Summer Vibes 2 | Three Little Birds

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Good to be in church today, eh?

I'm excited.

It feels like it's been a while since I've been even in church.

It's been pretty busy for us lately.

For most of you that you know know, we had our youth camp last week.

And honestly, it was one of the best weekends I've ever been a part of, aside from my wedding day.

So it was it was up there.

And I just wanted to say just a quick like thank you to to all the support from the parents from our congregation for financially and and for praying and just being believing in this next generation and believing in us to really take care of your kids for the weekend, too, as well.

We had some rowdy games.

We had an amazing, an amazing time.

The Green Zooks, they won.

That was a green team.

Yeah.

I was rooting for them.

But on a more serious note, we you know, we were praying for that youth camp, and uh one of the things that we really felt uh to happen and and for for students to to not walk away from that camp and not experience God, to not be able to walk away from that and not get an experience that was life-changing.

And honestly, God showed up that weekend and blew my mind, and uh it was amazing.

And there was this uh there's this moment in in worship uh on Sunday.

We had a we had an awesome uh Sunday service.

Well, you guys had a Sunday service here.

It was a bit more rowdy.

Uh we almost broke the floor in the gazebo.

Uh, but uh there was this moment, and you guys talked about anthems last week.

Pastor Brody talked about uh what's the anthem, and and the anthems are kind of uh they've they've kind of died off because everybody wants to be individual and everyone wants their own voice, and everyone wants uh to kind of shy away from this idea of of one voice and one idea and kind of one vision.

And and I think that Pastor Brody talked about it last week, but there was this moment uh it was after the sermon, Ian Ian Larrett, I probably pronounced his last name wrong, but correct me if I'm wrong, Justin.

But Ian Ian was preaching, I don't know if he's here, is he not here?

Oh, he's not here.

But Ian was preaching last last Sunday, and it was like a really great message, and he uh he had talked about what happens after camp and what happens after this like experience that you you know it's really exciting and God's moving and things happen, and what do you do afterwards?

And he and he kind of presented this idea that everyone should get up if they uh want to take a step towards God in that moment.

And so it was kind of like this symbolic movement where all every every student would get up and they're I'm taking a step towards God uh this week.

And then after that, we had a time of uh just ministry and people were singing, and they sang the song uh Sinking Deep.

I don't know if you're familiar with it, but it's by Hillsong Young and Free.

And and the lyrics go like this, and it really it really blew my mind this this moment with these students.

It says, Your love so deep is washing over me.

Your face is all I seek.

You are my everything.

Jesus Christ, you are my one desire.

Lord, hear my only cry to know you all my life.

And they sang this song, but what happened was I I go up and I get handed the mic after, and I'm going to close the service, and we we kind of sang through the song enough, and the the band was amazing, and the worship was amazing, and I go up and I and I go to speak and I like can't speak.

I'm like, I'm like speechless in this moment, and I'm just looking at these students, and and the music died down as I got up and the students stopped singing, but then I I just sat there for a minute and all of a sudden they just started singing again.

And it was just, and it maybe for some of you that's like a simple moment, but it was just this this idea of this anthem that just started coming out of these students.

And and and maybe when we look at this generation, this generation coming up through high school, we think, man, they're so lost, they're so stuck on their phones, they're like zombies, and we kind of put them in this box, but they just broke out of that box, and that's what it honestly sounded like revival that morning.

It was amazing.

And uh I'm gonna talk, I'm gonna talk a little bit more about camp later on, but uh, as you heard, we played the song.

Uh it's called Three Little Birds.

You guys are familiar with that song?

A little bit.

Bob Marley wrote it.

Uh he is a Jamaican musician.

He was probably probably the fame, most famous Jamaican that to ever come out of that area, even just with music and and you know, worldwide.

He kind of put uh like the reggae style music on the map, right?

He he kind of not invented it, but he made it really famous.

And if you've ever been to like, if you've ever been to Jamaica, I've been there a few times with uh with Pastor Sean before he passed away.

Uh he took us there twice.

But this is kind of like uh aside from like the merchandise, if you've ever been there, like there's Bob Marley t-shirts everywhere, and like every single person is trying to either sell you a Bob Marley t-shirt, they're trying to get you in their taxi, or they're trying to sell you marijuana.

And uh that's just Jamaica, but the vibe of Jamaica is this song like don't worry about a thing.

Every little thing is gonna that's like the vibe of it, right?

Like, it doesn't matter if you're like 10 minutes late for things, there's like Jamaica time or island time, everybody's late for everything, and it drove me wild.

But this song, you know, this song for me, I I love this song, and this song for me, you know, it sometimes it'll come on in my car, and uh me and me and Rebecca will be, you know, maybe we had a tense day.

Maybe we had a stressful day.

Uh you're looking at me like this is gonna be stressful right now, but um maybe we had a, you know, maybe she had a bad day at work, maybe Matt had a bad day at work, and we kind of clash, but you know, like there's that all the married people probably know this, there's that like silence that happens in the car when you're driving.

It's not a good silence.

Like it's not like peace be still in this car.

It's like can the can somebody speak up?

Like, right?

Like they're just like it's like loading ammo in a in a gun and you're like ready to fire, right?

