top of page
THIS PAGE IS CONTROLLED BY CODE!!!! Please be very, very careful changing

For You: Whatever it Takes

David Sorn

Jan 18, 2026

Luke 5:17-26

4 friends in the Bible do whatever it takes to bring their friend to Jesus. Will you do the same?

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPT

  1. INTRODUCTION
    1. (Series Slide)
    2. Good morning! My name is David Sorn and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church.
      1. Most of us are in this room today because someone told you about Jesus.
        1. A friend, coworker, a pastor.
          1. Maybe your parents told you because they were already Christians.
            1. But somebody told them about Jesus.
            2. Or your grandparents.
    3. We didn’t wake up one day and have the saving knowledge of Jesus randomly appear in our brains.
      1. Someone went to, great lengths at times, to tell us.
        1. And we’re going to look at a story about that in the Bible today
        2. Luke 5:17-26
        3. Page 702
          1. We are in the middle of a 5-week series where we are teaching verse-by-verse through Luke chapter 5 in the Bible.
            1. And today we come to another fascinating passage.
              1. Let’s take a look
    4. (Luke 5:17-26) – NIV
    5. 17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
      20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
      21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
      22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
      1. (For You: Whatever it Takes)
      2. Okay, keep this open
      3. The Gospel writer Mark also recounts this event, and he lets us know that there were four men that day that carried their friend to Jesus
        1. And these four friends are willing to do whatever it takes.
          1. Even if it meant going up on the roof, breaking through it, and lowering their friend down.
            1. And I would guess that once they got their friend down there, and Jesus said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
              1. They might have even felt disappointed.
                1. Like, “What?! That’s not why we brought him. He’s paralyzed!”
          2. But Jesus knows what this man’s deepest need is.
            1. He needs forgiveness. Eternal salvation.
              1. As Jesus says in Mt 16, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world (or in this case, regain the ability to walk again) yet lose his soul?”
                1. What we mostly deeply need is forgiveness.
      4. So Jesus forgives the man, and the Pharisees (the religious leaders of the day), in verse 21 think, “You can’t do that! Who can forgive sins but God alone!
        1. But Jesus can because, well, He’s God, right?
      5. And then look at verse 23.
        1. Jesus says: Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
          1. I can remember reading this story multiple times as a new Christian, and saying, “I don’t get it. I don’t know which one is easier!”
            1. But what’s easier?
          2. It’s easier to just walk up to someone and say, “Your sins are forgiven”
            1. Now, they might think you’re weird.
              1. But if you say, “Get up and walk” to a paralyzed person, then you better back that up! And that’s hard!
        2. But Jesus backs it up!
          1. He tells the paralyzed man his sins are forgiven…
            1. …and I’m sure half the crowd was like, “Yeah, right!”
            2. And the Pharisees are going “Who does this guy think he is?!”
          2. But when Jesus follows it up by completely HEALING the guy…
            1. …then everyone is forced to say, “Maybe He can forgive sins!”
      6. And God still operates that way today.
        1. It’s one of the reasons I deeply believe in Him.
          1. Yes, I read that He can forgive my sins.
            1. But when I experience God in my life and actually see Him do powerful things, that gives me proof that when he says, “my sins are forgiven through my faith in Him,” that He can actually forgive them.
  2. REQUIRES A VISION FOR THE LOST
    1. I just wanted to talk through that section quickly because it’s often a hard section to understand.
      1. But the main thrust of this passage is about the 4 friends and their passion for their friend.
    2. And so I want to talk today about bringing people to Jesus
      1. And 3 things that are required if you’re going to bring people in your life to a saving relationship with Jesus.
        1. So if you got your notebooks, go ahead and grab those to start taking notes on this passage.
      2. BRINGING PEOPLE TO JESUS:
      3. #1: Requires a vision for the lost
        1. It requires that we see those who don’t have a saving relationship with Jesus.
          1. Do you truly see them?
          2. And for those people that you know, and see every day, (your friends, coworkers, and family members): do you see their lostness without Christ?
            1. Does it keep you up at night?
            2. Are you pleading in prayer for them?
            3. Sharing the Gospel?
