OK, crossing family, raise your hand if you remember buying a
cheeseburger from McDonald's for less than a dollar.
OK, praise God for you. All right, stay with me.
Now raise your hand if you remember buying a cheeseburger
from McDonald's for less than $0.50.
This is the 1980s crew. OK, God bless you.
Anyone around when you could buy a cheeseburger for less than
1/4? Everybody remember that, OK?
God bless you. Thank you for coming to this
church and sticking it out. We know it's loud.
That's the 1970s crowd. All right.
Now, how many of you remember buying it for 19 cents?
God bless you guys. OK, that was the 1950 or 60s.
All right. Recently I was somewhere with my
family and I went to a vending machine and this is going to
make me sound old, but it took credit cards.
I was like you can finance stuff in a vending machine.
Now the coke was $3. Raise your hand if you remember
going to a vending machine with two quarters and you can get
yourself a soda. God bless you guys.
How many of you remember when you could go and you could put
in 1/4? Yeah, that was the 1970s.
How many of you remember when you could buy it for a dime?
That's the 1960s. OK.
Help them raise their hand. They're old.
How many of you guys remember? How many of you remember buying
a Coke for a nickel? God bless you all.
Yeah, I love that. And sometimes you'll be like,
you'll hear people talk about, well, that was then and this is
now. Things change.
They're sure not what they used to be.
I want to welcome all of our different locations, those of
you watching online and inside. I also want to welcome those of
you who are here for the first time or the first time in a long
time. And to those of you who came to
our Christmas Eve services and you made a commitment to go on a
journey with us for one year. We are so glad you are here.
And there is something special in here for you that I if you'll
pay attention to the front of the message and at the end of
the message that I hope will be a blessing to you.
I think if you were to lean in, you just might hear something
today that you desperately need to hear and it could help you
take your next step of faith. To those of you who are
Christians, I'm bringing this sermon to you today as a gift to
show you that the things you read in the Bible can still
happen today, are still happening today, and they can
happen through you. Sometimes when you are reading
through the Bible. We go, well, that was then and
this is now. Things aren't the way they used
to be, but I think if we look closely and if we do the things
that God's calling us to do, the things we read in the Bible,
well, they can happen and they can happen through you.
We're in a series called There Has to be a Place, real stories
of real people with real faith. Last week we heard a powerful
story from a real person who's living out their real faith, and
today will be no different. I titled my message, What would
you be willing to do? Turn to your neighbor and ask
him, what would you be willing to do?
Hopefully you guys paid attention last week and you guys
have bought yourself a Bible. And if you haven't, it's you can
still they sell them year round. Buy yourself a Bible and if you
want start bringing it with you to church.
And if you brought your Bible to church, you can turn to Mark
chapter 2. This is on the Mount Rushmore of
best Bible stories in all of Scripture.
Mark chapter 2, verses one through 12.
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the
people heard that He had come home.
They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room
left, not even outside the door, and he preached the Word to
them. This is the vision of every
church and of every Christian, that whenever or wherever Jesus
is, the place would be full of people, and that the people who
are there would rather stand and hear the word of God then have
their favorite seat and nobody sitting next to him while they
hear the word of God. And what did Jesus do with this
crowd? Well, he preached the word to
them. Hear me, whether it is one word,
one verse, or 1 chapter, the focus should be of us aligning
ourselves to the truth and the power of the Word of God, which
is the Bible. Let's keep reading.
Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four
of them. There was this group of people
who knew a paralyzed man and they wanted to bring him to
Jesus. And out of that group of people
that wanted to bring the man to Jesus, there were four of them
who carried the man. And what kind of friends were
these people? Well, let's keep reading.
They're the crazy kind of friends.
How many of you have a crazy friend?
OK, this is the right kind of crazy, not the wrong kind of
crazy. Since they could not get him to
Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof
above Jesus by digging through it, and then they lowered the
mat the man was lying on. They show up, there's no room to
get this guy to Jesus, and they don't go.
Well, we tried. They go, you know what we should
do? We should walk up the stairs on
the outside of the house and we should dig a hole in the roof.
Not their roof, not their house. They just said let's do this.
They're the figure it out kind of guys, kind of like them.
They make a hole and then they lower the man down.
Did they bring rope? How did they get the guy?
I mean, it's a fall. Was there somebody up there
who's just Uber practical and they're like, listen, we're
trying to get this guy to Jesus so he'll be healed.
He's already paralyzed if we drop him.
It's just more for Jesus to work with.
I, I don't know how this is happening, but this is unfolding
in real life, in real time. They're up there.
They're like, we got a hole now. What are we going to deal?
Just put him down there. Just get him close, OK?
