The Answer is Already in Your Boat | Pastor Paul McGee

To hear children crying, man, I know their parents are probably

disagreeing with me right now, but it's good to hear children

crying, Amen, That's for sure. We're going to be turning to the

book of Mark this morning. So glad to have each one of you.

Bryce, you're not a guest, OK? You just, you found your spot

and we're just happy to have you.

Amen. Appreciate you, Bryce.

Amen. Bishop was given a hard time

because he'd already like been three online services before he

came here. So he's got his, he's had his

tailgate party before. He's come to the to the event

here today. So we're, we're grateful for

Bryce, each one of you. Trent, good to see you back

there. Amen.

Ray, always good to see you. And I seen the those Maddie

Adams kids. I've seen a little rye up here.

She just one of the little cutest little things you'll just

ever lay your eyes on. Amen.

We appreciate her. We're going to turn to Mark

chapter #4 I'm going to start reading the verse #35 All right,

Just read a few verses of Scripture here today.

The House of the Lord New Testament Gospel of Mark,

Mark 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 verse #35 the Bible says.

And the same day when the even was come, he saith unto them,

Let us pass over unto the other side.

And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him.

Even as he was in the ship. There were also with him other

little ships, and there arose a great storm of wind, and the

waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

He was in the hinder part of the ship Sleep on a pillow.

And they awake him. And saying to him, Master, cares

thou not that we perish? He arose and rebuked the wind,

and said into the sea, Peace be still.

And the wind seized, and there was a great calm.

And he said unto them, Why are you so fearful?

How is it that you have no faith?

And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, What manner

of man is this? That even the wind in the sea

obey him. Amen.

I know that my title today, it's going to be like you're going to

go to and say, yeah, of course. Yep, that's what it should be.

But I hope to even back it up a little bit more and and maybe

let you know why it should be. I want to administer this today.

The answer is already in your boat.

The answer is already in your boat.

Hallelujah. Can we ask the Lord to help us?

Father, we gather today. God is part of the body of

Christ. I pray Lord we come in here,

Lord at different times with Lord issues and circumstances or

maybe our hearts are the Lord overwhelmed with joy.

God, I pray Lord, whatever state God we have entered here today,

I pray Lord, you have to minister God to the hearers

today, God that we be hearers, doers, the Lord of this word.

That would be a word of encouragement and strength, God,

perhaps to someone that is in need and will not fail to thank

you God for what you accomplished.

Lord, in this place, in Jesus name that I pray, Amen, the

church say Amen. You may be seated this morning.

The answer is already in your boat throughout Scripture,

throughout New Testament Scripture in particular, boats,

or ships as they may have been called for, were used for

fishing. Fishing industry was very

prominent, particularly in Israel in and around about the

Sea of Galilee, which was really just like a body of water or

lake, but it's called the Sea of Galilee, the the Sea of

Tiberias. It has various names.

Boats were used for fishing. They were used for

transportation of rather than going around the lake, you know,

the miles that it may have took, you know, that Direct Line would

be shorter. And so they was used for

transportation. They were used for commerce

during the biblical times. And there is evidence that we

have in biblical history that there were professional boat

builders that existed during those days around about such

bodies of water that would supply ships or boats for those

who were fishermen or commercial fishermen around about bodies of

water like the Sea of Galilee. And though the disciples

themselves like Peter and Andrew and James and John, that we know

for sure to be fishermen, though they may have not been involved

in building their own boats, they were probably involved

though in the maintenance and involved in the repair of them.

Just as we repair many aspects of our lives, our careers and

relationships and personal ambitions.

That was impart a piece of their life, their boats.

It was a part of their livelihood and they're living.

And so they more than likely, though they may not have built

them, they may have maintained and repaired them.

We read in Scripture Speaking of boats going all the way back to

the Genesis account of no and his family.

You remember they had several years that they invested time in

the construction and the creating of the ark according to

God's design. Their daily lives for years

consisted of building and get in the wood and pitching within and

pitching without and all the instruction their lives involved

that. And the disciples boat though,

was more than just a tool to them.

Whereas Noah's family's lives were involved in building, the

disciples lives were involved in their boat because it was their

livelihood. They were fishermen.

It was a symbol of the rhythm of their daily existence.

You know, there, there's no question when they got up in the

morning or maybe they had done all night.

