Hello ,

Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

I have always been taken with this story from the scriptures about the paralyzed man, but what struck me about this narrative (more than anything else), was the first words that are recorded in the story.

“Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

In our heart of hearts, each of us knows that the real "healing" in the lives of people often begins with forgiveness and spiritual restoration. Once you and I know that we are forgiven, and that we have been reconciled to God (through Christ), we can move forward in ways that may have previously been "roadblocks."

THIS is the message that must go out to a dying world; that we are spiritually crippled, but (through Christ), we can be forgiven and healed.

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word