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How are you? Tonight Im continuing a sermon series called, Doing Well. The aim of
this series is to equip all of us to do well. I would love it if when we are asked the question,
How are you? all of us would answer with authenticity, I am doing well.
The point, of course, is not to be trained in a rote way to answer one question. The point
of this series is for us to be coached and equipped so that we do well. We want to do well with
our whole personour mind, our soul, and our body.
At Chain of Lakes were calling this the summer of love. We dont mean the summer of
waiting and watching when the Timberwolves trade Kevin Love. Im predicting that he is going
to be traded in the next month. No we dont mean the promiscuous love characterized by the
1960s. Were talking about growing this summer in agape love. We are going to end this series
on Wednesday, August 20
th
with an outdoor service. My hope is that we can say on August 20
th

that we have gone deeper in our mind, our soul, and even our body in living and sharing agape
love.
The next three worship services are going to be terrific.
Next Wednesday we are going to celebrate our Kids Ministry and Vacation Bible School. If
you love kids you must come to this service.

Two weeks from tonight were going to look at the themes in the movie Frozen. How many of
us saw the movie Frozen? The themes in that movie can help us do well. After worship were
going over to the property to watch the movie. Provide popcorn and drinks. Bring a lawn chair
and a friend.

Three weeks from tonight is our outdoor service. Food and worship outdoorsYay, God!
As part of this series were memorizing some verses from Ephesians.
Memory is repetition
SLIDE
I pray that, according to the riches of Gods glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened
in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. Ephesians 3:16

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Tonight our focus is how we do well when we help others do well.
We just participated in a life-changing ritual. When we raised our hands and promised to
nurture Emily in the faith we promised that we will be a congregation who will help her do well.
This promise is a reflection of our Core Value at Chain of Lakes of Investing in Future
Generations. Read this with me:
SLIDE Our priority is to create a congregation where children, youth, and young adults
grow in faith.
Its the word priority that is so important. We can live this out in many ways. When we
make decisions one of the first questions we want to ask is how will this decision affect
children, youth, and young adults. That is why when we see kids running around, being loud,
and having fun we dont point our fingers at them. Of course we want them to behave. Instead
we celebrate that they are present. Our Facilities Task Force is looking for places where we will
worship this fall. We have an excellent possibility. One of the important questions were asking
is will the space allow us to help children, youth and young adults grow in faith. Were so
excited about the start of Vacation Bible School. This is one way we can live out our Core
Value. This is why we are asking each of you to bring kids from your neighborhood to Vacation
Bible School. This weekend Im going to the house two doors down from me to encourage the
two children who live there to come to Vacation Bible School. Some might ask if you focus so
much on children, youth, and young adults where do the senior saints fit. We love the senior
saints in our congregation. Its my experience that senior saints get excited when they see
children, youth, and young adults growing in faith.
We do well when we help others do well. Say that with me.
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This seems to be the age of narcissim, where we focus on ourselves. Social Media sites
like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram make it seem like everyone wants attention. It seems
that we put something on one of these sites so that people will like it and like us because its all
about us.
This is part of the human condition. All of us have this part inside of us where we think
of ourselves firstbefore we think of helping others do well. In the very first story of the Bible
involving humans Adam and Eve were told not to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the
garden. But they saw the fruit. Remember how the fruit looked? Let me share the Scripture
SLIDE
[they] saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delight to the eyes, and that the tree
was to be desired to make one wise. Genesis 3:6

