Mark 2: 1-12, “When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man[a] has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” There are 3 powerful things we learn from this encounter with Jesus, and 1 thing we’re going to unlearn. * You’ve heard it before, but I’m going to say it again, YOUR FRIENDS MATTER. Your friends are either part of your solution, or they’re part of your problem. Look around, are they bringing you closer to Jesus or taking you further away? This man had no way of getting to Jesus that day. He was paralyzed, unable to walk, and because the crowd had packed the house to hear Jesus, he couldn’t even lay outside of the door to overhear a word. But his friends weren’t leaving him without access to Jesus. What did they do? They crawled up on the roof, hoisted the man on a stretcher up with them, tore off the roof, and used ropes to lower him down right in front of Jesus. There wasn’t a sign that said “DO NOT TEAR THIS ROOF OFF”, so it became a viable option for their wild faith. They were looking for a solution. The solution was the roof wasn’t crowded and they knew how to climb. When you’re looking for a solution, you will find one. When you’re looking for an excuse, you’ll find that much easier. Are you and your friends spending all your time complaining about everything that is wrong and all that is in the way? Or are you and your friends actively pursuing a way through this? I have no desire to sit at the table of those who have a negative opinion about the details. But put me at a table with positive minded people who are willing to climb and willing to tear a roof off, and I want to be your friend! How about we FIND A WAY to get to Jesus today! How about we FIND A WAY to take a positive next step towards a solution. Let’s not sit here stuck in discouragement. Someone bring a ladder! Do you have a climbing friend? A friend who won’t let you stay low? A friend who doesn’t buy your excuses for sitting it out? A friend who will drag your butt up out of this mess and lift you up higher? They will call you, text you, encourage you, pray over you, and show up with a ladder and a rope. Tell that friend how important they are to you. Maybe they need to know you appreciate them. Maybe they need you to climb for them today. And if you don’t have that kind of friend, start praying for one. Here’s what I know for sure – those climbing friends need climbing friends too because...