Sermon: Walking with Jesus… with Faith
Reading: Mark 2:1-12
Sermon Date: March 4th

Ice Breaker

Can you remember a time when you have had to put your faith in someone or something?

Study

    1. Can you share anything that you remember about the sermon you heard on Sunday?

Please read Mark 2:1-12 together

    2. What strikes you most about the passage?

Note: Try to tease out what struck them as new about this well-known passage. Perhaps get your group thinking about the different characters and parts they play (e.g. Jesus, the friends, the paralysed man, the crowd, teachers of the law)
 
    3. Imagine you are in the crowd. What would your reaction have been to seeing people digging a hole through the roof? (please look into hints) 
   
    4. Can you think of a time in your life when you particularly relate to the paralysed man? Have others had to “carry” you and bring you back to Jesus? 
   
    5. What do you think the motivation of the teachers of the law was, for being there? (please look into hints) 
   
    6. Jesus appeared more concerned with the paralysed mans spiritual health rather than his physical. His priority was to forgive sins. How often do we focus our prayers on our physical health rather than our spiritual? Do we need to address the balance?

Action

    7. Who would you bring to Jesus today and what would you ask Jesus to do for them?

Encourage members of the group to take a small piece of paper and write the name of who is on their minds down, so it can be kept as a reminder (perhaps in their wallet) in the weeks to come.
 

Hints

3. Hint: A typical Palestinian house of that time had a flat roof accessible by means of an outside staircase. The roof was often made of a thick layer of clay (packed with a stone roller) supported by mats of branches across wooden beams. Making a hole would have been a conspicuous and destructive process.

5. Hint: In Jewish culture, teachers of the law were respected, learned/educated people who knew the scriptures inside out. There is no indication they knew ahead of time this event was about to take place. Also, in Jewish theology, even the Messiah could not forgive sins and Jesus’ forgiveness of sins makes clear he claims to be both God and man, blasphemy in their eyes and punished through death by stoning (Lev 24:16)