 To set up this idea we're going to step into a encounter Jesus had which is well known to us in John 5 1 to 15 I'll read to you from to set up this idea from this particular Passage here and it says some time later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews now there in Jerusalem Was the pool which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, which is surrounded by five covered colonnades Remember that statement five covered colonnades. I'll come back to that with you He had a great number of disabled people used to lie the blind the lame the paralyzed One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time He asked him do you want to get well? Not the kind of question that you'd want to be asking a disabled person I Imagine the tone. It's difficult sometimes, isn't it because you know one of the worst things you can do in a regular mailing Relationship is to assume a tone in the mail The moment you decide there's a tone here all the males from there go downhill And so sometimes because the Bible leaves you to decide the tone I think it's worth us being imaginative and being thoughtful about the way in which he said that because it sounds rude It sounds offensive. It sounds not very politically correct to say to an invalid Do you want to get well? And I think what I want to see it you from that is if God is asking you something obvious Something not obvious is going on Like Adam, where are you when God said Adam? Where are you? It's not because God couldn't find him You know God is omniscient and he's not struggling to find one individual on the earth When God said where are you it's not because God couldn't find him. It's because Adam couldn't find himself So there's something going on here that is there is certainly beneath the surface And it's my job to try and find out what that is because there's something very very significant happening here So the man replied to him I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred while I'm trying to get in Someone else goes down ahead of me then Jesus said to him get up Pick up your mat and walk at once the man was cured picked up his mat and walked The title of this message and I work hard on my titles because the a good title like a good title of a movie or a book or a TV show or a song or a sermon The the title is good if when you recall the title a week from now a month from now I meet people around the world that say to me I remember you preached a message and they go back 20 30 years and That's why I'm committed to good titles You know in my masterclass this week with your teaching stuff and so on I said a bad title is fellowship week three I think I'll stay home next week if it's fellowship week for is what we say to ourselves It's worth investing in a good title a good title is one that when you recall the title The entire concept of the message is gathered up in the title So you don't have to think about what did he speak about the title? Effortlessly recalls what that person spoke about so this title is called step out of stock step out of stock These wellingtons as we call them in England you may not be from here and around the world They call different things but you get the idea gum boots or just boots I suppose but Wellingtons my point is there's as much below the surface there as there is above the surface in those Two-stuck boots there in that terrible mud and and the idea I want to bring to you here is from this man's life Because there's a place called Bethesda. Okay, Bethesda apparently is a place where there was a pool of water And apparently an angel occurred occasionally came and stirred that water wherever that meant The first sick person into that water got a miracle now We don't know whether or not anybody actually ever had got a miracle We don't know of anybody in scripture that had that experience at Bethesda But when you're desperate the rumor is enough to make you spend your life there waiting for your turn These are people who are so sick and so ill and so disabled That they have no other option But to physically be parked up in one space because this is the days remember now before prosthetics before wheelchairs in these days and still in many cultures of the world if you are Disabled to the point where you couldn't move then your life's options of movement and mobility are over Here in the Western world a disability is not the end of movement because we can assist people This man lives in a time and an era and a culture what it's not an option We read earlier didn't we there were many people possibly hundreds of disabled people for whom this was the point of no return This was the last chance they had at getting their life into a better place and hundreds of them Was stationary because that's all they could be around this pool of Bethesda. It's fabled Apparently it has been told that if you are the first into the water when an angel stirs it you will get a miracle And so this man has been there longer than anyone else the people at Bethesda You have to think must have known about Jesus Any place that was involved in the miraculous where people are waiting for a miracle that came from heaven in the form of an angel They must have known about this guy Jesus, but the problem is they can't go to where he is Unless he comes to where they are they'll never have an encounter with him Jesus obviously knew about Bethesda because he's in the same business I suppose as these people are looking towards so he enters Bethesda and He walks in and I guess Jesus made inquiries about