Not Going Well

When life feels overwhelming and “not going well,” true faith shines through friends who step in, carry us, and bring us to Jesus—just as the paralytic’s companions lowered the roof to reach Him. Jesus first forgives sins, then heals, showing that forgiveness matters more than physical miracles. This sermon challenges listeners to recognize moments of need, borrow others’ faith, and act with compassion, reminding us that when we can’t walk by faith alone, we can rely on one another to experience God’s transformative power.

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

It's awesome to be with the church family this morning. If I haven't had the chance to meet you, my name's Russ, and I'm one of the pastors here at Church at the Grove. Always excited to see everybody, but if you're here, especially first or second time, we always want to show hospitality, but more than anything, we want you to have an encounter with Jesus. And so that's what that's that's the that's our heart's desire. Um now, y'all, you you heard me share my testimony and and and points of my life and different things, and and and I refer back to growing up, not going to church, and and and as a result of that, I was I was one of three boys, and we were always involved in mischief and stuff. And so, um, and it and it wasn't always, it didn't always go well. So, so I I was probably about 17 years old and and I was sitting in the jail in Conyers, Georgia. Not because I was doing a ministry visit. I I had been hanging out with some friends and doing some things that I shouldn't have done at the age that I that I was at. And and and the nice police man from Conyers, he knew that that that's not really what I needed to be doing. And so I sat there, you know, and I had to call home. My dad was out of town working, and and I'm telling you, that that is a blessing that he was not home. And I and I just sat there and I had to make that phone call, and I said to myself, this is this is not good. Things were not going well for me. Things were not going well at that moment. And so a lot of us can say that at points in our life, maybe right now you would say, things are not going well for me. I guarantee you, you've got friends and you've got neighbors and you've got work associates, and you have people in your extended family, maybe your immediate family, and things are not going well for them. I walked out of that jail, got in the car, my my I had two old, I had two older brothers, one still living, and my middle brother Eddie, both Eddie and my older brother Butch, they they were a huge influence in me coming to Christ. Eddie had been on me to inviting me to come to church. And I just wasn't interested. I just kept giving them the stiff arm and told him that just, you know, that's not that's not for me right now. And and and as I sat there and thought, man, this is not going well for me. The lifestyle that I am choosing right now at this moment, it's not going well. And I walk out, I got in the car, and and I I looked, I had to look my mother in the eyeballs. Now, my mother was the sweetest lady in the world. I mean, she just so sweet. And she, you know, there were times that she had to get on to me, but but it wasn't near, I mean, she still had a soft heart. And I had to look at her walking out of that jail. And we got in the car, and and my brother was driving, and you know how you ever been in just an awkward situation, think something's not going well, and it's quiet. And I just, I mean, it just came out. I said, Eddie, I think I want to go to church with you this week. And and and and God, that's kind of, that was meant to be kind of funny. Obviously, scratch that for the next service. I it had I had to get to that point where things were not going so well that my heart was open uh to God working. And I imagine most of us have similar stories. Some of us probably, when God got a hold of our life, we were probably at low places. And and it might have been at a young age. I I I know with my uh my children, uh for for their little hearts, it was different, but the reality, they they something wasn't going well in their life, and they wanted to reach out and ask Jesus to come and save them. And so we all have these stories. Something's not going well, there's a terrible uh set set of circumstances in our life, and and and and somebody steps into our life when things are not going well, and they begin to share some hope and joy and love. They share their testimony, they eventually get to share the gospel, or they invite you to a place or to a church where the gospel is going to be preached. The reality is we don't we don't we don't have to access, we we don't have to know how to access the faith that we need to have to get to Jesus. Really, what needs to happen is somebody needs to care enough to get us to Jesus. Now, we're in this series called The Empty Chair, and so I should have an empty chair right here. Russ, can I have an empty chair? Um, at perfect timing. He was reaching for it as I called for it. And so, so listen, we we we taught last week, we introduced this idea. The series is titled The Empty Chair, and and there are chairs throughout this room, and this room is there's a lot of people in this room, but you know what? There's still a lot of empty chairs that are in this room. And we, listen, when we started this church 20 years ago, the idea would be that we would continually see people reach with the gospel to fill up empty chairs. And he, listen, I am so excited about this building. Sometimes I have to pinch myself, but you know what I have to be reminded of? That it's not about this building. It's about the people who will sit in the empty chair and fill this place. And not only just fill this