Their Faith – Today we continue moving through the New Testament having begun with the gospel of Mark, and today’s story is one of crowds gathering to hear Jesus inside and outside a home.  Some friends bring a paralyzed man to Jesus to be healed, but the crowd is so massive they can’t get into the building, so they remove the roof and lower the paralytic.  Rev. Carol Cavin-Dillon relates some personal stories and says that any of us might be paralyzed at some point due to a physical issue or to some emotional or grief issue.  She compares this story to other stories of Jesus healing people, where Jesus cites the faith of the one who is to be healed.  Here, however, it is the faith of the friends who persist in getting the man to Jesus rather than the faith of the paralytic.  She also explores the Greek word here translated “heal” which is, in other places, translated “make whole” or even “save.”  This underscores the meaning of the congregation of a church, or of friends, whose role in someone’s healing is a depth of faith when the person who needs healing is in great need. 

(NOTE:  Emphasizing the importance of the Word, the video begins with the scripture reading, but if you want, you can scroll back to the beginning of the service in the video – the entire service is available.  NOTE: Due to technical issues, the video of the early service is not available.)