Nonetheless, the boat was going to be some type of an integral

part of their life, almost becoming, if you will, a symbol

for their life because they spent so much time around it and

on it and involved with it. So it's easy then to draw a

metaphor here concerning boats and ships that would in New

Testament times, particularly for fishermen and some of the

disciples represent their lives, their journey of life.

You know, we, we even read the that in other places of

literature beyond the Bible, even the the storms that you

face on boats almost be on a a metaphor for the storms that we

face in life. We have throughout even

literature of our English language, boats have been

symbolized or symbols for life or aspects of life.

If you've ever read and maybe have haven't, but if you've ever

read Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus's ship symbolized life's journey

filled with trials and with temptations and struggles.

Mark Twain maybe growing up, I don't know if they do these

things anymore, but this is classic literature.

Growing up. You may remember reading the

story of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and that little

rap that's going down the Mississippi River.

It's symbolized the the freedom, the escape that those boys had

from from all the constraints of society.

And it was a symbol also for the challenges that they faced as

they went down that Mississippi River.

The Bible says in the first verse of Mark chapter #4 it

says, and he began again to teach.

It's Speaking of Jesus by the seaside.

And there was gathered to him a great multitude, so that he

entered into a ship and sat in the sea.

And the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

Jesus is doing something here that we find that he has done

more than once. But it's interesting because

he's not teaching in the synagogue, as some of the more

religious leaders might expect him to do.

He's not in the synagogue teaching, but he goes out by the

seaside. He he goes along the shoreline

and he's teaching there. And it's interesting because the

crowd starts together and multitude starts together, and

Jesus, not to get lost in the crowd and for the projection of

his voice, he gets on the ship, he gets up on the boat and he

begins to speak to them. In essence, the boat became the

platform. The boat became the platform

where he could speak a message to the multitude of the people.

The message Bible even says it like this that he using the boat

as a pulpit, right That boat was as a pulpit where he could speak

from that that very thing that was once a a tool for fishing

that was so involved with the disciples lives almost a emblem

and a symbol of their lives. He now uses as an instrument for

ministry and almost every everyday tools of the disciples

that they would use concerning their Nets and concerning their

oars. And now they're all these things

that were their livelihood. Now the Lord is using as a

platform to teach somebody else, as a platform to speak into

someone else's life. If I could say it like this,

their boat, their life became a platform from which the Lord

could tell others about His glorious way and His glorious

self. I want you to know this morning

that whenever you come to the Lord and whenever your life gets

transformed by the Lord, that God can use every part of your

life. God can use every part of your

life. What you may estimate is the

good, the bad, and the ugly. He can use every part of your

life as a platform for his ministry, as a platform for his

message of hope and security and encouragement and redemption.

He can use all those areas of your life just as the disciples

boat served the ministry of Jesus, now being a platform that

he could speak from. Amen.

Our our lives. It doesn't matter if it's your

career, the Lord can use that as a platform, your relationship

with people, He can use that as a platform.

The routines that you have in your daily life, don't need to

neglect those and think, well, this is no big deal, This is

just ordinary. No, whenever he steps into it

and steps on it, he can take even the ordinary and make it

extraordinary and use it for his will and for his purposes.

The apostle Paul expressed something very similar in the

New Testament Scripture, in the Corinthians.

He told them, and you, you're maybe aware of this.

He said you, he's speaking to the Church of Corinth.

He said you are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and

read by all men. He said your lives are a

message, your lives are a letter that's written.

Your lives are speaking something.

And whenever Lord steps into your life, your life brings a

message. What you do, how you live, how

you speak, how you talk. We are living letters

communicating God's message to everybody that is around us or

in arms reach of us. How we live, our conduct, our

decisions, our faith by doing so.

That is a platform by which others are being taught.

Amen. Others are receiving some

instruction. Paul also encourage the

believers in the New Testament church to live in such a way

that their example could be followed.

Paul said this and he wasn't being prideful or boastful when

he said follow me, he said as I follow Christ, he says you can

follow me because I'm following him.

He says. And when people follow the Lord,

they become examples for other people to follow.

They become a platform. They become, if you will, a

stage from which Amen things can be spoken and said.

He said in Thessalonians you became examples to all who

believe your life has the ability of becoming that.

When we allow the Lord to step on board and become the center

of our lives, we become, if you will, a megaphone through which

the Lord can speak to other people that he encounters.

