Arise in the Midst of the Storm

Well, good morning, friends. Happy Mother's Day.

We have the most incredible moms here at Springhouse, do we not?

Who believes that? Yes. Amen.

Amen. Most incredible moms in the house. We are so

grateful for our mothers.

A couple of things before we get continue to

roll here. First, you may notice there were some

baked goods outside. The youth are going to be doing

a camp. And here's the deal.

They're selling those baked goods. But I'm believing a bit

more in faith for this trip.

Guys, we need 40 people to sponsor 40 teams.

That's really what we need. We need 40 people to sponsor. So if you're looking

for a way, and some of you, as of this week came to me and

said, is there a way that we could sow somewhere?

I'm letting you know we got 40 teens who would like to go to camp.

And if you'd like to sponsor a teen, you can see Pastor Doug

back there in the back. Pastor Doug or Jody, and they will get you

connected and get you all that information. And that's what that's for out

there. And you can spot your team and walk away with some cookies today. Okay,

so there's some. There's benefit there. And

then also VBX registration is now open.

And so if you have a child that would want to participate

in that, you can scan that code or go on our church app and

register for that. Okay. All right, so we're gonna continue along

in our Arise series. And man, I

am just growing just each day. I'm growing each

week. As we are continuing to go forward in this. Would you guys

stand with me? We're gonna read what I hope to be a familia story

in scripture from the book of Mark. And

we're also going to read a verse from Psalm. Now you're going to see in

Mark 4 that there is this term furious squall.

And I think that's fitting for Mother's Day. I

would like you to read as if you're crying out for your mama. Okay, here

we go. That day, when evening

came, he said to his disciples, let

us go onto the other side. Leaving the

crowd behind, they took him along. Just

as he was in the boat, there were also

other boats with him. A furious squall

came up and the waves broke over the boat

so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was

in the stern sleeping on a cushion. The

disciples woke him and said to him, tell teacher,

don't you care if we drown? He got up,

rebuked the wind, and said to the Waves. Quiet,

be still. Then the wind died down and it

was completely calm. He said to his disciples,

why are you so afraid? Did you still have

no faith? They were terrified and asked each

other, who is this? Even the winds and

waves obey him. God is our refuge

and strength and ever present help in trouble.

Father, I thank you that you are an ever present help in times

of trouble. And I just pray, Lord, today, that your Holy Spirit would

speak to our hearts, that you would transform us from the

inside out. And Lord, that we would surrender what we brought into this place

to you in Jesus name. And everybody said amen.

Well, yes, it is

Mother's Day. And you know, there's something

uniquely powerful about a

mother's presence. A mother carries

storms. A mother carries storms different than

the rest of us do. And I feel like I've got some authority to

speak about mothers because I've had one for over four

decades and I've also lived with one for 16.

So I am not a mother, in case that was a question. I'm not a

mother, but I feel like I've got just a little bit of authority on

watching mothers do that mothering thing.

And mothers carry storms differently than the rest of us do.

Mothers often carry pressure nobody sees. They

hold families together while quietly carrying

burdens themselves. They pray while exhausted,

nurture while hurting, continue showing up even when

their tank is empty. A mom never

stops being a mom. A

mom never. I see a lot of nodded heads. A mom never stops being

a mother. Can be carrying internal storms very

simultaneously becoming peace for

everybody else in the house. And most of the time,

and most of the time, what they've got going on as

they juggle their own life is they've got the lives of

bunches of other people in their life. And

for most people, it's not just the children, it's that person

she's sleeping next to as well.

A mother can be carrying internal storms by simultaneously being peace for everyone

in the house. And for most of us, mom taught us something very

foundational, and it's this, that safety

comes from presence. Safety

comes from presence. Children may not understand

how to fix it, where to go, what to do,

but they understand presence. Many of you know that

Shari and I operate a school down the road. And you know,

when our kids started going through and they were school age, I carried

initially this mentality that our kids are gonna obey all

the rules. Like, we're not gonna be like this exceptional

thing to the rule. You know, they're gonna. The kids are supposed to be in

line they're gonna be in line, et cetera, et cetera, and on the cuff. That

probably seems like a right vein, but the Lord really convicted my heart

about two or three years in because my kids would wanna break line and

give me a hug, and I wouldn't let them. And the Lord

said, the beauty about where I've placed you is that your kids get to be

in your presence. And so I remember going to the faculty and

saying, here's the deal. I know that you all don't see the late

nights, the sacrifices, all of the things that happen to make this thing go.

