March 29, 2026 - From Despair to Hope (John 5:1-15 - Scott Gardziella)

Stop making excuses. So first, we heard the voice of the Lord. Now, stop excusing your stuckness. Your obstacles are not obstacles for God. Let me say that again. What you view as an obstacle, God does not view as an obstacle. But what does the man say? Take a look at verse seven. He says, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm trying to get in because I'm lame, the unlame people get down there ahead of me. What can I do? Do you hear the stuckness in his voice? [00:32:34] (32 seconds)  #NoMoreExcuses

Maybe you're carrying labels around with you. Not what we sang about early, I am who you say I am, but we're carrying around with us, I am who everybody else says I am. Not good enough. Unloved. You wear those labels like permanent tattoos on your forehead. Maybe get up every day and put on the same t shirt for thirty eight years. I can't. And then Jesus comes along and says, guess what? Stuck does not have to be your story. Do you want to be made well? Do you want to be whole? [00:31:19] (37 seconds)  #YouAreNotYourLabels

And it sounds kind of silly. Right? Putting your hope in some moving water? But if you've been lame for thirty eight years, I think you'd be pretty desperate. You'd put your hope in in just about anything at that point. And John, who's writing this, doesn't really tell us whether the water had any healing properties or not, because he doesn't really care that much about an intermittent opportunity for the most nimble, when he knows Jesus, who provides an eternal opportunity for everyone. So this path to wholeness is not found at the water's edge, John wants us to know. The path to wholeness is found at the feet of Jesus. [00:26:53] (46 seconds)  #HopeAtHisFeet

We have here in this passage a man who had been stuck spinning his wheels for thirty eight years. Thirteen thousand eight hundred and seventy days. That's a lot of days. He was physically stuck. But he was also stuck in despair. And as we'll see at the end of the passage, he was also stuck in sin. So we need to pause this morning. I wanna just ask you a question. Is stuck your story? Are you at a spot in your life where you're not able to go forward, you don't necessarily wanna go backward, though that's better than where you are right now, and you just feel stuck. [00:23:59] (45 seconds)  #GodIsAlreadyWorking

You're resigned to the damage that has been done to your life, or the damage that you have done to your own life. Well, this morning in this passage, I think we find some really good news, and it's this, that Jesus can move you from hopelessness to wholeness. Just like this lame man, God can help move you from hopelessness to wholeness. And so, I'm glad you're here listening this morning. I hope that you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, that you're sick of being stuck. And we need to begin where the lame man began, if there's going to be hope for us, and that's with opening ears and hearing the voice of the healer. [00:24:44] (41 seconds)  #UnaddressedSinCripples

And what I like about this story is that Jesus did a work in his life before the man knew that it was Jesus doing a work in his life. And can I just tell you that God is at work in your life before you know God is at work in your life? If you've come to faith in Jesus Christ, he was at work in you before you knew it. And you believe that even as you're sitting here today, feeling stuck, seeing obstacles, not sure what's next, that maybe God's already at work. God's already at work. He's finding you. You thought you found him? He found you. [00:37:59] (33 seconds)  #GraceThenObedience

So the sequence of what happens in this passage is very important. It started not with the man doing some great thing. It started with Jesus doing a great thing. Jesus found the man. Jesus healed the man. He didn't even ask for it. Salvation begins with God. Then the man obeyed, got up, took his mat. Then I find it interesting, he declared his obedience. Right? He just said to the people, I I did as I was told. I I was obedient. And then he faced new obstacles. [00:42:49] (31 seconds)  #YouDontDoThisAlone

When we come to faith in Christ, and we give him our old lives, our dead lives, he brings new life to us. And he says, it started with me. I brought new life. Now, your job is to put to death the old things. Use your position in Christ to put to death the old person. And then he lists Paul lists a number of things there. Various sexual sins, anger, and rage, and filthy language, and and thoughts. And don't don't grow comfortable with those things. Put them to death. So physical wellness is good. Spiritual is even better. We're not called to avoid sin in order to be made right with God. We're made right with God, and then we are called to avoid sin. [00:44:05] (39 seconds)  #ProgressOverPerfection