Real Church
Broken: Healing our Brokenness.
4/9/2017
Locations & Times
real church
10447 Refugee Rd SW, Pataskala, OH 43062, USA
Saturday 5:00 PM
The reality is, everyone of us here today have certain areas in our lives where there are scars, disappointments, regrets and wounds, that have left us in a real sense - Broken. What's even more difficult, is that some of these Broken things in our lives, never seem to get any better. They are a constant limitation and pain! So, what do we usually do with the things in our lives that don't seem to get better? We shove them in the corner somewhere, develop our own coping mechanisms, and just live our lives - Broken.
Is this the way we are supposed to handling these things in life, or does God have different plan, that can lead us to a place of healing?
Does God want his sons and daughters to live broken or are we just choosing to?
Psalm 103:2-3 (NIV)
"Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit."
+ Did you know there are over 31 different individual healings and 20 mass healings, by Jesus, in the gospels alone?
+ Jesus didn't just come to save us spiritually, he also came to heal us physically and lift our lives out of the pit we've been living in!
+ Psalm 147 tells us that God "heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds."
Someone said - "Healing doesn't mean the damage never existed. Healing means that the damage no longer controls your life."
Hippocrates - "Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity."
The apostle John tells us a story about a man who had been living Broken for many years, and was given an opportunity:
John 5:1-11 (NIV)
"Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a . [4] [b] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
+The Bible tells us that there was a pool on Jerusalem called Bethesda, that was widely believed to possess special healing power. The belief was that whenever the water periodically began to move, it was being stirred by an angel, and the first person to get into the pool when it was stirred, would be instantly healed of their ailment.
+This passage goes on to tells us that there were 5 different porches surrounding the pool, where sick people gathered... the blind, the lame and the paralyzed.
+Notice the sociological order! The Bible mentions the sick in groups- The blind had their porch, the lame had their porch and the paralyzed had their porch, etc.
Question - Have you ever noticed how people who are broken in a certain area tend to hang out with other people who are broken in the same area?
One of the most unhealthy things you can do in life, is to surround yourself with people who are all as limited as you.
+This passage tells us that there was a man who had been laying there for 38 years, and had never gotten to the pool to get healed. Maybe it's because the people he surrounded himself with, were weak in the same areas he was weak.
- When the people around you have the same issues as you, they don't complete you, they compete with you. They don't help you, they cut in front of you!
- By nature, we seek out people with the same issues as us (The same porch!) because it makes our issues no longer feel like issues.
- We create dysfunctional fraternities where no one challenges us because they have what we have. (What used to seem abnormal, now seems normal!)
- Until we start congregating with people who are strong where we are weak, we will never get helped into the pool.
Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
"As iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another."
The problem is, most of us want be comfortable more than we want to be changed!
+The passage goes on to tell us that Jesus walked up to the man who had been laying broken for 38 years, and asked him an unusual question- "Do you want to get well?"
+The word "Well" used here is the root word for the English word Hygiene and means, "To make whole". What is the opposite of whole??? Broken!
+We all might expect a resounding "Yes" in response to Jesus' question, but instead, the man offered an excuse- Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
+Jesus never asked the man why he was there. He asked if he wanted to get well!
Unfortunately, it seems there are more people today who would rather fix blame, than get fixed!
Some of you have been stuck, staring at the pool for 38 years because of what someone else did to you!
You cannot allow 1 broken moment to paralyze you are for the rest of your life!
There are people who come to church and stare, but never quite get into it, because they are stuck in their issues.
(They watch the pool, but keep laying on their porch!)
+Verse 8 tells us that Jesus responded to the mans complaint by saying, "Get up, pick up your mat and walk!"
The Bible says at once man was healed and began to walk.
Jesus never accommodates our lifestyle. He always challenges us to change it!
Jesus commanded him to take up what he was laying on, and walk- It's time to Go!
It's time to start carrying what's been coddling you and leave your lame life!
Do you want to know why God had him carry his bed, instead of leaving it? Because it was now a forever testimony to what His God had done.
This is who I used to be!!!
The Bible tells us in Revelations 12:11 that we overcome the enemy of our souls, "by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony."
Your testimony gives you power over the thing that used to have power over you!
+Verse 10 goes on to tell us that after the man started walking, the religious Pharisees ran up to him and told him that it was unlawful for him to be healed on the sabbath.
Have you ever noticed that people are totally fine with you, until you start getting better?
- Oh, so you think your better than us now?
- You think your all holy, now that you started going to church?
- You are just so judgmental anymore. What happened to you?
Everybody is cool with you until you start getting out of what their still living in!
The only reason the Pharisees attacked the lame man for carrying his mat, was because they were still laying on theirs!
Although we live in a world that wants to keep us on our mat, we serve a God who wants us to carry it:
Matthew 16:24 (NIV)
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Today I want to close with two things needed to get healed from our Brokenness:
(1) Desire!
"Do you want to get well?" (v.6)
Psalms 37:4 (NIV)
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
+The first law of success in almost anything is- Desire!