Now, the biblical stories of a ship, the biblical stories of a

boat, it's not like you've got to somehow really search for

them in Scripture. They're there, especially in the

Gospels. They're always coming to the

surface. As a matter of fact, the stories

that include a ship or a boat and a storm, it's almost like

hand in glove, these things just go together.

If there's a ship or a boat, there's there's just going to be

a storm. Again, starting back in Genesis,

we have the Ark and the rain came.

The Bible talks about how the fountain of the deep broke up,

the windows of the heaven opened.

The Bible says that the wind blew.

You have a large boat, so to speak, and you also have a

storm. You have Jonah, who's getting on

the ship, the Bible says on the way to Tarsus.

He's not on it very long until the Bible says there's a great

wind and a mighty Tempest that comes threatening to break the

ship asunder. You have a ship and you have a

storm. You come to the New Testament.

The Gospels are littered with passages about this sort of

thing of ships and boats and storms.

We read even in the book of Acts that the apostle Paul was on a

ship with many other prisoners and they faced a tempetuous

storm. And when the Bible says it was

fierce and it broke the ship asunder close to Melita.

So we have a ship and a storm and we have Peter in the Gospels

who is compelled by his faith to step out of what a boat upon the

stormy sea so that he might reach the Lord.

So it's ships and storms, ships and storms.

It happened so much. I wonder sometimes if the

disciples, when they stepped on the boat, if with a little major

concern, they thought, should we be stepping on the boat?

Or maybe it happened so often that they're little cold toward

it. It's just like just another day

on the boat. Perhaps it was second nature to

them. Perhaps it was expected.

And if that was the case, then the storm we read about in Mark

4 must not have been a typical storm for them.

It happened on the Sea of Galilee, which is known for

sudden outbreaks of storms. Disciples on this boat, many of

them were fishermen. They weren't Sister Angie.

They weren't formed to being on boats.

They weren't formed to the turbulence that happens on

boats. They weren't formed to the

storms that could come upon boats.

But you must realize the severity of this storm must have

been something for veteran fishermen to cry out and say

Master Paris, thou not that we perish.

When you hear a weathered skillful fisherman get anxious

about a storm, then everybody needs to get anxious because

you've entered 1 heyday of a storm when a veteran fisherman

gets upset over a storm. But here's the fact of the

matter folks, please look at the scriptures here that I read in

your hearing this morning. The storm was not active when

they began their journey. They didn't start out on their

journey knowing they were going into the storm.

It wasn't already raining. The wind wasn't all were already

blowing. It was not active when they

began their journey to the other side.

But the Bible says in verse 37 on their way on this trip that

it arose. And the Bible says this in

particular that the waves beat into the ship.

All right, so we have the waves beating into the ship.

The ship is taking on water, but I even says that it became a

fool. So we're not we're listen here,

we, we got a problem here. We're taking on more water than

we're getting rid of. And that only means one thing,

that that ship is on its way to sink.

It's taking on more water than it can get rid of.

It's probably sinking. And in the middle of all this,

Jesus is asleep on the ship. All of these fishermen,

everybody that's on this ship feel threatened.

They say we're going to perish, but he doesn't.

No, no. The marvel of this event, and

this is the side that I've preached before, but the marvel

of this event isn't that. Jesus slept as seas and the

fishermen worried. That's not the marvel.

The marvel isn't that. In the end, the wind and the

waves obeyed him. That's not the marvel.

The marvel of this passage is found in verse 36 when it says

they took him Jesus even as he was in the ship.

Another version says it like this where I read it earlier

this this month. It says they took him alone.

They took Jesus along since he was already in the boat.

What I'm getting at is this this morning, folks, before they felt

like they were perishing, before they ever pushed out from the

shore, before a storm ever arose, before the heart was ever

filled with fear. Hey man, Jesus was already on

the ship. Before they left for the

journey, Jesus was already on the ship for the storm pain.

Jesus was already on the ship. Before their heart was filled

with fear, He was already there. It's like Isaiah spoke God's

words. When God said.

Before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking,

I will hear. What are you talking about?

Before they call, I will answer. I'll tell you what it is.

God already anticipates your need.

Before you have a need. God already anticipates a

solution. Before you have a problem.

He's already in your boat. Yeah.

