Recognizing God in the Storm

Good morning everybody.

Let's start our worship with a word of prayer.

God, thank you for this morning and thank you for your family that has gathered here.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to gather in this country, where we have the freedom to do that.

Thank you for your Holy Spirit that we just invite into this place and to cover us and encourage us and give us the strength that we need to go out into the world and share your word.

Give us the words to say to the people that need need to go out into the world and share your word.

Give us the words to say to the people that need to hear them Thank you for your son and what he did for us, and it's in his name we pray.

Amen.

I could just sit.

I could just sit and wait for all your goodness.

Hope to feel your presence, I could just stay.

I could just stay right where I am and hope to feel you, hope to feel something again.

I could just sit.

I could just sit and wait for all your goodness, hope to feel your presence.

I could just stay.

I could just stay right where I am and hope to feel you, hope to feel something again.

I can hold on.

I can hold on to who I am and never let you change me from the inside.

I can be safe.

I can be safe here in your arms and never leave home, never let these walls down.

You have called me higher.

You have called me higher.

You have called me deeper, and I'll go where you will lead me, lord, you have called me higher.

You have called me deeper, and I'll go where you will lead me, lord.

You lead me, lord, you lead me, lord.

I can hold on.

I can hold on to who I am and never let you change me from the inside.

I could be safe, I could be safe here in your arms and never leave home, never let these walls down.

You have called me higher, you have called me deeper, and I'll go where you will lead me, lord.

Lord, you have called me higher.

You have called me deeper and I'll go where you will lead me, lord.

You lead me, lord, I will be yours, lord, I will be yours for all my life.

So let your mercy light the path before me.

I will be yours, lord.

I will be yours, for all my life.

So let your mercy light the path before me.

You have called me higher.

You have called me higher.

You have called me deeper and I'll go where you will lead me, lord.

You have called me higher.

You have called me deeper and I'll go where you will lead me, lord.

Lead me, lord.

You have called me higher.

You have called me deeper and I'll go where you will lead me, lord.

You have called me higher.

You have called me deeper, and I'll go where you will lead me.

Lord, you lead me, lord, you lead me.

Lord.

Jesus, you're my firm foundation.

I know I can stand secure.

Jesus, you're my firm foundation.

I put my hope in your holy word.

I put my hope in your holy word.

I have a living hope.

I have a future.

God has a plan for me.

Of this I'm sure.

Jesus, you're my firm foundation.

I know I can stand secure.

Jesus, you're my firm foundation.

I put my hope in your holy word.

I put my hope in your holy word.

Your word is faithful, mighty in power.

God will deliver me Of this, I'm sure.

Jesus, you're my firm foundation.

I know I can stand secure.

Jesus, you're my firm foundation.

I put my hope in your holy word.

I put my hope in your holy word.

Amen, I am mine no more.

I am mine, no more.

I've been born with blood.

I am mine, no more.

Jesus is my Lord.

Jesus is my Lord and he rules my life.

Jesus is my Lord.

He will come again.

He will come again.

He will come again and He'll take me home.

He will come again.

I am mine, no more.

I am mine, no more.

I've been born with blood.

I am mine no more.

All right.

Our scripture reading today comes from Matthew 14, verses 28 through 31,.

Matthew 14:28–31

And it says Lord, if it's you, peter replied tell me to come out to you on the water.

Come, he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus.

But when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out Lord, save me.

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him and said you of little faith, why did you doubt?

Bow with me, please.

Father, we thank you for this morning.

We thank you for this church family and their love for you.

We thank you that you are a God that is with us, even in the storms of life.

In Jesus' name, all God's people said amen.

In 2001, john Ortberg wrote this book that became a bestseller, an award-winning book, and the title of it is If you Want to Walk on Water, you've Got to Get Out of the Boat.

And, of course, it's based on the story we know in the Bible where Peter walked on the water and, like I said, it, won the category.

You're familiar with that story, maybe, and we're going to look at it today.

Here's a little background Jesus had just found out that his cousin, john the Baptist, was beheaded, was killed, and Jesus wanted to get away to grieve.

