06/01/25 – East Rock campus: Carry the Mat – Billy Hooke

Carry your mat • Picture this: A crowded house. People packed in every corner. No room to squeeze in—not even at the door.

• Then suddenly, the roof starts coming apart. Dust falls. Sunlight breaks through. And a man, paralyzed and helpless, is lowered down on a mat—right in front of Jesus. • What happens next is powerful. Jesus doesn’t just see a man in need of healing— He sees faith. And before He even speaks healing to the man’s body, He speaks freedom to his soul: "Son, your sins are forgiven." • But here’s the part we often overlook—after 1 Exported from Logos Bible Study, 4:53 PM June 2, 2025. Jesus heals the man, He tells him to do something specific: "Get up, take your mat, and go home." • but, if Jesus healed him, why tell him to carry that old mat? The mat had been the symbol of his limitation, the thing he’d been stuck on for who knows how long. But now, Jesus transforms it into a testimony. That mat becomes proof—not just of where he was, but of what God has done. › (pause) • Today, I want to talk about what it means for you to carry your mat. › (prayer ) MAIN STRIPTURE Mark 2:1–12 Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 2) When he entered Capernaum again a er 2 Exported from Logos Bible Study, 4:53 PM June 2, 2025. some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them. 3 They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: 7 “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Right away Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you 3 Exported from Logos Bible Study, 4:53 PM June 2, 2025. thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralytic—11 “I tell you: get up, take your mat, and go home.” 12 Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” story • Several years ago, I found myself deep in the heart of Northern Virginia, working on the construction of a seven-story hotel. By that time, I had been going back and forth to that region for years—living out of 4 Exported from Logos Bible Study, 4:53 PM June 2, 2025. suitcases, rotating through hotels, and watching life at home pass by from a distance. • To say the travel was wearing on me would be an understatement. Sleeping in unfamiliar beds. Working while sick. Missing birthdays, milestones, hugs from my kids. The toll was real—physically, emotionally, spiritually. • Most EARLY MONDAY MORNINGS, I’d sit in my truck before the long drive back—and cry. Not just from exhaustion, but from a deep ache that came from leaving my wife and children behind again. But I went— because it was my job. Because I thought I had no choice. • Over time, the weight of it all turned into bitterness. I functioned well on the surface— 5 Exported from Logos Bible Study, 4:53 PM June 2, 2025. met deadlines, got the job done—but inside, I was breaking.
• Frustrated. Angry. Wondering why I always had to carry this burden, and feeling like no one else really understood the weight I was under. On the outside I looked like everyone else, but on the inside I was paralyzed. SCRIPTURE BACKGROUND • THE TEXT FOR TODAY IS SET IN THE ANCIENT CITY OF Capernaum • Capernaum WAS A city on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Gospel writers refer to it as Jesus’ “own city” (Matt 9:1) because a er leaving Nazareth, He went to live in Capernaum, for at least a time.
• Capernaum means “the house (or, town) of Nahum”; however, the identity of this Nahum is unknown. In New Testament times, Capernaum was a center of commerce.
• Fishing and trade were important, and the town was a Roman tax polling station. • In Capernaum, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, who were fishermen, joined Jesus as his disciples; Matthew, who was a tax collector, also joined him. As we enter The text for today Jesus has just returned to Capernaum from preaching in the area of the Galilee and healing the man who was overcome with leprosy. POINT 1 - HOPE SOUGHT

1. When he entered Capernaum again a er 7 Exported from Logos Bible Study, 4:53 PM June 2, 2025. some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them. 3 They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them.
2. In our text today, some came from right around the block, while others came from as much as 100 miles or more away. a. To put it in perspective, It would be like us walking from Elkton to Richmond… Or Washington, D.C.…Or to Salem, Virginia —AND ANY WHERE IN-BETWEEN b. On foot.
3. My feet hurt most days just from regular walking—I can only imagine after journeying such a distance—but that didn’t stop this crowd from pressing in to see Jesus. a. they are literally filling the house and blocking the doorway. This is a full standing room only house.
4. In this text we are introduced to 4 people carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. scripture doesn’t say how far they carried their him. a. But we do know they WERE FOCUSED ON ONE THING. GETTING THEIR FRIEND TO JESUS NO MATTER WHAT. lets continue in our text POINT 2 - FORGIVENESS AND HEALING 4 Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
5. What barriers are standing in our way? What’s keeping us from fully seeing Jesus at work in our lives? a. for the four friends in our text, the crowds were keeping them from getting to Jesus. What has it been for you?
6. For me, during those long seasons of travel work, the greatest barriers weren’t physical. They were internal. a. I wrestled with the quiet doubt that anyone really cared. b. I was weighed down by the frustration of lost time—birthdays missed, moments I couldn’t get back, the slow ache of being away from home. Those thoughts clouded my view of God’s presence. i. I was functioning—but not free. c. those things kept me from being able to see Jesus, and receiving the healing I so longed for.
7. So I ask you—what’s keeping you, or someone you love, from experiencing true freedom found in Christ? a. What’s blocking the view, Is it pain? b. Maybe its Shame? Or Disappointment? Or Pride?
8. We all have blind spots. And o en, the people we walk with every day are carrying burdens we don’t even see.
9. the crowds around Jesus that day prevented these four friends from getting their friend to Jesus, but, they didn’t give up. a. They knew that their friend needed Jesus, he needed help and hope, b. they were committed to doing whatever it took.
10. • the 4 friends were so desperate to get their
11. friend to Jesus they did what that had to do
12. to get him there.
13. • I don’t know about you, but when I have
14. prayed for loved ones, when I have tried to
15. get them to Jesus, I recognize the
16. temptation to give up.
17. • To see the crowded house, the di iculty in
18. the way and think “well I guess it wasn’t
19. meant to be.” but what we see in this text is
20. that these 4 friends teach us a valuable
21. lesson of persistence.
22. • we each have a circle—a family member, a
23. 12
24. Exported from Logos Bible Study, 4:53 PM June 2, 2025.
25. co-worker, a neighbor—someone walking
26. through life in the shadows, trying to make
27. sense of their story without the light of Jesus.
28. • What would you do to help them find the
29. healing and hope they desperately need?
30. • Sometimes, the breakthrough someone
31. needs isn’t a sermon or a grand gesture like
32. hacking a hole through someone’s roof.

