Get Out of the Boat

Here we are in Week seven of our old school Sunday School series and during that time we have see Jesus lost in the temple, baptized in a river, heal a paralyzed man and a blind man and mediate a sibling rivalry. 

And that’s what happened when Sunday School was being taught, each week a new bible story would be taught and explored in a wide range of classes.  But before the children went to class they would go to the Assembly, and that was a time of singing, many of the songs that we have sung over the past seven weeks, and they would have played games
 

And not just any games but games like “Sword Drill”.  How many people know what a sword drill is?  It is based on Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 

The kids would hold their bibles and the Sunday School Superintendent would call out scripture references and the kids would race to find the reference in their bibles and then they would jump up and read the verse.  That was how a whole generation learned to find things in the Bible.  This was also the time that children would be recognized for memorizing their memory verses for the week.  And that was how a whole generation learned to memorize bible verses.

Of course both of those were dependent on the children bringing their bibles to Sunday School, which was of course dependent on the children having a bible.  Brilliant concept!

And in most Sunday Schools having a flannelgraph in every room just wasn’t in the budget and that was ok because everyone was learning the same story so a story teller would use the flannel graph in the opening for all the different ages.

(Tell Flannelgraph Story)

The entire world just disappeared.  One minute it was there and the next minute, there it was gone.  Well not really but it seemed like everything else had ceased to exist, and all there was left was Peter, the sea and Christ.  It had started off as another boat trip across the Sea of Galilee for the twelve while Jesus stayed behind, it was a beautiful evening, with a star filled sky and then bang, a storm blew up from nowhere.  What was it that Yogi Berra said, “It was like deja vu all over again.”  Peter remembered another boat trip across the same stretch of water when a storm had blown up and threatened to swamp their boat.  The difference being that this time there was no Jesus to stand in the bow and rebuke the wind.

And so the disciples desperately struggled against the storm as they made their way slowly across the lake.  A short trip soon turned into an epic journey.  The daylight had fled in the path of the impending night and the sunset had been a crimson slash across the western sky ushering in a heaven like black velvet studded with chips of diamond.  But soon the stars were hidden by an increasing number of clouds and the wind whipped the shallow depths of Galilee into a boiling cauldron of froth.  They were bow into the wind and it seemed that every metre had to be fought for and bought with a price.  But they had been through worse and survived, after all they made their living on the sea, but it was a lot more fun without the gale force winds. 

Then it happened they're struggling at the oars, they'd had to pull the main sail down to keep it from being torn to shreds, and somebody said “what is that?”  Well talk about freak city.  There was somebody walking out there.  No there couldn't be he had to be in a boat, nope there wasn't any boat, “it's a ghost” somebody yelled, and well there wasn't a great deal of time for consultation it would appear that was the consensus.  What next?  First they were battling for their lives in a storm, now they have a ghost walking on the water?  When Peter had said earlier “cheer up, things could be worse” he didn't entirely expect things to get worse.  Well there was only one thing left to do.  So they did it, they screamed, in fear. 

But a familiar voice came across the water saying “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” It was Jesus, and I’m sure that Peter was thinking “I hate it when he does stuff like this”  I kind of like the NKJV translation here because Jesus say's “be of good cheer”.  Oh, no problem.  We've been in a storm that been threatening to sink us for the past seven hours, we're wet and we're cold, and now out of nowhere a dude walks across the water and says “hey guys cheer up”  not a problem.  But then he qualifies his first statement by adding, “it is I.  Don't be afraid.”  pretty stiff translation if you ask me, picture a carpenter saying “take courage!  It is I. Don't be afraid”  how about “hey guys, it's me and I’ve got everything under control”

Well I don't know about the rest of the disciples but Peter believed him because he stands up and shouts into the wind, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”

Tell you what that is a Peter statement if I ever heard one.  Well you know the rest of the story don't you, Jesus says “Yes, come,” and Peter crawls over the gunwales of the boat puts one foot on the water, not in the water but on the water, tests it puts his other foot on the water and starts to walk toward Jesus.  I wonder what he was thinking.  There's spray blowing in his face, the waves are slapping against his legs and he's - walking - on - the - water.  Hot diggity dog, walking on the water, he can hardly believe it, everything else seems to disappear except for Jesus and the sea and him. 