He wanted to get away just to spend some time along with God and just grieve the fact that his cousin, who was also preparing the way for Jesus, was killed, was murdered by the king.

He went across the lake, he got there, but when he got there, a crowd of followers had already showed up there and they were wanting Jesus to teach and heal and do all types of things.

And so Jesus begins teaching them.

He teaches until the evening.

It gets to the point where they're hungry.

Jesus says we need to feed them.

The apostle said we can't feed all this crowd and Jesus said well, yeah, we can.

And he took the five loaves and two fishes and he ended up feeding 5,000 men, plus the women and children.

After Jesus fed all of them and fed them the bread, he sent everybody home.

He sent the apostles on a boat and then, only then, did he go alone upside the mountains and pray and spend time.

He took his personal feelings.

This is what ministry does Ministry to put your personal feelings aside, to do what needs to be done to help others.

And so, after all of that was done, he goes and he prays.

About three o'clock in the morning he's through praying.

He starts walking on the water.

He starts walking out to the water.

The apostles are in the storm.

They're trying to roll the boat in the storm.

It's all bad.

They've been out there trying to roll for hours.

It's about three o'clock in the morning, between three o'clock or six o'clock in the morning, and then we know what happens.

They see Jesus walking on the water.

They think it's a ghost.

They go oh, it's a ghost.

Jesus goes woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.

No, he doesn't.

I would have done that.

But Jesus said no, it's not a ghost.

He said don't be afraid it is.

I Be of courage.

And then you know what happened.

Peter said well, lord, if that's you, tell me to come out on the water.

Jesus said come on.

He goes out, he walks on the water.

He starts to sink when he takes his eyes off of Jesus and he sees the wind and the storm around him.

Jesus reaches down and saves him and says oh, you of little faith, peter.

Why did you doubt?

That's the story we're going to look at.

But the whole premise of this book by John Wartburg was this you need to be more like Peter.

Every time I've heard this story preached, I've heard it preached like Peter's the hero and preachers preach it, and then they say you need to be more like Peter, you need to get out of the boat.

If you had enough faith, you'd get out of the boat, and if you just keep your eyes on Jesus in the storm, everything will be okay.

And that's the takeaway from this book that we hear all the time In the middle of the storms, keep your eye on Jesus and have the faith and get out of the boat.

You should have enough faith to get out of the boat.

And then we all leave feeling bad because, let's be honest, none of us would have got out of the boat.

Or we leave saying you know what Woody's right, I'm going to do better, I'm going to have more faith.

And we go out and we crumple and we mess up and then we feel like a failure.

Now I'm not saying we shouldn't have faith.

God calls us to live a life of zealous faith and God calls us to live a life full of faith in Him and Him alone.

But if all we get out of the lesson is that we need to be like Peter, we've missed the whole point of the lesson.

We even use the phrase.

Even non-Christian motivational speakers use the phrase like get out of the boat.

The early bird gets the worm.

Put your nose to a grindstone.

You can do it.

You can do it.

Go, go, go, go go.

And if the only moral of the story that we're going to look at in Matthew 14 is you need to try harder, we have missed the whole point of the story.

I think it's really something different.

So we're going to do something different today.

Whenever Congress, whenever something happens, when Trump got shot a couple weeks ago, first thing Congress did is they had a congressional hearing.

Have a congressional hearing to find out what goes wrong.

Every time something happens, congress gets together and has a congressional hearing and accomplishes nothing.

And so we're going to have a congregational hearing today.

We're going to find out what went wrong.

Something went wrong.

I mean, peter started sinking.

There was that big storm going on and then something strange happened.

The storm was sealed.

You know, a couple of years ago, congress had a congressional hearing on UFOs.

You know something strange going on.

So we're going to have a congregational hearing.

We're going to call some witnesses, then we're going to ask some questions to try to find out what is the real meaning of what happened in Matthew 14 when Peter walked on water.

The only lesson out of that is you need to get out of the boat and walk on water, and if you don't, you need to have more faith.