Like there's that silence, but then all of a sudden, like I'll like sit there and like pull up my phone and like pop this song on.

It's like ding ding d-do- d- like, and then you just can't help but like it just diffuses the whole situation.

You can't help but sing, you can't help but just smile.

And uh, you know, like in reality though, like I think that when we look at our life and we look at uh you know the scope of our life and things that we go through and situations that happen, maybe there's some of you that's maybe in situations right now where maybe everything's not alright, right?

Maybe everything uh is is we we just need to like the first reaction we have is I need to worry because everything's not alright, and in certain situations in our life, you know, life happens, right?

When life happens to us, there's it's kind of hard for us to sing that song, right?

It's almost like that song comes on and it makes things worse, right?

Or like you get frustrated at the song, like, everything's not alright, Bob.

Like, stop singing to me.

Um there's a story I wanna I wanna share with you this morning, and uh it kind of goes really well with the topic, but it's in Mark 4, it's verse 35.

And uh you can get out your Bibles or we have it on the screen as well.

Um this is this is kind of quite early in in Jesus' ministry, and so he he's he's kind of gone through all the steps, he's been baptized, and he he's he's he's rallied his boys together with him, he's got his disciples, he's appointed his disciples.

He's he's kind of walking.

This is like this is like kind of the beginning of his ministry, but he's in it, right?

He's he's he's kind of set foot in it.

So he's he's been preaching, he's been teaching, uh, he's getting popular.

Uh people are starting to follow him places, like he he couldn't go anywhere without a crowd gathering to him.

And and and then he started performing miracles in front of these disciples.

Okay, that's really important for us to get.

He was he was performing miracles, he was he was there was people getting healed right in front of the disciples' eyes, okay?

And so there was this day where he he had preached this big long sermon to uh like thousands of people, and he was really tired, and he had to go somewhere.

And so he says this he says, or it says, on the same day in verse 35, when evening had come, he says to them, Let us go to the other side.

And now when they had left the multitude, they had him along in the boat as he was, and other little boats were also there with him.

So people actually started following their boat.

And then it says, a great windstorm arose, and the waves started beating against the boat, and it started actually filling the boat.

So the windstorm was so bad, the storm was so bad, it started filling their boat.

Right?

And it says, but he was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.

Like, how how would you like I was we were on a boat yesterday, and like I don't know how anybody could sleep on a boat.

Like I was getting seasick just from like just like a little bit of waves on a lake.

But but he was asleep during this like crazy windstorm that was happening, right?

And so the disciples are freaking out, right?

They're losing their minds.

They're screaming, like, like, hey, Jesus, where are you?

Uh we're gonna die! Like, do you not care that we're perishing?

They started shaking him, waking him up.

And so Jesus he gets up and he's like groggy.

He's like, Oh, you guys, like, I was having a nice nap, I'm tired.

Like, and he and he walks over to the edge of the boat and he and he says to the waters, he looks at it, he says, Peace, be still.

Like the song we sing.

Peace, be still.

And then all of a sudden, the wind and the waves just stopped.

Everything was just crystal, glass.

And in amazement, the disciples are standing there like their eyes are like like wider, right?

Like, how could this, how could what who what kind of man is this?

And he turns to his his disciples and he says, like, where was your faith?

Why were you so fearful?

Do you not know who I am?

And uh the title of this message is Three Little Birds, really uh creative, I know.

Uh, but you'll you'll see along what uh along this message why I titled it Three Little Birds, and I have three points at the end of this message I want to talk to you about.

But first, I just want to talk about this idea of when we lose our peace.

Like the disciples in this in this boat, they lost their peace.

They lost their trust in the person that they should have most trusted.

And uh you might feel like this today.

You might feel like maybe in your mind, maybe not in your you're not in a literal storm, but you might be in a storm in your life.

And we go through storms where uh maybe things don't go always as planned, right?

And it happens sometimes daily, maybe there's long stretches of it and we get a break, but storms are going to come in our life.

And uh and sometimes it's hard to see the other side, it's hard to see the outcome, it's hard to see where we're going and and we lose our peace.

Would you pray with me?

In this moment, just while you're your eyes are closed, just put your hands out like you're gonna receive something this morning.

We did this at camp and I really loved it.

Um, and it's just like you're just ready to receive this morning.

And so, Father God, we just we just thank you for this morning.

We thank you for this time in where we can just worship you and sing to you, God, and and lift up our eyes off of ourselves and off of our problems to you.

And God, right now, as our hands are open, ready to receive, would you just open up our hearts, God?

Will you just soften our hearts to receive what you want to speak to us this morning?

And let it change our lives for the rest of our lives in Jesus' name.

Everyone said?

Amen.

Have you ever been in a situation?

Uh have you ever been in a situation where you know things didn't go according to plan?

Probably most of us, right?

Like no one's raising a hand.

I know that's everybody, right?

But who's out of those people, like, who's like the planner?

Who likes to plan things?

Like you go on a road trip and and you have like every gas station that you're gonna stop at, you've researched the gas prices, so you got like the best bang for your buck, right?

And you've like, you're like in Disneyland and you're like, hey, we're gonna go to this ride, and then we're gonna go to this ride at approximately 5.15.