But I get to be around my kids and so do some of you. If

my kid wants to break the line, give me a hug. I'm giving my kid

a hug. Okay? And I still

expect my kids to obey the rules, right? But I'm not gonna

negate the fact that I'm. They're in my presence. That they're

in my presence. Presence is powerful. Presence

is powerful. God's greatest promise

to us was never the absence of

storms. His greatest promise was that he would

be present in the midst of our storms. And so where I

want to start today is peace is found in the presence

of the Lord. Peace is found

in the presence of the Lord. And some of you this

morning are looking for peace. That's where you find

it. That's where you find it.

And now, presence isn't just about peace. Peace is what is found

in presence. But presence also will

mature us, especially God's presence. It will mature us. And I think

about my mom and her presence in my life. She didn't just bring me

peace. My mom also matured me. So I told the story a while ago,

but I'll tell it again. You know, when I was in third grade, I was

learning how to jump into the pool. All my friends were jumping into the

pool. And I just couldn't. I couldn't muster up the strength or courage to do

it. But I would get to the edge of that pool and I was like,

mama, watch me. I'm gonna jump in the pool. And I would go, 1,

2, 3, 4.

And I wouldn't do it. And I'd get back at the edge and I would

go, one, two. I'm gonna do it this time.

No, I wasn't going to do it. And I went back up there again, and

I was trying it maybe third or fourth time, and just like a great,

comforting, wonderful, sensitive mother, she runs

up behind me and pushes me in.

Now, here's the thing. I got up out of that pool.

And guess what I could do immediately jump in.

I could jump in sometimes, Mamas.

I mean push

in times when pushing is needed.

Many of us are familiar with this story. Mark, chapter four. The

disciples are in the boat. A big storm

comes. Jesus is sleeping. They wake up. Jesus,

Jesus, don't you care about us? And he says,

peace, be still. And we know that story and we've related it to storms.

But, you know, as much as we think we know about this on the service.

I want to go to four places here today, quickly, this morning

that I believe would be things that maybe we miss when we skim

over this story. So the first thing I want us to notice is

this. Jesus said, let's go over

to the other side. Let's go over to

the other side. I think one of the first things we have to notice

in this story is that the storm came

after an act of obedience.

The storm came after an act

of obedience. Jesus said, let's go to

the other side. The disciples said, yes, sir, they

got in the boat, they were doing everything that the Lord had

told them to do. And then the

storm comes. In other words, we have got to get

out of our mentality that every time a storm comes,

it must mean that God is not in what we're doing.

The first thing that we've gotta eliminate is understanding that

storms at times are indicators or

revealers in our life of not only God's mercy and grace,

but of things that he's trying to illuminate in us. Especially

when it comes to issues of trust.

Many of us wrongly assume that storms mean that we missed God.

And sometimes storms are not evidence that you're outside of the will of God.

Sometimes those storms are evidence that you're smack dab right in the middle of where

God wants you to be. So some of you

today are walking through a season of disappointment and discouragement.

How do I know that? Because some of you emailed me this week. You talked

to me in the foyer. I know that there are people here that are struggling

this morning. Some of you walked in struggling with a smile on your face,

and you didn't share the struggle that you had. But you're struggling this morning.

Here's the reason why I share that. Everyone in this room

is either going through a storm or you will go through a storm

at some point. So this message is really for everyone. Look at

your neighbor say, this is for you.

When you face hardship, uncertainty, loss, exhaustion,

and maybe even warfare, the temptation in those

storms is to assume that God abandoned us.

