CHRONICLES OF A KING: Doin' The Most

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Hey church, I pray that you all are doing well.

We want to welcome you to Church at Home.

We're so glad that you're with us.

And we also want to welcome you into our home.

At the same time, we want to thank you for allowing us to come into your home.

We're so grateful for this opportunity.

And today we have the incredible privilege, or at least I do, of being joined by my remarkable, beautiful, but often very stubborn daughter, Daniera.

Daniera, say what's up to the people.

Hey everyone.

That's it.

That's all we're gonna get.

Okay, cool.

Alright, so I'm gonna carry this whole thing.

Um but she's with us today, and our goal is we really want to continue in the conversation that we've been having around Chronicles of the King.

And quite honestly, today is our day where we're gonna be closing out this series with this powerful thought that we find here in the Gospel of Mark, chapter two.

But before we get there, I kind of want to circle back and remind us of like this theme that we're looking at.

Really, what we're doing is we're evaluating and really studying the movements, the ministry, and the life of Jesus, and really helping us to understand just the way that he interacted with people, the miracles that he performed, and just really hopefully growing our faith by looking at the activities of Christ.

And so our primary thought has really been coming from um the gospel of Luke chapter four.

So I really want to read it to us just so it can kind of be fresh in our minds.

So here's what it says at Luke chapter 4, starting at verse number 18.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

I like to call this um the mission statement of Jesus.

This is where Jesus is making a declaration about himself, where he's reading from a passage in Isaiah 61 about himself.

It's really powerful.

But what he says is this he says that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor, he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and set liberty to those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

So, one of the reasons why this is so powerful for me and things that have got in my life and different seasons that I've gone through is I've considered myself thinking about that this is Jesus' mission statement, that this is what he came to do, this is the this is what his goal was.

So when he's on a cross and he says it is finished, what's the it is finished he's referring to?

He's referring to this.

So when there's moments in my life where I feel that my life doesn't match up with the finished work of Christ, I come and I look at this passage and it inspires my faith and allow me to know that no matter where I'm at, Jesus said it is finished, which means that if there's a gap between what God says about my life and where I am, then that means that it is not done.

If it's not good, it's not over.

So that's kind of like what this has been.

And so when we recognize the ministry of Jesus and who he came to reach and identifying those who were oppressed, the people who were um often criticized, those who were left out of society, those who didn't have all the wealth, those who weren't the most popular, those who weren't the most successful.

Yes, Jesus loves them and he has a message for them and he pulled them in.

But the Bible says that he came for the least of these.

This is who he was referring to.

And so I think that can be some encouragement for us.

So what I want to do, Nero, is I really want to look at the gospel of Mark chapter two.

I think there's a powerful narrative in there that I want us to spend some time looking at and have some conversations around.

So could you read um Mark chapter two for us and just kind of walk us through this passage of scripture that I think could be encouragement for all of us?

Awesome.

When he entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that he was at home.

So many gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them.

They gave to him by bringing a paralytic carried by four of them.

Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

Seeing the faith that Jesus told the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven.

But some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does he speak like this?

He's blasphemy.

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 heart?

Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up, take your mat and walk.

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, and 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.

That's good.

So that's that's a real powerful passage of scripture.

And so what I want us to do is I really want to spend some time um looking at what all the parts that different people play.

We can look at some of the key characters that were there, but really just the motivation behind um the activities of people that allowed them to experience um the miracle in the breakthrough.

So in in our culture, uh Nera, we we have this phrase that's called doing the most.

And and that's really just somebody who do who goes above and beyond, somebody who's just doing a whole lot.

Like they're extra.

Um and we and I'm certain that we all are thinking of that friend who does a little bit of extra.

They go a little bit, they look good, they go a bit too far.

We we know that what we're talking about.

But what I love is in this passage, I think we actually are seeing somebody who's doing the most.

They go above and beyond, but it's because of that they get their breakthrough.

So that's really what I want to talk about.

What does it look like when we go above and beyond in order for us to have an encounter with God?

So if you're taking notes, I want you to write this conversation down.

The message title is simply this uh Doing the Most.

So let's do the most and go in prayer.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you so much, God, for um for your grace and for your presence and giving us an opportunity for us to gather together as a community and as a family.

So, Lord, we pray right now.

We pray, God, for open eyes that we can see you, open ears that we can hear you, and open hearts that we can receive everything that you have for us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

And amen.

Okay, so we all know people when I say the phrase doing the most that come to the top of your mind.

We all know those friends that are just like all over the place, the ones who just they just they just go ham as they call it.

Now, I I got several friends that I can that I can air out right now, but I'm not gonna do that to them.