Now this is where this story takes an incredibly weird turn.
It's like Jesus doesn't see the things that we see.
Then Jesus saw their faith, and he said to the paralyzed man,
Son, your sins are forgiven. One.
Jesus sees the faith, but whose faith is he seeing?
He's seeing the faith of the friends.
That's what catches his eye, not the faith of the man, not the
paralyzed status of the man. The first thing he notices is he
sees the faith of the friends. What was the faith that he saw?
That they believed that if they could get their friend to Jesus,
it would change his life. Jesus loves that kind of faith.
Second thing, what does Jesus deal with?
What's the first thing he addresses?
He addresses the biggest need of all.
Jesus looks at the paralyzed man and forgives him of his sins,
and you'd be going Jesus, he's paralyzed.
That's why we brought him. And Jesus is going.
The biggest issue of all is your sin issue, and I just handled
it. You might be here today worried
about your marriage, but Jesus is most concerned about your
salvation. You might be here today and you
are concerned about your health, but Jesus is most concerned with
your eternity. There are all kinds of things
that we want from Jesus, but the biggest thing we need from Jesus
is to deal with our biggest need.
We need our sins forgiven so we can live forever in heaven with
Him. Verse 6.
Now some teachers of the law were sitting down thinking to
themselves, why does this fellow talk like that?
They're referring to Jesus. He's blaspheming.
Who can forgive sins but God alone?
They're right. There's only one person who can
forgive sins. That's God.
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this is what they
were thinking in their hearts. Jesus knows the thoughts of all
the people that were there in the crowd and hear me.
He knows all of the thoughts of this crowd.
He knows what's going through your mind as well.
He knows when you're fearful, anxious, doubting, struggling.
He knows when you're lying and when you're lusting.
He knows when you're seeking. He knows when you're trusting.
He knows when you're hoping. He knows when you're believing.
He knows. The question that they were
wrestling through was who does Jesus think he is?
Only God can forgive sins. Even back then the pressing
issue of their day was how do we deal with the sin problem in our
life? Verse 8 And he said to them, why
are you thinking these things? This is where Jesus shows off,
which is easier to say to this paralyzed man, your sins are
forgiven, or to say get up, take your mat and walk.
But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on
earth to forgive sins. So he said to the man, I tell
you, get up, take your mat and go home.
He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of all
of them. All this amazed everyone and
they praised God saying we have never seen anything like this.
Jesus answers their question in a way that only Jesus can do.
He heals the man. He says, hey, in case you're
wondering what kind of power I have when I say your sins are
forgiven, which is easier for me to say your sins are forgiven or
get up and walk? So, but so that you know that
I'm as awesome as I say that I am, get up and walk now.
I know what you are thinking. Stuff like that happens back
then, but this is now. But what if, what if the things
you read in the Bible can still happen today, are still
happening today? And what if they can happen
through you? Would you guys please welcome
Brandon and Lauren Ochsner to the stage with me?
You guys are going to be great, OK?
And this is my proof text that I really am ginormous.
OK? This You guys are like, yeah, he
is huge. I ate an elephant for breakfast.
OK, So last year God kind of intertwined our stories in a
really cool way. And they reached out to me about
something that God was doing in their life because Lauren had a
friend named Michelle and she was trying to get Michelle to
find a intimate, personal relationship with Jesus.
And that whole process was amazing.
So kind of walk us through what all happened.
I had been praying for Michelle for a long time and I would
often pray for her at the steps. But even though I was praying
for her, I wasn't doing the best job at reaching out and inviting
her to church. So I began taking small steps,
trying to reach her where she was at.
I wanted to build a personal relationship with her, to let
her know that I deeply cared for her.
I knew she believed in God, but she didn't yet have that
intimate personal relationship with Him.
Eventually she came with us to a Christmas Eve service, and after
that I again invited her to the Super Bowl sermon series with
the horse. And again, she would decline.
Brandon, you kind of saw this unfolding.
What was your take on the situation?
Yeah, so I knew my wife had been pursuing Michelle for some time
through talks, through texts, through subtle interactions with
her. And I could just see that Lauren
passionately cared about Michelle and she was just always
thinking about her and Michelle's.
One of Michelle's biggest turn offs was other Christ followers
claiming to be a Christ follower, but their lives did
not reflect it. There was nothing that you would
see that was any sort of obedience or any sort of fruit
of the Spirit and you could just see that it was very off putting
to Michelle and she expressed it.
OK, So what happened next? I decided to try and reach out
again that Thursday morning before service just to see if
she had changed her mind and she still said no.
But this time she followed it with a challenge.
