Sermon outline: This is an abbreviated outline with the complete sermon downloadable at the bottom of the post.

Text: Mark 2:1-12

Title: Getting Your Friends to Jesus

Introduction: Do you know anybody who needs Jesus? Perhaps the question should better be phrased, “Do you know anybody who doesn’t need Jesus?” Everyone needs Jesus. But not everyone is aware of their need, or even if they are aware, is capable of getting to Him themselves.

I. The Presence of Jesus

A. The reality of His presence

B. The recognition of His presence

C. The result of His presence

II. The Priority of Jesus

A. Jesus emphasizes the spiritual over the physical

B. Jesus emphasizes the individual over the multitude

C. Jesus emphasizes the lost over the saved

III. The Power of Jesus

A.  The availability of His power

B.  The accessibility of His power

C.  The authentication of His power vs. 8–11

IV. The Partners of Jesus

A. They were concerned

B. They were convinced

C. They were committed

Conclusion: Lt. DeSilva had served on many difficult missions in his years in the French Foreign Legion. But none was so difficult, so heart-wrenching as the time he spent in Goma, Zaire, working in a camp for Rwandan refugees. The refugees were dying at such a rate that the mission of the Legionnaires had changed to public health. A 15-ton bulldozer dug graves and they shoved masses of dead bodies into the grave before their sickness could infect the living. The stench was so bad that the men wore face masks doused with after-shave to help cut the smell, but nothing could cut through the sorrow.

One day, as Lt. DeSilva oversaw his gruesome task, he noticed in the mass of tangled corpses a hand waving. He shouted orders to the bulldozer to stop, picked his way through the dead bodies and found a little boy who was still alive. The little boy was taken to a clinic, and though his physical health improved, his mental health did not. He never spoke a word.

Eventually, Lt. DeSilva decided to give the young man a ride in his jeep. Maybe it was the fresh air. Maybe it was the special attention. Maybe it was something else, but the boy became animated. He began to talk. He told of seeing his mother, his father, his sisters and his brothers die.

Lt. DeSilva developed a strong attachment to the young man and ultimately decided, with the agreement of his wife, that they would adopt him. DeSilva said, “As our son, he will have all the privileges of our other sons.”

One day Jesus saw my hand reaching in desperation, and, through the tangled mass of decaying humanity, He brought to me the good news of His salvation. He rescued me from death, forgave my sin, made me His son and said that as His child, I have all the privileges of His other children. Someone’s hand is waving to you today. Someone’s hand is waving to me. Let’s get our friends to Jesus.