How Jesus Grows Disciples

Okay, good morning, Watermark. The scripture reading comes from the book of Matthew, chapter 14.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the bulletin or on your own Bible.

Starting in verse 13, we read,

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.

But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said,

This is a desolate place, and the day is now over.

Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.

But Jesus said, They need not go away. You give them something to eat.

They said to him, We have only five loaves here and two fish.

And he said, Bring them here to me.

Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish,

he looked up to heaven and said a blessing.

Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples.

And the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied.

And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side,

while he dismissed the crowds.

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone.

But a boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves.

For the wind was against them.

And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea.

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said,

It is a ghost.

And they cried out in fear.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,

Take heart.

It is I.

Do not be afraid.

And Peter answered him,

Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

He said,

Come.

So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink.

He cried out,

Lord, save me.

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him,

O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

But when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

And those in the boat worshipped him, saying,

Truly, you are the Son of God.

This is the Word of God.

Great.

Thank you, Iris.

Let's pray together and ask God to speak to us from his Word.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit,

we gather this morning to declare your praises,

to sing and to worship you in song,

to listen to the testimonies of brothers and sisters,

to see the gospel demonstrated in baptism later,

and to hear you speaking to us from your Word.

God, we want to hear your voice, Lord.

We don't just come to fill our minds with Christian information.

We come to encounter you, the living God, in your living Word.

And so come and speak to us this morning, Lord.

Come and prepare our hearts, God.

Come and help us to see the living Christ in these pages of Scripture.

And help us to trust you, God,

in the storms of life and the challenges that we face.

God, help us to see you for who you are

and to trust you and to worship you.

Come and have your way, we pray.

God, we pray for those of us maybe this morning

that are particularly in the storms of life,

are particularly in a very difficult place.

God, won't you come to us?

Won't you come and walk to us in the storm, God,

and come and draw near to us?

We really need you, Lord, and we want to walk with you.

You know the challenges we face.

You know the waves that buffered us.

Christ, come and have your way in your life, in our lives, we pray.

In your wonderful and gracious name, amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Making mature disciples, or making mature disciple-making disciples

of Jesus Christ who impact Hong Kong for the glory of God.

I hope that if you've been part of Watermark for some time,

you'll recognize those words.

Those are our mission statement as a church.

A one-sentence summary that describes so much of who we are and what we're doing.

Why do we do the things that we do?

Why do we not do the things that other people do, other churches do?

Why do we do things the way that we do them?

What is it that we're on about?

In many ways, those questions are answered in this one-sentence summary.

We are a church which is laser-focused in its dedication and mission

to make mature disciples who will then disciple others.

And as the gospel gets into our lives, as we gospelize one another,

it will overflow into every area of our lives so that we impact this great city of Hong Kong

for God's glory and the good of our city.

You should know this.

We are not a particularly fancy church, and we're not trying to be a particularly fancy church.

We're not trying to be a particularly big church or a well-known church or the talk of the town.

We don't need our name written in lights.

That can be somebody else's responsibility.

What we are focused on, our purpose and existence,

is to help us, those of us that are part of Watermark,

to mature and grow in our faith,

and to disciple and gospelize one another so that we bless our city for God's glory.

And if you haven't worked out yet, let me tell you a little secret.

The elder pastors, we have an agenda for your life.

This is our hope and goal.

And the reason why that is the case is because we believe Jesus has an agenda for our lives.

This is Jesus' agenda for us, that we will become mature disciples of Jesus.

Remember in Matthew chapter 4, Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee or the Lake of Galilee,

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

and he called some very ordinary people, fishermen, tax collectors, ordinary people.

He says, come and follow me, which means come and be with me,

come and become like me, come and do the things that I do.

Be my disciple, my apprentice, my Talmudim.

And then later on, at the end of Matthew, Matthew 28,

Jesus says to those same disciples three years later,

Okay, you're ready, you go out and make disciples.

But unlike other rabbis in the first century,

Jesus doesn't say, go and make disciples of yourself.