Be like Peter, have more faith, but don't you need to have more faith.

Be like Peter, have more faith, but don't be like Peter.

Don't look away from Jesus and sink.

If that's all that story's about, we've missed the whole point of the story.

So let's see what we can do.

The common theme is have more faith.

That's what we usually hear from this story have more faith.

We do need to have more faith, but this story teaches us more than that, or this event teaches us more.

So our first witness we're calling is Peter.

Mr Peter, would you come forward?

And we're going to ask you this question why did you get out of the boat?

Because here's what happened Shortly before dawn, jesus went out to them walking on the lake.

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.

It's a ghost, they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them take courage, it is, I Don't be afraid.

And then Peter says Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water.

So my question is, mr Peter, why did you get out of the boat?

What's your answer?

Why do you think Peter got out of the boat?

Was it because he had great faith?

Because Jesus told him to?

Because he had great faith?

Because Jesus told him to?

Dave said I don't think he was sure it was Jesus.

See, we read that and think whoa, what great faith Peter got out of the boat.

He must be a great man of faith.

I think Peter had faith.

I'm sure it probably took some faith to get out of the boat, but knowing what I know about Peter, I think there's more to it than that.

Here's a couple of things we need to see.

First, when Jesus says, take courage, it is I Don't be afraid.

That phrase it is I, literally in the Greek is I am.

Jesus is walking on the water.

He just fed the 5,000.

He puts them on the boat.

They're scared to death because there's a storm.

They think they're going to drown.

And Jesus walks out on the water and he says it's a ghost.

He says hey, hey, don't be afraid, I am, take courage.

Who is he saying he is?

When did you hear the phrase in the Bible again I am.

No, it wasn't Popeye.

I heard that over there.

I am what I am.

Huh, when Moses?

Yeah, you remember when Moses was being commissioned to go rescue the people and he was called to rescue the Israelites?

Oops, let's go rescue the people.

And he was called to rescue the Israelites Oops, let's go to this one.

Moses does that.

And Moses says well, lord, who am I going to tell?

Sends them If I go to Pharaoh and say I'm here to deliver your people.

And he says well, who sent you?

Who do I tell them?

And God said you tell them that I am, has sent you.

That is what you say I am, has sent me to you.

Jesus.

Later, when talking to the Pharisees, when they were asking, talking, he says very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am.

What's Jesus saying right there I'm God, I'm God.

And you know why God used the phrase I am.

It's important what kind of names I am.

I named important what kind of names I am.

I named my son, I am Sam, I am.

Here's what he's saying.

When God says you tell them I am, he's saying you tell them that the God, who is anything you need me to be, has sent you.

You need courage, I am courage.

You need help, I am.

You need some peace, I am.

You need forgiveness of your sins.

I am.

Who are you God?

I am, I am whatever you need to be.

You need hope.

I am the one that gives you hope.

I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world.

Jesus says I am.

And so when Jesus is walking out on this water and they're all it's a ghost, he says no, it's not, don't be afraid, I am, I'm God.

I don't think the apostles understood that yet.

They saw the miracles, they understood he was the Messiah, but they didn't understand that.

They thought he was going to set up some earthly kingdom and defeat Rome.

But he comes along and he says I want you to know that I am God.

And then Peter said well, lord, if that's really you, if you're really who you say you are, tell me to come to you.

I am not sure that faith was the primary motivation that caused Peter to get out of the boat.

Knowing Peter the way I know Peter and read about him, he's always most of the time impulsive.

And he's saying God, jesus, if you're God, tell me to get out of the boat.

Does that make sense?

I think Peter got out of the boat more out of maybe trying to determine and doubting who God is than he did in anything else.

See, when we read this story, we focus on Peter and we make Peter the hero.

Peter's not the hero here.

So, peter, why'd you get out of the boat?

I didn't believe Jesus was who.

He said he was.

He said he was God.

He said he's the I Am.

If you're really God, then you tell me to come to you.

I don't know if Peter had a whole lot of faith.

I find it amazing that Jesus ridiculed Peter for having little faith and he didn't say anything bad about the leaven that stayed in the boat.