Because difficulty arrived. But

the presence of storms does not mean the

absence of God. The presence of

storms does not mean the absence of God. The disciples were

exactly where Jesus told them to be. And

here's the remarkable thing. He got in the boat with

them. He did not send them out

alone. And if you decide to click, clock out

or think about lunch and you don't want to listen to anything else in the

message, I'm going to tell you, this is what I want you to walk away

with right here. It's much better to be in the

storm with Jesus than to be in the calm without Him.

It is so much better for you to contend with

the waves and the wind of life with

Jesus on your side, beside you, walking with you,

than you to think that everything's okay because it's calm and

want nothing to do with Him.

I have been paying attention to over the last several months

the thread of the Lord. Do you know that the Lord is

always actively moving in your life?

If you did not know, let your revelation be today that the

God of the universe is moving in your life.

And he has opened my eyes to see a thread

of his steady, faithful hand in my life through people,

through messages, through interactions, circumstances. I have

seen how this connects to this, this connects to that. And he will

do that by his grace, if you'll let him. So this past Thursday

night, Pastor Jonathan started a new series here and I

so encourage you to go back and listen to his

message on Thursday night. It's one of four parts. And I encourage you to come

this Thursday at 6 if you have the capacity. Such a powerful

message. And I knew that this Sunday we would be talking I knew this Sunday

we'd be talking about storms months ago. And here he comes and

gives a message talking about the presence of. And

I'm going, Lord, as many people as I talked to

somebody real late last this past week going through a storm, I

visited somebody in a cares facility going through a storm.

So many people going through storms. The Lord knew for this

time, at such a time as this, that he would bring a message about where

do we run in the midst of suffering and storm. And it is always going

to be to his presence. It's always going to be that his presence

is where we need to be. And so Pastor Jonathan shares in

this past message and I'm not going to share his message with you. I want

you to go back and look at it. But he shares about his time of

sabbatical and he shares about this thread that God is weaving that he

didn't notice until he got into God's presence. And God

revealed the reason why these things were happening to him. It was a

phenomenal story. You should go back and listen to it. I also went on a

sabbatical last year. And in my sabbatical and in the

presence of the Lord, when I sought the presence of the Lord, what the Lord

did to me is he revealed sin in my life. Do you know

that the presence of God will illuminate places in your life that you need

to change? And so he illuminated sin in my

life on my sabbatical. And here was the sin, the specific

sin that I was grappling with

was that I was making people and other things my source

and not Him. Now, guys, that was not a mistake.

That wasn't a misstep. It was sin. Sin

separates us from God. And anything that is your source outside of

God is sin because it's an idol. And I

had taken up and placed some people and some things

in a position where I was drawing from them rather than

drawing from the source of the God breather. And that is sin.

And what sin does, in addition to separating us from the

Father, it also has ripples of consequence. And those

ripples of consequence can cost you resources, they can cost you time,

and it can cost you relationships. But here's

the neat thing about God. When I went into God's presence and he

revealed that to me, it wasn't God saying, because you left me, I left

you. He was saying, I've been here the entire time. You're the one who walked

away. He said,

kevin, I want to be your best friend. I want to be the

source of your life. And I just walked in a month of repentance.

And I said, God, I am so sor. Because he had always been a

sufficient source. But I walked away from the source. And I

wonder today if any of you are drawing from other wells and other

sources than that of the Lord. He is a

constant, steady source for you.

So this brings me to the second place that I want us to go

in this passage that you may not get on the cuff. And is this.

There were also other boats with him. I

didn't notice this. I don't think I've ever really paid attention to this until

I was preparing for this message.

It's significant because storms are rarely

isolated. The storm was not

isolated to just one boat. Sometimes we think we're the only

ones struggling. My marriage is

the only one carrying tension. My

family's the only one that's fighting fear.

I'm the only parent on the planet that's overwhelmed. Good

grief. I'm the

only person battling anxiety.

I'm the only believer trying to hold on to faith. But I

want you to know this morning that there are other boats, too.