You know, you become your own rabbi and make your own disciples.

You go out into all nations and make disciples of me,

baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.

Jesus sends his disciples out to go and make other disciples.

This is what Jesus has called us to do.

This is what we're on about.

When you join Watermark Church, again, I hope you realize this.

If you didn't, let me tell you.

You join a discipleship journey.

You join a family, but not just a family,

a family that is wanting to shape us and inform us and disciple us

to become the people Christ has called us to be.

On Friday night, Claire and Nikki and I were just talking about

how it's possible to be a Christian for 20 years

and yet still be a baby Christian, still be very immature.

You can have 20 years experience, but only one year of maturity.

We were just talking about how Nikki became a Christian last year

and yet just how much she has grown and what a joy that has been.

Now, all of this, what does this have to do with Matthew 14

that Iris read to us?

Well, great question.

In our passage today, we're going to see one way

how Jesus makes disciples.

How Jesus grows us and matures us

into the kinds of people that he wants us to be.

Remember Matthew 4, Jesus calls his disciples.

Matthew 28, he sends them out.

In the middle, Matthew 14, we're going to see one angle

of how Jesus grows us and matures us into his disciples.

Okay?

Now, before we dive in too much,

one of the things we should notice in this passage

is there are two stories that are very similar.

They have the same outline and the same structure.

If you've got your bulletin, you might want to open this up.

Look at how they both begin.

Both stories, the feeding of the 5,000 or the 10,000,

however many thousand there were, there were many,

and Jesus walking on the water,

they both occur in a desolate place,

a God-forsaken place.

One occurs in the wilderness.

I think it's verse 13.

The other one occurs in the storm-tossed seas.

In the biblical language,

the wilderness is always a picture of a God-forsaken place.

And when the seas are raging and storming,

it's a picture of the world and the chaos

and the evil of the world.

That's why in Revelation chapter 4,

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

remember the sea before the throne of God is crystal clear.

It's a sea like glass because God's presence there

has conquered the chaos of the world.

And so both these stories occur in a God-forsaken place,

so to speak.

Notice also how both stories begin with Jesus

retreating from the busyness of ministry

in order to spend time in prayer.

Look at verse 13.

When Jesus heard these things,

he withdrew from there in a boat

to a desolate place by himself.

Verse 23.

Or 22.

Jesus made the disciples get into a boat

and go across the other side.

After he had dismissed the crowds,

he went up to the mountain by himself to pray.

And both stories begin with Jesus retreating,

withdrawing,

to spend time with his Father,

communing with his Father in prayer.

And this is something we see throughout Jesus' ministry.

He's constantly withdrawing

from the demands of life

and the pressures of ministry

to spend time with his Father

so that when he does minister,

he does so out of a healthy soul,

out of having been close with God.

And something God's been speaking to us about as a church,

that we need to slow down.

We need to be more like Mary,

not so much like Martha.

We need to be those that commune with God.

And then, of course,

notice both stories.

Jesus performs this outrageously awesome miracle, right?

Jesus feeds 10,000 people from a McDonald's Happy Meal.

Okay?

Jesus walks on the storm-tossed sea,

a couple of hundred meters,

maybe a kilometer or so,

out in the middle of the lake.

Jesus then walks in the water

and he quietens with the word

all the wind and the waves.

He brings them into submission.

This is not just some party trick

or something a magician could conjure up,

something an illusionist could conjure up

to wow the crowds.

This is nothing less than the sovereign God

who is in control and charge of all creation.

And, of course, that's what we're meant to see,

that Jesus is the sovereign creator God.

The one who speaks the bread into being

is the one who spoke galaxies and universes

and stars into being.

The one who commanded the wind and the waves to be quiet

is the one who commanded their existence

in the first place.

And so here we have these two stories

paralleled very similar in structure

in which tells us about Jesus,

tells us about his prayer life,

it tells us that he's the sovereign creator God.

