Mark Broadbent
Luke 5:11-20: So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
*Rebellious younger brother that did not WANT God vs self-righteous older brother that did not NEED God
----> Brokenness ---> God
*Focus on the younger brother in his rebellion stage
*Reading the bible and combine it with our experience will make the bible more applicable
Our Pursuit of Freedom can enslave us
*People who commit sin by sleeping around or two timing will realize a point at their life full of emptiness
*Then 90% would come back. That is the same thing with the younger brother
*Our pursuit of freedom can leave us empty
*Many people think that when you become a Christian, your locked up and are restricted or losing your freedom
*However, it does not seem what they thought it would be
Materialism
*How much more money do we need to be happy? People from all Socioeconomic status says 10%
*But some says we just have to have enough so that we would not have to worry less. However, results have shown that the more possessions we have, the more we worry about money; example: maintenance
Porn
*Researches asked if pedophiles were abused as kids. Most of them said no.
*When tested with a shock detector to determine your life sentence - the result of saying no dropped from 90% to 10%.
*Most people start seeing porn and go through the gateways until they become pedophiles
*Those things do not give freedom
Gossip
*Some cannot help talking about others. Some are really addicted to it
Unforgiveness
*Some do not want to forgive but to just be free
*But the bitterness eats them inside
*God is trying to free us from those slavery
Galatians 5:13:
Life by the Spirit
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
*The question is, how do we get out?
Beating yourself up does not work
*We all struggle with different problems
*Peter, the key disciples and Judas Iscariot let down Jesus on his most crucial time
*Peter gets forgiven, Judas leaves God altogether
*Which was the worse sin? None really matters. Its not the depth of their sin
Matthew 27:3-5: When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
*Is Judas broken and remourseful? Yes
*The real difference is that Peter's brokenness brought him back to Jesus but for Judas, it lead to despair
*If you beat yourself and remind yourself that your not worthy of anything, you will not receive forgiveness but just go into emptiness
Hosea 3:1:
Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”*God is using the picture of Hosea and his adulterous wife in illustration to His relationship with us. We are the adulterous wife.
*Its painful experience looking at us chasing after other Gods, yet He loves us and will not let us go, He offers forgiveness and love. Everything God wants is to be reunited with His creation.
*Jesus loves the porn stars, thus, we are better than them. But God said that we are the porn stars.
Will-power won't work
*Rather than resist and fight temptation, we remove it
*We should pray "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
*Even if it is out of reach, we will eventually find out way and hunt it down
*When we try and escape the slavery of sin, we need to embrace what God offers; Joy, peace, purpose and love
*Genesis 3:1-5:
The Fall
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
*God is actually the greatest treasure
*He walked with Adam and Eve. We must find him more fulfilling, exciting and to long for Him. That way, it is easier to keep us away from the temptations of sin.
*Some of us feel that we are not consistent to be good enough for him.
*But God said no matter how much you feel your unforgiven, he will keep chasing after you.
**Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path**