But I will I will make some um references to my family at this time.

Now, now, De Nero, you know our entire family be doing the most.

Not so much me, but but everybody else, everybody in our family, they they be doing the most.

When I when I think about my lovely bride, Megan, God bless her.

I love her with every ounce of my existence, but she be doing the most.

Yeah, she she she is the only person that I know that can turn any individual and give them a nickname on site.

She also is the only individual I know that could take any moment and turn it into a Broadway musical.

Like any statement she could turn it into a song, she's singing, she's dancing first thing in the morning.

Like she be doing the most.

She she goes pretty hard.

And then and then your beloved brother, Caleb.

God bless him, I love him.

But but he he be doing the most.

Like, if anybody wants to know what doing the most is, we're in the middle of a quarantine.

So I'm not sure when you're engaging this content, but we're in the middle of a quarantine right now.

So his rhythm right now is uh he he's doing school at home the way the same way that we're doing church at home, the way that we're working at home.

So his rhythm is he he does school work at 12 o'clock, probably gets done around 12, what, 12.02?

Um so he gets done that, and in that two-minute span, he manages to knock out all of his schoolwork, takes a couple of naps.

He seems to eat a whole lot.

Now, here's one of the things that I've had to work through um during this quarantine, and y'all are gonna have to pray for me.

Um, there's a couple of times that I just see him hitting the refrigerator quite frequently, and I would say, like, hey man, like um, if you were at school, would you be going, like, would you be eating it like right now if you were at school?

He was like, No.

I'm like, so son, I need to use your school stomach.

Like you eat home like you would when you're eating at school.

But I digress.

Anyway, um, but I see him a whole lot.

But he he be doing the most, but he he has this thing where when he's playing video games, God help us.

Like there are literally times that that that Megan, she will think like the neighbors are gonna hear you yelling and they're gonna think that you're being abducted and that you're being murdered in our home.

Please stop screaming to the top of your voice just because you were playing Call of Duty with all the pastors on staff.

Yes, I'm looking at all of you guys, tighten up.

Y'all should be studying the word of God.

Like, like he's he's he's online, but he he'd be doing the most.

He's just very extreme.

And then you, of course, De Niro.

You.

If if extra was a person, here you are.

You you you do the most.

And and I mean, and there, and and I I mean, I literally think that you're the walking embodiment of an exclamation point.

Like you just you are just you just do the most.

Like anything you do, you do the most in.

Like, let's let's say case in point.

Let me show you something.

Oh my god.

When I want something to drink, here's my here's my water bottle.

Very smooth, it fits in with the table, great vibe, it works well for me.

This is what I drink my water from.

Bought that for you.

Um, you did buy that for me, thank you.

This is what Daenerys drinks her water from.

This is what we call doing the it literally breaks it down by time.

So if you're ever wondering what does it mean to be doing the most, that is what doing the most looks like for me.

So we all know people that that go hard and not be doing the most.

But he also does the most as well.

Um, there's a time in my dad's life where he would match his outfits to his iPhone cases, which was he had like 30 different iPhone cases just to match his outfits.

And then when he's trying to get these sneakers on StockX, on Goat, and have his iPad up, his laptop up, his phone up, just trying to get these sneakers at midnight or early in the morning.

So you do the most as well.

I don't, I think that's just stewardship.

Um, it's kind of how I view that.

I think that it's just me putting myself in a position that if I get them earlier, then I actually end up spending less.

So um, and the Bible also says, blessed are the feet of those who preach the gospel.

So the Bible says that my feet shall be blessed if I have the appropriate amount of shoes on and the type of shoes that I have on.

So I have Bible for mine.

But but here's here's doing the most.

Here's an area that I will admit that I do the most in a little bit.

Whenever I'm driving in my car, especially with my whole family, I'm very, I'm very symmetrical.

So when we're driving and like if the windows are down, they all have got to be at the exact same height because you get an unequal distribution of air in the car.

And so, like, when one person wants to have the window crack, another person wants to have the window down, it messes up the distribution of the air, and I might as well just turn the air on at this point.

So I will say that's the only area where I just like okay, if we all can't have the window at the same spot, then we're not gonna have it down at all.

We don't look good as a unit right now.

Like, that's an area that that's that's important to me.

But but here's here's the thing, um, Nir, when I when I think about all this stuff, because I mean we're we're we're having fun right now.

We all kind of have areas where we just really go in.

And I and I think about other people, man.

Like some people are like massive sports fanatics where they'll they'll go above and beyond.

Like, I've seen people get tattoos of their favorite team um on their arm.

I've seen people lose bets and go and get like haircuts with their favorite team on it.