But in addition to that,

it's gonna tell us how does Jesus

form and shape disciples after himself?

Okay, that's the big idea

that I think Matthew wants us to see here.

And so, like any good sermon,

we've got three points, okay?

And so the first one is this.

How does Jesus make mature disciples?

Well, the one way he does it

is he reveals our need for him.

He reveals our need for him.

Jesus Christ would often deliberately include

his disciples into situations

which were way beyond their control,

way outside of their comfort zone,

or their ability,

so that they had to rely on him,

and doing so would learn to trust him

and worship him.

You see that?

Jesus would often bring his disciples

into a situation

in which they're way out of their league,

and in doing so,

they are forced to then realize

we don't have what it takes,

we need him,

and in doing so would rely on him

and would trust him and worship him.

Look at verse 15 and 16 in your bulletin.

It's evening time,

which means it's late afternoon in this context.

Jesus had been teaching.

The disciples noticed it's pretty late.

And so they come to Jesus and they say,

Jesus, time to wrap things up.

Let's send these people away

so that they can go and get food.

And look what Jesus says,

verse 15.

They don't need to go away.

You give them something to eat.

Where are the disciples going to get enough food

to feed 10,000 people?

Where are they going to find enough money

to buy this?

Clearly Jesus is asking them

to do the impossible.

And of course Jesus knows

exactly what he's doing.

He's not reluctant to help them.

Jesus doesn't feed them later on

because he says,

okay, fine, I guess I'll do a miracle.

We kind of left things a little late.

Jesus knows the whole time

exactly what he's doing.

He's drawing his disciples in.

He's saying, no, you do it.

So that they'll come to the place

where they realize they can't do it

so that Jesus will show them who he is.

And Jesus does the same things

a couple of hours later.

He sends his disciples out onto the lake

knowing full well a momentous storm

is coming their way.

Verse 22 says,

Jesus made the disciples go out into the boat.

And the English translation there

is not very clear.

The Greek says,

he compelled them.

He forced them.

Jesus deliberately forced them

to go in the boat onto the storm

knowing that a storm is coming.

Jesus draws them in

and puts them in a situation

way beyond their ability

so that they're forced to recognize

their need for him.

And when Jesus does come

to rescue them

and Peter says,

it's you, the Christ?

If it really has caused me

to walk on the water

and Jesus says,

come, walk to me

on the raging seas.

Obviously, it's beyond Peter's ability.

And notice how in both of these stories,

Jesus leaves things really late.

I mean, somebody needs to help Jesus

with his timekeeping.

Early on, he could have said,

listen guys, it's getting late.

Why don't you go and get a meal?

Right?

And then we can continue this tomorrow.

But Jesus leaves things

till it's too late

so that the disciples

will be in a place

where they have to trust him.

And notice in the second story,

Jesus sends his disciples

after sunset,

he goes up into the mountain

and then it tells us

that he comes to them

in the fourth watch of the night

which is between 3 a.m.

and 6 a.m. in the morning.

In other words,

Jesus sends them out after sunset

and eight to 10 hours later,

he comes to rescue them.

Jesus knows that a storm's coming.

He could have just said,

listen guys,

best you stay here tonight.

Tomorrow we'll go over the water.

But he compels them to go out.

Do you see what Jesus is doing?

He's orchestrating things

so that the disciples

are out of their depth

so that they'll be forced

to rely on him.

Friends, as you read the scriptures,

God is constantly doing this.

Remember how Moses

in Exodus chapter 3

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

comes face to face with God

and God says,

I've heard the cries of my people.

I've seen their agony.

I know what they're going through.

I'm sending you

to go and speak to Pharaoh

and deliver them.

And Moses says,

Jesus,

God,

great idea.

I'd love to go.

There's only one problem.

I can't really speak.

There's a problem here.

You're going to have to

send somebody else.

And God says,

no,

you're the exact person I want.

I will go with you.

Moses goes to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh eventually

saves,

delivers them

or sets them free

by the blood of the Lamb.