Other people are fighting unseen battles. Other

mothers are carrying invisible burdens. Other families are trying to

stay afloat spiritually. Other believers are learning to

trust God in rough waters. Sometimes we feel isolated in our

struggles. But there are other boats fighting the same

waves, too. But here's what I want you to understand.

The presence of Jesus in one boat

affected all the boats. The presence of

Jesus and his power in one boat affected all the

other boats that are out there contending the waves. And let me tell you something,

those of you who will remain faithful in the midst of the storm, that

your faith will ripple into other people's lives. In other words,

your faithfulness in storms will impact those around

you. Your faith, your

decision to lean in to the peace and

the presence of the Lord will impact those around you. I remember

when Covid came around, everyone was looking

for leadership. Now, many times we look for the leadership that's gonna

say the things we want them to say. But nonetheless, we're all

looking for some type of leadership. When things get rocky, when things get

scary, we're looking for leadership. And I certainly didn't nail

it bat a thousand in that timeframe. But there were some

places where I really felt like I heard from the Holy Spirit. And I remember

people coming up to me way after Covid was over

and saying the way that you handled yourself in the midst

of that whole thing really ministered to me.

And I'll tell you right now, I didn't make those decisions because I thought they

were watching, but they were.

When you have a storm in your life, people are

evaluating how you're going to respond. Now,

we don't respond based on fear of what other people think, but we need to

be aware that there are other believers watching how we

walk these things out. In other words, when I say I believe something,

do my actions and my words actually match it when the rubber hits the road?

And we're going to visit that point again in just a moment.

Your stability affects others. Your obedience affects others.

Your peace affects. Your worship affects others. Guys,

I'm down here in this seat many times on Sunday morning. You may have not

noticed, but you're going to notice it now that I'm going to tell you about

it. But you'll see me turn around and I'll look and I'LL you see? Scan

the room multiple times during worship. I do that for two reasons. One, I want

to know if you're here and in the room.

I'm taking attendance. No, I want to know if you're here and in the

room. And when I say here in the room, I don't mean here in the

cafe. I mean here and in the room. Second.

Second, I'm looking across the room because some of you have shared

personal, intimate details with me or a member of the staff.

And then we will sing a song that ministers right to your heart.

And I will look and I will see you worship.

And let me tell you something, boy, that grabs my heart when the

Holy Spirit of God has orchestrated something so wonderful

on your behalf. When you come and receive a drink from his source

and his well, man, that's supernatural things that I love

to see that in people's lives. Your

worship affects others. A faithful

believer who weathers storms becomes proof to others

that God is still faithful.

The third thing I want us to see is this. The storm

comes and the disciples are scared. Jesus is

asleep. And I want us to understand that these

disciples, they were fishermen. These

fishermen were not brand new. They didn't arrive on the scene, like three days before

they encountered Jesus. I mean, this was by trade. They were familiar

with what it would have been to handle a storm.

This was not their first storm. Which means that the storm

illuminated something much more than bad weather.

The disciples wake Jesus up to ask a very

specific and revealing question. Now, it

stands to reason that when they wake Jesus up, they would

say, jesus, would you stop this storm?

But that's not what they asked. That's not what they

asked. We infer that from the story, and we see that Jesus

did that in his grace. But that was not the question they asked. Here's

what they asked. They said, teacher, don't you care if

we drowned?

When life becomes difficult, the first thing many people question

is not God's power, it's God's heart.

Do you care, God? Are you there,

God? Do you see me,

God? Have you forgotten me,

God? Anybody ever asked one of those questions before?

I know I sure have. And

I think one of the greatest lies believers battle in storms is the

fear that God has abandoned them.

Here's the thing. Storms expose trust issues.

A good storm will expose trust issues

in your life because they

reveal who and what we trust most. Now, here's the

deal. Most people are not living In a Category 5 hurricane all

the time. We are contending with those smaller

daily storms. Most Storms are financial pressures,

miscommunication, fatigue, fear,

comparison, disappointment, uncertainty,

relationship tension, raising children, raising

children, raising children,

mental exhaustion, feeling spiritually dry,

carrying invisible burdens. But not every

storm is massive. But some storms just

slowly wear you down. Can I get an amen

from the moms?