Like, you have it all mapped out, Gord, I know that's you.

Um, like you like, you like a solid plan.

You like order, you like security in the plan, you like things going smoothly.

I'm the same way, I think.

And every everybody has that.

It brings, you know, especially to the planners though, it brings you joy when things are just like just getting checked off the list.

And uh for those of you like me, I I'm like a like a 40% planner and a like a 60%, like I just wing it.

And and I would say that I'm more on the wing it side, but for those of us that like to wing it, like we like to hang out with the planners, right?

Like, if you look at my circle of friends, it's like and my even my wife, like who I married, she's like a planner.

Like we plan things, and and the best part for me is I don't have to do anything, right?

I just get to wing it.

But I think I think like in that, I think that says something that we all, I think to some degree, every single person wants some sort of security in their life, right?

You want order, you want uh to know the outcome, especially when you buy something.

Like you don't want to waste your money, you want to know if there's you know there's what the warranty is, if it's gonna like break on the last day of the warranty, are you gonna get your money back?

Like, we like to know the outcome.

We like to have a little bit of order, a little bit of security.

And then when things go according to plan, all of us can sing that song.

Every little thing is gonna be alright, right?

Like, that's when I I I feel it.

I feel you, Bob.

Like, I can sing with you today.

Um, there's this there's this time in my life, it was actually just a I think it was like three years ago now, I was in Bible school.

Uh, the three girls right there, you were with there with me.

Uh it was my second year in Bible school in Chilliwack, and we we called it MC, but it's actually now the launch program.

And uh every year, every year we would take it like this kind of outreach tour, okay?

And uh and they actually came here to Kelowna, they they painted the upstairs, uh, they did it last year, and they do like the Sunday service, and that's kind of like the feel of what we do in the outreach tours.

And so we go to different places like Kelowna, Victoria, and uh, and on this particular trip, we were going to California, like really hard, like we're really suffering for the Lord going to California, right?

Um but so we're our first stop was uh you know out of Chilliwac to Medford.

We were meeting the directors down there, they were actually in Disneyland taking a little break before we had this kind of two-week endeavor of serving and and kind of just going hard.

And so uh I had got my bus license, and uh and and so he got me to drive, and we left at like two in the morning, and it was ridiculous.

And but we you know the driving was fine.

Like I started to get used to it, all the training I took, um, and I had trained in like a big school bus, so like this little shuttle bus was like small and it had a trailer on it, and so it was pretty easy, it was relatively good, like everything was going fine, everything was going according to plan.

And we're driving and driving and driving.

I don't know exactly how long it is to Medford, but we were about two hours outside of Medford.

Okay, and and and something something went horribly wrong.

And uh before it actually, you know, the the chaos took place, we started, it was kind of like this this big uh mountain pass that we were going through, and so we started ascending this hill and and we're pulling a trailer, and Rebecca, my wife, was actually in the van.

She wasn't my wife at the time, uh, but we weren't allowed to date, it was good, but um we waited.

Yeah.

But she was driving the van behind us, and so we're we're kind of like just slowly going up this hill, and everything on the in the in the in the whole trip before this was fine until we get to this hill, and it's like all of a sudden the van or the bus just starts going like this, like like shaking violently, and I can feel it in the steering wheel.

Like people thought I was it, it felt like we were driving on like you know those rumble strips on the side.

That's what it felt like.

And so I'm like, okay, like this is getting a little sketchy.

Like, is this just the roads in America?

Like, are they just worse than Canadian roads?

Uh, and of course I'm a guy, I'm not gonna stop.

Like, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna stop and check.

Like, we're almost to the top of this hill.

The next rest stop, we'll we'll we'll check it out, right?

And if it stops within the next 10 minutes, we'll be good.

But it's like it's getting worse and worse and worse, and it's like and and no one else notices, right?

Because it's just like, well, we're just in America and the roads are bad, and everyone just kind of goes along with it, we're on a rumble strip, maybe, and or the bus is just old, right?

We called it Betty the Yeti.

It was it was a really, yeah.

Uh but so we get we get up this hill, right?

And then all of a sudden we get to the top of the hill and and the vibration and the shaking stops.

I'm like, oh thank God.

I you you you fixed it, Jesus, thank you.

Like, it just fixed itself.

Like, that was the best feeling.

And then we start coming down the hill, and uh, to give you a little picture, uh most of you have maybe heard me preach before.

Everything happens when I'm in a vehicle, everything bad happens to me when I'm in a vehicle, but we come down this hill and it's fairly steep, it's fairly long, and and and at the end of this hill, there's like a straight stretch.

Okay?

And so we we come down the hill, the shaking's not it's not happening, we're just kind of coasting, and uh, we're going about 110k down this hill.

We get to the bottom, and and I kid you not, like all of a sudden, like we just get to the like just to the straight stretch, as soon as we touch the straight stretch, the bus just starts going like this.

Like fish tailing.

And I'm like white knuckled on this like steering wheel, like my my my the blood just like leaks from my my head.

I'm just white, right?

Like my I am not even breathing, I'm just holding my breath, and I'm just trying to like, I'm trying to hold the bus, and it's literally the whole entire bus is going like this, and we're all over the road.