We think, well, you know, it's a great thing and I preach the

thing. So you got to understand him

being on the boat is more than him being asleep in the ship,

it's that he was there before they were there.

Mark 41 tells us when he stepped on the ship, there's a lot of

time of teaching and parables that took place in Mark 4 before

they start going to the other side.

He was already there. Someone say man.

And the fact that Jesus was comfortable enough to sleep in

their boat speaks volumes, because Please note, he's

evidently felt fallen asleep in their ship before the storm has

started. Now, granted, I like a good

storm, fall asleep during a good storm.

Sometimes I like to hear that matter of fact, Trevor has a

noisemaker. Sometimes it storms all night at

our house. Supposed to have a timer on that

thing, but I've waken up to Thunder clapping and lightning

going because he's had that thing on continuous.

Kind of open the blinds, you see what's happening.

It's just Trevor's room. But he fell asleep before the

storm started. But sleeping on a boat, there

had to be a place comfortable enough for him to relax for him

to find a little bit of a repose.

Said it was the hinder part. History says sometimes those

parts had almost like a carpeted type area with cushions, which

may have been where his pillow come from, right?

Because that's always interesting.

When they went to wake him up, he was asleep on a pillow on

their boat, a thing that's an emblem of their life.

There was a place there that he was comfortable enough to

remain. There was a place there

comfortable enough for him to relax.

My statement to you today is this.

If we make him comfortable in our lives, if we invite him in

to be present in both the calm seasons and the stormy seasons,

if you will make him comfortable in your life, he'll make you

comfortable in your storms. My wife says, say that again.

If you will make him comfortable in your life, he will make you

comfortable in your storms. The storm meaning May classify

it as an obstacle, but in reality this the storm and the

path on the water was was a pathway to a greater greater

purpose. Here's what I want you to

understand today in Mark 41, Jesus got into the boat because

of people, crowds gathering multitude to hear Him speak and

minister. But when you get to Mark chapter

#5 and they finally reach the other side, He gets off of the

boat because of people. There's a demoniac man That's

Ryan to him from the tombs. Let's look at it, if you will.

Mark 5 and verse 1 and 2 and they came over and to the other

side of the sea. This is this is the journey that

they started on before the storm.

Let's go over to the other side. This is their landing spot in

Mark 51 and they came over and to the other side of the sea

into the country of the Gadarenes.

And when he was come out Speaking of Jesus and when he

was come out of the ship, Mark is notable for using the word

immediately. He says immediately there met

him out of the tombs of man with a unclean spirit.

As a matter of fact, when you read further down in this

chapter of Mark, Jesus is going to get back on the boat and he's

going to travel back over to the other side.

And when he gets to the other side, then there's going to be a

religious ruler by the name of Jarius whose daughter is at the

point of death or dying and she needs him.

Someone say man. And so he's stepping on boats

and out of boats because of people, on boats, out of boats,

in storms, out of storms, off of a boat, back on the boat, back

across. Always because of people.

Someone came in and the fact that he could do this.

Amen. With a mindset that sometimes we

feel in our lives that God is momentarily stepping out of our

boat, so to speak. He's momentarily stepping out of

our life. But can I just rest assured to

you that if it appears he's stepping out, it's because he's

stepping into somebody else's someone say, man, it's not about

that he's abandoning you or forgetting you, but he's helping

somebody else. Amen.

That is entire need we question listen, we question whenever he

told his disciples let's go over to the other side and the Bible

says when it was already even or evening Lord, you picked a fine

time to go selling. We could have done this during

the daylight. Want to be more sensible to

travel during the day rather than the dark on the lake?

Why in the world do you want to go to the other side?

And then even that we meet a storm.

I mean, I'd rather face a storm in the daylight where I could

see the clouds and see all these different things.

But no, we're facing a storm in the dark.

And it seems to be more intimidating now that it's night

time. Hey, man, So what is the deal?

Lord? Why go now?

Why go at this moment? I'll tell you why.

Jesus had them go when He wanted them to go and dealt with the

storm as He dealt with the storm.

Because He knew when he reached the other side, as soon as he

stepped tall, there was going to be people, a person that was in

need. I can't question every moment

when God wants to go or when He wants to do what He wants to do.

But in reality, He had another short to go to because somebody

else was in need of Him and someone came in.