Like, we see people that go through extremes to express their passion and their love for whatever that may be.

We see people that go that just go nuts whenever someone graduates from college and they're yelling and screaming out their names.

We see people that just go above and beyond or they do the most.

But I also find it interesting that those same people they don't keep that same energy when it comes to the things of God.

Yeah.

That we can find moments in our lives where we're willing to stand in line at our favorite amusement park for hours to get on a ride, but we can't, we can't wait for God for five minutes.

That the moment that we say, man, what's the parking like at that church?

I gotta wait for two minutes.

Nope, I'm not like how quickly we will just like completely give up on pursuing the things of God when it doesn't go in our way or when it's not convenient.

But when it comes to other things, we have so much ambition.

Here's what I've learned about myself at different seasons and what I've seen just in general.

I've seen moments where people have so much stamina when it comes to running from God, but so little patience when it comes to waiting for Him.

Those moments where it's like, man, I can I can run forever, but when I'm waiting for God to do something, he has to do it now.

But I believe that what God is inviting us to do is that there's moments even in our faith that we have to do the most, that we have to go and be above and beyond.

And what I really do believe is when practically we're talking, I think we have to kind of like recognize that we've got to really redefine and elevate our our values as well as our priorities.

Yeah, that's good.

You bring up a really good point.

And I think so many times that we think that values and priorities are the same.

So are you saying that there's a difference?

Yes.

So so there is a difference.

Now they're two sides of the same coin, but they're actually two completely different things.

Let me let me see if I could put it to you this way.

Like basically, what values are are values are things that you esteem.

Those are things that are important, those are things that are close to your heart.

Priorities are the things that you put into action to get the results that you want.

So you can have a lot of values, but if you don't prioritize them, you're not gonna get the results that you want.

So you can value health.

But if I don't prioritize what I eat, I'm not gonna get, I'm not gonna get those results.

I can value my family.

I love my family, but if I don't make priorities and put them first, then I'm not gonna get the results in my home that I'm looking for.

And what I truly believe is that there's times that we think that because we value something, that we believe it's the equivalent of making a priority of something and we're wondering why we're not getting the results.

But I truly believe that we have to begin to prioritize.

This is why Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God.

He's speaking the language of priority.

Yeah, you can value God all day long, but if I don't prioritize spending time with him, I'm not gonna benefit from being in a relationship with him.

Yeah, that's good.

That makes a lot of sense because I know, like for me in my past life, like I've I valued saving money, but I haven't actually, you know, moved the money into savings to prioritize.

So you said in the past life, like has have you like gotten delivered from that?

Um I'm working on it.

I have an app, it's called Digit, and it's helping me.

It takes money out.

Okay, are they giving you sponsorship?

No, but I will accept it.

Okay.

But it's it's true though.

Like we really gotta like we gotta put things into place.

Like, honestly, like I remember there for years.

I'm like, man, I want to buy a home.

I want to buy a home.

Like, I valued getting a home, but until I began to prioritize paying my bills and taking care of my credit, it's an outcome that I'll never see.

And like I'm I'm so I'm so fearful that in this current culture, we're so consumed with being having being so value-driven that we never prioritize our values and we struggle with ever getting the outcomes that I believe that God is calling us to actually grab a hold of.

And what I believe we look at with this text is we're seeing this powerful moment where we're seeing that there's these friends and they're aware that Jesus is in town.

So let's let's break this down for a moment.

Jesus has been on a preaching tour, and now he's on his preaching tour, and he finally comes back home, right?

And so now that he's home, everybody is aware that Jesus is back in town.

Like he's got tons of followers, like everybody knows who Jesus is.

Everywhere he goes, he's performing miracles.

And I think there's something to be said about that.

That everywhere he goes, he's performing miracles.

Because I think he was showing that I can do miracles in the wilderness, I can do miracles in the village, I can do miracles in your home.

The idea was that I don't want you to be more faithful to a formula than you are to me.

Don't think that just because I do it in one spot in one way, that that's the only way I'm gonna do it.

So we literally see Jesus going into all these different environments in different ways in which he engages people because our faith needs to be attached to him.

So now Jesus is in the home.

He's in the house, he's doing his thing.

And what the Bible says is that there's a group of friends who's very well aware that they have a friend of theirs who is paralyzed, literally is unable to move.

We don't know much about his backstory, we don't know if he was born paralyzed, any of that stuff.

But there's something inside of them that says, if I can just get my friend into the presence of Jesus, I know that he can completely change this situation.

I believe that's filled with ambition.

I believe that's also filled with them prioritizing their friend.