Now personally I think the devil showed up about that time and whispered in Peter’s ear, “hey dummy, you can't walk on water you're going to drown.”  If Peter was like the majority of commercial fisherman and seaman that I know he couldn't swim, and had a fairly healthy respect and fear of the sea and suddenly he realized that people don't walk on water,  people walk under water and so the bible tells us that he began to sink, and that's where we come in. 

1) The Storm.  We have to realize that storms will come in each of our lives whether we are Christians or not, storms of illness, unemployment, financial set back, martial strife or death.  Christ never promised us that our life would be a stroll in the park.

Some of those storms are brought on by ourselves.  If Jonah had of been obedient then he would never have ended up in his particular storm.  If you smoke and end up with lung cancer you have no one to blame but yourself, don't stand demanding “God, how could you do this to me?”  You cheat on your spouse and they leave you, that's a storm of your own making.  You don't do your job right and get sacked.  We need to recognise that some storms are our fault; nobody is to blame but us.

Some storms are caused by Satan, take for example in Job 1:19  the storm that killed job's family was directly attributable to Satan.  The mobs that attacked the early church in the book of acts, the crucifixion of Christ all storms caused by the devil.  But sometimes we give the devil too much credit and we credit him with things that just happen.  A family that I grew up with lost their nine year old son when a mud bank where he was digging a cave collapsed on him, you lose your job because of a poor economic climate in the country, you or a loved one gets cancer.  We need to realize that sometimes bad things just happen and that is just the way it is.

Some storms come from God or he sends us into them.  In John’s account of this story he tells us a little bit about what went on before Jesus sent the disciples out in their boat.  In John 6:14-15 When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.

Perhaps Jesus knew that the disciples would spend the night talking about what it would be like if their boss became king, and if that was the case then just maybe they were being kept busy in the storm to get their minds off those things.  Sometimes a storm is our safest place because it demands all of our attention, and energies, and keeps us from giving into temptation.  My dad told me about being in a little fishing boat as a teenager with his father when a sudden storm blew up, he was bemoaning the fact that they had to be at sea and how much nicer it would be on land and my grandfather told him “oh you wouldn't want to be ashore now, it'd be too dangerous a tree could blow over and kill you.  No we are much safer here.”

And sometimes it takes a storm for us to step out of our comfort zone and do something great.

2) The Rescuer and so there they are, in the storm, alone and struggling for their very lives.  Their thoughts probably went back to the last time this happened.  Maybe Andrew said “hey guys, do you remember back in Matthew 8:23 when this happened and Jesus stopped the storm” and they reminded him that was fine but where was Jesus now.  And so the discussion went, made up of little jerks of conversation between waves.  Maybe they decided that they must be out of the will of God, because that's the only time that bad things happen to believers is when they are out of the will of God or when there is unforgiven sin in their lives right? Hardly.  But the question must have been in their hearts if not on their lips, “where is he?”

Well when Mark wrote his account of the story he added this insight, Mark 6:46-48 After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.

Must have been one of those God things, because it was dark and they were in the middle of the lake.  I mean the sea of Galilee isn't that big but it's still between four and seven miles to the middle depending on where you stand, not many people have that kind of eyesight.  They may have thought that they were alone but he was there all along.  And when the storms come in our life we're not alone either.  But sometimes it seems like Jesus waits until the night is at it's darkest to show up, and maybe it is, or maybe we'll never know how dark the night might have got if he hadn't shown up, or maybe it was simply because he doesn't always follow our timetable that it seems like he's not on time.  How often are we guilty of praying “Lord grant me patience and I want it now.”

Whatever the reason it wasn't until the fourth watch and that's between three and six in the morning that Christ finally got to the boat.  And were they thankful? No they freaked.  I'm sure that they wanting rescuing, but they wanted to be rescued their way.  They saw Christ walking on the water and they thought it was a ghost.  Now I realize that it's very easy for us to laugh and say “a ghost, how silly can you get?”  I don't know I think I’d have some serious doubts if I saw somebody walking on the water in the middle of a storm.  