place, they'll walk out into the community and they will represent Jesus in all they do and all they say. And there's a commitment. And so we we said there's gonna, over the next three weeks, we're gonna talk about these three knots. These knots. And when you hear these knots, they will immediately, through through the power of habit, through the power of something triggering your memory, it'll remind you, when you hear, hey, I'm not going to church, it'll trigger the fact that, hey, you have an answer to that. It's an invitation. And this week we're talking about the second night when things are not going well. And we all know people that are that are going through experiences where it's just not going well for them. Listen, I know people in our church. I know that our church has a lot of people that are hurting and suffering and going through difficult circumstances. So if that's happening inside the church, I know it's happening outside the church. Now the difference is inside the church, we know we've got a savior. We've got a king who cares about us, a heavenly father that has adopt, wants to adopt us into the family of God. And so when things are not going well, people seem to be open to something outside of themselves. And so next week, we'll look at another knot. We'll share that knot for for later. But here's what I want you to hear as we think about all the seasons where there seems to be little to no faith in us. And sometimes that is the case. And when that's the case, listen to this. Here's the big idea, you don't walk away with anything else. Listen to this. When you can't walk by faith, borrow somebody else's. When you can't walk by faith, you borrow somebody else's. And we're in Mark chapter 1 today. I'm sorry, Mark chapter 2. We're going to be in Mark chapter 2, but let me tell you what happens in Mark chapter 1. It's, I love Mark because you've got Matthew and you've got Luke that give you the whole nativity stories, and there's great detail, and it's all important detail because it's it that tells us what's happening in the Roman Empire and what's happening in history at that time. Mark is different. Mark gets straight to the point. I mean, Mark chapter 1, verses 14, Jesus comes on to the scene. He said, the kingdom of God is at hand. It is here. It is here. Believe, listen, he says, repent and believe the good news. I mean, that's Jesus' invitation and his call to salvation. Now, once he makes this proclamation, the kingdom of God is here. Repent, believe the good news, he begins to demonstrate the power of the kingdom. He demonstrates it through the authority of his teaching. He demonstrates it through being able to supernaturally heal people. He heals Peter's mother-in-law. He is able to cast out demons. He heals a leper. And so you see the power of God through the life of Jesus. And then he, we get to chapter 2. Here's what it says in verses 1 through 3 of chapter 2, Mark 2. It says, when he entered Capernaum, again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And so, which gives us the idea, that was Jesus' home base. We know he was from Nazareth. We know he was born in Bethlehem, but we also know that Capernaum became his home base. And so many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them, and they came to him bringing a paralytic carried by four of them. Four men. And so things are going well in ministry. God's power is showing through Jesus. But the crowds here, they hear about this man who can teach with authority. They hear about this man who has the power to heal. This man who has the power to cast out demons. He has the power that only could come from God. And he's surrounded by people crowding in to the house. You know why they're crowding in? Because when you look at their life, things are not going well for them. They're living under the tyranny of the Roman Empire. Many are living with the consequences of their own sin. Many are living with physical issues where they desperately need healing. They desperately need help. And so last week we looked at the story of Zacchaeus and realized he was not going to church. And so Jesus says, Zacchaeus, I need to come to your house. And Jesus walks into the house of Zacchaeus that is filled with shame, that is filled with unforgiveness, that is filled with the consequences of separation from an eternal God. And listen, but when Jesus walks out of Zacchaeus's house, he walks out of a house where a man who was lost is now found. And the chair that was empty is now filled with somebody. And so this week it's different. When things are not going well, let me give you, give me a give you a few responses if you're a note taker. When things are not going well, somebody's got to make a decision to do something. When things are not going well, somebody's got to make a decision to do something. You can't just talk about it. You can't point fingers at it. Somebody's got to be willing to get up and take action. Here's a question for you. Did Jesus come? Did he need to just come be a helpful? Come to be helpful with the things that we need in life? Or did he come to be the hope for all eternity? That's a question we've got to consider because it changes how we look at life and it changes how we look at people and how we're to adjust our life to the mission that God has given us. Somebody's got to do something. Somebody's got to do something. We've developed a discipleship pathway. Steps that are tangible enough for hopefully for us to explain what it means to come to a place where we believe the gospel and we belong to the family of God, and then we become more and more like Jesus, and then we join Jesus in building his kingdom, advancing the gospel. So here's my question. Is it just enough to believe? I believe that we are now