Making Room in the Church (Make Room): In back-to-back encounters, Jesus demonstrates his heart for welcoming all kinds of people, including those with sketchy reputations. But for those who admit they need a savior, Jesus becomes a friend who changes everything. And this experience is the heartbeat behind making room for more people in the church. Recorded on Sep 6, 2026, on Mark 2:1-17 by Pastor David Parks.
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Make Room is a three-part sermon series considering the need to make room 1) for more of God in our lives, 2) for more people in our lives, and 3) for more people in our church. Why? Because more people need good news! More people need the life and love, the freedom and forgiveness, and so much more that is only found in Christ. Our prayer is that in the coming years, many more people will experience the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sermon Transcript
Today, we’re finishing a quick, three-week series called Make Room to revisit some of the Biblical foundations of our 2030 Ministry Vision. Back in 2024, the elder board spent months praying/talking about who we are as a church, where God was bearing fruit in our ministry, and where we believed God was leading us in the years leading up to 2030. And, as we’ve said for the past few weeks, the phrase that kept coming up was “make room.” We needed to make room in response to the growth we had experienced and to prepare for what God might do in and through our church in the future. And in many ways, that’s exactly what we’ve been trying to do for the past two years. We’ve multiplied worship services, community groups, ministry teams, our staff team and elder board, and more. And as we planted and watered the seeds of gospel ministry, God continued to bring the growth. Now, by God’s grace, we’ve come a long way in the last two years, and we’ve seen an incredible spirit of unity, joy, and gratitude even with so many changes—but we’re not done yet. As we start phase 2 of this plan, we still need to make room. This whole Make Room initiative was founded on three big ideas: We need to make room 1) for more of God in our lives, 2) for more people in our lives, and 3) for more people in our church. This is what our 2030 Vision and all these plans and changes are all about. Last week, we focused on making room for more people in our lives. Today, we’ll focus on making room for more people in our church. So today, how can we make room for more people in our lives? I want to show you how people with all sorts of needs and reputations were welcomed by Jesus into the community of his people, who became the church. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Mark 2. As you head there, just a little context: Mark was written by John Mark, an assistant to the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul at different times in their ministries. It’s believed that Mark based his gospel accounts of the life and ministry on the eyewitness testimony of the Apostle Peter, and it is likely the earliest written gospel, likely in the mid-60s AD. Our passage for the day has two different stories of maybe unexpected people who were welcomed by Jesus. Let’s jump in.
Mark 2:1–7 (NIV), “1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Ok! Let’s pause here. It’s only chapter 2, and Jesus is already accused of blasphemy. But why? Well, Mark says this happened in the town of Capernaum. If we look at a map, we can see that Capernaum was located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, only about 20 miles from Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. Much of his early ministry was done in the northern region of Galilee, and many of the Twelve were from there as well. The Apostle Peter had a house in Capernaum, the ruins of which you can still visit today. And at this point in his ministry, Jesus was becoming popular, and it appears that Capernaum was the home base for his ministry. In chapter 1, Mark says that after healing a bunch of people, “News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee” (Mk 1:28). People started coming from all over, wanting to hear this new teacher or maybe hoping he would heal them or someone they loved. Here in chapter 2, we have Jesus back in Capernaum with a crowd of people trying to cram into, presumably, the house where Jesus was staying, and “he preached the word to them.” Jesus’ main ministry before the cross and the empty tomb was to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. But then, his preaching was interrupted, probably at first by hearing a bunch of men up on the roof, then by the dust and debris falling down as they started digging through the roof. Can you imagine if someone started coming down through our ceiling? I’m picturing everyone staring the whole time. Like, “Who do these guys think they are, interrupting this important sermon?” But when this paralyzed man came floating down through the roof, was Jesus irritated? Was he angry or offended? Not at all. In v.5, Mark says that “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” And everyone thought, “Wait, what?” How could Jesus forgive a man all his sins? You and I can forgive someone for how they sinned against you, but I can’t forgive all your sins. Only God can do that. And here, we find that the accusation of the teachers of the law, meaning the Law of Moses—the religious leaders of Capernaum—is not that unreasonable. “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” That’s true! Only God can justify and declare someone to be fully not guilty. Now, if Jesus wanted a good ministry career, he should have cleared this up immediately. He wasn’t trying to claim to have the same authority as God to forgive sins, right? Let’s see.