She said if I run a half marathon with her in May, she
will come to church with us once a month for the rest of the
year. And without hesitation, I said,
of course Brandon and I would love to do it.
OK, I love the passion of this because Grace makes really bad
deals because you're going to run an entire marathon in
exchange for her to come to church once a month for a year.
What was your take on this? Well, I love the fact that
Lauren said we and and I'm thinking to myself, what what
does she mean? We Michelle didn't say, hey, if
your husband and I run this, you know, so so I was thinking in my
mind, would she have a mouse in her pocket?
But you know, and I jokingly say that, but I mean, I, I, I didn't
even hesitate, honestly, I knew I was going to do whatever I
needed to do to support my wife, to support this mission, because
I knew that Michelle had questions and Michelle was
wrestling with this. And if we could just be that
light, that would be great. So I just, we went out to a
store here in town. We bought some running shoes and
we started training. OK, well, what was the first
thing that you noticed? So I quickly realized running is
hard. It's I mean, I don't want to
insult anyone here, but I did not enjoy it.
It was painful and and my wife essentially hadn't worked out
since her and I got married and the nine years ago.
So so you. Guys weren't runners.
These weren't people you just met and like, hey, we're a part
of a run club and if you but you guys were a 0 runner kind of
like me, like I don't I run to the store, but that's that's in
the car. OK.
So I started training and it was hard.
It was hard both mentally and physically.
But while I was training physically, God was doing
something spiritually in all of us.
I continued reaching out to her everyday.
I kept sharing scripture with her and I could slowly see her
eager to learn more. I remember finally being able to
run my first 3 miles on February 27th because I'll be honest, I
never thought I would get there. Then on April 4th, she invited
me to run with her on the trail and we ended up running 7 1/2
miles together. And during that run, God opened
a door. We talked deeply about faith,
about God, and about questions that she had been wrestling
with. But then something that we were
not expecting, it happened. Walk us through that.
So Brandon and I took our boys to Florida to see my
grandparents over their spring break and of course we continued
training because it was in April and we knew the race was around
the corner. I end up injuring my ankle on a
treadmill while I was down there.
I tried to push through and keep training because I'm stubborn,
but turns out I ended up fracturing my fibula and I was
put in a boot for four weeks and I couldn't run the race.
I remember feeling defeated, but I kept praying and God kept
showing up. It was heartbreaking.
I could just see how upset Lauren was, but honestly, what
was going through my mind was next man up and and and Lauren
put this we in here. So, so I was just going to do
what I felt like I needed to do, and I was just hoping that if
Michelle knew that Lauren really gave it her all and that she saw
me, that it would just be enough.
Well then another set back happened, am I right?
Yeah, so it was about a 12 week training session.
In the last four weeks I had some serious pain in my calf and
it was very painful when I would run.
So I just want to make sure I get this.
So you get the invite to run a half marathon.
You have 12 weeks to train. Neither one of you guys are
runners. You're out because you know you
and then you. I don't know how to say that,
but yeah. OK.
So I apologize for any shame. OK.
But then, then you've got, you're 8 weeks in, you
experience a calf strain. And so for the last four weeks
of the training, you're, you're not doing any training.
Yeah. So essentially the last four
weeks I just rehabbed it. I I didn't know running and just
kind of did what I could to make it feel better.
All right, well, tell us the rest of the story.
So race day came on May 10th and I went and I cheered Brandon and
Michelle on and of course God showed up and gave Brandon the
strength to run and endure the 13.1 miles.
They both finished the race and on in May 18th, 8 days later,
Michelle walked into church with us.
Come on. But so she walks in eight days
later. But that's not the rest of the
story. What happened next?
So the deal was that she would come once, once a week for the
rest of the year and. Once a month for the rest of.
The year, yes, sorry, yes. And she came every single week
and she just kept coming and coming and she just fell in love
with the Corinthians series. And you could just really see
that God was just starting to move inside of her.
Then on September 11th, I got a text that I will never forget.
She said she was ready to get baptized.
And so that night, I stood in the water with her as she
publicly declared Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior.
Come on. OK, so seeing that picture, what
are you thinking? It was worth it.
All of those miles, all of the time, all the hours spent, it
was worth it because I know in my heart that that's the best
decision that she'll ever make for the rest of her life.
I am just in awe. I'm in awe of God and His
faithfulness. He deserves the glory.
It's not about Brandon or I. It's not about the race.
It's about a life being saved for eternity and just.
We should never give up on someone because God never gives
up on. Them come on, would you guys
give them a big round of applause?
I titled my message What would you be willing to do so that
your friend could find Jesus? On November 11th, 2024, Lauren
shared a piece of scripture with her from John chapter 20.
