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Click here to recommend this sermon to others. [A new window will open. Scroll to the bottom to enter your vote or comments, then close.]Help spread the Word by casting your vote...it's a proven system that keeps this ministry free!Grace Notes Sermon Ministry: Water Walking 101
Matthew 14:22-33;
John 6:15-21 This is the second storm
the Bible mentions involving Jesus and the disciples.
The first was in Matthew 8 when Jesus was asleep in the boat and the
disciples woke Him up crying, “Master, we perish!”
That message was called “The
Storm Before the Calm.” At least Jesus was present
in that storm, but this time He’s nowhere to be found.
His presence is not apparent.
And we all go thru storms where it seems God is not in it, and cannot
be reached. What do you do then?
5
anchors to hold to while weathering the storms of life:
1.
I am Guided by God's
Jesus has allowed this storm to be. The parallel passages in
Mark and Matthew make it clear:
They are in this storm because Jesus sent them into it on purpose.
Matthew says Jesus
“Constrained” them to go. This
is a strong word which means to compel or to drive.
The disciples wanted to stay where they were after the great miracle
of the loaves and fishes they had just been a part of, but Jesus made them
leave. Joke—Boy Scout was late for
troop meeting. When questioned
about his tardiness he explained that he was doing his good deed for the
day. “I spent a good while
helping an old lady across the street.”
His scoutmaster replied, “Why would that take so long?”
“She didn’t want to cross the street!”
He constrained her to go! Jesus constrained them to
go, knowing their course would intersect a great storm.
We know now that had they stayed they would have been tempted to ride
His coattails and never leave His side.
We are all attracted to power…but Jesus wanted the disciples to be
able to stand on their own, even without His presence.
He proved He could walk on water, but wanted to show them they could
do the same thru faith. The
point is that sometimes God will send us into a storm of testing, and at the
same time He is delivering us from a storm of temptation.
He may be sparing you from something worse you could not foresee.
And it is better
to be in God's will in a storm than out of God's will in the calm.
God's will is the safest place to be! You see, God is more
concerned with our spiritual growth than our personal comfort.
He loves us just as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that
way. He sees down the road and
He is molding us in His image step by step.
In the first storm He was present, in the second storm He proved to
be there, but they couldn’t see Him at first.
Peter learned to look to Jesus, even when he couldn’t see Him! Even in the storm God is in
control! Jesus knew that down
the road Peter would one day be crucified upside down, and John will be
boiled in a cauldron of oil, James will be beheaded in The disciples may have been
scared to death, but in the end they realized they went thru this storm not
because they were out of God’s will, but because they were IN His will.
Some
storms are for correction as in
the case of Jonah. Sometimes we
drift off course, and God needs to bring a storm to blow us back to where we
are supposed to be. ill.--little boy lost his
boat off the pond bank. He began
to cry. A man came along and
said, "Don't cry, I'll get it back."
He began to throw large stones at the boat.
The boy was dismayed.
"Trust me," the man said. Of
course, he was throwing the rocks on the far side, creating waves which
drove it back to the bank, right into the boy's hands.
Sometimes God allows
ripples in life...sometimes they are like tsunami waves...but when we are
driven back into the arms of Jesus we see this was a storm of correction!
And we can thank God for the storm.
Because we are guided by His providence.
correction...
Some
storms are for perfection such
as in this storm. These are
designed to mature us. The best
growth I've experienced in my life came not through smooth sailing, but on
the high seas! Either way, God is in
control and we are guided by His providence. ill.--it's like a chess
game. Ever played someone who is
much better than you? You think
you are making your own decisions of your own free will...and yet you always
seem to end up exactly where they want you to be.
And man thinks he can take
his world wherever he wants but I'm here to tell you today that this thing
is gonna end up exactly how God wants it to. The first anchor we have in
the storm is that Jesus has allowed this storm to be.
The second anchor…
2.
I am Graced by His Prayers.
Jesus is praying for me.
When
I am in the place of peril, Jesus is in the place of prayer. v. 15-16
Jesus goes to the mountain to pray, according to Mark, and the
disciples to the sea. What a
contrast between their two locations.
The Gospel of Mark says that Jesus could see them toiling in rowing.
He’s on this mountain overlooking the
The good news for us today
is that no matter what we’ve done against Him, Jesus is praying, and we’re
in His prayer!
Anchor #1 is that Jesus allowed this storm to
be [Guided by His
3.
I will be Gladdened by His Presence.
Jesus will come to me in His
own time. [the storm will
be stopped] v. 17-19
The 4th watch of the night is between 3 AM and dawn.
It’s the darkest part of the night.