dealing with the consequences of a church that has for decades said that salvation is simply repeating a prayer that you believe something. And that you, listen, you get your ticket to eternal life, but you can go sit back on your dairy air and maybe show up to church occasionally, at least a couple times a year, and have this false sense of eternal security. Now, no, don't. I know some of you are thinking, oh, here he goes, here he goes. Works by salvation. That's not what I'm talking about. We are saved by grace through faith alone. Faith alone. The thief on the cross, he didn't really have time to do a lot, so he wasn't he wasn't deserving of salvation, but it was given to him as a gift. So don't get me wrong. But let's pull back and look at the big picture. If you say you believe in Jesus and you go about living your life as if nothing else, as if nothing has changed, then there is no evidence that Jesus has transformed your life. Somebody's got to step up and do something. When we see that things are not going well in somebody's life, listen, when you don't have faith, you've got to borrow somebody else's, and there's a man that's on a stretcher in this story that is counting on somebody to do something. There's a guy on a mat here, laying here. He's paralyzed, it says. And there's four guys standing around. Now, in some scenarios, this is what I'm thinking. Four people standing around, they're thinking, there's something wrong here. Things are not going well. But some smarty pants is over here trying to decide, diagnose what's happening. Here's what I read in my medical journal. I think it's an infection. Which it couldn't have been that. Because microbes weren't discovered until the 1800s. So they wouldn't even have thought it's an infection. That wasn't even on their brain. You know, little tiny microbes were kind of otherworldly back then. But there's somebody, you know, but you you get the dress. Somebody's giving their opinion. I think it's an infection. Somebody else says, well, I think it's the sin in his life. And this is retribution for his dis. I mean, you people, oh, everybody has a commentary. Everybody has an opinion. I mean, even doctors practice medicine. And you know what? We live in a society where it's becoming ever more obvious that there are less experts than we think. There was a, I think there might have been, there might have been a committee meeting in Washington somewhere. I can't remember the guy's name, but but he was an expert. He was an expert over those microbes that I said, you know, those microbes. So we listened to the experts tell us. Stay home. Wear a mask. Now, I that's way off base from where I was. No, listen. We can step back. Listen, we we all have needs. We all have physical needs. We have emotional needs. There's sickness, financial needs, loneliness, marriage, parenting, physical needs. There's something wrong when we prioritize physical or felt needs over what is most important, and that's eternal needs. Something is wrong with the idea that this man can be healed to have two good legs, but all these legs are going to be good for is to walk straight into hell because nobody shared the gospel with him and helped him understand what is more important than even your physical healing. Now, listen, I don't think that Jesus is indifferent to our felt needs. Jesus is not indifferent to our physical needs and our pain and our hurt, and I believe he heals. We have prayed. We have prayer services where we heal for people. We'll pray over you any Sunday. And I believe that Jesus can heal every disease. I believe he still casts out demons. I believe that he can do anything that we need him to do to meet a felt need. And that is good. But there's something wrong if somebody's felt need is met, but they walk away without knowing the fact that they could have eternal life. So somebody's got to do something. Verse 4, it says, since they were not able to bring in with Jesus because of the crowd, what did they do? Somebody decided to do something. They removed the roof above him after digging through it. They lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. See, when things are not going well, true friends have faith that overcome obstacles. True friends have faith that overcome obstacles. Listen, somebody needs to get to Jesus. Are you truly a friend? Are you truly a friend? Are you truly caring about what's happening in their life? Look at verse 5. It says, seeing their faith. Does it say seeing his faith? What's the word there? Seeing there. So here's what I'm reading that your faith might matter in my life just as much as my faith matters in my life. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven. You see what happens here? He didn't say just get up and walk. He says, your sins are forgiven. Jesus has a way of cutting through all of the peripheral things and getting to what really matters the most. And yeah, we listen, healing is possible. Jesus still casts out demons. He does all of these things. But listen, he was willing to take the conversation deeper. We live in a world that's paralyzed by things that can't be fixed. So what do we do? We ignore the true answers for people whose lives are not going well. We live in a world that is confused. We live in a world where we're paralyzed by things that can't be fixed. So we just focus on what we know. An authentic faith understands that there is more at stake than just. Physical healing. Someone overcame an obstacle. Listen, listen to me. I know some of you have grown up in church your whole life, but I'm telling you, somewhere, somewhere in your family, somewhere in your life, somebody had to overcome an obstacle to make sure that you would eventually get to hear about Jesus. Somebody had to be