      4. Many of us give lip service to this, but our real-life actions betray us.
        1. Even as we think through this story
          1. Like, let’s do a little character quiz from Social Media: Which Toy Story Character are you?
          2. Who are you in this passage in Luke 5?
            1. As Americans, we love to always read ourselves in as the hero.
              1. We say we can’t be Jesus, so we’re the 4 guys bringing their friend of course!
              2. But are we? Does that actually describe us…in real life?
        2. I think it’s more likely that we’re one of two other groups in the story.
          1. Firstly, some of us are more like the Pharisees.
            1. This is a hard word, but honestly, some of us, like the Pharisees, are more likely to come to church with a critique than a lost friend.
              1. Because that’s what the Pharisees are doing.
                1. They didn’t bring any hurting or lost people to Jesus…
                2. They’re just there to look for something they don’t like…and critique it on the way home
            2. There’s a great quote from Reinhard Bonnke (who was the Billy Graham of Africa) where he says:
              1. “If God's people do not view their overall purpose as winning souls, they become just sermon tasters, choir critics, or leadership judges. The church is not a restaurant for fine food from the pulpit; it is a canteen for workers.” – Reinhard Bonnke
          2. Now, we often call our church Deepvangelistic.
            1. Meaning, we live in the tension that on the one hand we need to deeply study the word, but on the other hand, we need to evangelistically share the gospel: Deepvangelistic
              1. BOTH are necessary.
            2. But our primary purpose as disciples (the action item from our deep study), is to make more disciples
              1. Not to make more critiques…like the Pharisees did.
      5. BRINGING PEOPLE TO JESUS:
      6. #1: Requires a vision for the lost
      7. So firstly, some of us are like the Pharisees in the story.
      8. Secondly, some of us are more like the people in the crowd.
        1. Years ago, I was reading this very story in a kids Bible to my children, and one of my kids was just a preschooler at the time, and they said:
          1. “Dad, why did the men have to dig the hole in the roof? Why didn’t the people in the crowd just move out of the way so the sick man could get in the house??”
            1. And I thought, “Whoa. That’s good. Fresh insight”
          2. So why didn’t they just slide over?
            1. Well, because the people had become so focused on themselves.
            2. Their primary purpose had become to hear another great sermon from Jesus…and perhaps be touched by Him.
              1. And are we really any different than the crowd?
            3. I’ve literally watched almost this passage play out here on a Sunday morning.
              1. We’re averaging 50 first-time visitors every Sunday.
                1. A good chunk of those of those aren’t believers.
                2. We even have some people who come into the lobby now and they ask, “So what we do next? Where do we go?”
                3. They don’t know that you go into the room labeled “Worship center”
          3. And yet, I’ve watched as some of our services fill up, and we say, “Slide over, make room!”
            1. And some people go, “Meh. Lot of work sliding over one chair. I already got this one warm. I’d have to sit by a stranger.
              1. Just like that crowd in Luke 5, we’re saying:
                1. “I’m here to get what I can get from Jesus…for me….doesn’t really matter that other people are trying to get in to hear about Jesus.
      9. And if that’s where you’re at…I love you, but…then I must be failing you at teaching what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
        1. Because our primary task is to make more disciples…and along the way, reflect the heart of Jesus.
      10. And so my prayer for you is that you ask God to give you a vision (and his heart) for the lost.
        1. Ask Him for it. Say, “Lord, download it into my heart”
          1. Say, “Lord, make me not the Pharisees, not like the crowd, but the 4 friends…they have a VISION for the Lost”
  3. REQUIRES PERSEVERANCE
    1. Okay, here’s a second thing that bringing people to Jesus requires
  4. BRINGING PEOPLE TO JESUS:
  5. #1: Requires a vision for the lost
  6. #2: Requires perseverance
    1. It isn’t easy.
    2. It’s not automatic.
    3. And sometimes it’s not very fast.
  7. You can see that in a microcosm in this passage
  8. This was not easy work.
    1. These 4 men face plenty of obstacles along the way!
      1. We don’t know how far they carried their friend (could’ve been miles!)…
        1. …but they finally get to the house where Jesus is, and oh no, everybody beat them to it! The crowd is already packed in.
          1. There’s no room.
          2. No one is letting them in.
      2. And they could have given up right there. And most people probably would have!
        1. They could’ve said, “Well, at least we tried”