God rescues them

way beyond

what Israel could do.

They're saved.

They're coming out of Egypt.

They're rejoicing

until they come to a roadblock.

There's a sea in front of them.

There's mountains

on the side of them.

Pharaoh's army

is chasing them behind.

They're cornered

all four sides.

Where are they going to go?

God rescues them.

Remember how

God says to Abraham,

Abraham,

you're going to be

the father of many people.

All the descendants

of the world

are going to be blessed

through you.

You're going to have

descendants as great

as the stars in the sky,

the sea and the sand shore.

I'm going to bless you

and your family.

There's just one problem.

Your wife is barren

and you cannot have

any children.

What's he going to do?

Friends,

remember how God

calls Gideon

to lead the battle

against the Midianites.

There's 120,000

Midianites

camped against them

and Gideon says,

okay,

I'll get my army.

Okay,

30,000.

That's all I can muster

but that'll have to do.

30,000,

we'll take on 125,000.

God says,

no, no, no,

your army is too big.

Just whittle them down.

Okay,

they get whittled down

to 10,000.

Okay,

God,

this is not looking good.

10,000 against 120,000

but I guess

if you're with us

we can do it.

God says,

no,

your army is still too big.

Whittle them down

to 300.

Okay,

now you're 300.

Now you're ready to go.

Friends,

you see what God is doing?

He's constantly

bringing his people

to the place

where they're way

out of their depths,

where they cannot

save themselves

so that they must

rely on God,

the one who saves them.

And when we read

the New Testament,

we see the same thing.

The apostles

who accomplish

great things for God

are constantly

being led by God

to the place

where they do not

have control.

Listen to what

the apostle Paul says

in 2 Corinthians 1.

He says,

We do not want you

to be unaware,

brothers,

of the affliction

we experienced in Asia.

We were so utterly

burdened

beyond our own strength

that we despaired

of life itself.

Indeed,

we felt we had received

the sentence of death,

but that was to make us

rely not on ourselves,

but on God

who raises the dead.

Paul goes on later

in the same book

in 2 Corinthians

and he says,

I will boast

more gladly

of my weakness

so that the power

of Christ may rest in me.

For the sake of Christ,

I'm pretty happy

to be full of weakness,

insults,

hardships,

persecutions,

calamities.

When I am weak,

when I've come

to the end of myself,

that's when I know

I'm strong

because that's when

Christ's strength

is at work within me.

This is the way

that God is working.

This is how God

grows his people.

One of the greatest

Christian thinkers

of the last century,

an amazing man

by the name of J.I. Packer,

he passed away

earlier this year

in his mid-90s

or maybe late last year

and he wrote a book

based on 2 Corinthians

called

Weakness is the Way.

It's a very unusual book

and it's all

unpacking 2 Corinthians

but listen to what he says.

He says,

the way of the true

spiritual strength

leading to real fruitfulness

in the Christian life

and service

is the humble,

self-distrustful way

of consciously

recognized weakness

in spiritual things.

The Apostle Paul

demonstrated

a sustained recognition

that feeling weak

in oneself

is part of the cause

for the Christian life

and therefore

something one may

properly be content with.

In this,

Paul models

that the discipleship,

spiritual maturity

and the growth

that all believers

are called to pursue,

for all Christians,

the likelihood

is that as our

discipleship continues,

God will make us

increasingly weakness

conscious

and pain aware

so that we may learn

with Paul

that when we are

conscious of being weak

and able

out of our depth,

then and only then

may we truly become

strong in the Lord.

God is doing

and that's what God is doing.

That's what Jesus

is doing with these

disciples.

He brings them

to a situation

where they do not

have what it takes,

where they cannot do

what he's asking them

to do

so that they'll look

to him

and he will show

them who he is.

He's revealing

their weakness.

He does this

with Paul.

He does this

with all Christians.

Another great example

of this

is a man by the name

of George Mueller.

If you have heard of him,

he was a German Christian

in the 19th century,

the 1800s.