And Logan Logan was with us, he's like, he's like thinking to himself, I remember asking him after, he's like, Man, this is not the time to show off Malachi.

Like we have a lot of people on this bus, but I like seriously, the scariest moment of my life, and I'm and I'm and I'm and I'm trying to use the steering wheel to try to like correct us, but nothing's happening.

Like the steering wheel just gets looser and looser, and and we just start going like this like the whole bus, just fishtailing.

And it's like the stuff that's going on in my mind is like, are we gonna die?

Like, I'm I'm seriously thinking, like, this is it, like we are going to die.

Like, this is is this it, God?

Like, I'm staring at him like I don't have a wife yet.

Like, you promised, right?

And I and these are the things going through my mind.

And all the training in the world that I could have taken couldn't have prepared me for this moment.

Right?

It didn't matter.

I lost my peace.

Have you ever lost your peace?

Have you ever been in a situation where we talked about where everything's not gonna be alright?

I don't agree with you, Bob.

It's not alright.

It's not going to be alright, and I don't see it getting better.

I'm going to lose it.

I I I don't feel safe.

Or maybe you're in a situation where the pressures of life are coming on you, and it happens.

And things in your life might go sideways or or or you know, life just happens, right?

Life happens.

And maybe we feel like like like in that situation where you're driving along a road and everything, you planned it all accordingly, and then all of a sudden something happens, and it's like, I didn't foresee this happening.

I could have never guessed that this would have happened to me.

All your plans go out the window.

Ever been in a situation like that?

Maybe rent is coming out the next day and your bank account's zero, and you're like, What do I what do I do?

Or uh, you know, I need to pay rent, like, or you know, this happens to me all the time where I fix a problem in my vehicle and the engine light comes back on.

It's like, ah! Like I just want to throw that thing in the garbage, right?

Like, or when you get laid off from work, or you know, real talk for myself, like when I was in grade 10 when my family you know blew apart, I was left with this decision which house am I gonna go to for Christmas?

Right?

I had lost my peace in that situation.

Maybe, maybe your husband or your wife or family member is in the hospital, and you just feel completely helpless.

When things don't go as planned, when when the storms of life come, it's not it's not like if they come.

Like it's it's when the storms of life come.

And our peace can very easily just go out the window, it feels like.

Something happens and it's like it's gone.

It was like it was never there.

Why is that?

Why is that?

And I think that we need to ask the question like, what does our peace look like?

What does peace look like for you?

What peace are you holding on to?

And I think that uh if we have a few of those pictures, I think that for some of us, peace is like a quiet house.

Right?

Like the kids are in bed, like they're not in your hair, like driving you mental.

Like that's like that's peace.

Like I don't have kids yet, but I I know I've heard stories, right?

Um that's why we're waiting, right?

Maybe, maybe peace for you is living in Kelowna and you go to the beach after church, right?

And they or you're sitting on the sunset and It's like this beautiful picture, and the birds are chirping, and it's just peace.

That's my peace.

That's where I go to escape.

Or maybe for some of you, maybe you noticed my outfit today.

I was kind of inspired by the new series of Stranger Things.

Um, forgive me.

But maybe for some of you, peace is like is binge watching your favorite show on Netflix.

Maybe it's your escape, right?

Maybe for some of you it's how much money you made this week.

Maybe for some of you, it's how big your house is.

Maybe for some of you, it's the car you drive.

Maybe for some of you that's that's that relationship that you're holding on to.

Or you say stupid things like, oh, he completes me.

Like, he's my security, you know?

He's my bank account, right?

Like, we say stuff like that, and and and then all of a sudden something happens and it's like, that person's gone.

What are you gonna do?

What does peace look like for you?

And I think peace for the disciples was it was predictable weather, right?

It was things going as planned.

It was it was Jesus said this.

He said, We're going to the other side, okay.

Well, nothing bad can happen in order for us to get there.

So that's my peace, and that's the peace they held on to, right?

And they're, I think their peace is kind of like our peace sometimes.

We lose it.

And they lost it.

They lost it.

Jesus says, get in the boat.

We're going to the other side.

So they get in the boat with Jesus, and then the storm hits, and the disciples are just like, like, when you think about it, you think about it, like, think about who these guys were.

Think about the disciples, where they came from.

Jesus literally walks up to them and they're like, they're fishermen.

This is their way of life.

Right?

They this is how they get food on the table is they live in boats and they go out on the sea and they've probably experienced a storm or two.

But you see, this isn't a normal storm.

This is this is this is more extreme.

Right?

And it terrifies the disciples to the point where they don't even know, no training in the world could have prepared them for this moment, and they lose their minds.

And and it's not even that, like, hey, Jesus, I think, I think the boat's thinking, I think we're going, it's we are going to die.

Like, their peace is like gone.

Right?

And Jesus is sleeping during this whole storm.

Like, it's incredible.

I wish I could sleep like that.

We're going to die.

The peace of everything being planned, the peace of everything going according to plan is gone.

The disciples, I think, in this in this in this passage, they really lost, they lost their sight of what was right in front of them.

They didn't realize that all along that that peace was a person.

And peace had actually told them, hey, we are going, not, or maybe going, we are going to the other side.