She invited her to church. Michelle, she said no.
December 11th, 2024 Lauren asked her to come to the Christmas Eve
services here at our church on the 23rd at 6:00 PM and she came
into our doors for the very first time.
January 30th, 2025 Lauren invited her to church following
or for the Thursday of Super Bowl weekend and she said no.
On February 6th she invited her again to check out the Horse
Super Bowl Weekend Experience and Michelle said no.
But then she followed up with a text that said if you will run
the half marathon with me, I will come to church once a month
for a year. February 6th, 2025 Lauren and
Brandon commit to running the half marathon in 12 weeks on May
10th. February 13th, 2025 Lauren got a
chance to share Luke chapter 19 verses one through 10 for the
Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
February 27th, 2025 Lauren runs her first 3 miles in her life
and she says it was the hardest thing I've had to do.
My body was struggling. March 20th, 2025 she registers
herself and Brandon for the Bridge of the Gap Half Marathon.
April 4th, 2025 she ran 7 1/2 miles for the first time on the
trail with Michelle and was able to have a deep conversation
about religion and about God. April 17th, 2025 she ran 3 miles
on a treadmill in Florida and ended up fracturing her ankle or
fracturing her fibula. May 10th, 2025 Michelle and
Brandon run the half marathon and bring our Lauren cheers them
on from the sidelines. May 18th she comes to church at
the 9:00 AM service and continues to come almost every
single week in person. September 11th, 2025 she gets
baptized. 10 months. Ten months.
I don't know what happened there.
I I this is what happened. I went like this and then I
went, what is that 9 times table rule where if you move one, what
it? And that's I so sorry.
It's who I am. OK, Ten months, 10 months of
talking, inviting, praying, mile after mile of running, night
after night of soreness and fatigue, and one moment that
changed eternity. And just like that, this region
becomes a little more the hardest place on planet earth to
get the help from. And just like that, the things
you read in the Bible can happen, are still happening, and
they can happen through you. Let me show you remember verse
3IN Mark chapter 2, some men came, bringing him a paralyzed
man, carried by four of them. Make no mistake, in this story,
Brandon and Lauren are the friends who tear a hole in the
ceiling to get their friend to Jesus.
They're the ones who grab the mat and say let's go.
But they were not the only friends.
Verse 3 says some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,
carried by four of them. You and I, we were the some men,
we were a part of this story, whether you realized it or not.
Some of you, you were the friends who were praying.
Others of you were the friends who were greeting her at the
door, welcoming her at the new here booth.
There were friends who were giving to fund a mission to make
sure that people can make it to Jesus and be forgiven of their
sins. And just like that, the things
you read in the Bible are still happening today, and they can
happen through you. The question is, will you let
it? We're moving to a time of
decision. It's one of our favorite times
is this very moment we're about to enter into right now because
it's an opportunity for every single person in this room and
online right now to respond in some way because every single
week there is a challenge when scripture.
Is read, there is. Something we need to.
Do to. Obey and to share with those
around us. And so I just need to talk. 1st
to the 1st group of people to. Those who have never started an
intimate person relationship with Jesus, you have never
surrendered your life to Him. You are not yet in a right
relationship with Him. I need you to.
Picture this as you think about the story we just read and.
You thought about the friends who climbed up they.
Tore a a hole. Through the roof and they they.
Lowered. Their friend down in front of.
Jesus for those. Who don't have relationship with
Jesus. Listen, the roof is open, you
have been lowered down and you are in the.
Presence of Jesus, He's. In this room right now and He is
ready to redeem you. He.
Is ready to say. Your sins are forgiven.
And I don't know what brought you in this space.
I don't know what brought you into this room at this very
moment. I don't know if there was a
friend who carried you on a mat in this room figuratively.
I don't know if someone invited you and you just said, hey, I'm
going to keep going to. Church, but you're here.
And you've heard the good news. Of Jesus, you've heard the.
Gospel. And now the decision is in front
of you, this moment, this time. This space.
And the question is, will you step into this new life with
him? But I also know because we're
human and our flesh gets in the way.
There's a lot of. Questions going through your
head, most likely. But let's go back to the story.
The Bible says that when Jesus saw.
Their faith he forgave. The man's sins, right?
And he healed them. I need you to catch this because
I think this is where we get. Tripped up.
Jesus did not wait for that man to clean himself up.
To feel like he was worthy, to feel like he was put together.
He didn't wait till he figured it all out.
Or he even said the most. Perfect words, he.
Simply responded in faith and he says.
Grace, you are saved your. Sins are forgiven and grace
changed everything in that moment.
And you hear this week in and week out.