Liberals say the disciples actually saw Jesus walking on the shore,
and like a mirage they imagined He was walking on the water.
But the Bible says they were in the midst of the sea [3 miles out],
which would be miles from the shore, in the darkest part of the night,
raining like crazy. I wish the
liberals would take the time they spend concocting such nonsense and spend
it in church! ill.--they remind me of a
grocery stock boy / a woman was looking for a larger chicken than the
biggest she could find in the poultry section / she asked, "Do these things
get any bigger?" / He said, "No, they're dead!" I’m just simple enough to
believe that God walked on the water just the way the Bible says.
I believe that every drop of water in that sea held hands to uphold
the lovely Son of God who created them!
I believe that gravity itself answers to Jesus, and that this great
miracle was a small thing for Him!
And liberal theologians are
no better, who would cause God’s people to doubt the truth of God and His
Word! Why did Jesus come to them
in this manner, walking on the water?
In part it was to show them that
what they feared
the most was under His control.
The waves that were over their heads were under His feet…and I don’t
care what storm you are going thru, whether financial, familial, emotional
or physical…He’s on top of it! What you fear the most may
actually bring you closer to Jesus.
That raging sea was nothing but a sidewalk that brought Jesus closer
to them, and could bring them closer to Jesus if they would get out of the
boat in faith! They thought it was a ghost
at first. Joke—2 security guards
worked at a hospital morgue. It
was eerie. The first asked, “Do
you believe in ghosts?” The
second replied, “No, but I’m a It looked like things
couldn’t get worse in this storm, and now here comes a ghost!
Why would they think it is a ghost?
Because they were living in fear instead of living by faith.
Faith would have assumed it was Christ, the One Who just worked the
great miracle before their eyes on the hillside.
But since they couldn’t see Him, they didn’t believe.
They needed to learn that faith is believing in something you CAN’T
see. Hebrews 11:1 We say, “I don’t see how
God is in this!” Exactly!
What a great opportunity to exercise faith! Had they not already seen
Jesus calm a storm before? Did
not the waves lie down peacefully like a whipped pup?
They had good reason to believe in faith during this storm…and so do
you! Don’t let your imagination
run wild w/ paranoia. The devil
works in the realm of the mind.
Don’t live in fear, live by faith!
We can be assured that Jesus allows storms to
be for a reason, and He is praying for us, and will come to us in His own
time. 4th anchor…
4.
I am Guarded by His Power.
The storm has power over us, but
Jesus has power over the storm! They are afraid...of the
water. And what they feared the
most is what Jesus came to them walking atop! ill.--Some said, "If Obama
wins re-election...we're sunk!"
Well, the election is over, and Jesus is still King, the tomb is still
empty, and we who are on God's side will still come out on top!
5.
I am Growing in His Purpose.
The storms of life can help me grow in
faith. Faith is like film...it is
best developed in the dark! On that boat that night was
the loud but lovable Simon Peter.
What must the others have thought of him as he began to step out.
“Boy, he’s pulled some crazy stunts in his day, but this is just too
much!” But as he confidently
jumps out his feet land on water that feels like concrete!
Can you imagine how fun that would be? It’s easy to criticize him
for taking His eyes off the Lord and sinking, but at least he got out of the
boat. The church today is filled
w/ ‘boat people’, but there is a great need for water walkers!
We need risk takers who make attempts, who try and fail, and get back
up again. We need a big
challenge. If we aim at nothing
we’re sure to hit it! For the record, I think
it’s good that Peter sank, knowing his pride the way we do.
Could you imagine living with him if he had not?
He would have been the Barney Fife of the New Testament!
He would have started a church and called it “ God is not looking for
perfection, just for someone to get out of the boat and try something once
in a while. So how about you?
Ever been out on visitation?
Would you give it a try? Ever
witnessed to someone? Will you
give it a go? Ever taken the
first 10% out of your paycheck and set it aside before paying all your other
bills? Are you willing to make
an attempt and see if it’s really true that you can’t out give God? Peter learned a lot that
day…about himself and about the Lord.
He learned that when fears rise, faith dies.
He learned to keep His eyes on Jesus and not on the storm, and that
each of us can be a water walker! Fear is looking at God thru
your circumstances, but faith is looking at your circumstances thru God!
We need to live above the circumstances, not under them.
Don't waste
this storm. It would be a
shame to go through it and not grow because of it. Your storm may be for
correction or for perfection, but Jesus allowed it to be, and allowed your
paths to cross, and while you are in the place of peril, Jesus is in the
place of prayer…He may seem far away, but He’ll come to you in His own time,
and He’ll use this storm to increase your faith! Hold to the anchors!
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