3) The Walker 

Can I ask you a question?  Sure I can, after all I’m up here right?  When was the last time you took a risk?  Any risk, outside of driving in the city?  When was the last time you took a business risk?  When was the last time you took a personal risk?  When was the last time you took a spiritual risk.  When was the last time you got out of the comfy little boat that you call life and took a risk?  You probably used to do it a lot more when you were younger didn't you? It seems like the older we get the more comfortable the boat seems and the more dangerous the storm looks.  But life is about taking risks, it shouldn't be about playing it safe.  After all the secret is not who gets the most years in their life but who gets the most life in their years.  Maybe Charles Lindbergh said it best when he made this statement, “I decided that if I could fly for ten years before I was killed in a crash, it would be a worthwhile trade for an ordinary lifetime. . . Who valued life more highly, the aviators who spent it on the art they loved, or the misers who doled it out like pennies through their antlike days”. 

You say “Preacher Peter really didn't take a risk” oh really?  Bet the other eleven guys thought he was taking a risk, notice that they didn't get out of the boat.

Every noteworthy contribution every made to society has started out as a risk.  Beginning with Adam and eve deciding that maybe cooked food might not be so bad and trying to figure out how to go about harnessing fire, right up to and including space travel and beyond.  Human progress entails risk taking.  It's easy to play it safe, but it's not profitable.  Peter wasn't the only person in the bible to take a risk.  Think about how different our bible would be if Abraham had said no when he was asked to leave everything he had to pursue the vision of a great nation.  That's a risk when you are told that you will be the father of a nation when you aren't even the father of a child.

What would have happened if Noah had of decided to play it safe and not become a boat builder in his old age?  And if David decided that tending sheep had a better future then fighting giants?  What if Daniel realized that it was safer to obey the king's command then to pray?  And if Mary had of told the angel that she really wasn't interested in being a teen age mom because she didn't want to take the risk?  What if Jesus had of come to the conclusion that there was a brighter future in being a carpenter then being a messiah?  Or if he hadn't wanted to take the risk of coming to earth at all?

If the apostles had of decided that it was too risky to leave Jerusalem after the Holy Spirit had come, would we still be painting our bodies and living in trees?  If Columbus hadn't taken a risk on the earth not being flat would England and Europe be very crowded now, and Australia and the Americas still belong to their original owners.  If Luther hadn't taken a chance would we all still have a pope?  If Wesley hadn't taken a chance would we still have an archbishop? 

If Henry Ford hadn't taken a risk would we still be riding horses?  If Edison hadn't taken a risk would we still be reading by candles?  If Graham Bell hadn't taken a risk would we be living without the telephone?

The face of the earth and the scope of human history has been changed by those who were willing to get out of the boat.  Now I know that we can't all be Fords and Edison’s but everyone of us has the ability to change our world.  Every one of us has the ability to leave a mark with our life.  I remember reading once “if you want to put your life into perspective put your finger into a bucket of water and then pull it out, that is the difference that your being here will make” and I am here to say that is wrong, wrong, wrong.  The world is what it is today not because of what society has done but because of what individual people have done.  And in doing it they have had to get out of their boat and walk on water.

4) The Sinker  it was only when Peter took his eyes off Jesus that things got out of hand.  The tight rope walker Tino Wallenda said “when I walk the wire I must concentrate definitely on the other side.  I keep my eyes straight ahead.  If I start to look over to the audience or watch somebody  underneath me there is a good possibility I could lose my balance.”  In life we need to keep our eyes on the goal and in our Christian walk we need to keep our eyes on Christ.  It's when we start watching people that we lose the balance we need to keep going.  And so Peter starts to sink and I love what he says, “Lord save me” no fancy prayer there.  “Oh great and awesome lord, creator of all things, that which is in the sea and that which is above the sea, I beseech thee to reach forth thy almighty hand and save this unworthy yet needful sinker” the man would have drown if he had of prayed like that.

Now notice that Jesus took time to save the sinker before he rebuked the doubter.  Didn't point a finger of accusation instead he extended a hand of assistance.  Take that as an example and when a brother or sister in our congregation began to sink for whatever reasons don't stand there and criticize, help them.

When Jesus said “o you of little faith” he was acknowledging that Peter had some faith.  Peter was ready to do something great with Jesus.  And he did he walked on water.  I don't know how far he walked on water but it doesn't matter what matters is that he walked on water. 

Before he sank he did what no other man had done before and that no other man has done since he walked on the water.  And after Jesus reached out his hand, well he had to get back to the boat somehow so I suspect that he walked back.  And all in all I think that if I had my druthers I’d druther be a wet believing Peter, then a dry doubting Thomas.  And Peter was never rebuked for trying.