+There has to be a want in us that is large enough for something, before we get it.
Jesus said in: Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
(2) Determination!
"Get up! Pick up your mat and walk" (v.8)
Paul challenges us in:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
At some point, we've got to get enough determination to decide that we are no longer going to stay where we are at, regardless of setbacks, disappointments or limitations.
Is this the way we are supposed to handling these things in life, or does God have different plan, that can lead us to a place of healing?
Does God want his sons and daughters to live broken or are we just choosing to?
Psalm 103:2-3 (NIV)
"Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit."
+ Did you know there are over 31 different individual healings and 20 mass healings, by Jesus, in the gospels alone?
+ Jesus didn't just come to save us spiritually, he also came to heal us physically and lift our lives out of the pit we've been living in!
+ Psalm 147 tells us that God "heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds."
Someone said - "Healing doesn't mean the damage never existed. Healing means that the damage no longer controls your life."
Hippocrates - "Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity."
The apostle John tells us a story about a man who had been living Broken for many years, and was given an opportunity:
John 5:1-11 (NIV)
"Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a . [4] [b] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
+The Bible tells us that there was a pool on Jerusalem called Bethesda, that was widely believed to possess special healing power. The belief was that whenever the water periodically began to move, it was being stirred by an angel, and the first person to get into the pool when it was stirred, would be instantly healed of their ailment.
+This passage goes on to tells us that there were 5 different porches surrounding the pool, where sick people gathered... the blind, the lame and the paralyzed.
+Notice the sociological order! The Bible mentions the sick in groups- The blind had their porch, the lame had their porch and the paralyzed had their porch, etc.
Question - Have you ever noticed how people who are broken in a certain area tend to hang out with other people who are broken in the same area?
One of the most unhealthy things you can do in life, is to surround yourself with people who are all as limited as you.
+This passage tells us that there was a man who had been laying there for 38 years, and had never gotten to the pool to get healed. Maybe it's because the people he surrounded himself with, were weak in the same areas he was weak.
- When the people around you have the same issues as you, they don't complete you, they compete with you. They don't help you, they cut in front of you!
- By nature, we seek out people with the same issues as us (The same porch!) because it makes our issues no longer feel like issues.
- We create dysfunctional fraternities where no one challenges us because they have what we have. (What used to seem abnormal, now seems normal!)
- Until we start congregating with people who are strong where we are weak, we will never get helped into the pool.
Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
"As iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another."
The problem is, most of us want be comfortable more than we want to be changed!
+The passage goes on to tell us that Jesus walked up to the man who had been laying broken for 38 years, and asked him an unusual question- "Do you want to get well?"
+The word "Well" used here is the root word for the English word Hygiene and means, "To make whole". What is the opposite of whole??? Broken!
+We all might expect a resounding "Yes" in response to Jesus' question, but instead, the man offered an excuse- Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
+Jesus never asked the man why he was there. He asked if he wanted to get well!
Unfortunately, it seems there are more people today who would rather fix blame, than get fixed!
Some of you have been stuck, staring at the pool for 38 years because of what someone else did to you!
You cannot allow 1 broken moment to paralyze you are for the rest of your life!
There are people who come to church and stare, but never quite get into it, because they are stuck in their issues.
(They watch the pool, but keep laying on their porch!)
+Verse 8 tells us that Jesus responded to the mans complaint by saying, "Get up, pick up your mat and walk!"
The Bible says at once man was healed and began to walk.
Jesus never accommodates our lifestyle. He always challenges us to change it!
Jesus commanded him to take up what he was laying on, and walk- It's time to Go!
It's time to start carrying what's been coddling you and leave your lame life!
Do you want to know why God had him carry his bed, instead of leaving it? Because it was now a forever testimony to what His God had done.
This is who I used to be!!!
The Bible tells us in Revelations 12:11 that we overcome the enemy of our souls, "by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony."
Your testimony gives you power over the thing that used to have power over you!
+Verse 10 goes on to tell us that after the man started walking, the religious Pharisees ran up to him and told him that it was unlawful for him to be healed on the sabbath.
Have you ever noticed that people are totally fine with you, until you start getting better?
- Oh, so you think your better than us now?
- You think your all holy, now that you started going to church?
- You are just so judgmental anymore. What happened to you?
Everybody is cool with you until you start getting out of what their still living in!
The only reason the Pharisees attacked the lame man for carrying his mat, was because they were still laying on theirs!
Although we live in a world that wants to keep us on our mat, we serve a God who wants us to carry it:
Matthew 16:24 (NIV)
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Today I want to close with two things needed to get healed from our Brokenness:
(1) Desire!
"Do you want to get well?" (v.6)
Psalms 37:4 (NIV)
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
+The first law of success in almost anything is- Desire!
+There has to be a want in us that is large enough for something, before we get it.
Jesus said in: Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
(2) Determination!
"Get up! Pick up your mat and walk" (v.8)
Paul challenges us in:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
At some point, we've got to get enough determination to decide that we are no longer going to stay where we are at, regardless of setbacks, disappointments or limitations.