Motherhood is often not one giant dramatic

storm. It is thousands of

unseen moments, Late nights, constant

responsibility, emotional labor,

worry, prayer, sacrifice,

everyone else being carried while quietly carrying yourself.

And I didn't realize that moms really were weathering all of

this with my mom because I was a benefactor of her

shielding me from what she was doing. I was a benefactor of the peace

that she rendered. But I sure did see it by marrying my wife and having

kids.

And the number one thing I think moms contend with is I'm a

failure. And I want to tell you

today, moms, you're doing a great job.

Moms, you're doing a great

job.

For every unseen moment, for

every ungrateful heart posture, I want

you to know that the Lord carries you because the

word tells us that when we are weak, he is strong.

And I understand for the others of us,

when we get to compartmentalize our life, you are mom

24 7. You don't hang that title up,

and you're doing a great job. I want to encourage you to

persevere, to keep on going, to keep running the

race. I talked to a mom. I had an interaction with mom when I first

walked in, and she said, well, my kids are much better than the mom that

they had. And I said, well, isn't that the hope of all parents, that

their kids would outrun them and do better than them? And that is a mark

of an exceptional mother.

Mom never clocks out. A mother carries the weight of

storms, even when making the room feel safe. This is my mom.

Moms have this way of

letting you know, I'm not going anywhere.

I remember a time in my life where I got incredibly

sick. It was the sickest, I think, I've ever been in my life.

And I didn't know what to do. I mean,

I'm pretty strong. The O days are pretty strong when it comes to sickness. I

mean, we're going to work. We're in it. I mean, all this stuff, but this

took me out. I could barely lift my leg, and

all I could do, I just started crying in the car. I literally couldn't

even barely drive my car. And I just knew if I to my mama,

if I could just get to mom. And I got home, and I

drugged myself on that sidewalk. Up the stairs and I just collapsed in the

stairs. Do you know that in my mind I didn't think about what my

mama had going on. I didn't think about her calendar, I didn't think about the

storms that she had. I didn't think about her schedule. I just knew that if

I got to my mama, she would take care of things. And boy

did she ever. She picked me up off that floor, got me in a bed,

got me the medicines and the food that I want because she's mom.

I could count on my mom. Guys, can I tell you something?

If you can count on your flawed mother, you

can count so much more on Jesus Christ. You can

count on the Lord, this star

breathing God. So when you get right down

to it, the question we're really grappling with here in this Arise

section of this series is this. Do you believe

what you say you believe? Do you

really believe what you say you believe? Because it's easy to talk about faith

when things are peaceful. It's easy to talk about

trust when there's not really an issue to deal with.

Trust. It's easy to quote scripture when life feels manageable. But

storms expose the authenticity of our

dependence. And so this is why we can't

jump from abide to advance. We've got to remain in this arise

because we say we confess with our mouth and our heart.

I want to depend on you. I'm going to abide in you. The Arise

section is testing all of that. It's saying, are you really depending on

him? And here are the ways. Kevin, Barbie,

Keith, Justin, Eric, these are the ways you're not depending

on me. And if we can get these non dependent or let's

say independent areas cleaned up with dependence, then you'll be ready to

fly when it comes to advance. You'll be ready to fly when it's

time, when it's time to run. Jesus was

not nervous about what scared the disciples.

We often pursue explanations over

presence. We want God to explain the storm

and God wants to reveal his bigness

within our storm. Josh, would you just come down front here and just share?

Josh shared a dream with me maybe a year ago. I'm not sure, but I

just wanted you to share because I thought it really related.

You have this microphone. I wore this

shirt today and I really don't like this shirt and it just doesn't

fit exactly right. And so then Kevin is like, hey Josh, I want you to

share something today. I'm like, oh, you should have asked mom, I got the wrong

shirt. I should have asked Mom.