He didn't question their faith.

Here's the point Jesus is letting him know that I am God and you can trust me in all things.

You're going through a storm right now.

I am God.

I'm scared.

I know.

Take courage.

Why?

Because I am, I'm God, I can take care of it.

Yeah, but the doctor said yeah, I know I am.

Yeah, but the election?

Yep, I am.

Yeah, but my finances?

Yep, I am.

Yeah, but I messed up again in my relationships.

Yep, I am.

Yeah, but my finances, yeah, I am.

Yeah, but I messed up again in my relationships.

Yeah, I am.

I'm God.

I'm more than what you think I am.

So that's the first question we need to ask Peter why'd you get out of the boat?

Well, I wanted to see if he was God or not.

Question two Peter, why'd you doubt Come he?

Why'd you get out of the boat?

Well, I wanted to see if he was God or not.

Question two Peter, why'd you doubt Come?

He said.

Peter got down out of the boat.

He walked on the water, came forward to Jesus, but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and he began to sink out and he cried Lord, save me Immediately.

Again, jesus is nice.

I'd have let Peter go down at least twice and I grabbed him the third time, but immediately Jesus reached out his hand and called him.

And then he said Peter, you have little faith.

Why did you doubt?

What was it Peter doubted, and when did he doubt?

Did he doubt when he looked around and saw the winds, or did he doubt before he even got out of the boat?

Lord, if that's you, yeah, I think.

Why did you doubt?

What did Peter doubt?

He doubted that Jesus was God when he saw the wind, the waves.

He's out there walking and he starts thinking why did you doubt?

I think Peter doubted long before he saw the waves.

I think he was, and his doubt was rooted in his misconceptions of Jesus.

He didn't think Jesus was God, he didn't think Jesus was king.

And we doubt when we don't understand who Jesus is.

The gospel is this.

We've talked about this before.

Here's the cornerstone of the gospel.

Not that Jesus is your Savior, not just that Jesus is your Savior, he is your Savior.

But the cornerstone of the gospel is this.

The cornerstone is this Let Israel be assured of this that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.

The cornerstone of the gospel is Jesus is Lord, jesus is Messiah, jesus is the King, jesus rules.

And in America we want Jesus the Savior.

I want somebody to take care of my sins, but I don't want him to tell me what to do.

And Peter doubted that Jesus was God.

That's why he doubted.

And he's walking and he sees Jesus.

But then he sees everything else around him and he starts thinking.

And Jesus said why did you doubt me?

I told you I am.

I told you I'm God.

I told you I can take care of this.

Why do you doubt me?

Why are you trying to fix that relationship yourself?

Why are you trying to deal with your guilt yourself?

Why are you trying to look for happiness in the world, trying to deal with your guilt yourself?

Why are you trying to look for happiness in the world?

I am Don't understand that.

I'm king and he's a good king, and good kings protect and good kings provide.

He's king.

He has all authority.

He has the right to tell you how to live, because he walked out of the grave.

He's God, but we have our Americanized misconceptions of who God is, and so we don't understand it.

Jesus is the Christ.

Christ isn't Jesus' last name.

It really means your majesty.

He's the anointed one.

He's been anointed by God to be king and the high priest to take care of our sins.

And so the point is this Jesus is king, so I need to trust him and submit to him.

Whenever I doubt that Jesus is king, that's when I start falling.

When I doubt that Jesus is the king who can take care of me, take care of my sins, give me purpose, that's when my life falls apart.

But when I understand he's king and he tells me how I should live, he tells me this is the way I need to live.

He tells me here's what it means to be a kingdom, and I do it.

That's when I get through the storms.

Does that make sense?

One more witness Jesus Got a question for you, calling Jesus up here Having a congressional hearing.

Why did you pass by?

This is in Mark's account.

It says that he saw the disciples straining at the oars.

This is Mark talks about it.

Jesus sees the disciples out there straining at the oars because the wind was against them.

Shortly before dawn he went out to them walking on the lake and he was about to pass by them.