    2. But they don’t!
      1. They climbed right up the stairs, get on top of the house, and get ready to start digging through the roof!
    3. And even as soon as they start digging…they hit another obstacle!
      1. You know what it was?
      2. I guarantee as soon as dust started falling from the roof, people said:
        1. “HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?! STOP THAT! YOU CAN’T DO THAT! YOU’RE RUINING THIS HOUSE!”
  9. (For You: Whatever it takes)
    1. Listen, if you start trying to bring people to Jesus…You will get the same.
      1. You will run into obstacles.
      2. You will be criticized.
        1. You will be told to stop…stop talking about Jesus and all this spiritual stuff.
      3. But did these 4 men stop when they met obstacles?
      4. Did they stop when people criticized them?
        1. No! They “Risk the Pursuit” of getting to Jesus.
          1. And they’re looking at their friend and saying: For YOU…whatever it takes!
          2. And listen, don’t you rest either.
            1. Bringing people to Jesus requires perseverance.
    2. No one said it would be easy.
      1. I try and remind our church at least once a year that the first time someone tried to bring me to Jesus, I yelled out in anger and I told them “they had 10 seconds to get out of my house”
        1. I’m glad people didn’t give up on me.
        2. “Ooo…we bothered him. Made him uncomfortable. We must prioritize his comfort and our friendship with David. Let’s not share with him about Jesus anymore”
          1. I’m thankful today for Christians who persevere in evangelism.
          2. For Christians who say, “All right, didn’t work the first time…now we’re going up on the roof”
      2. I’ve talked to two people just in the last 3 weeks at our church that said, “I’ve been inviting my coworker, my friend for over 6 months, and today they came!”
        1. And actually one of them just gave their life to Christ!
      3. Don’t give up.
        1. Look at your friend, and think “For you: Whatever it takes”
  10. REQUIRES FAITH
    1. Okay, here’s a third thing that bringing people to Jesus requires
  11. BRINGING PEOPLE TO JESUS:
  12. #1: Requires a vision for the lost
  13. #2: Requires perseverance
  14. #3: Requires faith
  15. Look again at our text…because there’s something really interesting in it that you may have missed the first time through.
    1. Look at verse 19. Page 702.
    2. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
      20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
  16. The reason that paralyzed guy got to Jesus was because his friends had incredible faith in Christ.
    1. You don’t go to all of those extremes if you don’t have some very serious faith that Jesus is going to heal your friend.
      1. I mean, “If you only like 20% believe Jesus could heal him, when your other friend says, ‘Bro, let’s dig through the roof!”
        1. You say, “You know, gee, uhh, yeah, I’m sure this Jesus guy will be back tomorrow!”
      2. But they had incredible faith that Jesus could actually pull this miracle off!
        1. And I love that Jesus calls out THEIR faith!
      3. Because sometimes when someone else doesn’t have faith…,you need to have faith for them…faith that they will one day indeed have faith.
        1. Maybe you have a good friend who’s not a Christian.
          1. And you’ve watched them go through a lot.
          2. And you know they need Jesus…but they don’t know that they need Jesus.
            1. And so what they need right now, more than anything…is YOUR faith.
              1. They need you, on your knees, in faith, believing that God can move in their life…
          3. You know most weeks after the service, I stand down here with our follow-up team and hand new believers Bibles and tell them about our 8-week 1-on-1 discipleship program they’re going to start…
            1. And I love looking into the faces of the new believers…often wiping tears out of their eyes at the forgiveness of Christ.
            2. But almost just as much, I love it (and this has been happening a lot more lately in our church)…
              1. …I love it when their friends or family members (who brought them and prayed for them for years) walk up behind them…and often they feel it even more.
              2. Some just can’t stop crying.
              3. Others, have the biggest smile on their faces that I’ve ever seen.
                1. But those are the people where heaven is saying (just like verse 20), “When Jesus saw THEIR faith…”
      4. For others of you, maybe it’s not a friend you’re thinking about this morning who needs Jesus, maybe it’s a family member.
        1. Maybe you have a prodigal child…one that grew up learning about God
          1. But they’ve walked away. And now they’re far away.
            1. And they don’t have faith that God is going move…or perhaps even real anymore.
              1. So what’s needed is your faith that God’s going to move.
  17. One of the best books I’ve read over the past few years is Christopher Yuan’s autobiography, “Out of a Far Country”