He grew up

in not a Christian home

but his dad

wanted him to be

a pastor,

a clergyman

because in Germany

in the 19th century,

if you worked

for the Lutheran church,

the state paid

your salary

and it was a very

lucrative career.

These days we become

bankers

and those days

you became pastors

and maybe still

these days

we become pastors,

right?

If you think of

celebrity pastors

online,

that's a whole

other story.

Anyway,

George Mueller.

His dad wants him

to become a clergyman

so he sends him

off to seminary

but he doesn't

give rocks

for God

and the church.

In fact,

when his mom

is dying

on her deathbed,

he's busy gambling

and getting drunk

down the road.

He was addicted

to gambling.

He's an alcoholic

as a teenager,

14 years old.

Anyway,

he goes off to seminary,

doesn't care at all

but he thinks

he's going to get

a good degree,

he's got a good

career lined up.

At the end

of the seminary,

a friend drags him

into a prayer meeting

and he encounters

the living God

just like Mark

in hospital,

right?

He confesses,

I believe in God

the Father,

I believe in Christ

the Son,

I believe in the Holy Spirit.

He falls to his knees

and his life

is turned around

and he realized

that God has called

him to ministry

but not to become

a rich clergyman,

he becomes a missionary

and so he goes

to England

and he decides

to work with

the poor,

the vulnerable,

children of society,

the orphans

and the marginalized

and he starts

educating

the poor people

of English society

and he starts

a school

and he starts

an orphanage

and by the end

of his life

he has started

120 schools

educating

120,000

children.

He pretty much

no fee

paying schools,

educated them

himself,

paid for it

largely his own way.

In addition to that

he sets up

tens of orphanages,

has 10,000 orphans

come through his care

that he feeds,

educates

and provides

for them.

He prints,

he decides

people need Bibles

so he prints

300,000 Bibles,

1.5 million

New Testaments

he prints

and distributes

to those

that don't have

Bibles

and he does this

refusing

any fundraising

efforts.

People came to

him and said

let's fundraise

and he said

no, no, no

God will provide

let's not ask

anybody for money

so he wouldn't

ask for any money.

10,000 orphans

120,000 children

in his schools

a million Bibles

in his ministry

he raised

the equivalent

of 120 million

pounds

worth of money

in today's value

without any

fundraising

no government

support.

But listen to

what George Mueller

writes

he says

we should not

shrink back

from opportunities

where our faith

may be tested.

The more I am

in a position

to be tested

in faith

the more I have

the opportunity

of seeing God's

help and deliverance.

Every fresh instance

in which he helps

and delivers me

will increase my faith.

The believer

should not shrink

back from situations

positions or circumstances

in which his faith

may be tested

but he should

cheerfully embrace

them as opportunities

to see the hand

of God

stretched out

in help

and deliverance.

Thus will his faith

be strengthened.

And we can tell

story after story

after story.

Friends this is what

God is doing here.

This is what he's doing

with the disciples.

And if you want

to take discipleship

of Jesus seriously

which if you're part

of Watermark

we hope you do

and we will help

you do that

God will do

the same for you.

He will call you

into situations

which are way

beyond your control

outside of your ability

way beyond you

in order to reveal

your need for him

to expose your weakness

so that you can come

to the end of yourself

and wholly rely

on him.

How does God grow us?

He reveals our need

for him.

Now

God does more than that.

In revealing

our need for him

he doesn't just want

to humble us

and say

be humble

suckers

realize you're just human

I am God

rah rah rah

he wants to reveal

our need for him

so that we can see

who he is.

And that's the second thing

to reveal

who he is.

In these stories

Jesus does

two things

to reveal

who he is.

We spoke about

the fact that

the miracles

reveal him

to be mighty

and sovereign

that he's the creator

God of all creation

the sovereign Lord.