You know, regardless of what happens from A to B, peace was a person that told them, hey, we're going to the other side, and they didn't realize what was in their boat.

Who was standing in their boat.

And I think the reason why we lose our peace so easily, I think why we get thrown off so easily is because we have the wrong kind of peace.

We're holding on to the wrong kind of peace.

We're looking for the tangible.

We're looking for what the what I can hold on to physically, and it's the wrong kind of peace.

Our view of peace is misinformed.

And I think in order for us to get past this, our our our view of peace needs to change.

Our view, what we see as peace, needs to change.

And this is what this is what uh peace with God looks like.

Think of that picture of the waterfall.

Thank you.

I made this slide, it's really great, I think.

Um, but you see this picture, it's an old picture, it's kind of like dingy looking, it doesn't look super great, and and you would think you would think that that's not peaceful to you.

Like that that isn't like inspiring peace inside of me.

That actually makes me think of like the rainstorms in Chilliwac, right?

Chilliwack's beautiful.

But like some of you might think this is a cool location, like I'd like to hike that, but like it's not peaceful.

Nothing about that tells me, oh, that's that's a nice place to sit with your family and have a picnic right under that waterfall, you know, and the lightning in the back, like let's like go swimming and get struck by lightning.

Like that's that's not what you think about.

But if you look close enough in the next slide, next slide.

If you if you I I can barely see it from here.

So you I that's why I circled it.

But it's there's literally, there's a little dove sitting inside there.

And now you're thinking, like, did this dove like accidentally like fly in there, or like when the when the water was down or calm, and then all of a sudden it's like like a storm hits, and this dove's like, like, oh my goodness! Like, why did I come here?

He's not doing that.

Right?

The storm is literally like it's coming down, and what is he doing?

He's resting.

He's just chilling in there.

Like that's not the most, like that's not the best place to sit, but it's this is what peace with God.

This is what peace with God looks like.

He's resting.

Our point of view, our point of it needs to change.

What does peace look like to you?

And Jesus said this in in John 16, 33, he says, These things I have spoken to you, and then he goes on to say this this is pivotal, this is what we need to get, that in me you may have peace.

And then he goes on to say, in the world you will have, you will, not not if, but you will have trials and tribulation.

But be of good cheer.

Right?

You can almost hear Jesus saying it like, you'll have peace in me.

You're gonna have troubles, but be of good cheer.

Good luck, right?

That's what it kind of feels like sometimes.

But he says, be of good cheer, because I have overcome the world.

See, Jesus doesn't promise the absence of pressure, he doesn't promise the absence of hard days, he doesn't promise the absence of trials.

This is why sometimes the prosperity message that's been kind of bouncing around the prosperity gospel really bothers me.

Because there's this thought that goes around that says, well, your life isn't looking good, and your life things are happening to you because you're not doing A, B, C, D.

Things are happening, or your finances are struggling because, but you didn't tithe.

Or, or hey, you're sick because there's something going, is there something going on in your life?

Is there some sin going on?

But that's what people are saying, and that's that's that is not the gospel.

I'm sorry.

I can't stand it because Jesus actually promises us that sometimes you're gonna have financial trouble.

He actually promises us that, hey, you might actually have a fight with your wife once in a while, and it might get hard, or you might actually have a bad day, your car might break down, you might lose a tire on your bus that you're driving 40 people down the road.

You might come close to death, but I've overcome the world.

Don't worry.

You can have if you stay in me, if you stay in me, if you stay close to me, this over here can't touch you.

You're gonna go through it, but it can't destroy you, it can't wreck you.

He also says this, he says in John 14, 27, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives, I give it to you.

The world can't give you peace.

There's nothing in this world that can give you peace, it can give you that sense of release.

It's a temporary release, it's a temporary, like the pressure can be released for a second, but then the next day or the next month or the next year, it's gonna come back.

And you're gonna be uneasy.

And those things that you you sought after and those things that you you strive after that you thought gave you peace are gonna actually leave you worse off than before.

He says, Don't let your heart be troubled, don't be afraid, don't let it get to you.

I have overcome it.

See, the storm, the storms of life were never meant to destroy you.

They were not sent because you did something.

It's called life.

I don't know if you've ever done it before, but it happens.

It just like it's just the way things happen, right?

The storm was never meant to take you out.

The storm was never actually even meant to belittle you, it was never even meant to discourage you.

It was never meant to destroy you.

The storm is there to ask you a question.

What kind of peace are you holding on to?

What kind of peace?

What's your view of peace?

The storm is also there to identify where you're really at.

And that's what happened to the disciples, right?

He Jesus gets up and he rebukes the storm, and it's like, you would think that he would applaud the disciples, like, thank you for crying out to me.

Like, you were in trouble, you cried out to me.

Like, good job, guys.

He turns around and he says, You guys, what happened?

What's wrong with you?

Where is your faith?

And I'm sitting here, I'm like, I would have done the same thing.

Like every single time.

Like, give me like 10 million options, and I would have picked, I would have just screamed after Jesus and woke him up because it's like, I'll just hold on to him like a life raft, right?

Like he's not sinking.

But I would have done the same thing, and it bothered me for the longest time until I realized that the storm was not meant to destroy them.