So they're over here on this boat, dying, you know, scared to death.

Oh, it's a ghost.

It's a ghost and Jesus is.

He's just walking on by them.

And I read that and I think, jesus, that's awful rude.

That don't sound like a nice thing to do.

Somebody's scared to death and needs help, and you're walking by them on the water, ignoring them.

So here's the question why did Jesus pass by?

It's not rhetorical.

You're allowed to talk in church.

He wanted your trust.

See what?

See if they would ask.

Whenever we read about God passing by in Scripture, I mean, there's times where he's passed by and whenever we read about it, it's usually for a reason and for a purpose.

For example, in Exodus 33, you know God at the request of Moses, because Moses says God, I need to make sure you're.

How do I know you're God?

And he says I will pass by to show you my glory.

And he says now, I'm not going to pass by and show you my face because that'd kill you.

But God passed by Moses so he could see who God really is.

He could see God's glory.

In 1 Kings 19, elijah he just killed a bunch of prophets on Mount Carmel and he's hiding now because Queen Jezebel and King Ahab wants to kill him and he's scared God, I'm just scared to death.

God says listen, there's all types of prophets, you're not the only one.

Well, how do I know?

He says I'll pass by you.

And God passed by him.

He said I'll pass by you.

And God passed by him.

First it came as a strong wind and then it came as just a slight breeze and he saw God's glory.

Whenever God passed by, it was to show us his glory.

And I'm telling you, jesus didn't pass by on the boat trying to show them, to ignore them or scare them.

Jesus is passing by that boat where they can see him walking on water, so they can see that he is God.

Everything Jesus does in this event, he does it to show them that he's God.

God has always revealed himself to us.

God shows himself to you every day.

He passes by us every day.

He passes by us every day.

We're just so worldly and so Americanized and so focused on the physical that we don't see God.

God, where are you?

Things are so bad.

I'm here.

God wants us to see him, and so he passes by every day through creation.

We've talked about this before.

We, you know, we threw a bunch of slides.

The fact that the sun comes up every morning, the fact that creation, how complex it is, the fact that you've got thousands of miles of veins running through your body, god's around us every day.

We see it through other believers.

In Matthew 5, he tells us let our light shine by doing good deeds so that the Lord can be glorified.

Whenever I see Christians doing good in the name of God, I see God.

Does that make sense?

He's around us every day.

Whenever I read about somebody taking somebody to the hospital, somebody, I see God.

In other believers we see God.

That should be signs, not things.

We see God in signs, wonders and powers.

What's a sign?

What's a sign?

Something that guides us to something, points us to something.

Points us to something.

A wonder is things that make our jaw drop A sunset, a newborn baby, watching a Christian die in peace.

A sign is anything that points to God and powers.

Powers are it's not just John and Glenita's last name powers sometimes it's translated miracles, and it's the Greek word dunamis, if we get the word dynamite for it.

Powers are things that happen that we just can't explain.

Powers is a group of men I talked about this a couple of months ago going to win Arkansas to build a house for a man who moved to Arkansas from the Philippines and is now studying to become a Christian.

I don't think the older I get, the less I believe in coincidences.

God's power is around us all the time.

He's passing by us all the time, and so everything that happened on that lake on that stormy night was to show us who God was, that Jesus was God.

It says that after that, jesus climbed in the boat with them and the wind died down, and they were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves because their hearts were hardened, and they were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves because their hearts were hardened Even when seeing it.

Now I wish we had time to answer this question.

In Matthew's account it said Jesus got in the boat and they worshipped him.

In Mark's account it says they got in the boat and they were amazed, but their hearts were hardened.

They didn't understand about the loaves.

Remember, when he fed the 5,000 before he got in the boat, they thought Jesus just put on a big picnic.

But what was Jesus really teaching about the loaves, according to John 6?

I am the bread of life.

They didn't understand that everything Jesus did had a spiritual purpose to it.

They didn't understand it because their hearts were hardened.

You know why their hearts were hardened?

Because they didn't believe Jesus was.

They just didn't believe it because their hearts were hardened.