    1. (Out of a Far Country).
      1. We have this book in our library, in the library app (both e-book and audio book)
      2. In the book (which is his true-life story), Christopher’s mother Angela becomes a Christian, but her son is deep into a lifestyle of same sex relationships, promiscuity, and drugs.
        1. He’s about as far away from Jesus as you can get.
      3. But his mother feels God leading her to pray for him.
        1. And so she committed to praying for him, every day. Never to miss.
          1. And to pray for him by name, with Scripture.
        2. She also committed to fast one day every week…until he would come to Christ…even if it would take decades.
        3. And then whenever she got the rare chance to see him, she would gently talk about God, and share the gospel when she could.
          1. Never nagging or debating, just pointing to a good God.
        4. And as things got worse and worse and WORSE for Christopher, she never stopped praying every day, fasting once a week.
          1. For years.
            1. She’s saying, “Christopher, For you, Whatever it takes.”
        5. Well, how many of you know that sometimes for God to get your kids back, He’s gotta take them to rock bottom first?
          1. Her son Christopher was eventually arrested for drugs and sent to prison…for years.
            1. And one day while he was laying on a new prison bunk, he saw that someone scratched onto the metal sheet on the bunk above him, “If you’re bored, read Jeremiah 29 in the Bible”
              1. And so he found a Bible in his cell, and started to read it.
              2. And over the next year, God radically grabbed a hold of his heart.
            2. And glory to God
            3. And praise God for THAT MAN’S MOTHER!
              1. Who had faith (in a BIG GOD)…even when no one else did.
    2. BRINGING PEOPLE TO JESUS:
    3. #1: Requires a vision for the lost
    4. #2: Requires perseverance
    5. #3: Requires faith
  18. So have a vision for the lost.
  19. Don’t give up.
  20. And hold on to faith. No matter what.
    1. Believe for them until they believe.
  21. SHOREVIEW
    1. And as a church right now, we are looking for those who want to believe for the people of Shoreview.
    2. (Shoreview Commitment Sunday Slide)
      1. People who have a heart for that area of the metro, for that city…
        1. We’re looking for people who will risk the pursuit of Jesus…to Shoreview.
    3. So in just a little bit, we’re going to have those of you who are committing to go to Shoreview turn in your commitment cards.
      1. Which, if you are going, and you haven’t filled one out, you can find a Commitment Card in that booklet at your chair and fill it out now.
        1. Just a reminder: You are committing to attending our Shoreview location for at least 12 months.
          1. To go there, give, serve on a team, and join a House Church there
            1. And then if it’s not working for you after 12 months, you come back here.
              1. Now, our hope is that it works for a long time, but this is all one church.
    4. So here’s what we’re going to do.
      1. I want to call our Worship Band back on stage.
        1. And if you are committing to this, as this song starts, if you have a friend, roommate, or any family members that are going with you…
          1. …I want you to lean over together in your row, and pray together for a minute…and ask God to you use to reach that city.
            1. And then (feel free to spread it out), but whenever you’re ready, I want you to bring your Commitment Card up here to the altar
              1. And place it in one of these baskets.
                1. And if you happen to be in a group of friends (or a family), all of you come together.
    5. And to everyone else in the room…
      1. …if you see someone coming forward to take this risk of faith, I want you to cheer…to clap…to yell! Whatever.
        1. Listen, in America we go crazy if someone shoots a ball through a hoop, or runs a football into the endzone.
          1. And so we want to cheer what is truly admirable…and that is FAITH. It’s risking the pursuit of Jesus …in faith.
      2. So, if you’re going, take a minute to pray, and when you’re ready, any time during this last song, bring that card up.
        1. Let’s worship
  22. CLOSE – GOSPEL:
    1. We’re excited for this.
      1. And if you’re new around here, and you’re seeing people stand up and saying, “I will go! For people to know Jesus, I will go!”
        1. Know that’s the heart that Jesus has for you! He left his throne in heaven, and died on the cross, because he looked at you, and he said,
          1. “For them…for her…for him… I will go! I will die for them”
        2. And if you’ve never given your life to Him today, do that today.
          1. Follow-up team: Front Right

Copyright:

David Sorn

Renovation Church in Blaine, MN

​

You may use this material all you like! We only ask that you do not charge a fee and that you quote the source and not say it is your own.

bottom of page