Are you ready to take a risk? To live life the way that Christ intended it?  Remember in John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

Can you honestly say that you have been living your life to the fullest?  You need to take life by the throat and make an impact.  Your goal isn’t to live long it’s to live, it’s not how many years you get in your life but how much life you get in your years.  Don’t listen to the whines of those who have settled for a second rate life and want you to do the same.  It is up to you to make the choice, will you choose to act or to stand still and watch life go by?  Let me close with a quote by Thomas Jefferson who said “I’m a great believer in luck; and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

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What it Takes to Kick a Hole in the Roof

This winter we decided to re-visit Sunday School to bring you some of the New Testament Stories that those who were brought up in a traditional Sunday School learned as children.  So we’ve taken to the flannelgraph to tell you the stories of how Mary and Joseph lost Jesus in Jerusalem when he was twelve, how Jesus was baptized by his cousin John and how he healed the blind man and other stories.

This morning we are looking at one of my favorite Jesus stories.  (Do Flannel Graph Story)

As they moved closer to the crowd their hopes begin to sink, what they thought would be a fairly simple task had taken on monumental proportions.  When the suggestion came up to take their lame friend to Jesus everyone thought it was a great idea, all they had to do to get their friend to walk was put him on a stretcher carry him across town and have Jesus touch him.  But that plan now seemed doomed to failure.  The closer they got to the house where Jesus was staying the larger the crowd got and they realized that it would be impossible to break through the wall of people while they were carrying their friend.  Their efforts were wasted, their dreams were dashed and their hopes were shattered.

The story actually begins in the first chapter of the book of Mark.  After Jesus had called Andrew, Simon Peter, James and John to follow him they made their way to the town of Capernaum.  

Capernaum operated as Jesus Head Quarters while he ministered in the Galilee area, and we are told in that while there he stayed in the home of Peter and Andrew.  In the first chapter we see Jesus speaking in the Synagogue, casting out unclean spirits and healing the sick, including Peter’s Mother-in-law.  Then we are told that he left town for a few days and continued doing the same thing in a different location.  And then he returned to Capernaum, presumably back to Peter’s house and it was in this home that the story picks up in chapter 2.

The people have flocked to the house to see the one called Jesus, the one some called the Messiah.  There were the sincere, the religious, the sick, the devoted and the curious, you know the ambulance chaser.  And there were those who were there to destroy Christ.  That was the only reason they had shown up was to find fault with what he said.  And all of these people crowded around the front door of Peter’s home presenting a wall of flesh that could not be dismissed or penetrated.

And into the story walk four men carrying a paralysed friend.  We don’t know why he was paralysed, whether it was from birth or the result of an accident or an illness or what had happened all we know is that he was paralysed.   And when they got to the house it became very apparent very quickly that they weren’t going to be able to get their friend through the mass of people gathered to see Jesus.

Well you know the rest of the story, at least you should we just told it with the Flannelgraph. 

The four guys heist their friend up to the flat roof of the house, that must have been some ride, and then they tore a hole in the roof and lowered their buddy down in front of Jesus.  Well a little bit of a discussion ensued and then Jesus makes this incredible statement; he says “My son, your sins are forgiven.”   Do you remember that I earlier said that there were those in the crowd who wanted to destroy Jesus?  This was all they were waiting for and they started nattering in the corner.  “Like who does he think he is? Forgiving sins? Only God can forgive sins, this is blaspheme”

Well Jesus knew what they were saying and he countered with “What is it easier to do to say, your sins are forgiven or to so pick up your mat and walk?”  And then he turns to the guy on the mat and says, “Stand up, take your mat, and go home, because you are healed.”  That’s the story.

The entire “Your sins are forgiven you” may seem to be a strange way to respond to someone’s physical ailments but 2000 years ago it was a natural starting place.  The Jews saw a direct correlation between sin and suffering.  You’ll remember that argument from your extensive study of the book of Job.  Or maybe not.  One of Job’s friends asked the question  Job 4:7 “Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed?

The same heresy is around today, just dressed in different clothes, do good and God will bless you.

We are told that the Rabbis of the day had a saying “There is no sick man healed of his sickness until all his sins have been forgiven him.”  And the reality is that as important as it was for the man to have a physical healing it was infinitely more important that he have a spiritual healing.
And we all say we believe that but why do more people ask for prayer for their friend’s and relative’s bodies than ask for prayers for their souls?  Just wondering.  That was what is technically referred to as a tangent, so back to the message.

