# Sunday Setup – Matthew 9:1-8

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise.
Series: Sunday Setup
Date: April 23, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/sunday-setup-matthew-91-8

## Summary

What does it mean to be truly awestruck by God? How can we recognize the miracles in our everyday lives? Join us as we explore Jesus' authority to forgive sins and heal hearts in Matthew 9:1-8. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

Hey Grace Church and welcome to this 
 Sunday setup. This is our time each week 
 that we gather digitally together to 
 pray through the piece of passage that 
 we're going to be studying this week so 
 that we can have our hearts ready to 
 hear God's word and to respond. Uh today 
 we're continuing on in our series 
 through the miracles of Jesus and we're 
 going to be looking at Matthew chapter 
 9. I'm going to read the first eight 
 verses of this chapter in Matthew 
 chapter 9 and we've seen Jesus rebuke a 
 storm and calm the waves. We've seen 
 Jesus cast out demons 
 and today he comes to a new obstacle and 
 we see the miracle that guides through 
 this passage. And we start here in 
 Matthew chapter 9 starting in verse 1. 
 It says this, "So he, being Jesus, got 
 into a boat. He crossed over and he came 
 to his own town. 
 Just then some men brought to him a 
 paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing 
 their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, 
 'Have courage, son. Your sins are 
 forgiven.' 
 At this, some of the scribes said to 
 themselves, 'He's blaspheming.' 
 Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, 
 'Why are you thinking evil things in 
 your heart? For which is easier to say, 
 "Your sins are forgiven" or to say, "Get 
 up and walk"?' 
 But so that you may know that the Son of 
 Man has authority on earth to forgive 
 sins, then he told the paralytic, 'Get 
 up, take your stretcher and go home.' So 
 he got up and went home. 
 When the crowd saw this, 
 they were awestruck and they gave glory 
 to God 
 who had given such authority to men. 
 Man, that's a powerful passage and just 
 in these eight verses that we'll be 
 diving into this week and seeing how 
 this miracle plays across Matthew, Mark, 
 and Luke. 
 But in here and and starting in verse 
 eight, this word this word that just 
 jumps off the page is this as they saw 
 this, they were awestruck. 
 And sometimes I think we can fall into 
 this tendency in our own walk with 
 Christ as we're reading our Bibles, as 
 we're praying to him, as we're going to 
 church, is sometimes we 
 get too comfortable with the mundane. 
 And we don't have the same kind of eyes, 
 the fresh eyes at times that the people 
 did at this time. It says they were 
 awestruck. Their their eyes lit up. They 
 didn't know what they were looking at. 
 They were amazed. They were just drawn 
 in and that kind of leads to our first 
 prayer prompt, a prayer prompt of praise 
 as we think about this. 
 Is God, 
 I am awestruck awestruck by you because 
 God, I am awestruck by you because just 
 finish that phrase and just think of 
 some of the ways that you are awestruck 
 by God. 
 By because of what he has created in the 
 stars and the moon and the planets, that 
 because of the creation we see here on 
 earth and the trees, because of how he 
 performed miracles throughout history, 
 because of what he has done in your life 
 is God, I am awestruck by you because. 
 Finish that prayer. Pray those prayers 
 to our God. 
 >> And God, I'm awestruck by you because 
 you are such a big God. 
 Lord, as we study 
 uh science, we study math, and we study 
 just the things of our world that we can 
 know more about stuff, it just makes our 
 universe bigger and bigger and bigger, 
 and you are the one who created all 
 that. You're the one who sustains all 
 that. And Lord, sometimes we don't take 
 the time to be awestruck by you. 
 But God, we don't take the time to see 
 how 
 we just see your beauty and your glory 
 in the little things in day-to-day life, 
 how you constantly provide, how things 
 may seem coincidental at times, but are 
 the sovereign hand that you uh move 
 throughout history and time throughout 
 to intervene in our lives to point us to 
 you. And Lord, I'm just awestruck by 
 your glory, your revelation, your 
 creation, and the list can go on and on 
 and on, and that you allow us to be a 
 part of it. 
 But God, we praise you. We talk about 
 how awestruck we are by you, but Lord, 
 that then calls us to reflect on our own 
 selves. 
 And in this passage, 
 they are awestruck by him uh because of 
 how holy he is, but Jesus calls them 
 out. One, he forgives the sins of the 
 paralytic man, but he calls out the 
 scribes, and he says, "Why are you 
 thinking these evil things in your 
 heart?" 
 And you think about the paralytic man, 
 we'll dive into he obviously had sin in 
 his life cuz he's broken cuz he's a 
 person. 
 There was sins that he had to deal with 
 just like there sins we have to deal 
 with. The scribes had sin in their life, 
 the disciples had sin in their life. We 
 all have evil within our hearts that we 
 need to be forgiven for. 
 And as we think about the things of how 
 great and glorious and huge our God is, 
 how we should be awestruck by him, 
 we should also be ashamed and ask for 
 forgiveness of the sin and the evil that 
 is in our life. So here's our second 
 prayer prompt. 
 As we have a prayer of worship but a 
 prayer of response and confession to 
 that worship. Is God, please forgive the 
 evil in my heart of 
 And that is personal for you between you 
 and God. God, please forgive the evil in 
 my heart of maybe it's pride, maybe it's 
 jealousy, maybe it's anxiety, maybe it's 
 stress, maybe it's lust, whatever that 
 evil in your heart is. 
 That God, please forgive the evil in my 
 heart of 
 Pray those prayers of response and 
 confession to who God is. 
 You are the God of holiness, the God of 
 perfection, the God of miracles, the God 
 who has authority over everything. 
 And Lord, as we follow you God, we just 
 dive into your word, we read about the 
 stories, 
 the the miraculous things you did, the 
 the questions you asked of what kind of 
 man is this, who is this? You are Jesus, 
 the savior, the Messiah. 
 And Lord, we are awestruck by you. 
 Just being in your presence, us having a 
 personal relationship with we don't 
 deserve it. 
 And we don't deserve it cuz there's evil 
 in our life. 
 But Lord, we are grateful that you are 
 the God who has authority over sin. You 
 are the God who has the authority to 
 forgive our sins. 
 And Lord, we ask that you forgive them. 
 Lord, we thank you and we praise you 
 that you wash us clean and that you 
 present us and use us to spread your 
 word 
 and to be a part of your kingdom. 
 God, thank you for all who are joining 
 together digitally. That you just 
 prepare our hearts, that you bless our 
 lives. You look for opportunities to 
 make you known, opportunities to share 
 the God who has authority over all 
 things. Lord, as we gather this weekend 
 that we can be uplifted, that we can be 
 encouraged, and we can leave this place 
 doing your will. 
 God, I just thank you for this time. 
 Lift all this up in Jesus' name. Amen. 
 Hey, thank you guys for joining us. We 
 can't wait to see you this Sunday as we 
 worship together the God who has all 
 authority. 
 See you soon. 
 >> Mhm.