Or maybe if you're new here, you're going to hear this week
in and week. Out the heartbeat of this church
is for everybody here to leave with.
Hope, and that hope is not found in anything or anybody.
Else besides Jesus. That's my story and that's so
many stories in this room that he changes everything about us
when you allow. Jesus to take.
Over your life and you trust him, He gives you a new purpose,
doesn't he? For those.
Of you who have relationship with Jesus, you're like.
Yeah, He gives me new purpose. He he gives me hope.
He gives me a future. And he can change that for you,
for those of you who've never walked into that relationship
yet. And so no matter what you're
carrying, no matter what your past says about you, no matter
how stuck you feel, no matter how long you've been wrestling
with this decision. Jesus is, he sees.
You and he's looking you in the eyes and he's saying I love you
and you are my son and you are my daughter.
All you have to. Do is just accept this free
gift? And he's inviting you in that
relationship with him. And so if that's you right now.
One of the best. Decisions you could possibly
make in this moment is to simply pick up your mat and walk come
forward. Give your life to.
Jesus surrender. Your life to Jesus.
Allow him to wash your sins away and start walking into this
newness of life, this relationship with him.
And if you have questions, I get it.
There's probably things still wrestling on your head.
There's going to be somebody right by the baptistry in this
room that would love to help answer those questions or or
maybe. Pray for you or help.
You take whatever next step you need to take in this moment.
And for those of you in this room and those of you online
right now here, here's our here's our turn.
What would you be? Willing to do to reach your
friend, your family member. Because this story isn't just.
About the man whose sins were forgiven, although.
There is incredible. Power in that.
It's about the friends. Who are holding the corner of
that mat and we are called. Today to also be.
Mat carriers in this. Region.
Think about that. For a second, if we're going to
make this region the hardest place on planet Earth to get the
hell from, we have to be willing to pick up a corner.
To take our friends. And and go at what length?
At what? What things are going to stop us
from bringing our friends to? Jesus.
Because those friends carried them up.
They dug a hole through the roof.
They, they, they. Lowered him down and they.
Refused to let obstacles. Get in the way and the story
with Brandon and Lauren is the same they they were met with
obstacles and the question is is.
Will you push through those obstacles today?
Will you keep? Going Will you keep trusting the
Lord? What would you be do?
Willing to do to reach your friends and your family?
Who would you be willing to carry?
How far? How many miles would you run?
What would you sacrifice? What inconvenience would.
You just go through. Just to make sure they have the
opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus.
What comfort would you give up so that someone else can
encounter Jesus? Every step we take.
Help someone take a step. Towards Jesus.
Think about. That every step of.
Obedience that we take help someone.
Take their first. Step maybe?
Towards Jesus so. Every single invitation matters.
Every prayer that you. Pray and you lay down before the
Lord matters and is. Heard by God.
And every. Act of faith filled.
Obedience matters, so in this moment, would you be willing to
maybe take one step outside your comfort zone?
Maybe you brought somebody with you today or you got someone
that you are just. You love so dearly and you care.
For but you never had the opportunity to just pray over
them, pray words of encouragement over them.
Would you just bring them to the steps today?
Or maybe you don't have someone like that with you right now,
but you have a a name in your head and, and in your mind and
in your heart, and you just come up and you get down on your
knees and you just storm the gates of heaven and you say
Lord. Would you?
Just give me the words. Would you give me the direction?
Would you give me the boldness? Would you give me a challenge so
I can reach more? People for you, Jesus, that's
what we want. To do so, I'm going to encourage
you right now. Would you stand to your feet in
this moment of. Decision, we are all.
Faced with something and I'm just asking that we step into
it. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, right now, God, I'm praying.
For this moment, I'm praying. For your Holy Spirit to be.
Present in this room, I'm praying for your Holy Spirit to
put something in our mind or put a name in our heart and God.
That you would just reveal to us what we are to do, what we are
to say. How we can invite, How we can
bring our friends and our family?
To you Jesus. How we can share your good news?
What scripture comes to our mind and our heart that we can send a
text or or or call them and just say the?
Lord has put. You on my mind and my heart,
Lord, there are so many incredible things that you can
do. And so, God, I pray that.
We use this space. And this time to come up and,
and just to get down on our knees and to spend a little bit
of time with you. And Lord, I pray.
I pray for that. Person who walked into this
room, who had friends, who lifted them on the roof and
lowered them down in front of you, Jesus.
And now, now is the moment you want to say your sins are
forgiven. Pick up your mat and walk.
Lord, thank you for those moments.
You're still doing it today. You're still doing it right now.
And so, God, we give this all to you in Jesus name, Amen.