[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 5pm or Wednesdays at 7pm if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, you can find us
[email protected] be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast, Madison Church of Christ Sermons. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Right after I was asked to speak, my boss asked if we could have a quarterly business review in our office in Alpharetta, Georgia, which is just north of Atlanta. And I said, yeah, but I had to make sure I left early on Wednesday because I had a speaking engagement. And he goes, okay, well what's the latest time that you need to leave? And I said, well, I would love to leave at lunchtime.
Well, lunchtime was 2 o'. Clock. So I left Alpharetta at 2 this morning and 2 this afternoon and drove back.
So I haven't been here for the last couple of nights, but I've watched David and Patty on YouTube and it's great, but I wish I hadn't watched them because I got to follow that they set a high bar and it's a tough act for me to follow. And so but we'll get through it. We'll get through it tonight. As was mentioned, my topic is I Belong to him, and we're going to be in John chapter 11 and Mark chapter two, which those stories that we're going to talk about tonight are stories that most of us, or many of us grew up with. John 11 is Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead? And Mark Chapter two talks about the four friends who lower the paralytic through the roof for Jesus to heal him. But when I was given those verses and then given the topic, I was like belonging.
How am I going to relate those two stories, which I grew up with since I was a child, into this idea of belonging? And so we're going to see how well I do tonight.
So in 1982, a show came on television and lasted until 1993. It was called Cheers. And many of you who are my age will probably remember that it was not Must See TV for me.
And if you watched it or if you didn't watch it. What I've seen is most know a line in the theme song.
And it goes, everyone wants to go where everyone knows their name.
And so as we think about that, I think it's just. It's nature for us. It's natural for us to want to belong.
We want to belong. And we talk about belonging in family, in sports teams.
People go to great lengths to try to make sure they belong. And so tonight we're going to talk a little bit about this idea of belonging.
And we're going to go ahead and start in John chapter 11.
And let's read verses 20 through 27.
So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. But Mary remained seated in the house.
Martha said to Jesus, lord, if you have been here, my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.
And Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.
And Martha said to him, I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.
But Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
Do you believe this?
And she said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.
Let's jump over to verse 38 and let's read verses 38 through 44.
Then Jesus, deeply moved, again came to the tomb.
And it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone.
Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead for four days.
And Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. But I said this on account of the people standing around that they may believe that you sent me. And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, lazarus, come out. And the man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. And Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go.
So we all know the story, right? We all know that Jesus had friends in Bethany of Lazarus and Mary and Martha, that he would visit them on his way to Jerusalem. Lazarus was sick. The sisters sent a messenger to Jesus. The messenger got there in Time to tell Jesus. But Jesus tarried. Jesus delayed before he left, and he did so so that Lazarus would be dead, as it says here, for four days. And the reason is that the Jews believed that the soul remained in the body for a certain amount of time. And Jesus wanted to make sure that that amount of time had passed so there would be no question with his miracle. And so we see Jesus come, and Jesus wants everyone to see that glory of God.
So I know you're asking, Mike, what does this have to do with belonging or this idea of belonging?
And so let's talk a little bit about that.
Mary and Martha loved Jesus. Mary and Martha loved Lazarus.
And just because we belong or we have belonging, that doesn't mean we'll never face pain.
Sometimes Christians often think that when they accept Christ, that belonging and life becomes easy, that they'll be spared some of those things that we have to deal with every day.
But Jesus never promised that.
What Jesus promised was his very presence in our life when we belong to him.
In Hebrews 6:19, it talks about God being an anchor for our soul. And we all know what an anchor is, right? An anchor doesn't take away the storm, but the anchor holds the ship steady during the storm. And so he never promised that life would be easy, but he promised that he would be with us. And belonging means that as we go through these times where we suffer, as we go through these times where we grieve, as we go through these times when we doubt that Jesus is with us, his presence is with us.
The other thing is that Jesus calls his own by name. When I was a teenager in the Eastwood Church in Paris, Tennessee, when I grew up, I had a teacher say that Jesus said, lazarus, come out. Because if Jesus just said to come out, all the dead people would arise.
And when you're a teenager, you kind of accept that, right?
But as I got older and as I learned, as I matured, what I realized is that Jesus knows our names.
Anybody want to guess what's the world population today?
8.3 billion.
Okay, 8.3 billion. How many times have you been someplace and you've become a number? When I was driving to Alpharetta, I stopped in Scottsboro, at the McDonald's. Sorry, hamburger, no fries. Brian Wisdom ain't getting fries. Didn't get Coke, just got a cheeseburger. I ordered it from a little kiosk, and it spit out this ticket. And I was a number, right? And I had to wait to be served. We give our Social Security number, right?