But who were these four guys?  We don’t know, all the Bible tells us is that they brought the paralyzed man to Christ.  It provides no details at all.  It gives no names, no occupations, no addresses.  We are left completely in the dark as to their identities.  But even though we don’t know who they were we do know that they exhibited certain characteristics.  Characteristics that it might not be bad to emulate. 

1) They Saw a Need When these men looked at their friend they didn’t see him the way he was, they saw him the way he could be and should be.  I’m sure that everyone who saw the man would have recognized the fact that he couldn’t walk.  But it didn’t register, they never realized how that affected his life or it was so daunting that they simply ignored it 

We don’t know how long the man had been paralyzed or how it had happened.  But we need to realize that being paralyzed 2000 years ago would have been very different than being paralyzed today. 

For many of my generation when we think of Superman we think of Christopher Reeves, and I’m sure that many of you remember when Reeves was thrown from his horse in 1995 and shattered his first and second vertebra leaving him a quadriplegic.  And over the next 9 years before his death in 2004 the world marveled at his courage and were inspired by his strength. 

But realistically speaking had Reeves’ accident happened 2000 years ago or even 200 years ago he wouldn’t have lived 9 hours let alone 9 years.

Life for the paralyzed man would have been completely dependent on other people.  They would have gotten him up in the morning and helped him do all the things we take for granted when we get up then they would have dressed him and fed him and transported him where it was he wanted to go. 

And his friends realized that unless something happened that was what the rest of his life would look like, and they also understood that unless something happened not only would he live the rest of his life totally helpless the rest of his life wouldn’t be very long.

What are the needs that you see in your world?  Maybe they are personal, areas where you can help your friends and family or areas where you need to grow, maybe they are professional goals and aspirations, and hopefully you see the spiritual needs of those around you, people that need to meet Jesus. Because until you see a need it will never progress to a solution.  Until you see that there can be something better you will never strive for it.  It is said that Abraham Lincoln shucked corn for three days to buy a copy of the book “Washington’s Life” when someone asked him why he replied, “I don’t always intend to delve, grub, shuck corn, split rails and the like, I am going to be president.”  Is it true?  Who knows, but it makes a great story, and until you see a need to improve your life your life will never improve. 

As long as you think that people can find their own way to God or can earn their salvation you will never be moved to the next step, which is telling them about Jesus.  Because as far as you are concerned, there is no need.

I’m sure that there were others in the man’s life who realized that something had to be done, perhaps they felt sorry for him, and wished there was something they could do.  It was George Bernard Shaw who wrote “I hear you say "Why?" Always "Why?" You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?"

Let’s go back to the story, Mark 2:2-4 While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus.

And it was when the men started to ask “Why Not” that 2) They Were Moved to Action   It is so easy to get stuck in the dream stage, and I love to dream.  One of my philosophies of life is If you never build castles in the air you will never build anything on the ground.  This church existed in my head long before we had our first service on April 9 1995, and I walked through this building dozens of times before the first tree was cut on this lot. 

The Cooper Brothers were a Canadian Country Rock Band who released their biggest song in 1978, which happened to be the year I graduated from High School.  And and the words said "The Dream never dies just the dreamer", and I loved that song and still listen to it in my head, does that make me crazy?   But without action a dream just remains a dream. 

These guys were determined to see their dreams fulfilled.  They didn’t just sit around waiting for it to happen, and when something came between their dream and its fulfilment, they climbed over it.  Probably 100 people knew about the paralysed man and felt bad that he couldn’t walk.  Probably 50 of those thought about taking him to Jesus and eventually maybe 20 of them might have actually gotten around to doing anything about it.  But out of all of those how many would have turned around and gone home when they saw the crowd?  I bet those four guys were the only four who would have been willing to go to the extremes that they went to for their friend.

The Bible is filled with men and women who dreamed of the great things they could do for God, well actually it is filled with the people who dreamed and then had the stickwithitness to see the dream become reality.  Those who just dreamed, dreamed themselves into obscurity.

