Phil Beach Jr. preaches on the story of the paralytic man brought to Jesus by his friends, emphasizing the importance of bringing our loved ones to Jesus for healing and restoration instead of trying to fix them ourselves. He highlights the need for a humble and faith-filled approach in guiding others to the feet of Jesus, who alone can fix our broken and ailing hearts. The sermon stresses the significance of recognizing our own brokenness and need for Jesus' healing touch before helping others, encouraging a spirit of meekness and love in our interactions. Ultimately, the message centers on the transformative power of God's love to mend our brokenness and lead us to reflect His moral character.

Mark 2: 1-5: A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Many years ago our computer stopped working. My son was determined to fix it by taking it apart and trying to figure out why it broke down. So, after begging me for permission, he delved into this project with full force! Hours later he had taken most of the computer apart but was unable to figure out how to fix it. Still determined, he kept at it for most of the day. Eventually, he came to me and admitted failure. We decided that the best solution was to pack the computer in a box and send it to the manufacturer. Amazingly, after just a few days we were contacted by the manufacturer. They said they had fixed the computer already and it was on its way back to us via UPS. My son learned that the best-qualified to fix a computer are those who make the computers. We too can learn a lesson from this. Often, we try to fix each other when we see faults and broken parts in our lives! Husbands try to fix their wives, wives try to fix their husbands, parents try to fix their children, etc. Generally, when we make it our mission in life to try to fix people, we make a bigger mess at the end than when what we started out with. Only God, our loving Creator, knows how to fix our deepest problems, and the best gift we can offer one another is a loving heart, pointing each other to God and His Word. In the NT there is a story of a man who was crippled and could not walk. He was very broken--like we are. His friends, instead of trying to fix their friend or criticize him, each took a corner of his bed and together carried this man to Jesus. After carrying this broken friend of theirs to Jesus, he was healed. How wonderful to have friends like this to help us and how equally wonderful to be this kind of friend to our family members and brothers and sisters in Christ! Do we carry our loved ones and friends to Jesus with a loving, faith-filled heart, knowing that Jesus can fix them? Or do we meddle in the lives of those who are broken, trying to fix them ourselves? God's love working in our lives will always seek ways to lay our lives down for one another with the goal being to bring each other to the feet of Jesus, knowing He alone can fix our broken and ailing hearts! How freeing to stop trying to fix our own broken parts--emotionally, mentally, spiritually and socially--in our own lives and the lives of our friends and family members. What freedom we find when we come to see our mission and calling in life is simply to bring ourselves and others to the feet of Jesus, the One who made us and knows exactly how to fix us and make us whole! Now there are some instances in which God leads people to help others sort out the broken parts of their lives through times of counseling, prayer and sharing. This is a very valuable ministry and much needed today. God's intent for these instances is the same: to use us to lead those whose lives are broken to Himself. He is the only one who knows just how to fix the deepest parts of our being that are broken because of sin! Today, beloved, ask God to show you the lives you are trying to fix--(and by doing so, are making things worse instead of better). Come to Him in faith and ask Him to change the way you view your calling and mission as a husband, wife, parent or fellow believer. Instead of seeing yourself as called to fix everyone's broken lives, see yourself as part of a team, like the four friends in the NT story we read about above. As a team member, find your place together with others in carrying all your family and friends by a living faith to Jesus and His Word and there, lay them down. We too need to be carried by our friends to the feet of Jesus so He can keep fixing our many problems and faults. Yes, we are called to help people find their way to Jesus but we are not called to try yo fix them ourselves by nagging at them and constantly pointing out their broken parts. We must remember that we ourselves are as needy as those we think are needy and our brokenness, though different in some ways, is just as much in need of fixing as the brokenness in the lives of those we are trying to help. If we view our own need to be fixed by Jesus as less urgent than the needs of others, we will think ourselves to be better than others. When this happens, we will not seek ways to bring our friends and family to Jesus but think we can help them and fix their problems. This will never work however, but will only make matters worse. How deeply we need to see a fresh unveiling of the beauty of our blessed Lord Jesus. As we stay in His light and remain in His