And so we're often reduced to a number. But yet Jesus knows 8.3 billion names. He looks at me, he doesn't say, hey, look, that's 1,512,000,000, 760,003, right? He looks at me and he goes, that's Mike Baker. That's Michael Curtis Baker. That's Jean and Joanne Baker's son. That's Amy's husband. That's Alyssa and Cole's father.
Jesus knows us by name when we belong to him what does the world do? How does the world know us by?
I'm going to share. I don't know if he's in here or not. He is. I'm going to share a story about Andrew.
So if you remember, if you know Andrew, he was at Robertsdale before here.
When our youth group went to Robertsdale, I went along as a chaperone. And so, as you know, if you've chaperoned youth trips, you're giving some boys to stay with, and then you've got to go pick up other boys. And so one morning I had my boys. I was in our rental van from the church and I was on my way to pick up the other boys when this dog, I don't know if it was a dog, a calf or a Shetland pony, came running out from the side of the road. And I hit it with that rental van.
I hit it so hard that it knocked the radiator off its seat. And by the time I got to the house where the other boys were, the van was overheating and it wasn't drivable, right?
So Andrew's first Sunday here, when he was speaking, we gathered together in the little room before church to go over everything. And Andrew comes in, he looks at me, he goes, you look familiar.
I said, I was one of the chaperones at Robertsdale. He goes, that's right. I said, it's Mike Baker. He goes, no, it's the guy who hit the dog, right? The world knows us not by our name, but they know us by our actions. Maybe there's things that happened to us in the past. Maybe it's our failures. Maybe it's things that we've struggled to get rid of, but yet the world constantly reminds us of. That is who we are. But Jesus knows us.
He knows our fears, he knows our failures. He knows our name.
And he still loves us and we belong to Him.
Belonging means that we leave the grave clothes behind. If you notice, Jesus said, unbind him, loose him. You know, today, when a loved one passes, we pick the clothes, the mortician dresses them and puts them in the coffin.
But there they were bound, much like, you know, the Egyptians would bind them. We think of mummies, but their hands and their feet were bound and. And their head was bound where they couldn't move.
And so Jesus said to unbind him because Lazarus was now free.
And when we think about that, when Jesus makes us his own, he calls us to walk in freedom. We're not bound anymore by sin.
We don't have the weight of sin bearing down upon us suddenly. Now, everything that we were wrapped around, that held us tight where we couldn't move, Jesus gives us that freedom. We're no longer defined by shame or by guilt or by addiction or by fear or by bitterness or by past.
Because those are our grave clothes. Because sin is death.
And Jesus has said, loose and unbind. When he claims us as his own, we have that freedom. And so when we think about John 11, I think it's pretty important that we realize, I belong to the one who gives life.
That life is found. Have you ever thought about when Jesus spoke to Lazarus from that tomb? You had dead ears that heard.
You had dead legs that walked.
Jesus gives us that freedom. And we belong to the one who gives us life.
Let's go to Mark chapter two, and we'll start with verse one.
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.
And many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they got. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: And.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven.
Now some of the scribes who were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit, that they had thus questioned within themselves, said to them, why do you question these things in your heart? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven? Or to say, rise and take up your bed and walk. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, I say to you, pick up your bed and go home. And he rose and Immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all so that they were all amazed and glorified. God saying, we never saw anything like this.
You know, this is one of those stories that I remember as a kid having the little felt, felt boards and little felt figures. And I remember making little beds that would lower down, right? This is that story we were always raised with, right? Jesus is back. There's a huge crowd. These four friends bring this paralytic man through the door.
They can't get through the door, so they go up on the roof and they lower him down.
And then Jesus surprises everyone because Jesus deals with the greatest need. First.
Jesus said, your sins are forgiven.
The four guys.
Is that what they wanted to hear?
The four guys, they wanted him healed.
They carried him. They couldn't get through the door. They climbed up on the roof, they took the roof apart, they lowered him down, and Jesus said, your sins are forgiven. The. That's not what they wanted to hear, right? They didn't want to hear that. They wanted to hear that Jesus or they wanted Jesus to heal him. And so many people today, right? Many people today, they want peace, they want success, they want their health. They want answers to questions that are troubling them, right?
Jesus gives us something even greater than all those things he gave that paralytic, something greater than the ability to walk. He gave him forgiveness, and that's what we get when we belong to him.
Belonging also gives us a new identity. Notice Jesus said, take your mat and walk. Notice we don't even know his name.