what's happening around here And he made inquiries about this one and that one and someone said to him you see that guy there Jesus He has been here longer than anybody else. This guy has been here 25 possibly 30 years This guy has been here decades and typical of Jesus. He picks the worst case scenario He walks up to this man that has been lying there for possibly decades and asks in this Ridiculous question, but as I said what seems to be going on is not what's going on Jesus asks him Do you want to get well after finding out? He has not got well for decades. He asks him Do you want to get well? What's interesting is the man didn't say yes So something is going on here in this man's mind and heart and life that's to do with this Idea this man is not just stuck physically he is stuck mentally and Emotionally and Circumstantially and he stuck relationally this man and all the rest of them around Bethesda are totally Stuck and I want you to see tonight. I want you to think about this scripture and Bethesda Different to how you've ever seen it before Bethesda is a trap Bethesda is a people trap. It is a place that promises something that it is failing to deliver It is a place that is rigged for failure whilst promising those that are there a miracle But the miracle is never coming So when Jesus says to him do you want to get well? Jesus is probing. He's inquiring for how much damage has Bethesda done to you He's why he's asking him. Do you want to get well? And I want you to see Bethesda Bethesda represents for us tonight in this message It represents any place in your life where you have got stuck many of you here tonight Hundreds of you possibly here tonight are stuck. I don't say that to artificially make this message Seem more relevant than it is. I know this because statistically around the world And this is a very recent message for me around the world whenever I have asked the people to stand for prayer If they're comfortable to do that as I will do tonight who feel stuck Hundreds in a service of this size stand. So stuck people are in every service And I wonder what do we have to say to them? I wonder what do we have for them? And I'm looking at Jesus stepping into this scenario where hundreds of people are Absolutely stuck and have nowhere else to go and some of you feel like that tonight And some of you have people on your minds that already wish you were here having heard what I've said already People are on your minds that even today you were texting and talking to about this very issue of how stuck they feel in their life Some of you were stuck relationally some of you stuck in a job that you hate Some of you were stuck in a health issue. Some of you were financially stuck Some of you stuck in a mindset that's not working for you You are stuck and this man is far more stuck than just his physical Stuckness and tonight I have come to be your getting unstuck coach I've come to help you I've come to help you to get unstuck because some of us here and I have been here in my life. This isn't a I Have been stuck in my life at different times Didn't know I was Because the problem with Bethesda is Bethesda is a good place apparently Bethesda is a place where miracles happen. So who's gonna who's gonna suspect that this is a trap? It draws you in with the promise of breakthrough and the promise of change Bethesda over promises actually And it promises that could be your turn next and yet because it promises good things can happen And because apparently good things do happen and because miracles happen You don't suspect anything here could possibly be negative and this is what Jesus is trying to show us from Bethesda Because when he says to the man, do you want to get well? Here's what he said to Jesus Here's what he must have said in his mind for his answer to be what it was. Well, clearly you must be new around here Let me explain to you how things work He didn't say to him. Yes, lay your hand on me. I've heard about you. I'm glad you came didn't say that You would think someone as desperate at him would have would have said, yes, I want to get well help me He didn't he simply said to Jesus, let me educate you About what happens around here and he said to Jesus once a year an angel stirs the water And one of us once a year gets in the water and the first one in gets a miracle and see my problem is Jesus I am so far back from the pool and I don't have friends that will hi-hat with me 24-7 to assist me when the angel randomly appears it could be midnight It could be three in the morning and and if I can't get to the pool by myself and I can't I'm never gonna get into the pool Some people that have been here for years to have friends and family that take shifts and been here with them Just in case when the angel comes they're gonna make sure their loved one gets in the pool first I kind of don't have connections like that So I'm limited in it being my turn and so I suppose next to the pool Where all these people that was so close to the pool like the Germans with their towels on the beaches You thought you got up early to beat the crowd and they're already there It's like a conveyor belt at the airport You can't see your backs because everybody's like you're waiting for theirs. I suppose was the poolside So we couldn't even see the water let alone think of planning a route to it if the angel stirred it So he says to Jesus you see I've been here a long time and the reason I'm not healed is because when the angel comes I have no one to help me to get into the water in other