They valued him as a friend, but there was something inside of them that said, we're gonna go and get him and bring him to Jesus.

That's what it looks like when we prioritize things.

Because I'm certain Jesus didn't have his itinerary um online.

There was no awareness of when he was coming home, which means that when he showed up at home, it was a surprise.

The crowds were there.

So that meant that whatever they had planned for the day, they had to reorganize their schedule, prioritize getting their friend into the presence of God in order to do that.

But here's the key thing that happens the Bible says that when they got to Jesus' home, the home that he was preaching in, that that they couldn't get in because the crowd was preventing them from getting in.

Like literally, all their dreams, all their all their ideas, their aspirations of just getting their friend, like even talking and thinking, man, if we can when we get Jesus, when we get them in the presence of Jesus, it's gonna fix everything.

They get there and there's literally a crowd that's barricading them from getting their friend into the presence of Jesus.

I think that can happen a lot.

Yeah.

Where we have these ideas of getting things into the presence of God, getting things into the presence of Jesus, but there's things that are blocking us or preventing us from seeing Jesus.

We see this in scripture.

But I want to ask you, what are what are some of the things that you think are barriers that can keep people from seeing Jesus, that can keep people from experiencing the peace that God has for us?

I think some of the barriers that keeps us from seeing Jesus, I think um like social media and the negativity in the news or ways that can keep us from seeing Jesus.

Um there's a lot of negativity, and so some of that negativity can kind of have like a cloud of like fear over us and that we're just fearful and we don't end up pressing into God because we keep on um just dwelling in fear.

Um but also I think in this generation we see that people want to live in their own truth, they want to live according to their own rules, um, and just want to live according to no like kind of like no structure.

Um but sometimes that's not always beneficial because then we're picking and choosing what we want from the world instead of actually um pressing into the word and letting that guide our lives.

That's that's great.

For a 23-year-old, you you sound like you have like a really strong father who's been leading you for a very long time.

Um but but but here's what I here's what I heard.

I heard like this, I heard about this idea of customization.

How we live in a generation now where we're able to customize everything in our lives.

We can customize our vehicles, we can customize our clothes, we can customize our shoes now, we can customize our homes.

We have apps that allow us to have this ability to determine how things look, when they look, we watch things on the mantle, everything is literally built around us.

So a lot of times, the way that we customize the world and how we do things our way, that very thing can be a barrier because we realize that when you come into the presence of God, it's gonna require you to check some of your stuff at the door.

It's gonna require you to get past yourself, it's gonna require you to get past your ego, it's gonna require you to get past your preferences.

And like you said, like there's a version of this where maybe we have our own version of truth where we pick and choose what we want.

But when we really begin to look at what Jesus is saying, when he says that I am the way, the truth, and the life, what is required of me?

What are the things that I gotta let go of so that I can hold on to eternity?

Those tension points can often be a problem.

They can keep us from getting into the presence of Jesus.

But when we look specifically at this passage of scripture, we're seeing that there was a crowd of people.

And those crowd of people, when you begin to kind of learn who they are, it's filled with Pharisees and scribes and all these other things.

There's other people there as well.

Um, but you see that that's there, which meant that these were people that were often symbolic of holding up the pillars of society, but it was through the lens of legalism and judgment.

So watch this.

So maybe the thing that was keeping them, the crowd that was keeping them from getting into the presence of Jesus was that crowd that perpetuated fear, condemnation, shame.

So sometimes those things can be the things that are keeping people from coming into the presence of God because they feel fearful of what God's gonna say or what someone else is gonna say about them.

They feel shame and condemnation for their past and feel like they'll never be accepted into the things of God because look at all these people who got it all together, or at least they do on their Instagram, but in real life, my match, my life doesn't match up to that at all.

Those things can often be barriers that keep people from coming into the presence of God.

But what I love about the men, when we look at their their tenacity, is that they weren't content with that.

What the scripture says is that they climbed on top of the roof.

They saw that they couldn't get in the front door, but they climbed on top of the roof and they dug through the roof and they lowered their friend.

They had to get innovative to figure this whole thing out.

So that meant that they had to go out of their way.

They had to not give up, they had to go out of their way to make sure that they could position their friend into the presence of Jesus.

So here's my question.

We know what some of the barriers are, we know what some of the obstacles are, but my question for you is what are some of the things that we can do to position ourselves or maybe some of our friends in the presence of Jesus in spite of those barriers, in spite of those obstacles?

What can we do to remove the barriers that can help someone to experience what God has for them?

Yeah, I think first is praying.

Praying and seeking God, like, hey, what are some of the things that are keeping me from truly seeing you without um any fail any filter?