Mark 2:8-12 (NIV), “8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” No kidding, right? Jesus is one of one. But instead of being embarrassed or scared and claiming it was all a big misunderstanding, Jesus doubled down. He knew what they were thinking. And he wanted them “to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” so he questioned them, “Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?” Jesus was making the point that words are cheap and that claiming forgiveness of sins couldn’t be proven. Jesus could be lying. But healing someone of paralysis would be proven immediately. And who else but God has the power to do that kind of healing? So if Jesus has the power of God to heal, could he not have the power to forgive as well? Then, in dramatic fashion, Jesus said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” And the man believed and obeyed, was fully healed, and walked out on his own two feet. People were amazed and praised God because they knew they’d seen a miracle. Incidentally, the Son of Man was the title that Jesus claimed the most often for himself. It primarily comes from Daniel 7, but unlike the titles of “Messiah,” “Christ,” or “Son of God,” which had a lot of false expectations associated with them, the “Son of Man” title was relatively unused, which, I think, allowed Jesus to use it like an empty container he could fill with the truth about who he was and what he had come from heaven to do. And what was the point of all this? The Son of Man, Jesus, has the authority of God himself on the earth to forgive sins. So first, we have an unexpected interruption who was not only welcomed but also healed and forgiven by faith. Let’s consider the second unexpected person.
Mark 2:13–17 (NIV), “13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” This is God’s word. So Jesus went out beside the lake, that is, the Sea of Galilee, and he was teaching a large crowd of people. But as he walked along, maybe after he was done teaching, Mark says that Jesus saw a man named Levi, who was a tax collector, and he called Levi to follow him, and he did! Now, we don’t know if this was the first interaction between Jesus and Levi. Mark doesn’t say, but I would guess it wasn’t. Levi had probably heard Jesus teach, and they might’ve gotten to know each other before this day. Either way, this was the day that Jesus called, and Levi gave up everything, including a lucrative career, to follow Jesus. We’ve talked about tax collectors before, but in their day, they were often very wealthy but not well-liked. They carried out what amounted to legal extortion on behalf of the Roman government, and no one was happy about it. We get a little bit of that sense in v. 15, when the only people who hung out with Levi were other tax collectors and people generally known as sinners. Levi wasn’t friends with normal people. These people were his only friends. So isn’t it interesting that Jesus would want a man like Levi to become his disciple? But even more, that Jesus would want to spend time with all of them, coming over for dinner at Levi’s house? But it’s so great that when Levi met Jesus and gave his life to follow him, Levi wanted all his friends to meet Jesus. No matter how Levi got the money he had, he was now putting it to good use, both honoring Jesus and introducing his friends to Jesus. Again, Jesus has a confrontation with the Pharisees. Probably still wondering if Jesus had intentionally committed blasphemy, they now see him spending time with all the wrong kinds of people: tax collectors and sinners! What good, God-fearing rabbi would behave in such a way? Surely, Jesus needed to be rebuked. (Or, at least they should passive-aggressively mention it to his disciples!) And again, Jesus’ response leaves them speechless. Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Now, Jesus is not saying that there are a bunch of righteous people who don’t need salvation or forgiveness from God, and that he had only come for the losers. The whole Bible is a record of the repeated failures of human beings to be righteous on their own. Ever since the fall to sin, this has been a broken world, marred and distorted by the power of sin and death, and every one of us has contributed in some way, great or small, to the brokenness of this world. Parents of young children know this is true: from the moment a child can tell right from wrong, they often intentionally choose wrong. They’re cute little sinners, but sinners in need of salvation by grace nonetheless. The problem is, some people think they’re above the need to be saved. They think, through their good works, maybe even their religious works, that they are righteous and that God must accept them on account of their righteousness. They think they can climb up to heaven without help. No wonder they think they’re above other people! We feel this disdain as the Pharisees look down their noses at Jesus’ association with people everyone knew were unrighteous. “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But what’s the first step of any good recovery program? To admit you have a problem and can’t fix it yourself. You need to admit you need help. You can’t really help someone who doesn’t believe they need it. Jesus isn’t saying he came to help the people who need it; everybody needs help. But these tax collectors and sinners, all the wrong kinds of people, they know they have a problem that they can’t fix. They know they need help. They need a savior. And these are the people that Jesus was more than willing to tarnish his reputation by spending time with them. But why? Was