The Fellowship of the MAT
August 20, 2006 Am
Pastor Brad Dyrness
Sparks Nazarene Church
Jesus, being impressed by their effort and belief said
“YOUR SIN’S ARE FORGIVEN”
And he adds -- “Get up, take up your MAT and go home!”
þ The Life change that Jesus offers is for everyone!
þ Jesus knows where we need to start!
þ Jesus’ power is for all our life, not just Sundays!
þ Jesus tells us to get up and get busy with life.
Today we're going
to look at his friends -
John Ortberg's Book:
Everybody's Normal Until You Get To Know Them
If it weren't for his friends this guy would have died on his MAT.
Without friendships no one would choose to live, even if they had all other good things in life. Aristotle
This small group of men (5) were bound together and were committed to each other.
People rarely drift into deep community.
This mat that could easily have created a great gulf between them became an opportunity for servanthood and acceptance.
They became the fellowship of the MAT.
1.
Everybody
has a Mat -
It is through the sharing of the MAT that we can find healing.
Maybe your mat is temper, fear, inability to trust… past or some addiction
People spend their whole lives doing MAT management - pretending they don't have a mat.
They may even have the spiritual gift of MAT discernment. They can probably tell you about other's mats but deny a mat of their own.
Community is made up of people with all their riches but also all their weaknesses and poverty, of people who accept and
forgive each other and who are vulnerable.
If you want deep friendships - you cannot always be the strong one.
2. Authentic
community requires action!
Community gets built by servants - Great community gets built by roof crashers.
Most roof crashing involves two things: Noticing and…Doing.
3. Irony
of the mat.
Mats are what we are most likely to hide thinking that it will drive people away. But in reality it is precisely our mats that form connecting points.
Full view, amazed - everyone praised God
4. Community requires trust. Implied - Risk turns into trust!
5.
Authentic community ALWAYS involves spiritual growth -