And then um seeking the word too, like encouraging ourselves in the word and um be really grounded in truth because this is what we're to have is truth to guide our lives, and then um to eliminate or to limit some of those barriers or distractions in our lives too.

I think so many times we um want to cling on and hold on to these things, but um some it it is limiting our view of seeing Jesus.

So sometimes we have to get rid of it altogether, and um also seeking out wise counsel, people who live a little bit life longer than you have, um, people who have just have immersed immersive um wisdom um is really good as well.

That's good.

I agree with all that.

I do think that there we're in a space where we need to like lean on those who've gone before us, people who have wisdom and experience and really help um invite them to speak words of life and encouragement and be willing to hear it.

I think another thing that we can do, if I'm if I can be quite honest with you, is I think that we can just be an example.

Maybe you're thinking right now that you are a person and you're thinking of people that are in your life, and you're like, man, I would love for them to start coming to church with me.

I would love for them to start getting involved and experience the life and wholeness that I'm experiencing right now.

What is the best way for me to do that?

Yes, you can invite them to church.

Yes, you can um uh and send them a link to a message, you could do all that stuff, and I encourage it.

Yes, you could post your scripture reading um on social media, all those things are powerful.

But I think another thing you can do is just literally be an example of what it means to be a Christian.

Literally do your best to show the fruit of the spirit in your life on a consistent basis so that those who are looking at you are seeing.

What does it look like to be a person who is following after Jesus?

I think it's so important.

And I want us to remember this.

I want us to write this down.

People will struggle to surrender to the God we serve if there's no evidence that we serve God.

That's good.

They will struggle with it.

Like if our reaction to things is the exact same way that the world reacts to things, why do I need your God?

If the way that we interact with one another is the exact same way that people who don't have God interact with one another, then why do I need God?

If the way that we view people, no matter what their ethnicity is, their socioeconomic status, no matter what their voting preference is, no matter where they may land, if I view them and I speak about them the same way that the world speaks about those people, what makes me any different than the people of God?

There's gotta be something about us that makes us distinct.

And here's the thing that I think that as God is challenging me with, and I want to challenge all of us with.

Am I living a life that is drawing somebody closer to Christ, or am I drawing them away?

Am I living a life that isn't compelling someone to say, like, I want that God that you serve, or do I live a life that repulses them because it seems very legalistic, very judgmental, very insensitive, very critical of others?

I believe that God is challenging us to do whatever we need to do to get over ourselves, to bear the fruit, and to be an example in a society that desperately needs to see more image bearers of Christ in the world that we live in.

So here's the thing that I see next.

After the man is lowered into the presence of Jesus, it says that Jesus sees their faith.

Such a such a simple statement.

I'm going to count the words.

One, two, three, four words.

Jesus sees their faith.

But I don't know if there's any more powerful four words that I can think of in this text that stands out to me.

He sees their faith.

It made me think, De Niro, like, can Jesus see my faith?

Can can Jesus see my faith in my marriage?

Can Jesus see my faith in my work context?

Can Jesus see my faith with the way that I manage my time?

Can Jesus see my faith even in the way that I manage my resources?

Can he see, can he see my faith in it?

I think sometimes we we look at our faith as being this isolated thing that we have that's exclusive to Sunday, that's exclusive to my Devo time.

Like that's my faith time, and then everything else is my me time where I'm super practical and I have everything line up perfectly.

But the truth of the matter is the just shall live by faith.

Like everything about my life needs to be saturated in faith, which means this I need to have faith even in my marriage.

Yeah.

Because there's gonna be times where what's happening in my marriage doesn't match up with what God's word says, and I'm gonna need to fill that gap with faith.

I'm gonna need faith with my family.

Yeah.

Because sometimes you're gonna have family members and you're gonna have scenarios where you don't see the evidence of things that you would love to see, but you got to trust God in the middle of it.

You're gonna have to learn to trust God.

I believe that we even have to have make sure that we're showing our faith with the minute that we stand still with our resources.

I believe that God is challenging us and saying, Can I see your faith in every area of your life, or have you just given me a portion of it and the rest of it is on your own terms?

I think that's the thing that Jesus is inviting us to.

And when we look at scripture, we see that there's these moments where every time someone is coming to Jesus, that's a demonstration of them extending their faith.

That every time someone is trying to work to get into the presence of God, that is a demonstration of faith.

When you see that the woman with the issue of blood is pressing through the crowd, that is an extension of her faith, getting past the social norms, getting past some of the constructs and challenges.

But that is a demonstration of her faith.

When Mary and Martha is coming to Jesus and saying, if you just would have been here, then my brother would still be alive.

