The Church of Today - Pr. Antonio Nasser

Read: Mark 2:1-12

INTRODUCTION
Let’s think about the picture we have here. Who and what can we see in this picture?
· Jesus
· People gathered together to see and hear Him
· Jesus preaches the Word of God
· There are some men bringing a paralytic
· There is no place for them inside of the house or even outside the door
· They decided to approach the paralytic of Jesus through the roof
· Jesus sees their faith
· Jesus forgives the man’s sin
· The teachers of the law think Jesus is blaspheming
· Jesus answers the teachers of the law with a question
· Jesus heals the paralytic and
· People are amazed and praise the Lord.

What do I miss in the Church of today?
1. A perseverant and deep Bible study! The deep and systematic study of the word of God is necessary for our spiritual grow. See that every opportunity Jesus had he used to teach the Word of God. Just few texts:
a. NIV Mark 1:39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
b. Luke 4:43 - 5:1 43 But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." 44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
c. Luke 20:1 NIV Luke 20:1 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him.
So, here we have 2 important areas:
a) We must find time to learn the Bible
b) We must preach the word of God in every opportunity we have. We are a Church!!!

2. People ready to help! People today come to the Church asking:
- What can this Church do for me?
Instead of:
- What can I do for this Church?
The Church of today is like a restaurant: It needs to get the attention of the people through promotions, combos, discounts…
The Church of today is trying to be an entertainment church, in order to have the people busy and happy. What will be the future of this “Church”?
Charles Sttud, (1860-1931) said:
Every true soldier is a hero! A SOLDIER WITHOUT HEROISM IS A CHOCOLATE SOLDIER! […]
EVERY TRUE CHRISTIAN IS A SOLDIER — of Christ — a hero "par excellence!" Braver than the bravest – scorning (disdaining) the soft seductions of peace and her oft (often) repeated warnings against hardship (suffering), disease, danger and death, whom he counts among his bosom friends.
THE OTHERWISE CHRISTIAN IS A Chocolate Christian, dissolving in water and melting at the smell of fire. Sweeties they are! Bonbons, lollipops! Living their lives in a glass dish or in a cardboard box, each clad (cover) in his soft clothing, a little frilled white paper to preserve his dear little delicate constitution.

3. An opened heart to receive whoever needs help! In many Churches we see closed doors. It must have room for everyone, but the “traditional religion” does not want to help sinners to get salvation, because they work only to reach natural needs. The rule is: “first come, first serve”. That is not the Church of Jesus. There is a place for everyone to be blessed, to be saved, to be healed!

4. The understanding about cause and effect!
As Matthew Henry Commentary says about this chapter:
- “ Sin is the procuring cause of all our pains and sicknesses. The word of Christ was to take his thoughts off from the disease, which was the effect, and to lead them to the sin, the cause, that he might be more concerned about that, to get that pardoned […] The way to remove the effect, is, to take away the cause”.

5. The theology of repentance! There are so many Churches where you will never hear the challenge to start the service asking forgiveness to God. This is a PROUDNESS behavior!

6. The power of forgiveness! When Jesus forgave the paralytic, he was removing the cause. Jesus was giving to the paralytic the opportunity to be free, more than only to be healed. So, when Jesus said: get up, take your mat and go home, HE was giving something visible to the people. After forgiving the paralytic (something invisible to be proved), striking the cause, Jesus solved the effect (visibly situation), healing the man.
- Isa. 38:17; Ps. 103:3

7. The authority of Jesus Christ! Jesus said: "10 but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralytic, 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."
The word in Greek here is exousia: authority
When Jesus called the 12 disciples:

NIV Luke 9:1 "When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power (dunamis) and authority (exousia) to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick".

Jesus Christ, our Lord, has all POWER and all AUTHORITY. That’s why we can trust in Him for our completely salvation!
In many Churches today we see a weak Jesus, a poor savior. No, Jesus Christ is GOD and has all dunamis and all exousia! He rules over all and everything!

What kind of Church are we building?