It was not meant to discourage them.

It was to ask them a question.

Don't you remember who I am?

Where is your faith?

Is another way of saying, hey, don't you do you forget?

Did you forget who's I'm standing right here?

Like, do you forget who I am?

Do you forget what we just went through?

Did you forgot what I said?

Why didn't you follow my lead?

And I'm gonna ask, I'm gonna ask Bernice to come up here really quick, and I'm gonna be closing out.

And to finish to finish that story for you guys, I know you guys have been sitting on the edge of your seat.

And what happened to that bus?

What happened to the bus?

You guys are gonna start shouting at me.

You're gonna start pillaging.

Tell us.

Uh but so, anyways, we're back in that, come with me to the bus.

We're in we're in the bus, and the thing is, everyone's just like moving in their seats, right?

Uh and we're shaking back and forth.

And then uh, you know, in the middle of that fear, in the middle of that like terrifying moment, you know, I remembered, okay, we gotta somehow slow down, right?

Because otherwise we're gonna flip and start rolling.

And so I just start like my hands are like this, and no one else knows what's going on.

I think there's like a there's like a few people sitting behind me, like kind of like looking at me, and they're like, he looks really like sick.

Like he's just white, right?

And I started pumping the brakes, right?

I'm like, oh Lord, I'm like speaking under my breath, just like praying, God, please please save us anywhere.

I'm pumping the brakes, but then it was like this moment where God, I felt like God's hands just came down and went like this and just grabbed the sides of that that bus.

And as I was pumping the brakes, we're slowing down, and I'm trying to like, I'm moving it, moving the steering wheel, but I have no steering.

I couldn't have done it, I couldn't have moved us, and and and it was like this hands just came and grabbed us and just started guiding us to the side of the road.

It came to a slow stop.

And I'm like still like shaking, right?

Holding on.

I can't even breathe.

And everyone's like, What why are we stopping?

What happened?

What happened?

And and I'm and we all kind of look out the window, and literally the wheel from the back wheel is rolling away.

It's rolling, like it rolled, like it kept rolling, like it was rolling in the ditch and it kept going.

And my buddy Ben, he like, he like open, he's like, open the door! He like opens the door and starts sprinting after the tire.

I'm like, what good is it gonna do to try to put the tire back on?

It's broken.

It like snapped the lug knots off.

That was the most terrifying moment of my life.

And maybe, maybe you're in a situation where you feel that same way.

Your life is just like, when is it gonna flip?

I don't know when when I'm gonna lose it.

I don't know if I'm gonna make it.

Maybe not physically, but maybe in your in your heart, maybe mentally.

You feel like I can't go another day.

You feel like you just need to quit.

There's just so much pressure of life.

And maybe you came here as like a last resort this morning.

Maybe some friend tricked you into coming to church.

But I'm here to tell you that the storm isn't gonna break you.

He's gonna swoop in at the last moment.

Like he grabbed that bus.

I've got it.

It's okay, I got it.

I have three thoughts just to close this morning.

These are the three little birds that I want you to remember.

And when the storms of life happens, we need to number one remember what he said.

Remember what he said.

The disciples got into the boat, we read it before the storm, Jesus says, What?

Let us cross over to the other side.

What did he say to you?

What has he been saying to you?

What has he said to you?

What were those moments in in I call them my moments, like these little flags that I stick in the ground, where all through my life, you know, whatever I've been through, whatever way the life, my life has taken me, whatever path has gone on, I have these moments where I've stuck a flag in the ground and I was like, that's where God met me.

And he told me that this is gonna happen, or he told me, hey, hold on, hey, I've got this, hey, it's gonna be okay, or where he prophesied over my life, something that I never could imagine happening.

What are those moments?

What did he say to you?

Maybe, maybe you feel like God doesn't even speak to you.

But there's this thing called the Bible, and if you don't have one, I think you should get one.

And if you have one and you don't read it, I think you should read it.

Because this is this is one of the main ways that God speaks to us.

Right?

And and the scripture might be thousands of years old, but we're talking about it today like it's it's just happened yesterday.

It's so relevant to today.

And we need to be familiar with this so that when things come, we can encourage ourselves.

Right?

When when health issues come up, what does it what does it say?

In Isaiah 54, it was the prophet, he was he was prophesying that Jesus was going to come and he was gonna take our sin, and then it says, by his stripes he was whipped.

It says, by his stripes I'm healed.

So you take that and you can pray that over yourself.

Pray that over your life.

When when anxiety hits, because it will, and it has, and it's and it's plaguing this generation, it's plaguing this world.

It says in Philippians 4, 6, do not be anxious for everything.

Do not be anxious about anything in every situation by prayer and petition.

Thanksgiving.

Present your request to God.

When fear hits, in 2 Timothy 1 7 it says, For God has not given you a spirit of fear.

He hasn't tricked you into giving you the spirit of fear.

He's actually giving you a spirit that has power and it's of love and it's a sound mind.

We need to recall to remembrance what he said, what he said to us, what this says.

What are those moments in your life?

Number two, we need to remember who is in our boat.

Who is in our boat?

And not even, like for the disciples, not even like two chapters before this, they were witnessing miracles take place.