He's referred to by his condition.
He's referred to as the paralytic. We don't know his name. And then Jesus says, take your mat and walk.
The mat, right?
When people looked at him walking with that mat, the mat was his old identity.
They looked at that mat. That was the identity he used to be. And now he's new because he's walking.
When we belong to Jesus, when we accept Jesus, when we're given that new identity, we're not defined by our past.
I'm not defined by hitting a dog and running over a dog in a church van.
We're not defined by our mistakes. We're not defined by our failures.
Rather, we have a new identity. We are now children of God.
We are now heirs with Christ.
We are forgiven. We are redeemed. And mostly we are loved.
Not because of anything that we have done, but rather because we belong to him.
Belonging changes how we walk.
You know, the man, that mat, right? The mat that carried him, those four Men carried him on that mat, and that mat defined him. But now he carries that mat as evidence of God's work in his life.
We, our past, as I mentioned, our past has been forgotten. We've gotten forgiveness.
The Christian life, it should be visible within us.
Just like as that man walked around carrying that mat, and that mat showed the glory of God. Our lives should reflect the glory of God. Not because we're perfect, but because Jesus changes us.
His grace changes us.
And so belonging to him should make us walk different.
And so when I look at Mark 2, what we can say is, I belong to the One who forgives.
So we've got these two stories. We've got Lazarus and we've got the paralytic.
What do they have in common?
Well, the first thing is neither one of them could do anything about their current condition. Neither one of them could help themselves, neither one of them could save themselves, and both of them depended entirely on Jesus.
What do you think the common thread is between them and us?
It's the very same thing, right?
We can't save ourselves.
We are entirely dependent upon Jesus.
That's true of every believer.
And we belong to him because of his grace, not because of any goodness that's within ourselves.
That is the importance of belonging.
So what does it mean to belong to Jesus? Let's put in a little bit of application before we wrap up.
The first thing is it means we are known.
We are not a number, but we are known. And we are known intimately. And we have that relationship when we belong.
It means we are forgiven.
We don't dwell on those things that are in our past.
Rather, we are forgiven.
It means we are loved, even with the things that we think that might make us unlovable.
We are loved.
We are called, just as Lazarus was called.
We are called by name.
We are never abandoned.
And we are given eternal life.
And we become a part of God's family.
That's what it means to belong to Jesus.
And then the last one is that as we look at those four friends, we're also sent to bring others to Him.
So as we think about, as we go through this week, I got a couple of questions that I want you to think about.
The first is, what part of your life do you need to surrender to the one that you belong to?
What is it that you've not quite yet surrendered or given over completely to Him?
Is there a grave cloth?
Is there something that still binds your hands, binds your feet?
Is there still something that you need to leave behind?
Is there something that hinders us from fully belonging.
And then the last one is, who is the one person that God is calling you to carry?
Who is God calling you to carry to Jesus? Just like those friends carry that person in front of God, in prayer, or by example, or physically bring them. Who is it that God is calling you to carry this week?
So as you think about these three things this week, think about them, pray about them, dwell on them.
But most of all, know that you belong.
You belong to him and he's given you freedom.
Let's pray.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth of your word and for reminding us today that our greatest identity is found in belonging to you.
Thank you for loving us before we ever sought you, for calling us by name and for making a way for us to become your children through Jesus Christ.
Lord, just as you called Lazarus out of the tomb, call us each day to leave behind anything that keeps us from fully living for you.
Help us lay aside our fear, our guilt, our pride, our bitterness, and every grave cloth that tries to hold us captive.
Remind us that we belong to you and are no longer defined by our past, but by your grace.
Thank you. That like the paralyzed man, our greatest need has been met through the forgiveness of our sins.
Help us never to take for granted the mercy you have shown us.
Maybe walk each day in the freedom, joy and purpose that comes from knowing that we are forgiven and that we are loved.
Father, give us the faith and the compassion of those four friends.
Place people on our hearts who need to know you and help us faithfully bring them before you through our prayers, our encouragement, our lives and our love.
When we face sorrow like Mary and Martha, remind us that you are with us.
When life seems uncertain, help us to trust that your timing is always perfect.
When we are weak, strengthen us.
When we are afraid, remind us that we are yours.
As we leave this place tonight, may we go with confidence knowing that we belong to Jesus.
The one who gives life, forgives sins, calls us by our name and promises never to leave us or forsake us.
May our lives reflect your love so that others will see Christ in us and be drawn to him.
We thank you for your amazing grace, your unfailing love, and the hope we have because we belong to you.
In the precious and powerful name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
