Five Friends and a Roof
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Scriptures: Mark 2:4-12
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Summary: In the third sermon of our series, How to be (More) Creative, Bobbi reflects on the story of the paralyzed man in Mark chapter 2 to explore what creativity in relationships can look like. She reminds us that faith is often communal, that sometimes it’s your friends who carry you when you can’t move. Bobbi points out how Jesus challenges power structures by forgiving first, showing that healing starts deeper than we often realize. She explains how Jesus’ use of “Son of Man,” shows us how divine creativity refuses to be boxed in. Bobbi ends by inviting us to keep our imaginations alive, because it’s often through wild, creative love that healing, freedom, and new life break in.
Five Guys on a Roof: Bobbi shows how the healing of the paralyzed man begins with his friends’ refusal to accept barriers. She reminds us that healing often starts with those who love us and who imagine more for our lives than we can ourselves.
Creative Damage: The focus shifts to the tension Jesus provokes by forgiving sins before healing the body. Bobbi mentions how forgiveness isn’t just divine prerogative—it’s relational, restorative, and deeply disruptive to systems that gatekeep grace.
Uncontainable: Jesus’ use of “Son of Man” reclaims a prophetic identity that combines divinity and humanity. Divine creativity shows up not in relational presence. Our norms are challenged by healing bodies and systems alike.
(More) in Relationships: Bobbi invites us to practice creativity in our everyday relationships. Real change, healing, and spiritual renewal often come through relational risk and imagination, rather than conformity or control.
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Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
Connect: Bobbi showed us that the story of the paralyzed man is focussed on the devotion and creativity his friends. She posed this question to us in her sermon:
Q: What’s the most extreme thing you’ve ever done for a friend?
Share: Share your thoughts the four friends being the “real priests” in this story, and disrupting the religious order of the day, by trying to get to Jesus in such creative and unusual way. Consider Bobbi’s words,
“I think what’s so offensive to these religious leaders is not so much that Jesus claims the power of a priest for himself–while “priest” is an appropriate metaphor for Jesus in the gospels.
But I think what’s so offensive is that Jesus is moving the power of the few to the many.
So, it’s people who love each other,
who go to great lengths to help each other,
who concoct creative solutions to address life’s harsh damage,
It's people who can be priests for each other.
What Jesus says to these religious authorities is that if they were real priests, they’d act like it.”Q: What are your thoughts on this quote?
Reflect: Reflect on Jesus’ title, “Son of Man,” or sometimes rendered, “One like a Human Being.” Bobbi pointed us to how uncontainable God’s creativity is in the world and how our relationships, social order, and bodies are restored through God’s creative and loving acts.
Q: Why is it important that Jesus is a human being like you and me?
Q: How does this affect the way you think about the role human creativity plays in restoration in your relationships, society, etc.?Engage: Engage with the idea of taking risks in your life and relationships to avoid the “creative-numbing forces” of our world that Bobbi mentioned.
Read this quote from Bobbi,“We need creativity in relationships more now than ever.
But creativity needs to be kept alive.
It needs to be practiced.
It sometimes needs a little conflict or a challenge to spark it.
We live in a time of creativity-numbing forces:
Our phones; our rage; our apathy”Q: How might you resist the “creativity-numbing” forces in your life this week and take a meaningful relational risk?
Take away: Throughout your week consider identifying one relationship in your life that could benefit from more of your imagination, curiosity, or grace.
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CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 147
MUSIC Curated by Rebecca Santos
Bethel Music - Goodness Of God
Maverick City Music - Fear Is Not My Future
Cody Carnes - Firm Foundation
Brooke Ligertwood - Holy Song
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Written by Alexandra Chubachi
SERIES BUMPER
How To Be More Creative