They were witnessing Jesus healing people that had been plagued with sickness for their entire life, and right in front of the eyes of the disciples, they're seeing Jesus heal people.

Like he's not a normal guy.

Like they quit their jobs to go and follow this dude.

Like there was something about Jesus that drew them to them.

And then immediately, when they get in the boat and the storm happens, they forget who they were following.

Who was in their boat the entire time with them?

And I think that I think we do this all the time.

I do this all the time as a Christian, where maybe life is going great, and I got money in my bank account, and it's like, I got this God, like I don't I don't need you to intervene right now.

I think I'm doing pretty well, and then all of a sudden the engine like comes onto my car, I'm like, ah! Again.

Or I get into a fight with Rebecca, and it's like, my life is over! Right?

I'll be honest with you, like when I was handed this job, and I got I got called into this into this ministry when Sean kind of handed the mic to me to be the the next youth pastor.

I was I was thinking in my mind, I had all these these things that were spoken over me that you're gonna do great, things are gonna happen.

Like there was people prophesying that there was gonna be an explosion wherever you know God took me, and I was like, I was holding on to that, and I was like, this is awesome! And I and I went head first into this ministry, and I was praying, and I was seeking God, and I was excited, but then everything just started to shrink.

Our youth ministry went from like 70 kids, 80 kids to like 30, 40.

I know it's not about numbers, but my my brain didn't really match it up.

It didn't it didn't match up to what okay, well, numbers can mean influence, the numbers can mean like power, and and and it can be amazing, and God wants to move through this earth, so he has to get numbers to get people.

And so I'm like, well, what's what's happening?

Why is this shrinking?

It feels like we're going backwards, God.

Where are you?

And I remember just sitting there thinking, I've prayed, I've fasted, I've I've done everything right, but something's not clicking, something's not happening, and I'm and I'm sitting there and I'm frustrated.

I'm on, I'm being honest with you, I was frustrated.

And I'm sitting there and I'm like, I'm like writing out sermons and I'm like praying like God, just move, and like it feels like no one's even listening.

Where are you, God?

It feels like you're sleeping.

Why are you sleeping in my boat?

Wake up.

And it's like God standing there, he's like, I've never left you, man.

And it was a testimony this weekend.

My before I before I say that and move on, follow the leader is the third one.

Follow the leader is my third point.

In the middle of the storm, Jesus falls asleep.

Which is to say to me, He's not worried about it.

Right?

Like, I think the disciples, you know, they they did their best.

But the best thing they should have done is just lay next to Jesus and take a nap.

Like, like he's not going in, like, he's not sinking.

Like, so I mean this boat will probably break apart, but I guess if we just hold on to Jesus, like he'll probably float and fly away, right?

Right?

Their best bet would have been just to lay down and stop freaking out and be like, I guess this is what's happening.

I'll just do what Jesus is doing.

Like, is it over yet?

No?

Okay, go back to sleep.

Oh Lord, help me.

Like, that's what that's what the disciples should have done, and that's what sometimes God is calling us to do.

And what that means is us getting ourselves out of the way, and actually trusting in his ability and and me not trusting in mine.

It's not about me, it has nothing to do with me.

I'm just the vessel that happened to be here when Brody gave me a call, phone call, and I was available.

Right?

Follow the leader.

And sometimes it sucks.

Sometimes it really sucks trying to trust in something that we don't see.

Right?

But uh this this last weekend, this is where I'm where I'm gonna close.

This last weekend, God, you know, he he spoke to me and he said, Hey, like I want you on Saturday night, I want you to talk about this.

And I was like, No, like I have never talked about that.

I I don't know what I don't know a lot about this topic in particular.

And he's he's uh he was telling me he wanted me to talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And that he wanted to fill kids with his his Holy Spirit and to move in his Holy Spirit.

And I'm like, and I'm sitting there like, I barely know what it all means.

And God's like, I want you to speak about this.

And so I'm like, well, I'm not prepared.

He's like, well, get prepared.

I'm like, no.

So I'm like, I'm like, I'm like sitting there on this is on Thursday.

This is the day before camp happened.

And I'm like, man, I've already got my other message prepped.

Okay, well, what's the worst gonna happen?

And I and I started, I started researching and kind of looking into it, and I and I would, I would I sometimes I'd like to watch sermons so I get some ideas and okay, oh I can I can figure that out.

And I watched all these actually like four sermons on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and like how the Holy Spirit works, and and all of them, you know what I learned?

All of them disagreed with each other.

I'm like, really?

Like these well, like well-known speakers are like one guy who was like for sure, like this, this, this happens, and then boom, like this is like the formula guy, and then there was this other guy over here that was like, I've been a pastor for like my entire life, and I still don't understand fully the Holy Spirit because it's sometimes it's a mystery.

And I and if I'm honest, I would read through the New Testament and I'd be like, well, I I don't know if it's like the anointing, the filling, the baptism, like what happens?

Like, do they speak in tongues?

Do they do they just start prophesying?

Like, what happens?

I don't know how to explain this, and meanwhile, I have to explain this idea, this really like hard concept that sometimes even splits churches.

I have to explain this to a bunch of youth kids that that sometimes when I explain salvation to them, they're confused.

And I'm confused.

