Message Guide:
-Clayton discussed three truths that we can pull from these two healings. The first was "Truth about SIN." Leprosy was a disease that made it necessary for you to withdraw from society. It was incurable and the highly contagious. Lepers were deemed "unclean" and were forced out of town. We read this leper throws himself at the feet of Jesus and he begs him to "make him clean". To be clean in the eyes of Judaism would mean he could come into the city, go to the synagogue and be with his family. So Jesus touches him and technically makes himself "unclean" while making the leper "clean." Does this sound familiar? Talk about the correlation between this exchange and what our savior did for us on the cross. How does our sin resemble the symptoms and effects of leprosy?
-The next Truth was the "Truth about SALVATION". Luke is pointing out that the leper and the paralyzed man were at the end of themselves. They were throwing themselves at the mercy of Jesus. They were DESPERATE and were willing to do whatever it took to get to him, and Jesus saw their faith. When was the last time YOU were desperate for God to move in your life? Is your first instinct to fall at the feet of Jesus? Or do you just try to fix things on your own?
-The pharisees were outraged at Jesus in these passages. Who does he think he is? The truth was, Jesus was LORD. The final truth was the "Truth about SAVIOR". Jesus came for the spiritually sick. He spent time with the down and out. He poured into and loved the outsiders. Jesus INCLUDED the EXCLUDED. This is the heart of Jesus. We, as Jesus followers, are his image bearers. So then, should our lives not be marked by the same compassion for those that others cast aside? Does your life look this way? Does our City Group? Does our church?
-Luke is careful to point out that Jesus "withdrew from the crowds" to get alone with God and pray. This is mentioned over and over throughout the Gospels. Think about that... Jesus WAS God, and he thought it critical to spend time WITH God, his Father. Isn't it interesting that with so many demands on his time, so many people pulling at him from every direction, Jesus was still faithful to go away and spend time with God? Why do you think he needed to make this a priority? If HE needed, how much more so do WE need it? Can it be said of you that you "often" withdraw from the pace and demands of life to be alone with your Heavenly Father?
-The takeaway from Sunday was "From the LOWEST place you can call on the HIGHEST name". The words of Amazing Grace come to mind here. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!" This is the experience of most people that call on the name of Jesus. They have to hit the bottom, become desperate, have no other way out. Is there someone in your life that needs Jesus and is at a low point or has hit rock bottom? What are their names? Add them to the group prayer list. What can you do to plant a seed in their heart?

Pray:
-That we would remember that without Jesus, WE are the leper and paralytic.
-That we would stay desperate for God.
-That we would "often" withdraw to spend time with God.
-That we would pray and share with people in our lives that need Jesus.