• Sometimes carrying the mat is a simple act of love. A quiet prayer. A message that says, “I see you. I care. I’m praying for you.” • maybe its a conversation over coffee, or an invitation to church. • WE CAN NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPACT OF A SIMPLE KIND QUIET GESTURE. • the key is that whatever we do is done in faith that Jesus is willing and able to heal, he is the one we all need. • the kind of faith that Jesus saw in the four friends that day was persistent, committed, and focused. lets finish our teaching text starting in verse 6 POINT 3 - HOPE FOUND 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: 7 “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Right away Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of 14 Exported from Logos Bible Study, 4:53 PM June 2, 2025. Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”— he told the paralytic— 11 “I tell you: get up, take your mat, and go home.” 12 Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” • In todays passage Jesus sees the faith of the friends, and he heals the one who was on the mat, but not in the way you might have thought. • HEALING THE OUTSIDE MEANS LITTLE IF THE INSIDE IS STILL BROKEN. • you see, the friends brought this man for the obvious need of being paralized, but jesus saw that his greatest need was to be forgiven of his sins.
• Jesus always sees our greatest need. THE REST OF THE STORY • I had been working out of town for about six months on a demanding, seven-story hotel project. Every day felt heavy.
• I was filled with anger and frustration— resentful of the distance between me and my wife, and aching for time with my young daughters.
• On the outside, I looked fine. I did my job. I showed up.
• But inside, I was unraveling. My thoughts were clouded. My spirit felt stuck. It was like I was paralyzed— not physically, but in my mind. • What I failed to see in those moments was something simple, yet profound: God's presence was just as real on that job site as it was in any church, any prayer closet, or at any altar. • One day, while working on the trim-out— just doing my job, tools in hand—I had music playing from a mixed Pandora station. Then "Stay" by William McDowell came on. And something shi ed. • Right there, in the middle of a loud, chaotic construction site, I was completely undone. I had to step away, find a quiet corner amidst the noise—and worship. • Tears came before words did. I wept. I worshiped. I surrendered. • In that moment, I knew—God saw me. He hadn’t forgotten me. He was with me. • The frustration didn’t vanish overnight. But something far more important happened: I was reminded that I wasn’t invisible. I wasn’t alone.
• The God of the universe met me in the middle of a job site, covered in dust and sweat, and wrapped me in His presence. CONCLUSION • WE ALL HAVE NEEDS, WHAT NEEDS HAVE YOU CARRIED with you TODAY? • Church, if there's one thing we can all agree on—it's this: The world we live in is desperate for hope. Psalm 42:1–4 “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, “Where is your God?” I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts.”
• People are searching, Searching high and low, Near and far. From the corners of success to the shadows of despair. • SEARCHING FOR THE HOPE WE HAVE IN CHRIST AND in HIM ALONE. • MAYBE TODAY YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR THAT HOPE, YOU HAVE RUN EVERY DIRECTION YOU COULD THAT DIDN’T INVOLVE RUNNING TO THE CROSS. • LET ME SAY IT PLAINLY, WE CAN search at the bottom of a DARK BROWN bottle, OR IN A BOTTLE of a PILLS. • WE CAN SEARCH in relationships, promotions, OR possessions. • But, You won’t find hope there, Not real hope. Not the kind that lasts. • In MARK 2, we read ABOUT A paralyzed man WHO WAS lowered through the roof to meet Jesus. His friends were SO desperate for him to be healed THAT THEY DID WHAT EVER IT TOOK to get him there. • maybe you are here this morning and you too have been DESPERETLY searching for real hope. WE ARE GOING TO RESPOND IN A FEW WAYS TODAY AS BETH LEADS US IN A SONG OF RESPONSE. FIRST I WOULD INVITE YOU TO CARRY YOUR LOVED ONES TO JESUS IN FAITH FILLED PRAYER, this front row of chairs can serve as an alter if you need to come sit at the feet of The Healer. WE HAVE SMALL CARDS AVALIBLE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS. I WOULD INVITE YOU TO WRITE THEIR NAME ON THE CARD AND PIN IT TO THE CROSS IN AN ACT OF FAITH KNOWING THAT JESUS IS ABLE. SECOND IF YOU ARE HERE TODAY AND YOU SENSE YOU NEED TO ENCOUNTER JESUS MAYBE FOR THE FIRST TIME. MAYBE FOR HEALING, FOR HELP, OR MAYBE YOU NEED TO SIMPLY TRUST HIM WITH YOUR GREATEST NEED, PASTOR TERRY AND PASTOR JARED ARE IN THE BACK AND WOULD LOVE TO PRAY WITH YOU. LET US COME ALONG SIDE YOU AS WE SEEK JESUS TODAY. Benediction Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Go now into a world that needs hope, go knowing that you are loved.