Jesus morally permissive? Was he theologically liberal, cutting out the parts of the Hebrew Bible that he didn’t like or want to follow? Not at all. Morality and righteousness absolutely mattered to Jesus. In fact, the problem of sin is so great in the eyes of Jesus that he was willing to suffer and die on the cross to deal with it. Jesus died the death we deserve, atoning for our sins, to do for us what we could not do on our own. This is how we can be forgiven for all our sins. Jesus paid for them all. So even a guy like Levi could be forgiven. Why? Because he trusted in Jesus and followed him. But you know what happened as Levi followed Jesus? He was pruned, as we discussed two weeks ago. God the Father was at work in his life, by the truth of his word and the power of his Spirit, removing from his heart, mind, and way of life what was unhealthy or unhelpful, and guiding him through situations that would cause him to grow more and more into the likeness of Christ. And as Levi continued to follow Jesus, eventually, he was chosen to be one of the Twelve apostles. And later, Levi, also known as Matthew, and perhaps using the skills he developed as a tax collector, wrote down his eyewitness account of the life and ministry of Jesus in the gospel that bears his name to this day. If Jesus could do all this with a sinner like Levi, what do you think he could do with someone like you? In both of these encounters with Jesus, he welcomed people with all sorts of needs and reputations into the community of his people, who became the church. But in both stories, we find people who believed in Jesus and invited others to come and meet him. In the first story, the four friends had to make room, starting an unscheduled remodel project on the roof; otherwise, their friend would never have been healed. And, friends, if you have to dig through a ceiling to introduce someone to Jesus, I’ll bring the shovel! In the second story, it cost Levi something to throw this party for Jesus and all his friends. It wasn’t free. But Levi was happy to pay. He knew that following Jesus was worth it, and he wanted his friends to experience the same thing. Today, we’re talking about the need to make room for more people in our church. And this passage reveals the heartbeat of Jesus behind this work. He came for all kinds of people—for anyone who would admit they need a savior. And he welcomed them. He befriended them. He taught them. He healed them. He forgave them. And he called them to follow him and learn a new way of life in the kingdom of God. But, my friends, isn’t that what we are supposed to do as followers of Jesus today? Isn’t that what we should be busy doing as a church? Welcoming all kinds of people and helping them know and follow Jesus? If Jesus has had such a big impact in our lives, if he has saved us from sin and death, if he has befriended us, and if we have an eternal place in his kingdom, then wouldn’t we want other people to experience that as well? Wouldn’t we be motivated to do whatever we can to make that happen? Now, we can’t change people’s hearts. I’ve tried, and I can’t. Only God can change someone’s heart. But we can share good news, pray for people, serve/love them, and invite them to come and see what following Jesus is all about, as we do our best to live with integrity and genuine faith. But if we do this, then some people will come and see; they’ll hear and believe the gospel, and they will join the community of God’s people, which is the church. Jesus said that he will build his church, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18) And as Jesus does his work, saving sinners, we need to make room for more people in our church. We’ve had to make room in our church many times over the last fifteen years. We started meeting in the Harwood Room at the YMCA, which was only a large conference room. And we used one classroom across the hall for a nursery. Then, we moved upstairs to the Appvion Gym and used 3 classrooms for kids’ ministry. Then, we moved downstairs to the McGuire Gym and used 4 classrooms. Then, we moved into this building and were able to use all this space throughout the week, and not just on Sundays. Each time, these moves were costly. But they were done to make room for more people in our church. It was worth the cost. In fact, we were happy to pay. But how can we make room today? I’ll give you three thoughts. First, your financial giving helps make room. Because of your generosity, we’ve been able to buy equipment, hire ministry staff, and pay for building facility space. Second, this year, we had a number of people offer to host a new community group or Bible study to make room for more people to connect in community. Just like Levi, giving your money, time, or your living room can be costly. But it’s worth it. Third, joining a ministry team is another way to make room for more people in the church. Because the more people we have who love and serve people around here, the more people we’ll be able to love and serve. Everybody is needed, and everybody has been gifted by God to contribute in meaningful ways. Finally, we’re in the final stages of planning a capital campaign for a new building facility, which, if it’s God’s will, will make a whole lot more room in the years ahead. So let’s not have a small imagination about what God might do in and through our little church. If we believe and obey Jesus, and welcome people as he did, and continue to make room for others, then God only knows where we’ll be or what we’ll look like in 2030. “20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Eph 3:20–21).
