Have you ever felt determined to heal something?

Maybe it was a scab that continued to reopen and wanted to heal completely. Maybe it was an emotional wound that you were determined to overcome. Maybe it was a relationship you were determined to heal. Whatever it was, we’ve all wanted to heal something within ourselves for one reason or another.

This is our second week of our new sermon series “How We Rise” and we are exploring life lessons from various disciples of Jesus. This week we come upon a story from Luke 5:17-26 when a few men carry in a paralyzed man to seek healing from Jesus himself. When they were blocked because of the crowd, they were determined to find a way to bring healing to their friend. At that point, they went up on the roof and lowered the man through the tiles into the center of the room where Jesus was. Jesus then healed the man and he walked away.

This is commitment.

Think about how difficult it must have been to take this person up onto a roof, and then to find a way to lower him down into the room where Jesus was. These people were truly determined to heal their friend. They had a deep faith that it was possible, and they weren’t going to let anything get in the way.

When we look at the state of our world and the deep wounds that are in and around all of us, I wonder what could happen if we were just as determined as these men to bring healing to this world? Imagine what our world could look like if we had the level of faith and determination to bring healing to the people around us.

This week, might each of us be inspired by the faith of the early followers of Jesus who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Might we too believe in the power of Jesus to bring healing to our beautiful and broken world, and might we be equally as determined to make that healing a reality.

Let us be determined to heal together, and bring ALL of who we are to the One who can heal every wound imaginable.

I hope to see you this Sunday as we worship together at 11am in person or online!

Peace and blessings,

Pastor Kipp