The storm on the water was a path to the tomb dwellers storm.

See, there's a difference. I don't know if you understand

this, but there's some people that they experience isolated

storms that eventually pass away, but then there's other

people that live in a constant storm.

Someone say Amen, they live in a constant storm.

And the other side to all of this, your storm might not

always be about you. Paul endured the storm and acts

it wasn't really about him, but it was his voice that stood

among the people and said, Sirs, the Angel of the Lord that stood

by me this night and said, lest we abide in the ship, lives are

going to be lost. The storm wasn't about him, but

God, said, Paul, I'm going to use you in the storm because of

your voice, because of your guidance, lives will be saved

had you not been there to give the council, to give the

instruction, the guidance. And so the storm isn't always

about you. It's not always about us.

It could be the very means by which Jesus is trying to reach

somebody else that lived constantly in a storm.

Storm frightening. So the disciples brought Jesus

to a man because of him being on their boat.

They brought Jesus to a man who desperately needed some freedom,

right? Some emotional freedom.

Hey, man, some of our trials, some of our tribulations.

Maybe God's way of reaching somebody else, it may not be

what necessarily is going on to you in that it may be what

that's speaking to somebody else or how that puts you in contact

with somebody else whose storm is more vicious and more vile

than what you presently been seeking or, or feeling or

experiencing. So Jesus wasn't troubled.

And then this is the thing. This is the case of the

Scripture. He's not troubled by the storm

that his disciples were in. He's asleep.

He's not troubled by the storm his disciples were facing.

It was a literal storm. It's a physical storm.

And let's note this in particular.

And they were already followers. Please let that sink in for a

moment. They were already followers.

His concern really is what was on the others.

His storm that he was concerned about was the offshore storm,

not the on water storm, because that storm for the man of Gadera

who cut himself often with stones, who was bound on several

occasions, but broke the fetters asunder that lived right, not

just visited, but lived in the tombs.

Imagine the O ambiance of this, of the scene of the boat comes

up to the shore and it's known that in that days those tombs

were right around those cave rocks that were close to the

water. It's dark, it's eerie.

And here's a man coming out of the tombs in desperation.

He's worried about that man because this man, we can get

this from Scripture, is not a fault.

The region among the tombs was that de Terra was associated

with a place called Decapolis. You'll come to the end of that

story and Jesus will tell the man that he wants to go with the

Lord. But she says, no, you go home

and you, you publish this about the different cities of

Decapolis. Deca means 10.

So there were 10 Hellenistic cities that were predominantly

Gentile population. They weren't Jews, they were

Gentiles. They weren't in covenant with

the Lord. They were Gentile people and

Gentile communities for that matter.

Remember whenever the, the, the legion that's inside of this man

of the tombs, when he's asking if he can depart, he said, will

you cast us over here into this herd of swine?

According to the Levitical Jewish law, the Jews, they did

not handle swine. They would not raise swine.

They were unclean. So it's highly possible then

that these are Gentile people because they're manning and

herding pigs, a man which was against the Jewish law.

And so we have all this stuff. So this man that came from the

tombs is more, more than likely a Gentile God.

He was, he was not troubled about his follower storm as much

as he was somebody that was not a follower, that did not know

him, that had no connection with him.

His storm, he's thinking, hey, he'll be all right.

They follow me, they know me, they trust me.

But this man, he has no hope. This man, he's living in a mode

of hopelessness. He has no Redeemer.

Yes, yes, folks, we can get caught up in our own storms.

We forget about those that don't even know God, that don't

believe in God. They have no help from God.

So they think and they're in their storm and they're whirling

around in their water confused and there's angst in their

spirit. Amen.

Don't don't mind if God just pauses you for a moment and

cease to that need because they don't know Him.

Amen. So he says, let's go to the

other side. Somebody over there that don't

know me, that's in a applicable state.

In reality, the storm on the water was just peripheral to the

storm that was in that man's life.

But again, the center of this is that the answer to their story

was already in the ship before it occurred.

When Jesus said, let's go to the other side, he was already in

the ship. It's there again before they

left shore. When the Bible says the waves

beat into the ship, Jesus was already in the ship before the

waves got in the ship. He was there from the beginning.

Here's the scripture though. When he says this, the

disciples, you can read it. The disciples are dismissing the

multitude that are gathered for the teaching.