words He said to Jesus here we have a system and the system works that way And as he's telling this to Jesus instead of saying yes, I want to get healed He said to Jesus we have a system in other words When you get a system when you're stuck in us when you're stuck in us becomes subject to a system a system Organizes your stuckness This man is in highly organized stuckness and so are some of you Because when God says to you when someone says to you and asks you your friends your family your loved ones who know You're stuck when they ask you a simple question You're almost offended at how simplistic they seem to think your problem is so often we do what this man does We answer people in a complicated way to a simple question as if we're saying to them You know what I wish it was that easy. It's just not let me tell you how difficult my life is Let me tell you how complicated my stuckness is. This is what the man did Do you want to get well? There's a system here and some of you have a system and the system Organizes your problem and some of you have highly organized problems Didn't start that way But the longer this problem persists in your life and becomes embedded in your personality and Embedded in your habits of life. It becomes now a system in your life that you respond to and live inside Every single day and you can't see it because you're inside it It's a blind spot a blind spot is this a blind spot is when someone knows something about you You don't know about yourself because you can't see it and Jesus comes free from the blind spot of the Bethesda trap and says to him do you want to get well? Because to Jesus it's a simple question and a simple answer. Some of you have highly organized worry Some of you have highly organized stress Some of you have highly organized shame Some of you have highly organized regret and fear and guilt and failure Some of you have highly organized drama in your life Some of you have highly organized financial problems that are negatively Destroying and eating away at your life. It's when it becomes a system a system Organizes your problem and this man's disability is stuck internally and externally because he surrendered it to a System when Jesus said get up and walk. It's almost as if Jesus is saying by the way you could have done this anytime It feels like that to me It's like it feels like Jesus is saying you could have gone home anytime, you know But you were so you were so trapped by the system You are so stuck that you can't see how easy is to step out of it Not only not only is he has he got organized disability organized stuckness like many of us often do in life But he also has a cultural support group His cultural support group are the people lying next to him at the pool if you've ever been sick for any period of time in Your life weeks or months and some of you are now sick and have been sick for a while or of loved ones That are not here that are on your mind as I say that Whenever you're sick for any length of time, it's amazing how your whole life becomes about that sickness All your phone calls and your mails. How are you? You think don't ask me how I am I'm so tired of saying how I am or becomes a prescription and your symptoms and how did you sleep? What did the doctor say? What did the specialist say and your whole life becomes a conversation about your sickness and your symptoms? And you hate it But what happens is eventually the longer this goes on and that could be like for three or four weeks imagine 30 years Imagine Imagine spending all your life In this position because this is these people These people these people were never upright probably these people were never on their feet Because their disability meant that all they could do was lie down imagine spending decades of your life in this position Only relating to people that also Were trapped in that position Imagine what that must do to your to your psychology to your physiology To your limbs to your mind to your emotions that you are stuck in this position And you roll over and speak to the other people that are also in the same trap as you and all your Relationships all your culture that you do life with the people you do life with are just as stuck as you every day We just talk about how stuck we are about when our turn will come about will the angel come today What will happen if he does people were dying every single day around him many these friends were not there anymore They passed away years earlier whilst waiting he's resigned to this fate for himself So not only is he in a system that organizes his problem He has a cultural support group and when you have a cultural support group not only are you organized in your worry Now your support group is supporting your problem Many of you have a supported problem because the longer you stay in your problem the more you screen out people who try to help you Because you see them as an irritation And you get used to talking about it and you presume and assume that people's interest in your problem is sympathy and empathy And actually it's contributing to you keeping stuck You long for a conversation that doesn't include your stuckness But you eventually finish up creating a group of friends that are as stuck as you are and now we have friends that we worry with It's group worry Now we are friends that when you tell them how stressed you are they say are you kidding? That's nothing listen to my week because misery loves company and So now you have a cultural support group everybody's behaving That's what culture