It was probably 10 years ago when

I had a deep concern for a friend of mine who had an

addiction. And the addiction was long

standing. It didn't seem

very hopeful at all for my friend.

And I was praying for them fervently. And I think I was

fasting, I was praying. And one night

in the middle of the night, I had a dream. And I

was standing, like in a room, and it was like a really big

room. And in this room there was a demon

that was the most terrifying thing that I had ever seen. And

it had wings and it was evil, and it was

humongous. It filled the entire room.

And I was just terrified. I was like, God, what?

Like, this is the thing that I'm praying against. I am not big

enough for this fight. This is an unfair fight. I am terrified.

And for whatever reason, in my dream, I turned around,

and when I turned around, I saw like a boot.

And I looked at the boot, and the boot was connected, like to a

leg. And then the leg looked up, and I looked up and there was like

a skyscraper sized angel.

And in front of me was this demon that was the size of a room.

And on this side there was a skyscraper side

angel, and it was bright white and it had a huge

sword. And then it panned out and I

saw thousands and thousands of

angels. And I looked at this

thing compared to what was behind me,

and a voice said, greater is he who is in you

than he who is in the world.

And I woke up, and I was

actually, I woke up laughing. I was

laughing like I woke up. My wife must have been like, what the heck?

I woke up laughing. And I said, God, why did

you show me this dream? And God said, why do you think I gave you

prayer? We are.

We have an unfair fight against

the evilest, worstest, terriblest, biggest storm,

most devastating. Addiction,

brokenness, sinfulness. We are in an

unfair fight. But it's not that that's unfair. It's

he who is in us that is the unfair battle. And all

we have to do is pick up prayer and

believe in the one who is greater than whatever obstacle is there.

Amen.

This is what Psalms tells us. God

is our refuge and strength and ever present

help in trouble. Not distant, not disconnected.

He's an ever present help. In the book of Isaiah, it says this.

When you pass through the waters, I will be.

What's the first word? What's the first word

when? Not if. When you pass through the waters,

guys, you're guaranteed to have storms. Jesus, even said this, in

this world, you will have trouble. But aren't

you glad that's not the end of the verse. But take heart,

because I, Jesus, have overcome the world. And let

me tell you guys, if we will cling to the world overcomer,

the star breather, the one who has army angels

out the wazoo on our behalf, then we will

overcome the greatest storms in our life every

single time. Amen. He is such a faithful

God. He's such a faithful God.

The promise isn't that you're not gonna have storms. The promise is his presence.

And so this arise section is us

preparing for storms. Guys, I don't like

preparation. I don't like. Have you ever been on a cruise?

Who's been on a cruise? I've been on a cruise.

And you know, the worst moment on a cruise for me is when

I have traveled all day and we are getting on the cruise.

This is such a first world problem right here. This is just. Lord,

just forgive my stupidity. I

get on the boat and I'm so worn out from traveling. And they've got the

most magnificent buffet ready for you. Sushi,

everything you could want. And you go up there and you make this play. All

you want to do is sit down and just glut. Just sin. Just such a

sin, you know? And they sound this alarm and they say,

you've got to stop what you're doing and you've got to go dawn. Those

dumb little. What are they called? Life

things. And you go and you stand there for 20

minutes in the hot sun and you're like, here I am. So they can count.

Okay, again, I'm so sorry. It's first world problem. I'm just so. I can tell.

Okay? I can't stand it. But here's the thing. Preparation feels

unnecessary until survival depends on it.

Until survival depends on it. Let me tell you, if I step on the Titanic,

I need to know where those life vests are and where the safety

boats are. Okay? I need to know the information. Okay,

here's the deal. We don't wait until the storm comes to

prepare for the storm. Prayer matters.

Worship matters. Repentance matters. Reading the word matters. Learning the

voice of God. It all matters. Jeremy and Arwin

Jones have this saying in their home. It goes like this. It says this.

They say if the world around us is going great,

great. But the two of us are not okay. It doesn't

matter what's going great in the world, but if we're good

and everything around us is spinning out of control, we're going to be just

fine, guys. That's the same thing with our

God. Everything in your world could be going

absolutely in your mind, wonderfully. But if your connection with

God is off kilter, that doesn't matter.