Who were they thinking of at that moment? Themselves. Were they thinking about how their
actions would affect God or affect others? They could only think of their own wellness.
This story is our story. Any one of us could be Adam and Eve. All of us have made
decisions for ourselves that have caused pain for others. The point Im lifting up is all of us are
programmed to think only of ourselves.
I actually dont think this is the age of narcissim. Weve always been this way. We just
have the tools to expose our focus on self to the wider community.
The good news is we are also programmed to help others do well. This struggle exists
within each of us. Its a struggle between focusing on ourselves and focusing on others.
SLIDE The important question is how do we get out of ourselves to help others do
well.
A story can help us.
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There was this man. His name was Jesus. The story is really not about him, but we cant
understand the story without knowing something about him. It was at the start of his adult life.
He was healing people in a province of Galilee. One one Saturday he was in his home village
called Capernaum. He entered the synagogue. A man who we would identify as having a
mental illness had a psychotic fit. Jesus healed the man. Then he left the synagogue and went
over to Peters house. Peters mother-in-law was very ill with a fever. Jesus came to the home
and healed her of her fever.
Word got around about this man Jesus and these healings he was doing. Word spread
rapidly. A man with leprosy came to Jesus and asked Jesus to be healed of this skin disease.
Jesus did heal him. There were religious laws about healing leprosy. Jesus asked the man to go
see the priest. But the man ignored Jesus and instead of going to the priest he told everyone that
he had been healed by Jesus.
Suddenly Jesus had a rock star status. Wherever Jesus would appear there would be a
flash mob
Who has ever heard of a flash mob. A flash mob is when word gets out about a special
eventoften the word gets out through social mediaand people just show up at a certain place
to do smoething. A group might show up at a mall and start singing. Suddenly people show up.
Jesus was the flash mob. When he showed up word spread through the communication
channels of the day to see him. If this would happen today Jesus would show up and suddenly
he would be trending on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram. If people knew Jesus was present
they would go see him. So many people were coming to Jesus that Jesus had to go out of the
village and into the countryside.
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Jesus spent a couple days in the countryside. He stayed there hoping that all of these
flash mobs of people would die down. He came back to his house in Caparnaum. And the flash
mob showed up again. So many people that there was no room for the crowd in the house.
Suddenly a sound came from the roof of the house.
Remember this story is not about Jesus, but we cant understand the story unless we
understand what was happening. Four men were digging a hole through the roof of the house.
Kind of odd. These men are my heroes. These four men. I want to be like them. They dont
even have names. Id like to know about their families and their occupations and their attitudes
about life. They are just described as four men. I want to know about them because they did
well by helping another person do well.
The four men got the word about Jesus. They knew something special was happening
with Jesus. They heard he was at the house in Capernaum. They joined the flash mob.
Heres the key. They didnt go for themselves. They went for another person.
A man had been paralyzed. He was on a mat. They took the man who was on the mat to
the house.
They were on a roof digging a hole in the roof. How did that happen.
They were on the roof as an illustration of how to help others do well. They had hit an
obstacle. But they had the creativity and ultimately trust to overcome the obstacle.
How often in the church do a group of people hit an obstacle and think that they cant do
something. I havent experience this here at Chain of Lakes because you are very creative and
resilient people. But Ive heard that sometimes in churches people give up because the task is so
hard. This is where the four men are so helpful. They hit an obstacle. You know what they
said, No problem.
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Did you hear what I said? They hit an obstacle. You know what they said? No
problem
They hit an obstacle. They brought the paralyzed man to the house. They encountered
an obstacle. They couldnt reach Jesus because a flash mob had come. Too many people.
No problem. Well climb up on the roof. Brilliant.
They got to the roof with the man who was paralyzed and they hit another obstacle. They
couldnt get through the roof.
No problem. Well dig a hole through the roof. Brilliant.
They hit another obstacle. They had no way to get the man who was paralyzed down
through the hole to Jesus.
No problem. Well let down the man who was paralyzed slowly through the hold on the
mat. Brilliant.
The next time we have a meeting at Chain of Lakes and we hit an obstacle you know
what we need to do. We say, no problem. We figure out a way. Because we trust that God
will help us.
I think these four men were so resilient about getting the man who was paralyzed to Jesus
because they trusted that Jesus would help him. This is important for us. When we hit obstacles
in our personal life we have to trust that God is going to help us. We say, no problem. We
figure out a way.
By the end of the story Jesus healed the man
There is a lot in this story and we dont have time to get into all that is in it. Remember
the question were looking at is how do we get out of ourselves to help others do well. Let me
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share two additional ideas from the story. When we hit an obstacle we say, No problem. Let
me wrap up by sharing two ideas.
The story teaches us to go deep with one person.
There are so many people we can help. Its easy to get spread out. I think its better to
go deep with one person, then to try to help a lot of people. Im talking about individual help;
Im not talking about church help. What can we do as individuals to help others do well.
We do well by helping others do well when we help one or two others do well.
In the story the four men did not try to help the flash mob. They didnt try to help the
world. They focused on one person. The man who was paralyzed.
The Bible has all sorts of stories of one person helping another.
Elijah helped Elisha.
Elizabeth helped Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Paul helped Timothy.

One on one.

I have a challenge for all of us. I want to challenge all of us to think of one or two people
who we can intentionally focus on helping to do well. These one or two people can be our ppp.
You know what a ppp is? Paralyzed, person, project. We each need a ppp project
Paralyzed
Person
Project

We each need a ppp. One person who we focus our attention. We pray for this person.
We might contact this person once a week or so. We let the person know that we are available
for them. It doesnt mean we dont try to help other people, but we are intentionally trying to
help this one person.
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Do you understand what I mean by a ppp?
Im going to give you 30 seconds to write down a ppp. You dont have to share your ppp with
another person. I encourage you to choose someone here at Chain of Lakes. I encourage you to
choose someone outside of your family. Thirty secondschoose a ppp.
We help others do well when we have a ppp.
We want to love people without solving their problems. Our task with our ppp is to love
them. Our task is not to solve their problems.
Remember this is the summer of love. Lets grow in our love for our ppp.
This is really hard. I see challenging situations all the time. Theres a part of me that just
wants to go into a situation and solve a problem. Ive learned over time that much of the time
my task is to love the person and not solve their problems. Even if the solution to a problem is
so obvious that a part of me wants to say, dont you see what you need to do. The solution is
right in front of you.
The four men in the story are terrific examples. Who solved the problem for the man
who was paralyzed? Did the four men solve the problem? Actually they didnt. Jesus solved
the problem. The role of the men was to love the man who was paralyzed by taking him to
Jesus. The four men supported, equipped and helped the man who was paralyzed. They brought
him to Jesus.
Ultimately god is the best source of wisdom. Our hope is our ppp will see the wisdom
that comes from God. Often they can learn to make good decisions when they are encouraged by
our love.
Wrap up:
The four men are our examples at helping others do well;
When they encountered an obstacle they said, no problem;
They went deep with one personthey had a ppp; They loved the person without solving the
persons problem