Mark 2:1-12

Link: Mark 2:1-12

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyDqJTJ_9pI

As we look at New Testament letters the opening verses give you the themes that will be unpacked throughout the rest of the letter. Many weeks ago in my intro sermon to Mark I laid out 3 major themes that will be unpacked in the Gospel of Mark:

- Insiders vrs outsiders
- Jesus' Authority or Who is Jesus and where does His authority come from?
- Faith, not in what you know, but in Jesus

Last week four words that I used to sum up Mark 1 were: repent...believe....follow....serve. As a model for us to live out.  As we walk through the Gospel of Mark, if I am correct on those 3 themes and 4 words, what follows will support and re-enforce that. The first 12 verses of chapter 2 do just that.  In essence Mark is saying remember those themes that I spelled out over here I am now going to unpack them for you in this story.

As I dive into this message I asked two questions:

- How do you respond when things don't go  your way?
- How do you respond when Jesus doesn't act or respond the way you want Him to?

For many of us we respond in the same way to those two scenarios and if we are honest it's not real pretty.  In today's story I have to imagine that when Jesus first says, "Your sins are forgiven" the friends had to be going "What????"  As I walk through this message we'll look at how the themes play out in this story and what our response should be as we mature...

Take a listen.

Blessings,
PT