But Jesus wants

to show his disciples

more than just

that he's powerful

and mighty

he wants to show them

that he is the one

true God

the creator of heaven

and earth

the sustainer

of everyone

and everything

as the catechism says

that he is

the one true God

of Israel

the God of Abraham

Isaac and Jacob.

Look at the first

story with me

in chapter 14.

Jesus takes these

loaves and fishes

and he multiplies them

into a feast

for many thousands

of people.

But in verse 19

Matthew doesn't comment

on the fish at all

he only talks about

the loaves.

Look at what he says

in verse 19

it says

then he ordered

the crowd

to sit down

in the grass

taking the loaves

and two fish

he looked up

to heaven

then he broke

the loaves

gave them to

the disciples

and they gave

them to the crowd.

In other words

he deliberately

neglects the

comment on the fish

and I think

what Matthew

is doing here

he wants his

congregation

to think back

to another time

in Israel's history

where God

fed his people

in the wilderness

with bread.

Matthew wants

us to see

that Jesus

is the God

that provided

manna in the

wilderness

for his people.

In other words

Matthew wants

us to see

just as God

provided manna

for Moses

and the people

in the wilderness

so Jesus

providing bread

for his people

here

Jesus is

Jehovah Jireh

the great provider.

But in the second

story it's even

more obvious.

Look at verse 27

with me.

The disciples

are in the boat

the wind and the

waves are buffeting

them.

Jesus comes

walking to them

on the water

and by the way

it says here

when they were

a long way off

the Greek says

many hundreds of

meters possibly

a kilometer and

a half into the

water.

Jesus wasn't just

walking on the

shore he wasn't

just walking in

water that deep

sometimes we think

maybe Jesus

walked on the

water and was

only an inch deep

Jesus is about

a kilometer in

he walks towards

them and they

are freaked out

because they

think they see

a ghost and

look at what

Jesus says

take heart

it is I

do not be

afraid.

Now again

the English

translation here

doesn't really

help us.

The Greek says

take heart

it is I am

do not be

afraid.

Do you see

where Jesus is

going?

If you're new

to church this

might be new

to you.

In the Old

Testament God

gives himself

a name.

He gives

himself a very

unusual name.

the name

that God

gives himself

is I

am or I

am that I

am.

Remember when

Moses meets

God at the

burning bush in

Exodus chapter

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

3 God

says Moses

go to Pharaoh

and tell him

God says let

my people go.

And Moses

says well there

are lots of

gods which

god is it?

Who should I

say?

And God

says tell

them that

Yahweh I

am who I

am says let

my people go.

God gives

himself a name

and the name

is this unusual

name that he

is.

It describes

his essence.

God simply

is.

He is the

one true

supreme God.

He's not just

the God of

the Jews.

He's not just

the God of

Israel.

He's not just

the God of

America or

the God of

white people.

He is the

one true God.

He's not just

the God of

ancient times.

He's not a

God limited to

a time or

geography or

space.

He is who

he is.

He is the

supreme being

of all

time,

all nations,

all countries,

all galaxies,

all everything.

He is who

he is.

He is the

absolutely

supreme being.

And his

name is

I am

Yahweh.

In fact so

important was

his name that

if anyone

abused it

they would be

stoned to

death.

God's name is

sacred.

But it's more

than that.

It's his

covenant faithful

name.

Whenever God

in the Old

Testament uses

his name

Yahweh it's

meant to

remind God's

people of his

covenant faithfulness

that when God

has spoken he

will deliver.

Friends look at

what Jesus says

here.

Do not be

afraid.

I am is

here.

He's saying

the God that

rescued his

people from

Egypt, the

God who saved

them and

delivered them

from Babylon,

the God who

for generations

has been there

for his people

is with you

in the boat.

Do not be

afraid.

Friends in

contemporary

Christianity we

think that God

rescues us from

the storms of

life as Mark

said earlier so

that we can get

back on with

our lives.

We come to

church, we say

a prayer, we sing

some songs, we

drop some money

in the offering,

God will forgive

us, he'll rescue

us from our

storms, save

us so that we

can get back to

a comfortable and

easy life.