is culture is the way that we behave and so everybody's behaving the same way That's who you do life with so this man's stuckness is because he's stuck in a system that organizes his Disability and his stuckness now he has a cultural support group that are supporting his problem every single day And he's supporting theirs not only that But he is also stuck structurally Remember the five colonnades Now because I don't think colonnades has been a recent part of any of your discussions I was thinking about colonnades today were you know Colonnades is not a contemporary word and there would therefore not be a common conversation So you may not know what a colonnade is so I've got a picture of one You'll recognize this is part of the ancient architecture all across Europe and the Middle East you'll see these Colonnades were the modern-day equivalent of air conditioning Colonnades were built for shade in an outdoor life community because this is where you had your coffee Met your friends hung out Met with took out family and friends did business commerce you did it in these colonnades colonnades were built for shade They were a genius piece of architecture because wherever the Sun was in the day a part of this would always be in shade You'd move through the colonnade to stay in the shaded part if you had to do life outdoors And of course, this is an outdoor world. There was no indoor option for cooling like we have now So colonnades were shade and protection. It's a structure to offer shade So think with me now this guy's at Bethesda his disability is highly organized in a system It's supported by the people around him who were stuck as he is not only that but a 5th covered colonnades The colonnades are offering shade while you wait They are making your weight uncomfortable The colonnades are saying to you you can stay here long term. We are built for long-term purpose We are built so people like you don't get sunstroke Don't get burnt and so around this water are these beautiful colonnades So this man is not only trapped in a system and trapped in a culture He is trapped in a structure that is sheltering his problem Sheltering his disability sheltering his stockness and many of us have colonnades in the mind Some of us have structural stuckness Once it becomes structural stuckness It becomes a whole part of how you think it becomes a mindset and a belief system And in many parts of the world those mindsets and belief systems go further and become policy and become rule of law like apartheid apartheid was a structural Establishing of what first of all was a system then it was a culture supported by Whites in South Africa that were oppressed in the blacks and then eventually it becomes policy and legislation It's backed by law and government now. It's a structure That's shading that wrong thing that's shading and protecting that wrong thing that should never have happened This is true all across the world where there are structures that are established all around the world that are destroying people's lives But these governments are abusing and dictating and locking up their people. This is where Syria came from Because the Syrian people the Millennials in Syria and in Egypt and in and in Libya All these North African countries in the Arab Spring of 2011 said we've had enough of a structure that's killing us We no longer want leaders who do not serve us And so they went to the streets and protested and hundreds of thousands of them Lost their lives because they realized it is not only a system and the culture It is now a structural Established idea in those countries to oppress them and some of us have these Structures in our minds and the church is full of these structures churches that have structures that shelter and protect our religiosity the protect our Sacred cows the protect our narrow-mindedness and protect our judge mentalness and our finger wagging at the world and protect our Fragility and how threatened we are by difference churches all around the world have a theology once your structure gets a theology You feel it's God Then we wonder why 98% of our country are not in church Because we have built structures. We built colonnades in our own Organizations that that legitimize us being like we are And I want to say to some of you tonight that you are You are stuck and you are so well supported stuckness and you are highly organized and highly structured problems But I want you to know that tonight you can you can step out of stuck I Want you to know the Bethesda is rigged for failure because One person once a year how crummy is that? It's rigged against you. That's even if you are next to the pool is rigged against you one person once a year So when Jesus said you want to get well, and he said here's the system. He couldn't even couldn't even hear himself saying why am I even here and Jesus said to him I want you to Step out of that stuck Life that you are and I want you tonight to consider before you leave this room Stepping out of your stuckness your stuck relationships friendships roles locations jobs Whatever you feel in life, you're stuck tonight, and it's become what I'm describing organized and it's cultural support group and it's you so stuck inside and you don't want to finish this year and Going to 2018 more stuck than you've been in the previous years. You are sick and tired of being stuck is what I want you to get I want you to get some I want you to get listen to me. I want you to get some of that I'm so fed up of this thing I'm so you got to find some of that