Central Truth

There will always be obstacles, but we need to be willing to do unconventional things to bring others to Christ.  Christ saw the faith of the friends who brought the paralyzed man and it was by their faith that their friend was healed.

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Reflections

Stop!!! Detour!!  Lane shift ahead.  Oh, how we tend to hate those words.

But, our meeting with Christ is exactly that--a detour, a lane shift.  Fishermen become evangelists, public speakers, respected leaders, demon possessed become sane, the dead rise. The detour for some is a better path; others tend to ignore the  detour signs and end up in even bigger messes.

Our life with Christ is like a construction project; remodeling can take time and at times it's 'messy.'  Ah, but the end result is worth the wait and the lessons learned.  Our priorities change; people see that and are drawn to us.  People become more important than 'things' and sharing what drives our lives is important.  

With all the 'fastness' of the world today, we have to think 'outside of the box' to share Christ.  It seems that attention spans are as long as our patience.   It takes some thinking and boldness and creativity, but well worth the effort.

Look at the friends who took their paralyzed friend to see Christ.  Look at the effort they went to, carrying him on a stretcher for who knows how far, getting him up on a roof (now that couldn't have been easy), digging a hole in the roof and then figuring out how to lower him in front of Jesus.  I would have loved to hear their different ideas on how to do all this.  But, we do know that they got the Lord's attention. I bet they got the attention of others as well. Their faith gave their friend the opportunity to be healed. I believe that their faith strengthened each other to perform this task.  

But, what about the person that opened his house to Christ?  I wonder if he expected that crowd?  I wonder if he knew he was going to be left with a hole in his roof.  And, maybe the dark was let out and the light was let in.

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Discussion Questions

1. Look at the what these friends did to bring their sick friend to Christ.  Could they have accomplished their goal in another manner?

2. What are some ways you can think 'outside of the box' to bring others to Christ?

3. Are you willing to have some 'remodeling' done to your 'home' in order to share Christ and what does that mean to you?

4. What was your biggest 'surprise' in your detour?

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