Rise, Take Up Your Pallet, Walk

In one paragraph

Pastor Nathan opened this message by walking back through the first five steps of the 12 steps before moving into John 5:1-18, where Jesus heals a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. The passage became the entry point into steps six and seven, and the whole sermon pressed on one central question: are you willing to be made well? The first five steps got a quick but careful review before...

Read together

1. John 1:1 prologue about the eternality of Jesus, preceding Genesis 1:1
2. Genesis 1:1 noted that John 1:1 precedes it
3. John 3:16 part of the interview with Nicodemus
4. John 3:17 mentioned alongside John 3:16 in the Nicodemus passage
5. Numbers 21 the snake on the pole as a picture of God making a way, referenced twice
6. John 5:1-18 the main sermon text, the healing at the pool of Bethesda
7. Galatians 5 cited as a source for the New Testament vice list
8. 1 Corinthians cited as a source for the New Testament vice list
9. 1 Timothy cited as a source for the New Testament vice list
10. 1 John 1:9 confession and God forgiving and purifying from all unrighteousness
11. James 5 confess sins to one another and pray for each other, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective
12. John 9 disciples ask who sinned, the man born blind, Jesus says it was for God's glory
13. Luke 4 Jesus at Nazareth saying he was sent to set captives free, heal the lame and blind
14. Philippians 2 early hymn of the church, Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but humbled himself to death on a cross
15. 1 Peter 5:10-11 read as the benediction, God of all grace perfecting, establishing, strengthening and settling believers

Talk about it

1. The pastor walked through the first five steps and described step one as 'deflation at depth.' Where in your own life have you hit a moment of recognizing you were powerless over something, and what did that feel like?
2. Step three is described as a decision: 'I can't, God can, I'm going to let him.' What tends to slow people down between knowing they need help and actually making that decision to turn it over?
3. The pastor talked about the man at the pool starting with what sounded like excuses when Jesus asked if he wanted to be made well, but said Jesus took those excuses as a yes. Have you ever come to God with more excuses than faith and still found him willing to work? What happened?
4. Step six asks whether we are entirely ready to have God remove our defects of character. The pastor was honest that he struggled to let go of something that felt like part of his identity. What makes it hard to say a full yes to that question, even after admitting the problem and bringing it to God?
5. Step eleven is about praying for the knowledge of God's will and the power to carry it out. The pastor said this has been the most powerful part of the process for him personally. What does that kind of prayer actually look like in daily life, and how is it different from the way most of us tend to pray?