On the same token, if everything in your world's spinning out of control

and your relationship with the Lord is intact,

you can weather every single storm that comes your

way. Preparation produces peace because you know the one

who holds it all together. The last thing that I want us to see

is Jesus stands and he rebukes the winds and waves and he says,

peace, be still. Let me ask you a question.

At what point in this story were the disciples most

terrified?

They were scared when the storm was there. But the Word says they were

terrified when Jesus calmed the storm.

Our fear has got to

supersede our fear of the storms in our life.

They were terrified and asked each other, who is this? Even

the wind and the waves obey him. There is this

awe, reverence

that we should have for the sovereign star breather.

This awe reverence that. This little thing. Listen,

that little demon that Josh talking about that's messing with me, you

ain't got nothing on this God.

In fact, not only that, he's not just gonna be there to protect me.

Let me tell you something, demon. You're gonna. You also are gonna bow at

the feet of Jesus. This God is magnificent. He is

huge. He is mighty.

They assumed the disciples, that calm water equals safety.

You guys can come back if you're back there. Jesus was

teaching his presence. His presence was

safety. So we think financial security,

predictability, comfort, clarity, control,

health, ease, stability, absence of conflict.

We think all of those things are where we put our

trust. But Scripture consistently teaches us

that true peace is not the absence of storms. It's the presence of

God. Psalm 46, 10, if you're

reading in our reading plan, you will read today, says,

be still and know that I am God.

Now we like to apply that to our lives. And you

can. That's appropriate. Be still and know I'm God. But when

you actually take that verse in context, what's

happening in that passage is the nations are at war

and God is saying, be still. I'm

God. He is so much larger.

See, when I'm in the middle of a storm, it's like that's all I can

see. I mean, if I look left, right, up, down, all I see is this

storm in front of me. Do you know how small that storm is to the

star breather? He is a God who can

hold you and hold it all together. And when you

truly understand who Jesus is, every other fear begins.

Shrink if he commands the wind,

if he commands the waves, if creation

obeys the Lord, then we must ask ourselves this question. Why

would I allow lesser things to own my heart?

Grab this. Today, your storms do not

have the final say.

Whatever it is you're dealing with today, it does not have the final say. It

has no authority. It has no authority. The

disciples thought they needed calmer waters. But what they needed was a

revelation. And if you're here in the middle of a storm, I invite you to

ask yourself this question. Is Jesus in the boat with you?

Are you out there trying to fend for yourself in the midst

of the storm? Would you stand with me this morning?

I don't know where he has the trajectory of your life.

But for the disciples, he said, we're going to the other side. And

going to the other side is what they did.

The answer to your storm is

his presence. That's it.

And so this morning, we're going to do something a little different. I would like

to ask if you are here this morning

and you're going through a storm.

If you're here this morning and you're looking for the

Lord in the middle of your storm, you're saying, lord, where are you?

If you're here this morning and you realize today

I've been weathering a storm without the Lord and

I need to invite him to be in it, those are

you. Those three things. I want you to come down front. And in

addition, one last thing. If you are a mother and

you are weary right now, you are tired,

you are worn out, you are depleted, and you just need the strength, strength

of an almighty God. I want you, any of those four things, I want you

to come right now. Come on down to the altar space.

I want to read this scripture to you as you

come.

In Exodus, chapter 33,

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

Moses is having an interaction with the Lord.

Moses said to the Lord, see, you say to me, bring up this people.

But you have not let me know whom you will send with me.

Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have found

favor in my sight. Now, therefore, I

pray to you, Lord, if I have found favor in your sight,

Moses is speaking, let me know your ways that I

may know you. The amplified version says

this. It continues. He says, I want to become

more deeply and intimately acquainted with you,

recognizing and understanding your ways more

clearly, that I may find

grace and favor in your sight. And consider

also that this nation is your people. And here's what the Lord

said to Moses. Prayer. My presence

shall go with you, and I will

give you rest. Everybody say rest.

