You care about people who don’t know Jesus
The reason God used the four friends in Luke 5 is because they cared for the paralytic. Just like those four, your life mission has to start with love. The number one reason Christians don’t share Christ with others is that they are too preoccupied with themselves.
You must believe God can reach you
No one is hopeless. When the four friends looked at the paralytic’s condition, they could have responded in doubt: What could Jesus do? Instead, they believed God could heal him -- they had faith. The Bible said the paralytic’s sins were forgiven when Jesus saw the faith of the four friends.
You must make a plan
Although faith and prayer are important ingredients to bringing others to Jesus, you need to do something too! You need a plan. When the four friends saw the way to Jesus was blocked, they came up with a plan to get the paraplegic to Jesus. Your small group needs a plan to bring people to Jesus. Without it, you’ll never bring anyone to the Savior.
You must overcome difficulties
When the four friends saw the path to Jesus blocked, they had every reason to feel discouraged, but they didn’t give up. They looked for another way to bring the man to Jesus.
You need the courage to do something different
When faced with a discouraging situation, these four friends decided to do something different to get their friend to Jesus -- they went through the roof! Sometimes we have to do something different to get people to Jesus as well.
You must work together to get the job done
Have you ever tried to carry someone on a stretcher with only three people? It doesn’t work. If all four of the friends hadn’t helped, the paralytic would have fallen off the stretcher.
Your small group must be willing to pay the cost to bring someone to Jesus
These four men wouldn’t have made a hole in the roof unless they were willing to fix it. They had to pay the cost of bringing their friend to Jesus.
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