Rescue

1 · Icebreaker · 7 min

Open the room

Who would you call first if something in your house caught fire, and why them?

Leader. A name and a reason: near, able, willing. Do not ask people to narrate a trauma or the threats God rescued them from. That is the book’s question. Say that passing is allowed, especially the first few weeks.

2 · The word · 8 min

See it, then say it

Definition, from the book

Rescue, or deliverance, is God saving people from danger, freeing them from sin, evil, and judgment, both now and forever through Jesus.

In the original language

Greek rhuomai — to rescue, to deliver, to draw someone out of danger.

Memory verse · Colossians 1:13

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

Together, open the flashcard for Rescue. Say the word, the definition, and the verse once. Then put the phone away.

3 · Open the Bible · 15 min

Mark 2:1–12

Friends tear open a roof because a man cannot get himself to Jesus. Jesus delivers him from sin and, then, from the stretcher. The devotion sent them to pray for someone in darkness. This story asks what kind of deliverance Jesus leads with.

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… And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” … “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.

Have two readers if you can. Bibles open. The excerpt is only here so a forgotten Bible does not stop the night.

From the passage

1. 1.What did the friends expect, as far as we can tell, and what did Jesus give first?Core

   Leader. They brought a body. He forgave sins first, then raised the man. The deepest rescue is the kingdom transfer, not only the symptom.

2. 2.How did the man get into the room? What does that show about his ability, and about theirs?

   Leader. He was carried. Other people can bring you to Jesus. They cannot be Jesus. Faith, here, is even visible in the friends.

4 · Around the room · 20 min

A conversation this chapter did not assign

1. 3.Colossians 1:13 says delivered from a domain and transferred into a kingdom. A domain is a government. What still acts like it governs a Christian whom Jesus has already moved?Core

   Leader. Shame, a habit, an old crowd, despair, the approval of people. Transfer means a new King. The old one does not get a spare key.

2. 4.Psalm 40:1–2: He drew me up from the pit and set my feet on a rock. Rescue in that psalm includes waiting. Why is waiting not the same thing as God failing to come in?

   Leader. The firefighter’s timeline and ours often differ. Waiting is part of many deliverances. It is not proof you are still in the old kingdom.

3. 5.The four friends made a hole in someone else’s roof. What is a costly, practical way this group could carry someone toward Jesus without trying to be their savior?

   Leader. A ride, a meal, sitting with them in a service, a conversation that actually names Christ. Costly and specific. Not “we should love people more.”

5 · Say it · 5 min

In one sentence

Rescue means Jesus delivers people out of the dominion of darkness and brings them into His kingdom.

Ask for two volunteers, not the whole circle. They may look at the sentence, then try it without looking. Clumsy and true is the goal.

6 · Pray · 8 min

Leave silence between these

1. Thank Him for coming into the fire.
2. Pray for someone you would carry to Jesus if you could get them through the roof.
3. Ask for freedom where an old domain still gives orders.