You know why their hearts were hardened?

Because they didn't believe Jesus was.

They just didn't believe God was around.

That's America.

We go to church to be with God and we leave this building to live.

However, we wanted to Listen, god doesn't live in this building.

He lives in the hearts of every Christian, but our hearts are so hardened we don't see that.

I don't see the miracles that are around me.

Every day I see a sunset.

So often I don't even see God.

I see Cliff walking here every week and the miracle that he's gone through so many difficult times in his life and we've lost Pat and I miss Pat because preach it, but yet that's God.

The reason he's here is because God gives him the strength to be here.

But we don't see that.

We don't see Justin here as being an act of God, because God has worked on his life and changed his heart and we get so used to it that we don't see that this room is full of miracles and powers and wonders and things that should make our jaw drop, and God is passing by us and we just don't see it.

Everything in that passage, the whole theme of this event, is that Jesus is God and he is always with you.

The hero of Peter walking on the water isn't Peter, it's Jesus.

And everything Jesus does I don't know if I had it, I didn't and everything Jesus does I don't know if I had it, I didn't Everything Jesus does in this event is to show us that he's God.

When Jesus says don't be afraid, I am.

When Jesus says I am, he's declaring hey, I'm God, I'm more than a savior.

I'm more than a good teacher.

I'm more than a good man.

I'm more than a savior.

I'm more than a good teacher.

I'm more than a good man.

I'm more than a prophet I am God.

And by walking on that water, he's declaring I am God.

When he pulls Peter out of the water, he's demonstrating to us I am God.

You start sinking, I'm God.

You're sinking, demonstrating to us I am God.

You start sinking, I'm God.

You're sinking in your guilt, I'm God.

You're sinking in your relationships, I'm God.

You're sinking in your finances I'm God.

And then, when he's passing by, he's displaying to his disciples who are scared to death look at me, I'm God.

And when you're going through the storms, jesus is there saying I am.

I know you're afraid, but I am.

He's declaring, he's demonstrating, he's surrounding us.

He's displaying to us that he is God.

The hero of this story is Jesus.

I'm not saying we don't learn from Peter, from his good example and his bad, but don't make what happened about Peter.

It's more than you need to get out of the boat, walk on the water.

It's this.

I don't know what you're going through right now.

I don't know what storm you're going through.

Maybe you're not in one now, but you will be, because you've heard me say a million times over the past 36 years you're either in a problem.

You just got out of a problem or you're fixing to go into one, because that's life.

And so Matthew 14 is teaching me that in that problem, in that storm, jesus is God, he's there.

Does that make sense?

This morning, if you're tired of living in guilt, you're tired of living.

You were not created to live in shame.

You were not created to die.

You were created to live forever.

But sin kills.

This morning, god, jesus, our Savior, god, our Savior says I'm here, I'm ready to take away that guilt.

You can lay down tonight guilt-free.

I don't care what you've done, who you've done it with, how many times you've done it, you can be free.

Who you've done it with, how many times you've done it, you can be free.

If you just believe that he's God and you're baptized, he will pull you out of that water and save you.

Maybe you've been going through a storm as a believer and you have just forgotten that Jesus is out there, walking with you.

He's passing by you saying we got this.

Jesus, keep me near the cross.

There a precious fountain, free to all, the healing stream, close from Calvary's mountain.

In the cross.

In the cross, be my glory ever till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul, love and mercy, found me there.

The bright and morning star sheds its beams around me, me in the cross.

In the cross, be my glory ever till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, I'll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever, ever, till I reach the golden strand Just beyond the river.

In the cross.

In the cross, be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.

Would you stand with me as we close out our service this morning, when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more and the morning breaks eternal, bright and fair.

When the saints of earth shall gather over on the other shore and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise and the glory of His resurrection share, when His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the sky and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Let us labor for the Master, from the dawn till setting sun.

Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care.

Then, when all of life is over and our work on earth is done and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there when the roll is called up yonder.

When the roll is called up yonder.

When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Amen.

God bless you everybody.

Have a great week.