Description
In this message during the Apostles Fast, we reflect on the Gospel story of the paralyzed man whose friends brought him before Christ. While everyone expected Jesus to heal the man’s body first, the Lord began with something deeper: “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
This sermon reminds us that Christ desires to heal the whole person, beginning with the sickness of the soul. Many of us cry out to God for physical healing, help, relief, and answered prayers, but the Lord first invites us to seek inner healing: healing from sin, insecurity, lack of love, judgment, bitterness, spiritual paralysis, and weakness of faith.
Through the faith of the paralyzed man’s friends, we learn that true faith is not passive. Faith is seen. Faith takes action. Faith climbs the roof, breaks through, and places itself before Christ. And when the soul is healed, the power of God is revealed in every part of our lives.
Timestamps:
00:10 Opening prayer and Father’s Day greeting
00:44 The responsibility of fathers
01:00 The paralyzed man is brought before Christ
01:30 “Your sins are forgiven you”
02:03 Christ begins with spiritual healing
03:12 Crying out for physical healing versus spiritual healing
04:00 Jesus heals the soul before the body
04:43 Fasting reveals the hunger of the soul
05:27 The power of the Lord was present to heal
05:58 Coming to church with faith, not routine
06:48 The sicknesses of the soul
07:58 Christ sees a deeper paralysis
08:35 Faith is a gift and faith is action
09:20 Faith that can be seen
10:20 Taking the first step toward healing
10:45 Manifested faith through action
11:28 Learning to pray with active faith
12:27 Faith climbs, breaks, and brings others to Christ
13:08 “Arise, take up your bed, and walk”
13:43 Christ has power to heal body and soul
14:23 “Lord, heal my soul”
15:08 The soul is sicker than the body
15:52 St. Paul’s thorn in the flesh
16:18 There is power to heal this morning
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Keywords:
Coptic Orthodox sermon, Apostles Fast, healing of the paralytic, paralyzed man, your sins are forgiven, spiritual healing, physical healing, faith in action, faith that is seen, Orthodox Christianity, Gospel of Luke, power of the Lord to heal, healing of the soul, Christian faith, fasting and healing, St. Paul thorn in the flesh, Orthodox sermon