That's a demonstration of faith.

Like God, I'm taking my pain and I'm presenting it in your presence.

Can you do something about it?

It's that's a demonstration of our faith.

And the list goes on and on.

Specifically when you look at Mark's gospel, he has this thread that he shows that people had to transcend human obstacles in order to get into the presence of Jesus.

That's what seeing our faith looks like in the eyes of God.

Yeah.

Recognizing that when the door is close, that we don't accept no for the answer.

So here's a couple of things that I want us to kind of look at as we prepare to wrap up.

We're gonna move to this fairly quick.

Because I want to encourage us that I believe that sometimes some doors may be closed, and I believe that there may be some opposition that we're facing, but we may have to get uncomfortable if we want to get our breakthrough and healing.

Here's something I want us to write down.

Miracles are never painted on a canvas of comfort.

Ever.

That's good.

They're never painted on a canvas of comfort.

Every time you see a miracle in the Bible, there are people that had to go out of their way to get it.

People running by foot, people keeping up with Jesus, walking for miles, putting themselves in a position to be the recipient of the miracle, but that is a demonstration of faith.

Yeah.

So here's a couple of things about our faith that I think can be an encouragement for us, that I believe can really inspire us, challenge us, but also lead us in a way that I think can be very helpful.

Here's the first thing we have to be persistent.

We have to be persistent, Nera.

We have to be persistent, church.

We have to be persistent.

We see with these men that even though that even though the door was closed, that even though it was filled, even though they couldn't get in, they were persistent.

They didn't give up, they didn't give in.

They continued to say, I know that there's another way to work around the solution.

I see in scripture on multiple occasions where where people had to be persistent.

They kept pushing.

Jesus even says, keep praying, keep asking, keep knocking.

He's telling us to be persistent.

Maybe you've asked once.

Well, ask a thousand times.

Be persistent.

Here's the other thing I want us to do.

Be creative.

Be creative.

These these men, these men, they they weren't they weren't content with just leaving things the way that they were.

They had to get creative.

Like they literally had to climb on top of the roof and they dug through it.

That's that's being creative, probably a little bit destructive too.

But nonetheless, they that that was how desperate they were.

But they had to be creative.

How creative are you willing to be with your with your pain?

How creative are you willing to be with your struggle and the thing that you're walking through right now?

Sometimes we just gotta get creative with it.

We gotta we gotta think outside the box a little bit.

We gotta look at things from a different perspective if we want to start getting a different view of our situation.

We just gotta get a little bit creative.

And then here's the other thing that I believe we have to do.

We have to be sacrificial.

Sometimes it's gonna, you're gonna have to sacrifice something.

You're gonna have to give something up.

And these men had to give up their comfort, they had to give up their strength, they had to give up their preference.

They literally had to dig through the roof.

They had to get their hands dirty, they had to cause some damage.

And who they didn't know.

They didn't know if when they did that, if Jesus would have been appalled, they didn't know if the person who owned the home was gonna say, hey man, you guys are gonna have to pay for my roof.

They had no idea, but there was a desperation that was on the inside of them that drove them to saying, regardless of what this costs, if it costs me my dignity, I don't care.

If it cost me my peace, I don't care.

If it cost me some money, I don't care.

But I'm willing to sacrifice it all to get into the presence of Jesus.

I believe that's the thing that God is challenging us to do is for us to dig through some things, to be sacrificial with the way that we approach some things, to recognize that if I can just get this into the presence of Jesus, he is capable of changing everything.

I want to close with this, and this is gonna be my final thought.

You know, after Jesus sees their faith, the man is dropped down in the presence of him.

The Bible says that he begins to address the man and he says this phrase to him He says, Son, your sins are forgiven.

Now that's powerful.

Yeah.

Because when you really think about it, like up to this point, like we're seeing Jesus do miracles in all types of different ways.

Speaking the word, laying hands, all these other things.

But he decides to say, your sins are forgiven.

In other words, what Jesus was doing was he was addressing a much bigger issue.

What Jesus was doing is he was saying that as long as you are in a state of unforgiveness, you will not be able to move forward with your life.

In other words, what he was saying, if you can't receive forgiveness for yourself and then extend that forgiveness to others, it will be impossible for you to move forward in your life.

I think it's so important for us to have a quick conversation around this on the importance of getting out of that state of unforgiveness, whether it be receiving forgiveness for God or extending forgiveness, because it literally will paralyze our lives.

Yeah, it's really crucial.

I can even think of like times in my own life where in past friendships and past relationships where people have hurt me and I've carried that bitterness and that hurt into other friendships.