But Jesus

wants to come

to us in the

storms of life

so that we

can see him

for who he

is.

That he will

open our

eyes to see

that he is

God and that

we are not.

That we will

be humbled to

worship him.

When Jesus

comes to us in

the storms of

life it's not

just to help

us get along

so that life

can be more

comfortable, it's

that he can

save us, that

he can rescue

us so that we

can see him

for who he

is.

And that's

what he does

here in these

stories.

He comes

to his

disciples, they're

way out of

their league, and

he says, let me

show you who I

am.

I am not just a

wise man, I'm

not just a sage, I'm

not just a good

moral man, I'm not

just a teacher, I am

who I am, I am the

eternal, uncreated,

sovereign, supreme

God, I am God.

Friends, are you

going through a

storm in life at the

moment?

some challenge that

is beyond you?

Do you feel

overwhelmed, do you

feel buffeted by the

storms and the wind

and the wave?

Jesus wants to

reveal himself to

you in that place.

He wants you to see

him for who he is.

Friends, maybe you

hear this morning

and you're not a

Christian, and things

are not going well in

your life, and you

think, where is God?

If only he cared, maybe

he would do

something.

Friends, because he

cares, he's doing

something.

He's bringing you

right into the eye

of the storm.

He's bringing you to

a place where you

cannot save yourself

so that you can see

you need him, so that

he can save you.

Friends, maybe Jesus

brought you here this

morning to save and

rescue you.

He took Mark to a

hospital bed.

He took the disciples

into the eye of the

storm.

Maybe he's doing the

same for you because

he wants to save you.

Jesus grows in his

disciples by bringing

them to the place

where they need him,

by revealing himself

finally and fully.

Thirdly, let's look,

Jesus calls us to

worship him.

Now, in Matthew's

gospel, it's not very

clear because he

doesn't say how the

crowds responded after

they'd been fed this

massive feast, but in

John's gospel, John

tells us.

They cry out, this

indeed is the prophet

who has come into the

world.

Jesus feeding the

5,000 leads to

worship.

But look at the end

of the second story.

Jesus rescues the

disciples there in the

boat.

Look at verse 33.

He quietens the wind

and the waves.

He gets into the boat

with them.

And then Matthew tells

us, those in the boat

worshipped him, saying,

truly you are the son of

God.

Up until this point in

Matthew's gospel, the

disciples have never said

that.

In Matthew chapter 4,

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

God says at Jesus'

baptism, this is my son

with whom I'm well

pleased.

In Matthew chapter 8,

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

the demons confess, you

are the son of God.

But the disciples have

never said that.

Until now.

And the reason is

because no first

century Jew would

ever think of ascribing

to another human being

divinity.

I mean, that's the

height of blasphemy.

You get stoned for

that.

No Jew would ever call

another man God.

And yet here the

disciples, having seen

who Jesus is, they

worship him.

Truly you are the

son of God.

Friends, Jesus wants

to bring us to the

place of seeing how

desperately we need

him.

Jesus wants to reveal

himself to us and then

Jesus calls us to

worship him.

You know, that's the

point of Sunday

worship, why we gather

on Sundays.

We don't just gather to

fill our minds with

Christian information.

You can do that at

home online.

You can read a book

or read the Bible.

We gather because six

days a week we are

buffeted by the storms

of life.

We are buffeted by

false truths that tell

us that life is found

in all sorts of other

things.

And we gather weekly on

a Sunday to be reminded

who Jesus is.

To be reminded how much

we need him and to

worship him.

To lift him up and to

ascribe to him that you

are God and that I am

not.

You are worthy of my

entire life.

This is what Jesus

calls us to do.

But oh friends, can't

you also see in the

story the gospel?

Can't you see how God

is revealing to us the

gospel here?

Because the gospel

tells us that we too

cannot rescue ourselves

and cannot save

ourselves.

The whole point of the

Bible is to bring us to

a place where we see

that we are desperately

in trouble.

