FUTURE CHURCH: Intentional

Mark’s story of the paralyzed man gives a picture of the future church: a small group of friends who do whatever it takes to get somebody they love to Jesus. Jesus sees not merely individual belief, but their collective faith, and he responds by forgiving the man’s sins. Forgiveness restores more than a future destination. In a world where paralysis marked a person as unclean and excluded, Jesus brings this man back into relationship with God and back into the life of the community.

The future church begins with people who are enamored by Jesus. The friends do not yet have all the information, but they are deeply fascinated by him and hopeful that he can help their friend. The future church also fights for the personal, because the man on the mat is not a project or an idea. The gospel cannot be carried by impersonal means, because the gospel itself is personal.

The roof becomes a picture of pragmatic creativity. Creativity is not just vibes or big flashy ideas. Creativity brings fresh, unusual, original solutions to real problems. Robot dogs playing soccer may look like the future, but paperclips, rubber bands, coffee filters, phone calls, text messages, coffee conversations, and dinner invitations often do more kingdom work. The friends do not wait for a spectacular plan. They dig through the roof.

Intentionality turns ideas into action. Jesus resolutely sets out for Jerusalem, not in panic, but with a clear sense of where he is going. “Someday” sounds productive, but someday without intentional steps remains someday. Small things often, repeated day after day, eventually become something real.

The future church therefore multiplies health, not merely numbers. Sunday gatherings and neighborhood communities create space where people can be known rather than anonymous. Hero making begins with the risky question: Who needs to be asked? RPMs offer a simple, repeatable tool for relational, physical, mental, and spiritual health, rooted in loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Jesus remains the center of every dream for the future. Personal, creative, intentional multiplication loses the plot if fascination with Jesus fades. Communion brings every hope, plan, risk, and relationship back to his life, death, resurrection, grace, mercy, and kingdom.

##

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. Small groups can change the world. Small groups of faithful people become God’s ordinary vehicle for kingdom transformation. The friends in Mark 2 show that shared faith can carry a burden that one person cannot carry alone. The church becomes powerful not by becoming impersonal and impressive, but by becoming faithful, connected, and willing to act. [04:17]
• 2. The gospel must remain personal. The paralyzed man is not a ministry project, a problem to solve, or a number to count. Jesus restores his place in the community as well as his relationship with God. Personal care requires resisting the dehumanizing forces that turn people into abstractions. [06:08]
• 3. Creativity often looks like paperclips. Pragmatic creativity usually begins with ordinary acts of love rather than flashy solutions. A phone call, a text, a coffee invitation, or a meal can become a hole in the roof for somebody who needs Jesus. Kingdom imagination becomes meaningful when it solves the actual problem in front of it. [12:50]
• 4. Intentional steps defeat someday thinking. “Someday” can hide fear, delay, and the illusion of progress. Jesus resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem, taking steady steps without panic or hurry. Small things often create the kind of faithfulness that eventually bears fruit. [15:41]
• 5. Multiplication must multiply health. Growth becomes hollow when it only produces larger numbers and greater anonymity. RPMs direct relationships toward relational, physical, mental, and spiritual health, so that multiplication produces people who are more known, more whole, and more rooted in love. Jesus calls his people to multiply the life of the kingdom, not merely activity.
  
  ## [23:54]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:28] - Friends Bring a Man to Jesus
• [02:21] - Forgiveness Restores Community
• [04:17] - The Blueprint for Future Church
• [05:14] - Enamored With Jesus
• [06:08] - Fighting for the Personal
• [07:43] - Creativity and the Roof
• [09:23] - Robot Dogs and Paperclips
• [13:31] - Intentionality Over Someday
• [18:26] - Multiplying Sunday Gatherings
• [20:22] - Multiplying Neighborhood Communities
• [21:43] - The Hero Making Challenge
• [23:54] - RPMs and Multiplying Health
• [26:34] - Jesus at the Center
• [28:51] - Prayer and Communion

Bible Reading

Mark 2:1-12
“And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” [00:26]

Luke 9:51
“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” [14:13]

Mark 12:30
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” [25:14]

Observation questions

1. What obstacles kept the paralyzed man and his friends from reaching Jesus, and what did the friends do in response?
2. In Mark 2, whose faith does Jesus notice before he speaks to the paralyzed man? What does this reveal about the role of the friends? [02:28]
3. What responses do the paralyzed man’s forgiveness and healing produce among the religious leaders and among the crowd?
4. What four qualities describe the friends who brought the man to Jesus: their relationship to Jesus, their care for their friend, their creativity, and their intentionality? [17:55]

Interpretation questions

1. Why might Jesus address the man’s sins before healing his body? How does forgiveness restore both a person’s relationship with God and their place among God’s people? [02:55]
2. What does the friends’ willingness to make an opening in the roof show about the difference between faithful creativity and simply wanting impressive ideas? [09:00]
3. Luke 9:51 describes Jesus setting out resolutely toward Jerusalem. How can someone be clear and intentional about where they are going without becoming hurried or anxious? [14:30]
4. Mark 12:30 calls people to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength. How do relational, physical, mental, and spiritual health connect with whole-person love for God? [24:09]

Application questions

1. Who is one specific person in your life who may need help getting closer to Jesus—not as a project, but as someone deeply known and loved? What might it look like to carry part of their burden with others? [06:08]
2. Where have you been tempted to rely on impersonal or convenient ways of caring for people? What is one personal step—a call, text, coffee, meal, or visit—you could take this week? [13:08]
3. Is there a relationship, need, or ministry opportunity that seems blocked by a “crowd” or some other obstacle? What practical and creative “roof-opening” step could help move through that obstacle? [12:25]
4. What is one “someday” area of your life that has remained only an idea? What small, repeatable step could turn it into intentional action this week? [15:41]
5. Who might you need to ask for a more intentional conversation about faith, questions, growth, or life with Jesus? What makes that invitation feel risky, and what could you actually ask? [22:15]
6. Which part of RPM health—relational, physical, mental, or spiritual—most needs attention right now? Who is a trusted person with whom you could honestly share that area and pray about it? [24:49]
7. As you consider hopes for your own future and the future of the church, what helps keep Jesus—not activity, growth, or big plans—at the center? [27:16]