willing to bring you to church, to drag you to church, to preach to you, to love you. If you were born and raised in a Christian family, somebody, somewhere in your ancestral history, was willing to step out of their comfort zone so you could hear the name of Jesus. And true friends are willing to overcome the obstacles to see this happen. Here's what else we see. Jesus sees the faith of his friends before he solves the problem. He sees the faith of his friends before he solves the problem. See, we all come with our felt need list. Jesus loves enough to go deeper, to go deeper to what really matters. Look at verse 6. For some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does he speak like this? He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Right away, Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven? Or to say, get up, take your mat, and walk. See, when things are not going well, we need to be reminded that the greatest miracle isn't walking, it's being forgiven. The greatest miracle isn't just getting up and walking. This man right here, I said he could have two great, he could be healed, have two good legs, and still walk straight into the depths of hell. The greatest miracle isn't always the physical healing, it's the spiritual healing. It's the forgiveness that comes. And in a paralyzed world, in a world that's paralyzed, things that about about things that can't be fixed, we have a Savior who addresses what's actually wrong. And it's the human heart. See, when you can't walk by faith, borrow somebody else's. And so let's finish right here, Mark 2, verses 10 through 12. It says, But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he told the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home. Immediately he got up, took the mat, went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, We have never seen anything like this. He saw the faith of the mat carriers. But based on this, he also knew the thoughts of everyone there. He knows every thought you have, everything you're thinking right this second. Jesus knows it. He knows what your need is. In a moment, we're gonna ask you to come to the Lord's table. And before you come to the Lord's table, it's always a heart check to make sure that we come with our hearts right with God, reconciled with the Heavenly Father, receiving the forgiveness that He offers before we come partake. And so the most important invitation you might hear this morning is the invitation to put your faith in Jesus before you take your first communion. Have you ever needed somebody to carry you when you couldn't get somewhere by yourself? Have you ever had to rely on somebody outside of yourself? Listen, we all, we all are going through something. And we need Jesus to respond to that something, but that something will never take precedent over the greatest need that we have, and that is the need for salvation. And if somebody was willing to pay a price for me to make sure that I filled an empty chair, then I, listen, shame on me if I don't participate and join in the mission to make sure somebody else is invited to fill the empty chair. Now listen, we we all have things in our life. A couple of weeks ago, I was I I just decided I'm gonna have a pity party. I just felt pitiful. I I felt I felt like I felt this weight. It feels like this season that we're in, that my family's been in. I mean, going back to COVID, going back to uh losing an uncle at the end of 2020, knowing that my aunt and uncle didn't have any children, and and see, me and my three brothers, me and my two brothers, all three of us, have spent all of our lives talking about how we are going to have to step in and take care of my aunt or uncle because they didn't have children. And so my uncle Tom gets he gets COVID on Friday, dies on Sunday. And so our family's scrambling, giving care to my aunt, and I'm I'm a part of that rotation. My mother passed away, it's probably like it's been a year and a half ago, a little over a year and a half ago, and and and it wasn't a long period of time, but the last year or two, there's a lot of caregiving. And you know, I'm I got two brothers. Hey, we're we're gonna be in this together, aren't we? Aren't we? We're gonna be in this together, except the fact that God decided to take one of my brothers at the age of 34. And hallelujah for Eddie, hallelujah, because he knew the Lord, hallelujah for him. But it it when I think about it, sometimes I have a pity party. And so when my mother passed away and everything, all the business stuff that has to do, and if you've experienced that, you know what I'm talking about. It was three of us that would be in on this together. Except my older brother, eight years ago or so, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. And a couple weeks ago, I mean, you know, these things happen in stages, and his his declining has happened in stages. He had a major seizure a couple of weeks ago. He's doing a lot better. But but you know what? I I'm I'm in the middle of all that, I just feel weight, and I decided I'm gonna have a pity party. And listen, I say all that, I I it's not because I want you to feel sorry for me. I say it because I know that we all deal with it, have dealt with it, or will deal with it. Things like this. And here's what I said in my mind. I guess it can't get any worse than this. I guess it can't get any worse than this. And right, listen. Almost as if God was standing right in front of my face. He said, Russ, it could be worse. I mean, immediately the Holy Spirit began to call to my mind all the miracles in my family. One of them being three boys that came to Christ despite growing up in a family that didn't go to church. And so it could be worse. God says it could be worse. My brother's