Abraham had a dream of a new nation under God, Moses had a dream of freeing his people, Deborah had a dream of delivering her people, David had a dream of uniting his people, Paul had a dream of a church that would reach across the world that he knew.   And each one of them had more than a dream they had a determination to see the dream become a reality.  Each of them must have been ridiculed and mocked but they kept at it.  They must have come across obstacles and stumbling blocks but they stuck with it.

We can’t wait for our dreams to come to us; we need to go to our dreams.  And if something stands in our way, like the crowd stood in the way of these men and their dreams then we need to go around it, and if we can’t go around then we need to climb over it.  Because to use a baseball analogy, stopping at third adds no more to the score then striking out. 

There are those of you here today who will dream with me of someday expanding this building and reaching even more people for Christ, and you will tell me that you are part of that dream but there will come a day that the dream will cost you something and you’ll make a decision to step away from the dream. 

How do I know that?  Because I’ve been there, done that and got the T-shirt.

Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goal.  These men had a dream and in order to see the dream fulfilled they had to get their friend to Jesus and if that meant climbing a ladder, and digging a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was then that is what they were going to do.

What are you willing to do to achieve your dream?  People say that you need to think outside the box, my question is:  How did you get in the box in the first place?

3) They Worked Together  Church, this one’s for you.  I don’t know how they came to the point that they agreed they should carry their friend to see Jesus.  Maybe it started with a discussion and ended with a vote, “All in favour of carrying Fred to see the carpenter raise your hands.” Or maybe it was the result of one strong leader who said, “Come on guys grab the other handles of this thing and let’s get going”  I really don’t know where it started but I do know that it took the four of them operating together to make the thing happen.

One of them couldn’t have done it, two of them couldn’t have done it and while three might have carried the stretcher to the house it’s doubtful that they could have gotten it onto the roof top without four.

If we are to accomplish everything that God wants for this church it will only be through the unity of the body, notice I didn’t say uniformity, they are different.  Throughout the New Testament, Paul compares the church to a body, made up of different parts, doing different jobs, but all functioning for the common good.

We may not ever all agree on everything, we may never cross our ts and dot our Is the same way but we can agree to put those little differences aside to fulfil the task set before us. 

Do you remember one of the most important lessons that we learned from Sesame Street?  That’s right: Cooperation

Just hours before his death, Christ went to the Father in prayer and part of that prayer is found in

John 17:23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.  Jesus was telling us that our unity would be our witness, and you only have to talk to the unchurched for a few minutes before they start asking why there are so many denominations and why we seem to be fighting all the time.

Let’s never allow disunity in the body destroy what we are trying to do in this community.  There may be times that we don’t do things the way that you think they should be done.  There may be times that we go in a different direction then you think we should go.  And I say this, not to be malicious or cocky, but because I am committed to this church being all that it can be.  If we ever get the place that we aren’t doing what you think should be done, either co-operate or leave, don’t try to destroy what we are trying to do here.

We are committed to hearing what people have to say, we are committed to allowing people to share their views.  But once the body has made a decision don’t campaign against it, because that reveals a split and the truth is united we stand and divided we fall.  Jesus asked the question “Can a house divided against itself stand?”

There is a great story in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus chapter 17 verses 8-13, the Amalekites attacked the people of Israel at Rephidim.  Joshua led the battle for the Israelites  and Moses stood on top of the hill and watched the battle, listen to what happened at this point. 

Exodus 17:11-13 As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.

We are in this together, each one of us with a task to do, and it’s only as each one of us holds our corner of the stretcher that they job will get done.

But the thing that tied all of these elements together was their faith that Jesus could make a difference.  They had obviously heard Jesus speak the words Mark 9:23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

4) They Had the Courage to Believe.  If they hadn’t believed that Jesus could heal their friend they would never have suggested the trip.  If they hadn’t believed that Jesus could heal their friend they would never have carried the stretcher across town.  If they hadn’t believed that Jesus could heal their friend they would never have thought of climbing to the roof.  And if they hadn’t believed that Jesus could heal their friend they would never have broken through the roof.  And listen to why Jesus healed their friend  Mark 2:5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”  And then ultimately further in the story we read Mark 2:10-12 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers.   And it all went back to their faith. 

There are those who say “I need to see it to believe it” but the reality of faith is that “You need to believe it to see it.”

When you leave here today you will leave saying well that was a nice story or you will leave determined to change your world. 

Let me end with Paul’s prayer for the Christians in Rome 2000 years ago.

Romans 15:5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.