They didn't just sit and hope, they were moved to action. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:39.519 They didn't let a setback hold them back from Jesus, and they worked together to bring their friend to Jesus. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.680 You have the crowd, they were unaware. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:47.519 The friends, they cared enough to carry their friend to Jesus to do whatever it took. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:49.440 And then you had the paralytic. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:56.480 Think about how he felt. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:09.200 I mean, one in that moment to feel so loved by people who would go out of their way and and literally carry you to Jesus. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:17.359 I just wonder what he was thinking as he's up on that roof and he's seeing his buddies, I we just think they're his buddies, digging through. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:18.960 And I wonder what Jesus is thinking. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:26.319 He's like, probably mid-story, just kind of looks up and going, okay, well, let's let's wait and see what's gonna happen here as some of the dirt begins to fall down. 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:29.519 He's like, you know, we'll just pause the teaching for this moment. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:36.319 And all of a sudden, you know, light begins to break through from the uh roof, and you know, you see these guys peering down. 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:38.319 Yep, we got it in the middle, that's where Jesus is. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:39.839 Whoo, glad we got that right. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:50.400 And then they begin to lower him down, and the eyes of Jesus are on this man, and every other eye's on him. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:58.480 And what he's thought, and what he's felt for as long as he's been paralyzed, and I don't know how long it is. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:19:59.759 The text doesn't tell us. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:04.160 He could have been paralyzed his entire life, he could have had an you know accident at work. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:07.839 God's angry with me. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:10.559 God's against me. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:16.640 This is a result of who I am. 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:19.839 And Jesus' first words, these are so powerful. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:24.799 Son relationship, family. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:30.400 Your sins are forgiven. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:41.440 Like God's not angry at you and your family, and I'm meeting you with grace in this moment. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:49.039 You can only imagine the joy that swept his heart in that moment. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:59.519 And here's what we saw with the paralytic that his deepest desire, he was unaware of his really his greatest need. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:05.680 Said it another way, his deepest desire wasn't his greatest need. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:14.640 See, he desired physical restoration, and Jesus says, There's an internal spiritual healing that I want to do in your life. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:20.079 I like how um Tim Keller wrote and said it. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:28.960 He said, Jesus says, You see, if you have me, I'll actually fulfill you, and if you fail me, I will always forgive you. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:31.200 I'm the only Savior who can do that. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:33.279 But it's hard to figure that out. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:46.880 Many of us start going to God, going to church, because we have problems, and we're asking God to give us a little boost over the hump so that we can get back to saving ourselves, back to pursuing our deepest wishes. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:49.680 And I think that's where many of us come in. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:53.920 That our deepest desire is not actually our greatest need. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:59.759 We need Jesus, we need his healing, we need his forgiveness, we just need him, and we're just going, God, no. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.880 If you would fix this, if you would just fix this area, would you fix my marriage? 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:06.480 Then everything would work out right. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:10.640 If you would just fix that anxiety and depression, then everything would work out right. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:13.839 If you would just fix my job, then everything would work out right. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:14.960 And he's like, no, no. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:19.039 I want to meet you deeply and profoundly. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.079 His deepest desire was not his greatest need. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:29.440 And then finally, finally we have the Pharisees or the religious. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:38.640 And you notice their knowledge of God blinded them to their need for God. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:44.319 They're sitting watching this unfold. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:59.200 And they're seeing Jesus, they're seeing this man, and they're just criticizing the entire time in their heart. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:08.720 Now, there's a rabbinic saying that says there is no sick man healed of his sickness until all his sins have been forgiven. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:14.240 So they don't they believe that you cannot be healed until you've been fully forgiven. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:18.880 And then Jesus says to this man, your sins are forgiven. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:24.640 And knowing in their heart, only God can forgive sins. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:27.279 And then he says, which is easier, remember this? 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:30.799 To say your sins are forgiven or get up and walk. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.359 Well, clearly it's easy to say your sins are forgiven. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:35.920 I can say that right now to you, and you go, Well, thank you very much. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:37.759 It doesn't mean anything from you, Ryan. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:39.599 And you can't prove it. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:42.880 How can you prove that you forgave my sins? 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:45.440 And to prove it. