Week 1: Have you ever had that first day of school experience where you are the new kid? I remember when I was going into 7th grade my family moved to a whole new school and I was terrified. I had some serious fears right. I mean school is scary and I had no friends who would have my back if things didn’t go so well. Friends are a huge part of our lives right! We rely on them for so many things. We have an awesome story in the Bible of some friends who went above and beyond for their friend!
“17 One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strong with Jesus.
18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19 but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” 21 But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23 Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 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!”
25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!” { Luke 5:17-26; NLT }
Man, how cool would it be to have a friend like that? You see these friends traveled for miles just to bring their friend to the feet of Jesus! So my question to us is who are those friends we have, that we need to bring to Jesus? You see our friends might not be physically paralyzed but they might be mentally, spiritually, and emotionally paralyzed, and guess what! We know the cure! If you had the cure to a zombie apocalypse I would hope you wouldn’t just keep it to yourself this is a similar situation! We know the cure! I want us to be those kind of friends the friends that have our friends back and want what’s best for them despite our fears of abandonment and our fears of ridicule. I want our love for them to over power that!
Reflection: I want you to listen to some worship music and think of the friend that you can pray for. Pray for God to allow you to pray for that friend and to share why you love Jesus with them!