guys this guy's got to find it I want you to find some aggression some assertiveness some strength some I have I have had enough Listen, don't look for big things I got sick and tired of praying for people in the prayer line Who came for a problem and the problem was only the tip of the iceberg of their stuckness? And when people come for prayer and walk away no better off They somehow think that God is failing them and the truth is that it's nothing to do with the prayer line And I'm all for praying for people, but if you are stuck psychologically Emotionally relationally culturally structurally if your stuckness is so established a prayer won't help you All you can do and this is what this guy's got to figure out and we have to your miracle is not Bethesda Your miracle is in leaving Bethesda That's why Jesus said to him get out of here You need to get out of here than the guy it never occurred to him that the miracle would not be there because everybody there Is waiting for the miracle it can only be there waiting for better days to come and the better days are not coming And Jesus said leave the system This is why God had to say to Abraham and to Joseph and to David and to Jesus You have to leave where you are for me to use you Abraham you got to get out of the stuckness leave your family leave your homeland Joseph get away from your brothers who despise you who see nothing worthwhile in you Jesus had to leave Nazareth David all of these characters until God could get them to move from their stuckness you couldn't use them Some of you until until you move from your stuckness God can't even get done through you What he wants to do for you next you want the next thing, but the next thing can't come to where you are The next thing is gonna be wasted at Bethesda So Jesus is saying you got to leave this place You got to get up and walk away from Bethesda if you want a miracle and it starts simple take a simple step Let me have my boots back up here Now look at this This is where someone was stuck supposing that's a picture of you and you stood inside those boots Supposing I am on the dry ground a few meters away shouting to you. You're sinking Step out get out of there and you'd say to me. I can't can't you see I'm stuck Why are you saying to me get out of there? Can't you see I'm stuck and I'm getting more and more stuck the more I struggle The more I'm sinking and getting stuck is this man's life and I'm gonna say to you leave your boots Step out of your boots because here's what happens the longer you stay in those boots you think you and your boots are the same thing You get so attached to your boots. You don't realize listen to me. It's not you that stuck It's not this man that stuck It's the system that's sticking you it's the culture that's holding you it's the friends It's the friends you need to walk away from it's the structure you need to walk away from you are not stuck You're okay. You're okay, but what you're involved in and what you've surrendered your Initiative and your strength to is what's making you stuck So you've got to leave your boots and the thought the fear of putting a bare Soft foot into that mess Freak some of you out and you think what do you mean? I can't step out of my boots my boots are my protection my Insulation from the problem, but your boots are the problem And so you have to be willing Jesus said take up your mat. Sometimes you got to leave your mat Leave your mat leave your boots leave what you invested Leave those people behind Leave that system leave that circle of friends leave that mindset leave that emotional Dependency leave it you got to step away from what's holding you and reinvent yourself You might say well, I put a lot of time into that relationship put a lot of money into that business deal Yeah, I know but it's gone bad and it's getting worse and it's not getting better And so perhaps you need to draw a line step out of your stuck and walk away and it's not big thing some of you just need to Some of you just need to before you go to bed tonight delete yourself from the family. What's that channel starts there? You're gonna say I'm not I'm done with it. I'm not doing that anymore. I'm sick of the gossip sick of the negativity I'm sick of the Harshness the rudeness the abrasiveness. I'm sick of it. I'm not doing it It starts there. It starts with not returning the phone call this week When that person calls you who wants to vent and rant at you starts there Starts with you taking a little bit a little bit just a little bit if you could just take one little step that first little step It's not dramatic. You're still too near Bethesda than free, but it's a step It's a beginning get up and take a step tonight. Do something a little thing say I've had enough. No, you know We sing don't we tell the devil not today? But listen to me the devil don't mind you singing that when you're stuck He said tell the devil not today and the devil goes singing all you like you are so stuck Sing it all you like singing it won't get you one stuck And so you're saying you're saying in the worship tell the devil not today and then you're involved in mailing with people That's killing you and the devil's like great You're in a system. You're so stuck go ahead send your head off tell the devil not today You saying that and then with your life you're going here. Come on devil The Bible says resist the devil and he'll flee from you. It doesn't say it doesn't say assist the devil Some of you are brilliant devil assistants Some of you are putting the