You Weren’t Meant to Do Life Alone
Main Scripture — Mark 2:1-12
- If you had to move a really heavy piece of furniture — like a couch or a piano — and you could only call three or four people, who would you call and why? What makes those people your “go-to” crew?
- In this passage, four friends carry a paralyzed man to Jesus — going so far as to dig through a roof to get him there. What part of that story stands out to you the most, and why?
- Pastor James made this statement: “Being in a crowd is not the same as being carried by four people who know exactly what mat you’re on.” What do you think is the difference between being part of a crowd and being part of a true community?
- Read Mark 2:4. What was standing in the way of the friends getting through the door? (The crowd — people who were already there to see Jesus). Does it surprise you that the obstacle wasn’t something obviously bad? What does that make you think about your own life?
- Community refuses to leave you stuck. Have you ever felt stuck and seen this play out in your own life? Have you ever been carried to Jesus?
- Read Mark 2:5. Notice it says their faith, not just his. What do you think it means that Jesus credited the faith of the four friends? What does that tell us about how God designed community to work?
- Pastor James pointed out that Jesus forgave the man’s sins before healing his legs — the opposite order everyone in the room expected. Why do you think Jesus dealt with the deeper issue first? What might that say about how God approaches the things we bring to him?
- Read Galatians 6:2. Is it easier for you to be the one carrying, or the one being carried? What makes the harder one difficult for you?
Prayer
Lord, thank you for the kind of people who don’t put the mat down when it gets hard. Would you show me where I’ve been hiding in the crowd, comfortable but not really known? Give me the courage to carry and be carried. Heal what’s actually broken, not just the surface thing I walked in with. Amen.