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:50.960 He then says, get up and walk. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:24:07.119 And in that moment, confronts the Pharisees and the religious leaders that they may know a lot of nice things about God, but they're unaware of who God is and how he's operating. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:22.480 Because God incarnates right in front of them, and the paralytic's sitting there, and he knows his need for God, and the Pharisees are in just as much need of God, and yet they're living judgmental, thinking they're okay. 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:34.880 And so, how do we become a church that deeply cares for one another and carries each other to the very feet of Jesus? 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:46.079 I want to give us really three practices of a not ordinary church, of a Jesus-centered community for us to live into. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:59.359 I believe as we do this, man, not only will it change and transform you, it'll change and transform others, and this is the type of community Jesus desires for his church. 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:07.759 The first practice of a Jesus-centered community is that a Jesus-centered community makes room for all people to have access to Jesus. 00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:13.680 Hey, we're gonna make room for every single person. 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:14.799 How can we make room? 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:16.160 How can we carve out space? 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:17.200 How can we be intentional? 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:18.799 We're gonna go, okay, I get it. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:22.559 There's times where we're unaware, there's times we're honestly unconcerned. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:28.960 How do we make room for all people to have access to Jesus? 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:37.839 You know, part of the way we make room in our services is some of the practical things that we said in the very first sermon of the series. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:43.359 Like part of making room is showing up early and staying late so that you have space to engage. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.400 So that we're in Silicon Valley, it's like hustle, hustle, hustle, right? 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:48.240 Just hurry, hurry, hurry, I gotta get on. 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:50.559 And you just make space. 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:55.440 What if you carved out space and you're gonna be, I'm gonna be intentional. 00:25:56.559 --> 00:26:01.359 I'm gonna be intentional with somebody and just ask them how they're doing. 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:04.960 How can I be praying for you? 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:11.680 Remember, we asked last week, over the last few weeks, who can I encourage? 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:14.240 It's part of how we make room. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:18.640 We asked last week, here's a remember this? 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:22.559 Said, go have a great meal and maybe invite somebody along with you. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:24.079 My parents did that. 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:27.839 And they said it was the best Sunday at awakening since. 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:41.279 They both met a young, and two young professional gals, and they just were talking, getting to know them, and then they said, Hey, you want you guys want to come out to lunch with us? 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:43.519 How awesome is that, by the way, the church. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:49.440 You have um some mature people, um that's the appropriate way to say that. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:54.079 And these young professionals, and they said, Yeah, we would love to. 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:59.599 And they went out to lunch and they got to hear all about their story and connect them, and it was awesome. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:04.400 And my dad's like, this was the best Sunday because we engaged. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:12.160 And then he told me a story when they had just moved to Dallas for him to start seminary. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:14.880 They had no money, I wasn't born yet. 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:19.759 My two brothers moved into government assistant housing. 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:39.680 They um were trying out a church, it was called Bible uh Reinhardt, Bible Church, that is, and then they um they weren't sure how they were gonna afford food, and they after service, they're just sitting in the parking lot, and my dad says, I just had my head on the steering wheel. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:56.720 Like you just made this massive move, you feel far from home, you don't know how you're gonna provide for your family, the weight of it all comes crashing in, and he gets this knock on the window, and this couple says, Hey, would you want to come over for lunch? 00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:00.000 Yeah, because we're not eating otherwise. 00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:05.359 And they went over with a few other couples to this couple's home. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:10.880 My dad said, That one lunch changed the trajectory of his life. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:12.720 It was a lunch. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:16.559 He's like, through that lunch, I got connected at Reinhardt Bible Church. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:20.400 I started teaching a high school, you know, uh, Bible study. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:22.960 Then they asked me to lead the college ministry. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:34.799 I got connected to the senior pastor there, his name's um something Geiger, I forget, is uh Don Geiger, and he became a mentor for me, still to this day. 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:41.759 I can connect with him, and he introduced me to, and he named significant people that I've known through the course of my life who've been influential. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:51.440 It was one lunch, and we just gotta start making room for people, and it's this simple, simple, but significant. 00:28:52.079 --> 00:29:00.000 You know, one of the ways I was thinking about how we make room for people not in this service, I was confronted with this the other day. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.039 Uh, I went to the store, truth be told, it was Bevmo. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:04.799 I just gotta get that out there. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:17.200 And as I'm checking out this guy Joshua, I I would love to say that I'm always in like this really great welcoming space. 