I’ve Got To Get Up

Sermon Summary

• When God gets ready to do something, nothing can stop Him. Jesus sees you where you are and speaks life into the places you’re struggling. This isn’t the end of your story. It’s the moment you get up.

Sermon Highlights

• When God gets ready to do something, nothing can stop Him.

• You’ve got to get up.

• Things Jesus does for us:

  (1) Jesus stops

  (2) Jesus sees

  (3) Jesus says 

  (4) Jesus saves

• We’re not lifting our hands so high because we’ve got it all together, we’re lifting our hands so high because we need Him to hold us together. 

• Jesus can say “stop” to a situation and it has to obey, because He has all power and all authority. 

• Not only is He a Savior who stops; He’s a Savior who stoops. 

• Jesus didn’t see the mat, first he saw the man. 

• Jesus sees the parts of me that I want to hide from everybody else. 

• The One who knows me the best loves me the most.

• God will package some of His best gifts in some of the ugliest boxes. You cannot give up on this season of your life because you don’t like the box.

• There will always be a voice telling you, “You can’t do what God told you to do.” But His voice is the voice that matters. 

• Jesus has the final say. 

Scriptures: 

• John 5:1-8 – The healing at the pool 

• John 5:9-11 – Jesus has the final say 

Sermon Discussion

Conversation Starter 

• Pastor Steven joked about how Holly wraps gifts in misleading boxes. What’s the most unexpected gift you’ve ever received (or given)?

Discussion Questions

• “God will package some of His best gifts in some of the ugliest boxes. You cannot give up on this season of your life because you don’t like the box.” Share a season or experience that didn’t look good at the time but later turned out to be a gift.

• “You’ve got to get up.” What’s one small way you could “get up” this week in a place where you feel challenged?

Additional Questions

• “When God gets ready to do something, nothing can stop Him.” Share a time when it became clear that God was moving in your life, even when circumstances seemed stacked against you?

• “Things Jesus does for us: (1) Jesus stops, (2) Jesus sees, (3) Jesus says, (4) Jesus saves.” Share a time Jesus did one — or all — of these things for you and how it brought you closer to Him. 

• “Jesus didn’t see the mat; first He saw the man.” Who in your life has truly seen and loved you in a hard season, and how does that encourage you to be present for someone else right now?

Prayer Prompt

Ask your eGroup if they have any prayer requests or praise reports they’d like to share, and include them in your closing prayer. 

Pray this prayer over your eGroup to close, and/or send it to them throughout the week to let them know you’re praying for them!  

Lord, as we head into the new year, we just want to say thank You. Thank You for stopping for us, thank You for seeing us, thank You for speaking truth over us, and thank You for saving us. You’re the best gift giver, and we’re so grateful for the gift of Your son Jesus. As we step into 2026, please give us the confidence to see ourselves the way You see us and the courage to keep getting up. In Jesus’ Name, amen.