You can rest in the arms of the

almighty God, in the shadow of his wings.

You can rest right there. Now, here's

the deal. Before I say that there are about.

Come on up here, guys, because there's people in the aisle, and I don't want

you to only halfway get God. Let's go. Come on up here.

Here's the deal. All of you out there.

Doesn't mean you're not going through a storm. Some of you are too afraid to

come up here or whatever it is. Some of you are in a good place

right now because Jesus is in your boat navigating things.

You've been in this position. One of the greatest things for

people that are in this spot to know is that they're not alone. So I

would like. I really would like every one of these people to have a

connection with. With somebody else. So if you're back there, would you come and find

somebody? Maybe you came with them, Maybe they're a friend or

somebody. But I don't want anybody left out. So come on down.

Come on down, guys. Make space. We're just gonna make a mess of things up

here. I'm good at that.

So everybody gets someone because we care about you.

But more importantly, the God of the universe cares about you. He sees you in

your struggle and your storm. Everybody has some. If you don't have somebody,

raise your hand. I want to make sure everybody's got a connection. There's some people

down here. Come on. Come on. Who doesn't have somebody to connect with

down here? Front. They're still coming. They're just blocking the way. Move forward a little

bit.

It's Mother's Day. Everybody wore deodorant. So get closer. Come

on. Okay,

okay, now look up here. If you're one of the ones that came up because

you're weary or one of those things, give me your eyeballs for a second, I'll

give them back. Look up here. My daughter Eliana

is five months old, okay? And I've had four

other children go through a stage where they're going to sleep in a crib,

okay? They're going to sleep in a crib. And my kids, when they're in

that crib, they speak the most.

It's gibberish. I don't understand what they're saying,

okay? I don't know. And, guys, sometimes what you're saying out loud

over your storm, it's gibberish. It's gibberish.

But, you know, for my daughters who are in the crib,

there's one thing that happens that is

undeniable. Unmistakable. I know

exactly what they mean. And it's when they look up at me and they do

this, because this communicates.

Daddy, get me out of here. Now.

You have a heavenly father who's willing to pick you up

right where you are. Would you, as a step of faith in your

situation, just lift your arms to a dad

beyond dads, a heavenly father who sees you,

and guess what? You might be here and not believe it. Do you know there

are moments in my life where I don't believe that this God really cares about

me because I'm human. That's my mind goes in places and the enemy lies to

me and tricks me. But by faith, you can lift your arms and he can

handle it. He can handle the gibberish.

But, God, get me out of this. Get me out of this emotional situation.

Get me out of this circumstance. Get me out of this weak

moment in my life. I need your strength. The

answer is his presence, and he will hold you. So with hands raised,

we're gonna do this song. And the people that came and joined with you,

it's not that they got something special. They just know who to point you

to. And they're gonna pray over you as we worship

right now. So let's go ahead and do this song. Brittany,

allow me to render one more

grace scripture to you. As some of you are

in tears. Maybe you've released something. Maybe you've

invited him. Maybe you don't feel any different. But you took a

step of faith. Sometimes, you know, you don't feel it. You just have to say,

I believe it. Right? Okay, here's the thing. There's another scripture,

and it says this. In his presence

is the fullness of joy.

In his presence is the fullness of joy. That

means if you're in the middle of the storm and he's

there on the boat with you, you get to experience

and tap into joy. You can tap into joy. You

can choose to have joy in the middle of every

circumstance and situation because of his

great presence in your lives. And

so raise your hand, Let me give you a blessing. Today.

You choose how you walk out of here, with or without his

presence. But, man, it's so much better when he's walking

with you. May the God and father of our Lord Jesus

Christ be present in our choices and our actions, in our

words, in our coming and going, and in the middle of every single

storm so that we can become more like our. Our Savior.

And we can experience incredible, everlasting,

eternal joy in the midst of it. In Jesus name. And the church

said. Amen. Happy Mother's Day. We love you, Springhouse.

Have a great afternoon.