situation is a bit bleak, but you know what would be worse is if he had never put his faith in Jesus. Hey, I miss my brother Eddie so much. My kids never got to meet him. He would have been the best, most fun uncle that you could imagine. You think, man, it can't get any worse than that. Yes, yes, it can. He knows Jesus. It could be worse. He could be facing eternity without Jesus. So whatever is going on in your life, and it's all valid. I want to validate you all have issues and needs. We all are experiencing some type of situation. And sometimes we we get in our little pity parties and we we ask that question, man. I I get I I guess it can't get any worse than this. Yes, it can. Yes, it can. It can always be without Jesus. Jesus didn't promise us complete, perfect life. And our salvation. Matter of fact, he said, in this life you will have troubles. He is our fortress, he is our refuge. He is Psalm 46, He is our ever-present help in a time of trouble. When you think it can't get any worse, it can get worse. It can not only be physical, you can be headed straight to eternity without a relationship with your heavenly father. It certainly can be worse. And listen, if I want to be a good friend, then I want to carry the mat for you straight to Jesus this morning. And listen, if you're a true friend, then you'll consider the reality that these chairs need to be filled with somebody looking for true hope, looking for true life. And listen, it may come out as a felt need. It may come out that they're dealing with heartache or sorrow or loneliness, financial needs, physical needs, marital needs. It may come out, all those things, but it all goes back to the true deeper issue is do you know Jesus or not? And when things are not going well, people seem to be more open to that invitation. So when you hear, listen, when you hear somebody say, I'm not in church, that ought to immediately trigger you to invite, hey, listen, man, I love my church. You need to come try it. And when you hear somebody say, you know, hey, how's it going? What's going on? Well, it's not going so well. Let me tell you what, let me tell you what what my what my Bible tells me is that even when things are not going well, there's hope. Because our Savior, our Savior didn't promise a problem-free life on this earth. He promised us an eternity with him. So can we just spend a moment in prayer, reflecting on what God has said? And in a second, after I pray, I'm going to invite you to come to the Lord's table. And we'll partake of that. Father, we thank you for the hope that we have in our Savior Jesus. We thank you, Father, that our hope is not in the things of this world. And I can't help but to think of what Jesus said. What does it profit or benefit someone to gain the whole world, but yet forfeit their own soul? What does it profit? What does it profit you to have every every penny you could earn and be a millionaire? But to forfeit your own soul, what does it profit you to get the things that you want in life that are material things? But to forfeit your soul, what does it profit you? You fill in the blank with whatever it is. Because Jesus is here and he wants to have a relationship with you, and he is inviting you to answer and to respond to what he tells us back in Mark chapter 1. He says, The kingdom of God is here. Repent and believe the good news. Yes, Jesus, I want you in my life. I turn my life over to you. I believe that you lived and you died and you rose again to provide for my salvation. God, thank you. Thank you for that salvation. And Father, as we close this time and participate in this meal, this meal that you you encouraged us and commanded us to celebrate until you return again, when you'll you'll celebrate with us at this great banquet. We come to this table to remember the broken body. This body that was beaten and bruised and that it bled. And by by his blood, we are redeemed. God, you also call us to come and partake of the fruit of the vine, and and and it represents it represents your blood, and and you call us to break the bread that represents your body. So, Father, as we do so, can we make sure? I want to encourage you that you have put your faith in Christ. I'll be down here at the front. If you want somebody to pray with you or talk with you about that, one of our other leaders and pastors will be here as well. And Paul tells us when we come to the table, let's do it in a way that is sensitive to everybody else. Let's don't be rushed. Let's be patient. Even let this be a time of ministry where maybe God will point somebody out that you need to pray for, encourage them with a word, give them a hug, a high five. And so, Father, I pray over this time that we come to your table. God, that you would reveal yourself clearly to people for who you are, and that God, that you through this meal that we're gonna partake of, that God, your your presence would be real. And God, there would be healing, there'd be forgiveness. God, you'd bring your shalom peace, your complete holistic peace that you want to offer us. So, Father, we love you, and we thank you. It's in Christ's name we pray. And everybody said, Amen. Our team's gonna lead out in a second, but but if you'll notice, there there are two tables here at the front for the middle sections of the room. We all have also have a table on each side of the room, and so so based on the sides in the middle, uh, you've got plenty of opportunities for places to come. And we've got um our regular wafers, we also have some pre-packaged, gluten-free, uh, trying to be sensitive to everybody's situation. So, as our team leads out, as soon as they sing that first lyric, you make your way as God leads you to come and partake of the broken body and the spilled blood of our Savior.