So, anyways, ready or not, here comes Saturday, and and our guest speaker just finishes it up, and then and I'm sitting there and I'm sweating.

I'm sweating, I'm terrified, fear has taken over me.

And I'm sitting there, and some of you that were with me probably couldn't know it, but I was actually, I was terrified.

I was like, what and these thoughts are running through my head.

What happens if if nobody responds?

What happens if no kids stand up?

What happens if if if if all these kids have already been baptized in the Holy Spirit and they're like, well, we've you know, we've all done it, so we don't need to, right?

Like, what what would happen if if you know like the winds come in and rip off the tarps and blow things down?

And it literally happened.

Um but what would happen if no one responded?

And I'm sitting there insecure, terrified.

And I walk up to the to the mic and I grab the mic and I'm like, here we go.

Like, uh and I looked at my notes, I'm like, don't need those, because they don't make sense.

And I opened my my Bible and it had like I had like these little sticky notes in here just for like safekeeping, just to protect me and help me if I got really nervous, and I just started speaking, and I just started, I just opened my mouth, and God just like started putting words in it, and it was stuff I I I didn't rehearse it, I didn't know.

I left those sermons and trying to like study for it confused, up until that point where God's like, no, I'm gonna I'm gonna speak and you're gonna just open your mouth.

You're gonna get out of the way.

And what happened was God honestly, like I've never been a part of a service like that where there was like nine, I would say 99, if not a hundred percent of the kids were were lifting their hands and just there was tears flowing, and and there was there were students that were getting filled with the spirit, and there was there were students that came up to me after, like, I spoke in tongues for the first time.

I'm like, that's amazing.

And there were other students where the the gifts of the spirit were getting awakened and then we were getting woken up at night.

It was all that night.

Seth, where is he?

His he had he walked into that camp with a broken collarbone, with a he had a sling, and then after the service, he walks up in his arms around Sam Bell, and I'm like, and I just like I was like, what?

Like I've had a broken collarbone, you can't do that.

Like you can't move it.

And it was healed.

Like the kids were like prophesying over each other.

Like two years of just grinding it out and feeling that you didn't get any traction and it affected all to that moment, all to that moment where God just like it was all worth it.

It was all worth it for that moment.

Even if one kid responded, honestly, but God was like, no, I'm gonna start something this weekend.

There's a kid.

He texted me on his dad's phone.

He's like, I smashed my phone.

I'm like, oh man, because I was just gonna meet with him, and he's like, he's like, I'm like, why did you what happened?

Were you biking?

You know, he's like God told me to break my phone and get rid of the idol in my life.

And I'm like, and it was these students that I've never even seen respond to anything throughout the year that were resistant to anything that we had said in youth group that were standing up there weeping.

Like, that's God.

There was no explanation other than God.

Would you bow your heads with me?

And maybe you're in this place, I want to give this opportunity.

Maybe you're in this place and you're in this room and you you've never experienced that peace that we're talking about.

You never experienced that freedom that that Jesus gives or the life of Jesus gives.

And you're sitting there and you're saying, I want peace, I want real peace in my heart, I want real peace in my life.

I've been going through struggles, I've been going through storms, and I and I don't I don't know how to get through this.

I don't know, I don't want to go another day.

Maybe you're here and you've never experienced that peace.

And you want to, and you want to this morning, God's arms are open to you this morning.

And God wants to fill you with his spirit.

He wants to change your life this morning.

If that's you, I just want to give that opportunity.

I don't ever want to walk away from a moment like this and and not have an opportunity where where someone can make that decision for the first time.

So if you're here and it's your you you want to make that decision this morning to follow Jesus, you want to commit your life to him.

I just want to know if you're here.

Just raise your hand if you be so brave.

No one's looking around.

No one's looking around.

Just want to give a moment here.

You want the peace that Jesus promises, not the world.

This morning.

I want to pray for the second group of people that maybe something that just resonated with you this morning where you are going through struggles that life is happening and it's and it's hard and the pressure is real.

And you just want to release this morning.

You want to give those things that you thought were peace to God.

And this morning, he wants to give you his peace.

If if there's anybody in this room that feels that way right now, whether you're Christian or not, just just bump up your hand.

Just for a second.

Thank you.

Thank you all across the room.

You just want the peace that God promises in this moment.

I'm gonna pray for you.

Father God, we just thank you.

We just thank you for your overwhelming love.

That you sent your son to die for us so that we could have life.

We could have life more abundantly.

And God, when the storms of life come and they will come, God, and some of you in this room are just facing hard days and they're facing pressure.

God, we just release to you that peace that we thought was peace.

We released to you, we we asked for forgiveness for holding on to something that you didn't want us to have, for something that we reached out to because we thought it would help.

But God, we release that to you right now.

We we ask for your spirit to come in this room right now and begin filling your kids with peace.

Filling your children in this room with your peace right now.

God, the peace that maybe doesn't look like what we thought.

That's there in the middle of the storm, that's there in the middle of the pressure, that's there in the middle of the worst day of my life, and the best day.

God, we just ask for that peace that we would just recognize that you are standing with us.

We would remember what you said, we would remember who's in our boat, and we would follow the leader.

Thank you, God.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you for listening.

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