love, His Word and His presence, we will not lose sight of our own desperate needs and the many areas of our own life that yet need to be fixed. By doing this, we are best able to help others in a humble, meek spirit--never exalting ourselves or imagining that we are superior. Those whose eyes remain focused on the glory of Jesus Christ will not speak of their own works nor boast of their own walk with God, but will be humbled as they see His perfection and speak only of His work and perfect obedience. It is by His obedience that we are given life from Calvary and by His obedience that we remain blessed and able to please Him. Those who clearly see their own need to be fixed by Jesus are best able to lay their lives down for others and are best able to bring others to Jesus to be fixed! Jesus warns us all that we must first remove the fault from our own lives before we can clearly see to guide others to Jesus. Those who find the love of God fully working in their lives will discover the joy of losing their own lives by laying them down for others. The final goal and motive being that others may be brought to Jesus as the source to heal and fix their broken lives. We are called to encourage one another, speak truth in love to one another, bear one another's burdens, and lay our lives down for one another. At times, we are called to correct and rebuke as well! All of this should result in our eyes being steadfastly fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who alone is our Creator! By giving His life for us, He can fix us once again, so we are free to reflect His marvelous nature and moral character. We should gather as often as possible with each other. Night and day, we should be meditating on the Word of God and speaking its Truth into our own life and each other's lives. Jesus taught us to wash one another's feet. This can be practiced literally, but its meaning transcends the physical. To wash one another's feet is to lovingly speak the truth of God's Word often to one another. By doing this we are washed by the pure water of God's Word from the dirt of this earth that often gets on us as we live in this world, even though we are not of the world. Our feet are the part of our body that touches the dust of the earth. Hence, washing one another's feet represents the cleansing effect God's Word has on us through the power of the Spirit of God. We should not become critical when we see the dust and earthy dirt that often sticks to our lives. Instead we have to help one another by praying for each other and speaking truth in God's love whenever we see one another. All this together is intended by God to provide the means to lead us all to Jesus for His touch and transforming power, which alone can change our hearts and make us like our God in His moral character. Only then will we be free from the evil tendency to live selfish lives, serving our own interests and not those of our blessed Lord! Let's stop trying to fix our loved ones and friends and start bringing them to Jesus by walking in the truth and love of God. At His feet, we must leave them and trust in God's power to heal all the broken parts! A lot of times we bring people to the feet of Jesus but fail to leave them there. We must resist this temptation. May God give us more and more spiritual capacity to see His amazing selfless love and to be so filled with, controlled by, and overwhelmed by this amazing love that we become earthen vessels through whom this love reaches out to all men, leading them to their great Creator! In doing this, all who come to Him by Jesus Christ will surely be fixed and be equipped to reveal the glory of God in Jesus Christ. How unspeakable is the humility of God and His meekness and great love as we see Him revealed as the One who has laid down His life for His enemies to make them His friends. How far God was willing to go to show us who He is by sending His Son out from His bosom, and make Him known to us. We must pray that we see the immense beauty and absolute gentleness of our great God. It is this amazing love defined by laying His life down for us that makes Him great and demonstrates His real power! His meekness is His strength. As we behold this presentation of our Lord, He bids us to come to Him so that we may share in His likeness and know true power, the power to lay our lives down at His feet and for our family, friends and even our enemies!! How great is the God we serve, beyond words and description! He loves us so much and cannot do harm to any being nor can He be found crooked or unkind. He is altogether lovely and in Him is the source of all moral goodness, kindness, mercy and beauty--all gathered up in the presentation of Himself as the Lamb of God, the wisdom and power of God! His great love alone can fix our broken human hearts as we bring them to His throne of grace. How I long to know the Lamb and to make the Lamb known!! Though I am light years away from doing this, I have hope that He is able to do the impossible. For with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible! This is God's original intention in creating us and through Jesus our Lord and His precious blood, He is securing His purpose, to the praise and honor of His beloved Son! Let us rejoice knowing our God knows precisely how to fix us.