Welcome to
Zion Bread of Life Christian Church

Sunday, 10th December 2023

Pastor Deborah Lin

Mark 2:1-5

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’

Mark 2:10-12

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’

It’s not easy to have unity. Even in the family, it’s difficult for husband and wife to have unity. Unity is not being the same. We’re all different beings, it’s easy if we are all the same. Unity is oneness, to make all the different parts to be as one. It’s just like in an orchestra, there are all kinds of different musical instruments, and together they perform a beautiful piece of music.

Unity brings great power. The people in Capernaum knew who Jesus was and what Jesus could do. So when they heard Jesus was going back, the four friends of the paralytic brought their friends to Jesus. They had the same mindset, the same goal, which was to have their friend healed. These friends had love, patience, and faith. We can tell from their action. Jesus taught us, when we really love someone, we will take action and show them our love.

The four friends took the action by bringing their paralytic friend to Jesus. It was not easy back in the days, there were no ambulance, and there were no easy way to bring around a paralytic. The four friends carried the paralytic, and walked all the way to Jesus. When they arrived, the house was packed with people, and they couldn’t go near Jesus. So they did something crazy. They took their friend to the roof and went down from there.

The four friends had the same love, patience, and faith. They had a unified action for the paralytic to be healed. There are times we may feel like the paralytic, and we need friends and family to carry us through together. If we want to enter an abundant life, we must know we cannot do it by ourselves. We need companions to walk this path of faith together.

To have oneness, we also need to work in partnership. The four friends need to work together to bring the paralytic to Jesus. They needed to agree on the same path, the same speed, in order to reach Jesus. On the other hand, if the four of them cannot agree on the same route to get to Jesus, then their friend would never be healed. In the church, when our Senior Pastor received something from God, do we also walk in unity and follow our Pastor’s direction?

It’s ok to have different opinions, but after communication and discussion, can we reach the same conclusion and go in the same direction? When the four friends were blocked by the crowd, they realised that the best way to reach Jesus was to bring their friend down from the roof. Jesus saw their faith, He didn’t scold them for breaking the roof, instead, He saw their hearts and healed their friend.

To have oneness is also to have commitment, if we cannot commit in our church, then we will be like a pot plant, we will never grow into maturity. When we commit, when we serve together in church, when we learn oneness, and we can receive an abundant life. Satan wants to destroy oneness, there are so many people getting divorce, because the devil knows, when the relationship between husband and wife is broken, the family will be destroyed. When the relationship between the brothers and sisters is broken, the church may be destroyed.

Church is not perfect, because we are all sinners. We cannot have oneness with our own strength or determination, but we must rely on the love of God. Let us have a humble heart, and let the Holy Spirit guide us, so God can do great thing through our oneness.