And then I'm it's limiting the friendship because I have this filter of people, and then I'm I'm withdrawn.

I'm not giving 100% to that friendship or that relationship because of this hurt that I'm bringing.

And so if you're not able to forgive, um it will damage some other areas in your life.

Absolutely.

And I think that's why when we look at Jesus in the Lord's Prayer, he says, forgive us as we forgive others.

Forgive us.

And this is what you'll see when when in the different translations of that.

They kind of use these different words interchangeably.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, or forgive us our debt as we forgive those who are indebted to us.

They all are intertwined together.

Trespassing means a violation.

Man, God forgive me if I've ever violated you and for and help me to forgive others if they've ever violated me.

Debt, like we all know what debt means.

Literally, they're connecting debt.

Like, we all know that sometimes debt can keep us from moving forward.

People with student loans said amen.

Debt can keep you from moving forward sometimes.

Like you realize how limiting it can be when you have debt.

So literally, sin, trespasses, and debt are all intertwined together with the same definition and saying it is so difficult to move forward with your life if we don't resolve this issue first.

And I think it's so important what Jesus is saying that yes, we can, I can heal your legs, I can help you to walk, but that doesn't mean that you're going to be able to move forward.

He is literally saying, I need to get you out of this state of unforgiveness so that you can begin to move forward with your life.

I believe that's encouragement for all of us because Jesus is showing up into our worlds and he wants to get us out of this paralyzed place that we may be in.

Realizing that if we're in a state of unforgiveness, that if we can't, if we can't receive forgiveness from God, recognizing that there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, no matter what you have done, the grace of God has been extended to you.

You need to be the recipient of it.

But in the same way that God extended you grace, you need to begin to extend grace.

And the same way that we didn't earn it and we don't deserve it is the same way that we have to look and realize that people didn't earn it and they don't deserve it.

I like to say it this way we have to keep somebody else coming to that.

Okay, that was a doorbell.

Did you order something?

Yeah.

Again, doing the most.

Didn't you guys hear the part earlier about how she wants to establish the savings?

But literally every single day there's packages being dropped off at our home.

It's like we live in a trap house.

Anyway, um, anyway, moving on.

Moving on.

Let me let me pull this back in.

We're gonna wrap this thing up.

I promise you we are.

We're gonna wrap this thing up right now.

We gotta learn to receive the forgiveness from God so we can extend it.

The same grace that is given to us, we need to learn how to extend it.

That's a big thing for me because sometimes I've seen people, they're really, they're really needed with grace, but they're very stingy when it comes to extending it.

And what Jesus is saying in this passage of scripture, like, man, I need you to get out of this state of unforgiveness.

You are forgiven.

If you can receive this forgiveness, if you can extend this forgiveness, the thing that has been held up in your life, the paralysis that you've been experiencing, you will get freed up and you will be able to move forward from that spot for it.

I truly believe that that is God's word for all of us, is that some of us are in a state of paralysis, and maybe it's because we have not released the grace in that situation that we truly need to.

Yeah.

Jesus then moves on from there and he says, okay, which is easier?

Him forgiving our sins is a small thing.

It's such an easy thing.

But then he also is establishing his authority, and there's so much more we can say about that.

But we're gonna actually pick that up later on this week for our after the message.

So make sure you tune into that.

We're gonna share some really profound truths around the way that Jesus decided to do this miracle.

But specifically for us as we prepare to close, I think it's important for us to see that as Jesus performs this miracle and says, You are now able to get up.

Get up, pick up your bed, walk.

The Bible says that he immediately got up.

Now, again, we don't know how long he's been in this condition.

We we we we have no clue, but we do know like that this man has been paralyzed.

But the Bible says immediately he got up.

Now, I'm thinking in my mind, like, okay, like I'm I came back from a broken ankle, I came back from getting rehab, all those things.

And even to this day, when I get out of the bed, I'm still very sensitive about how I walk.

I still move slowly just to make sure that my ankle doesn't give out.

This man jumped up immediately because he responded to the word of God, because he knew that the power of God hit him immediately.

He didn't drag his feet.

In other words, when I think about it, and I don't know, this might be just a little bit of me reading into the text, but he jumped up.

I feel like he did the most.

Because now he's surrounded by the same people that was keeping him from getting into the room in the first place.

It says that he jumps up immediately.

When you actually read the the tone of the text, it's like he jumps up, like making sure everyone can see it.

Literally says he jumps up.

He jumps up, he's doing the most.

Like he's like, okay, I want y'all to see me.

I in my mind, I don't know.

I just I read from a different translation of the Bible, y'all, but I feel like he broke dance right there.

Like I just feel like he did some moves, like he was stunting on him a little bit.