We are not just in the

storms of life.

The storms that we

face are not just a bad

day at the office or

COVID.

We are in the storm of

God's judgment because of

our sin.

And we cannot save

ourselves.

It is utterly beyond

us.

And so the point of the

gospel is to reveal to

us that we need a

savior.

We need one who was

with the father,

communing, who left the

comfort of heaven to

come down and to be with

us.

To walk into the storm

that we were facing,

into the very wrath of

God and to take it upon

himself on the cross so

that we could be saved.

And as we look upon that

man, behold the man upon

the cross, we see him for

who he is.

We see that Jesus was not

just a good man, not just

a moral teacher, not just

a sage who said wise

things.

The point of the cross is

to reveal to us who he is

and how great need for him

and then to lead us to

worship.

Friends, at the heart of

the gospel is the

declaration we need him

for this life and for

life to come.

But at the heart of the

gospel is that Jesus came

to do that for us.

Remember Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, as for you,

you were dead in your

trespasses and sins in

which you walked in the

following the prince of

the power of the air,

enslaved to the desires of

the lusts of flesh and

under God's wrath and

judgment.

But because of his great

love for us, this God,

who loves us immensely

and his great mercy has

made us alive with Christ

Jesus.

You are saved, you are

raised with Christ Jesus

and he has made you

alive with Christ.

This is by grace, not

through works.

This is not of your own

doing.

It is a gift of God so

that no one can boast.

This is what Jesus is

doing.

He came to his disciples

in the storm.

He comes to us in the

storm so that we can see

he is the one true God

and worship him.

Friends, what about you?

Do you want to grow in

grace?

Do you want to become the

mature disciple that Jesus

is calling you to be?

Maybe Jesus is leading you

into the storms of life.

Maybe he is leading you to

a place that is utterly

beyond your control.

In his kindness, he is

bringing you to a place

where you see your great

need for him.

He wants to open your

eyes so that you can see

him, that you can cry out

to him.

That you, like the

disciples, can say,

Jesus, save me.

And then you can worship

him.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus Christ, we do

come before you this

morning and God, we

acknowledge that in your

kindness, God, you often

lead us to places that are

not always comfortable.

But because you want to

save us from the delusion

of thinking that we can

save ourselves.

You want us to see you for

who you are and to cry out

to you and to be saved.

Lord, we know that this is

not only the way into the

kingdom, this is also the

way of the kingdom.

This is the Christian life.

It's not only the way how

that we become Christians,

it's how we deliver as

Christians, constantly

dependent on you, aware of

our need for you, no longer

trying to save ourselves.

And so God, I pray for us

as a church.

Lord, no doubt almost all of

us here are facing storms of

various kinds.

For some of us, we've lost a

loved one.

For some of us, it's our

children.

For some of us, it's our

parents.

For some of us, it's at work.

For some of us, it's the

longings of our hearts.

God, for some of us, it's the

words that people have spoken

over us.

God, for some of us, it's

mental health challenges.

For some of us, it's fear

about the future.

God, every one of us are

facing the storms.

Lord, help us to not try and

save ourselves.

Help us to fall onto our

knees.

open our eyes, we pray, and

to call out to you, to

worship you for who you

are.

We pray this in your

wonderful and your

glorious name.

Amen.

I want to ask if we can take

a few minutes.

We should have a slide.

I think there's a next

slide, the response.

We should have two

questions.

What is it that God is

wanting to say to us

today?

I hope it's been relatively

clear.

If not, we can start again.

Should we go back to the

beginning?

But secondly, what does it

look like for us to

respond?

You know, when God speaks to

us, he's not just wanting to

fill our mind with

information.

He speaks so that we will

respond to him.

It's like when you have a

conversation with someone,

when someone talks, we don't

just say, okay, that's

interesting.

In order to build

relationship, we respond.

What does it look like to

respond to God this morning?

Let's take a few minutes and

reflect on that.

And then Cynthia will lead us

in a song of worship.