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:22.400 I I was in my head, I was just ready to go home, hang out with the family. 00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:26.160 Kind of, it was um, you know, middle of the week. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:27.680 I'm just like, okay. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:31.200 And I'd met him before. 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:41.200 And he reminded me that I had once came and spoke at his uh at his school, his college. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:55.440 And I just realized, I'm like, here I am in my head, and not even paying attention to the human on the other side who is checking me out, not literally checking me out, you know what I mean. 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:00.319 Instead of making room. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:05.039 And all of a sudden it clicks, it's like, Ryan, make room. 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:06.480 And so we began to talk. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:08.799 It's like, yeah, I'm like, what are you doing with your life? 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:09.359 What's going on? 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:11.279 And uh, it's like I'm trying to find a church. 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:13.519 Man, we'd love to have you anytime. 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:27.519 It's like these are so simple but significant that we'd be a church that makes room for all people to have access, then we'd be aware that all we can do is carry, only Jesus can bring healing. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:33.519 All the men could do was get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:43.279 See, this is so helpful because you can't be the savior, you can't heal the marriage, you can't fix the problem, you can't, but you can carry. 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:45.279 You can carry. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:48.079 Our role is to help carry people to Jesus. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:49.119 Well, how do we do that? 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:57.680 We pray for them, or we just simply be present with them, we pursue after them and bring them to Jesus. 00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:13.279 You know, um one of my really, really dear friends, not a part of Awakening, um, they a couple friends, they went through a really hell of a year. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:21.759 Uh, unfortunately, he had an affair, and a few of us are just walking really closely with them. 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:25.119 And it's been so painful and hard. 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:33.359 And in the early days of like figuring out how do we walk alongside, there's like you just want to be able to fix it, don't you? 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:37.119 You just want to be able to like, man, how can we solve this? 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:40.880 And and we're spinning out thinking and praying, and what can we do? 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:41.599 What can we do? 00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:44.240 And and then all of a sudden it just was so clear. 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:54.559 Only Jesus can heal their marriage, only Jesus can save their family, only Jesus can bring about true repentance, only Jesus, here's what we can do, we can support. 00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:05.599 When we get really, really clear, all we can do is carry people to Jesus, and our goal isn't to be Jesus, but to bring them to Jesus. 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:07.200 It's powerful. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:12.880 And people experience the healing and grace of Jesus. 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:22.319 One way that it happens in this church, there's a gal in our church during that meet and greet time that carries people to Jesus, and I love this. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:35.039 She goes and meets somebody brand new, gets to know their name and a little bit about them, writes their name down on a card, and then prays for them all throughout the week. 00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:45.119 And then intentionally looks for them after the very next week to say, ask them how their week is, and that she had been praying for them. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:49.680 Like it's one of those ways that we just get to carry people to Jesus. 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:53.279 Make room for all people to have access. 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:56.880 All we can do is carry, only Jesus can bring healing. 00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:02.960 And then finally, we all are messy and need to be carried to Jesus. 00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:06.400 Started this way, we'll close this way. 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:08.000 We're all messy. 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:17.039 Isn't it easier to be the one that prays for somebody and not necessarily being prayed for? 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:27.039 Sometimes I think it's just safer to be the one that's carrying but not necessarily being carried. 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:32.480 And where we just look around and we go, I'm a mess, guys. 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:35.680 We're all messes. 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:49.200 Like the reason we have small groups is so that we can be in community growing together, and that you have a group of people the same, no, we're we're all messes, and at times we're all gonna carry one another towards Jesus. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:52.160 But where we just acknowledge that. 00:33:52.319 --> 00:34:08.559 I dream of a day like when our prayer line is just packed because we don't say there's a small prayer and I don't really need it today, or it's too little, but it's just like, hey, we're all waking up and gone, you know what, I can't wait, and today I need to be carried, and I'm gonna help carry someone else. 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:22.159 You know, um there's this brothers who are triathletes. 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:27.360 Well known, world uh like famous. 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:30.400 I mean, they're just elite in their area. 00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:37.920 They um name is Alistair and Johnny Brownlee for those who are in that world. 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:47.280 In 2012 at the London Olympics, they um Alistair, who's the older brother, three years older, won gold. 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:51.440 Johnny won bronze, so they're standing on the podium together. 00:34:51.519 --> 00:35:01.760 Uh they're just this powerhouse of brothers, and the 2016 Rio Olympics, Alistair again won gold and Johnny won silver standing next to each other. 