But I feel like Jesus did this mass that that Jesus did this massive miracle, and this man immediately gets up.

And when he gets up, he then takes up the thing that once carried him and he walked right past the people that was keeping him from getting into the presence of God.

How poetic is that that God would allow a person who didn't have access and there was no room for them, but because he saw their faith, performed a miracle in front of everybody, and then allowed him to walk past the very people that were once barriers, holding the thing that carried him.

Like our testimony in front of the people that allowed us to that seen us struggle.

You know what I love when I look at the life of Jesus is that he died in an area that was very visible.

He was resurrected in that same area.

Imagine if Jesus was resurrected in Rome.

It wouldn't have translated.

Yeah.

But he was resurrected in the exact same place that he experienced death.

Maybe for some of us, I didn't even have this in my notes.

Maybe for some of us, we're trying to run away to have a resurrection experience and we're losing an opportunity to have a testimony.

Maybe God is saying, Don't run from the place that you've experienced your biggest pain.

Let me redeem you right there so that can be something that allows me to be glorified in it.

That's good.

Come on, I'll preach this thing, but our time is running up.

I want us to all be encouraged with this.

I want us to be encouraged and knowing that Jesus is not done with you, that your sins are forgiven.

It is time for you to get up, pick up your mat, and it is time for you to walk.

What the scripture says is it says that the people's response was, we have never seen anything like this in our lives.

We've seen miracles, we've never seen anything like this.

Here's my parting thought for all of us.

If you want to see something you've never seen, you got to do something you've never done.

Yeah.

If you want to see something you've never seen, do something you've never done.

Pray like you've never prayed, believe like you've never believed, give like you've never gave, trust like you've never trusted, love like you've never loved, forgive like you've never forgiven.

If you want to see something you've never seen, do something that you've never done.

Church, we love you so much.

I miss every single one of you.

I cannot wait to see you all again.

I'm grateful that you're with us.

I'm glad that my daughter was able to sit here with me, my partner in crime.

We're gonna pray in just a moment and then we're gonna kick it over to our team, or we're gonna give you some next steps as well as lead you in communion.

But Denir, would you mind praying for all of us together with receiving what God spoke to us and we're gonna kick it over to the team?

Awesome.

Um, God, we're so thankful for you and for who you are.

I pray that um that any barriers in our life, anything that's limiting us from seeing you and who you are, God, that it'll just be removed.

Reveal those things to us that need to be removed.

I pray that as we go along with our weeks, um, that you'll that you'll encourage us to be persistent and sacrificial, God, and that we're able to forgive those who may have caused harm to us, God, that you are the one that gives us comfort and strength in these things, and we know that we can't do these things without you.

So I pray that um that we'll continue to receive your love and that we're able to be a blessing to others as you're a blessing to us.

In Jesus' name we thank you and pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Man, that was an incredible message from the Pittman family today.

And one of the things that Keith highlighted in that was if you want to see something different in your life, you gotta do something you haven't done before.

Maybe this is your first time to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Maybe even rededicating, we believe that in times of uncertainty, you can still be certain about your eternity.

And so we believe in Romans 10 where it says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, we believe your life can change.

And if that's you, hey, we just want to do a prayer right now.

So just simply repeat after me.

Dear Lord, I thank you that you sent your son, Jesus, to die on the cross for me.

And I believe he rose again three days later.

Jesus, be Lord of my life, be number one.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Man, if you just made that decision, we are seriously so excited for you.

We believe that this decision can impact your life.

And the other thing is, you don't have to do this alone.

If this is your first time and you're making that life change, text the word decide to 25101.

We want to come alongside you.

We want to take the journey with you where you can walk these new steps in this new life with great people.

So make sure text decide to 25101.

And at this moment in our service, we are going to partake in communion.

So you can pause this video real quick, gather all the children, all of your communion elements as we take this as a family.

And so, all that communion is, is really just a symbol of the cross.

And just like this bread, Jesus' body was broken for our healing and for our iniquities.

And so, just like this bread, we're going to break it any.

And just like Jesus' blood was shed on the cross for our sins, we partake in the cup.

Lord Jesus, we just thank you so much for all that you've done for us, Lord.

We thank you that you died and rose again.

And Lord, we just praise you and we love you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, hey, church, like you said, connect with us, tag us on social media.

We want to get connected with you.

We believe you don't have to do life alone.

Yes, and we would also love to care for you.

So if you have a need or if you would love to meet a need, all you have to do is text care to 25101.

And church, we just want to thank you for joining us today.

We love you, and we can't wait to see you next week.orl.org.

We hope you join us next time.