devil out of work He's like you can do this all by yourself, you know to some Christians honestly to some Christians We have to say come on a lot demon and leave it alone Leave that demon alone the demons fed up of you Even the demons saying to Jesus Jesus, you know, it's not me. Don't you and Jesus says I know it's not you I know it's not you. I know it's them Maybe we should have services Maybe should have services to live it to deliver demons from Christians. I want you to get I want you something this week To stop being polite Stop it Stop being polite. I want you this week to be rude. I Want you to risk because people said to you that's so rude and so you bow down again I want you to decide. Okay, I'm gonna have to suffer you thinking I'm rude If that's the worst it gets and that's the price of my stookness that you think I'm rude Then I'm gonna go ahead and risk you thinking I'm rude, but I'm gonna say no Don't call me. Don't talk to me. Don't come round anymore. I'm gonna have to risk that get get some of that Get some of that energy in you this week find your strength Find that find that module that you lost find that that aggressiveness find that no not me Not now not today just a little bit just even a little thing that you can do if you do one thing tonight One thing tomorrow one thing the next day if you every day this week do one little thing that gets you unstuck I promise you a few weeks from now Your life before the end of this year your life will get free from your Bethesda And you are totally set up for the next level for this new coming year, but God can't do it for you And so God is saying to you tonight. God is saying to you Do you want to get well don't say to him? I'm in a system. Excuse me Say to him. Yeah, I want to get well. I'm sick of it when he says get up and walk do something I got a finish, but I got to tell you This is what happens he gets his mat and he's leaving Bethesda. What's the first thing that happens? He meets a Pharisee who says to me. Oh, it's the Sabbath Here comes another system boom You just got free of a 30 year system Cutting his mat. Here comes a religious person saying to him. That's not allowed on the Sabbath put that mat down Who told you to do that? Here comes another system watch for that You're gonna step away from something that's killing you and someone's gonna put another one on you straight away. Watch for it Expect it because people people that have a vested interest in you not getting free If they see you getting free and they're afraid they will not have the same place in your life They're afraid they were not of the same influence over you. They're scared of you getting free. They don't want you to get bulky Don't want you to get aggressive and strong They like you like you are because they have a certain control in your life So here comes the next one who told you and the guy says I don't know how cool Jesus didn't even give me his name What about it on BBC? Guy says I don't know the guy's name. I never even told me this guy's got a miracle after decades Jesus never said by the way, here's my name. Here's my card come to my church next week. I'll put you on camera It'll increase our offering Of course Jesus Then it says later Jesus finds him in the temple and says to him listen heads up Let me help you go and sin no more in case something worse happens. Whoa. Hang on. Hang on Go and sin no more for crying out loud. The guy is a cripple. What kind of sins has he been up to? It's not exactly the man about town. Is he he's not going around gambling drug dealing sleeping around the guy is an invalid What do you mean sin no more? Remember if something obvious has been said something not obvious is going on Perhaps the greatest sin of that man on of us is Surrendering your life to a system that steals your future and steals your freedom Maybe that's the sin that he said don't do that anymore Don't surrender your life any more to people and systems and cultures that rob you of your future Let's stand together. Come on. We're gonna go. Let's stand when you all across the room Just where you are just all across the room If you feel tonight, this is me I just I feel I'm stuck and I want to make a decision tonight to get unstuck. I'm so done with it Will you just lift your hand where you are tonight and I just want to pray for you If you don't want to lift your hand that's cool Lifting a hand and not leaving a hand doesn't include exclude you because God sees everyone's heart But if you just want to lift a hand come on all across the room hundreds of you can't help us So much lost potential So much delay and postponement in all of your lives. We need you free Father I pray for every person here lift in a hand those later listening to this podcast that also feels stuck I pray for we pray for all of you that from this moment on which you will find the courage the strength the tenacity The goal the audacity to take a step away from your Bethesda I pray tonight will be a beginning That never ever stops that you will take a step that will never stop that you will take step After step after step this week Turn your back on Bethesda turn your back on your stuckness. I pray that from tonight You will begin to step out of your stuckness in the name of Jesus Do it do it tonight do it with all of your heart and step into a whole new Beginning for your life and for your future in the name of Jesus step out of stuff. Amen Come on. Let's welcome this decision of these people. We honor you. We salute you. It's not easy, but we pray for you