00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:10.480 Johnny, um Johnny was having an incredible year, the younger brother uh on the world tour for uh triathlon. 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:19.360 In fact, uh the final event, he was set to win the entire uh series if he won that event. 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:25.039 It was in Cosimel, Mexico, and he was demolishing everyone. 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:30.880 Uh in a way back second and third was his brother Alistair and another runner. 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:43.679 Uh and when you s you you can go on YouTube and watch the close of this event, and when you see Johnny, he's only about 500 meters away from the finish line. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:49.599 And commentators are going, he's got it in the bag. 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:52.400 He is the world champion. 00:35:53.199 --> 00:36:02.159 I mean, literally, he had such a lead that he could could have probably walked the rest of the way and won. 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:11.199 And he was looking strong and he was looking good, and then all of a sudden there's a little wobble, and the commentator's like, he's not quite uh oh, what is that? 00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:21.440 And he did something that happens in endurance um sports, they call it conking out, where his body just begins to shut down. 00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:24.719 In fact, some of his internal organs even can shut down. 00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:26.400 It's actually quite dangerous. 00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:35.760 And you see him wobble and struggle and then all of a sudden fall to the side and caught by one of the um spectators. 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:45.199 Alistair and the other uh guy are running, coming, closing in, and he sees his younger brother has fallen to the side. 00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:51.679 And instead of running and trying to get first and come back, he runs to his brother. 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:58.159 He grabs his arm, puts it over his arm, and he finishes the rest of the race. 00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:01.599 He carries his brother to the finish line. 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:07.119 And Alistair doesn't just tie for second place with his brother. 00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:14.559 He doesn't just give up the opportunity to have gotten first by carrying his brother. 00:37:14.880 --> 00:37:23.679 He actually takes his brother and pushes him over the line so that his brother could get second. 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:32.320 I think that's what we're supposed to be as the church. 00:37:33.679 --> 00:37:50.400 That as we're running our race, as we're running the fast pace of Silicon Valley, that we see our brother or sister who are stumbling, and instead of going, like, I'm gonna just finish, I'm gonna stop, and I'm gonna help carry you, and I'm gonna push you across the line, and we need to be that kind of church. 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:57.519 And as we close, I think there's some here that just need to be carried in this moment. 00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:02.960 I'm gonna invite you to stand up, and I just want to spend a moment praying together. 00:38:03.199 --> 00:38:04.719 Go ahead and stand up. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:14.559 And if you're here and you're going, like, man, I need to be carried, Ryan, and we already acknowledge we're all messes. 00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:17.199 Here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. 00:38:17.280 --> 00:38:21.840 I'm gonna ask you to just raise your hand, acknowledge I'm I'm needing to be carried in this moment. 00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:30.559 And if you're in the place where you feel like you're um Alistair and you have the strength, and you're going, I I know we're all messes, but Ryan, I I can pray. 00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:34.480 So if you're needing to be carried, would you just raise your hand and then look around? 00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:38.800 And if you're around somebody, would you just reach out your hand towards them and just start praying for them? 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:40.800 You don't need to know your their name, God knows. 00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:42.239 You just start praying for them. 00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:43.760 And so raise your hand high. 00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:44.800 We got it right over here. 00:38:44.960 --> 00:38:46.559 Reach out their hand and begin pray. 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:47.840 Look around, church. 00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:50.400 We got hands up all around and begin to pray for them. 00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:53.440 Reach out your hand toward them and start praying over them. 00:38:54.400 --> 00:38:57.840 We got hands in the back, turn around and pray for them. 00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:01.599 Hands all the way in the back. 00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:04.159 Reach out your hands, church, and begin to pray. 00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:06.960 Carry one another to Jesus. 00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:25.119 God, I raise my hand because I'm a mess. 00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:35.199 So grateful that when you see us, you say, son and daughter, not angry with you. 00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:36.639 Welcome home. 00:39:39.599 --> 00:39:50.559 God, I pray for those that right now are battling depression and anxiety, that you just would bring healing, bring wholeness, bring life. 00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:56.239 With addiction, would you break the bondage? 00:39:57.199 --> 00:39:59.760 Relationship and marriages that are struggling. 00:39:59.920 --> 00:40:02.880 Would you bring wholeness only you can save? 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:04.480 We acknowledge that. 00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:11.840 God, may we be a church that carries one another to your cheek, your feet in prayer. 00:40:12.159 --> 00:40:13.119 We need you. 00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:14.239 We need you. 00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:20.000 God, thank you for the women and men who are saying, We need you. 00:40:24.400 --> 00:40:25.360 We love you. 00:40:26.400 --> 00:40:29.920 Thank you that you meet us right where we are. 00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:33.920 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:39.119 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:40:39.360 --> 00:40:41.679 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:40:41.840 --> 00:40:47.679 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.