They are dismissing them left and right so that they can go

on. They've been there all day

listening to parables and teaching the messages of God.

And so they dismissed them. But they didn't send Jesus away

because the Bible says that he, they took him even as he was in

the ship. He had been teaching from there.

They didn't take anybody from the multitude, as we know, but

they took him because he was already there.

I think this this bears in our lives that we need to recognize

Jesus's presence in our lives, not just during our storms, but

during our ordinary moments. Well, every time I look at the

storm, he's there. That's because you're looking

for him. But I'm here to tell you and

persuade you when nothing negative is happening.

If you'll seek him, you'll find him.

He's been there from the beginning.

Amen. You say from the from the

beginning he's there, Sister Angie, before you need.

And I put up quote marks. I need him every day of my life.

But he's there before you quote UN quote need him.

You'll be there before you need him.

You'll be there in the middle of your storm.

And he was still there when it was all over.

Too often we've all been guilty of only seeking him when the

waves are crashing. But he's been there all along,

really in preparation mode. Right before I call, he's

answering, and so when I come to understand that he's already in

the boat of my life, then maybe I can start walking through this

life with a sense of peace. We live in a generation of

unsettledness, in the wringing of the hands and anxiousness and

worry. Maybe I can start walking

through life with a sense of peace and confidence.

It's kind of like, you know, if anybody's ever taken a flight,

they always tell you, hey, turbulence, all that stuff

happened in junk said if don't be worried unless you see like

the flight attendant or like, you know, the captain, if you

see some type of sense of concern on their face, that's

the time to be concerned because they're experts.

And as long as the expert is calm, we just got to trust that

we're in good hands. This also, though, then reminds

me, and I'm getting there. This also reminds me, though, of

something else this morning that perhaps we need to be mindful

about who we allow in our lives. No, it's just to take just a

little moment here. Because if you want people in

your boat in the middle of your storm, you want people there in

the middle of your storm. You are there whenever you've

yet to venture out on your journey.

The disciples took Jesus, not the crowd, because Jesus was

already in the boat. What are you saying, Pastor

McGee? Let me just be real for a

moment. Chaos and tragedy attract

people, attract people into your life.

Listen to me. They're not all like this, but

just a word of caution. Some of these people are looking

for a story to tell more than it's storm to calm.

There's been too many people in the middle of their storm that

suffered at the hands of storm chasers.

They want to report on the events and tell their version of

the story, but they're not there for any calming effect.

You need people that show up in your storm not to show up when

the storm happens. You need someone who's already

there if it occurs. You wanna hear me?

Maybe that maybe this is where I need an oil joint or something.

They'd say it. Some people want to investigate

in your hurt because they want all the scoop on your hurt.

They want to get down to the nitty gritty.

They want to know what the offense was not so that they can

pray, so that they can show and tell.

You need people in your life that's going to maybe listen and

then just speak to God. Watch out if the only time those

people want to come is when you're in your storm.

You want people that's going to be there when it's not storming,

when it is before it started and when it's over.

Those type of people are the people you want on your boat.

I need somebody staying with me in the storm, not just be there

to observe it. If I did, OK, well, man, I

really shot that this one down, haven't I?

I think it's important. So again, the real marvel is

this, it's not the calming of it, it's that he was with his

disciples the entire time. Jesus didn't enter the boat mid

crisis and enter the boat mid crisis.

He was already there. Ladies and gentlemen, wherever

are, wherever you are in your life, whatever you're

experiencing right now, if you think that the Lord has just

shown up, I'm here to tell you quite frankly that He's been

there all alone. He's been there when you was

kicking up your heels and it seemed like everything was OK.

And you know, the, the, the, the trees were blooming and the

flowers were growing. No, no, he's been there ever

since the beginning. He's been there before you

realized you needed him. He was there before you realized

you needed a Redeemer and before you realized you needed a

savior. And he has anticipated your

storm and he's provided an answer for your storm before

you've even asked for the answer.

He the answer has already been in your boat.

You'll stand with me this morning.

So there's always going to be another another journey.

There's always going to be another trip, so to speak, and

he's already there. He's the one that stood up there

and said, peace be still. He'll enable you to carry

through to the other side. And maybe when you get there,

you'll realize it really wasn't about this storm.

It was about that storm that that person lives in.

So as we leave this place today, I I want to challenge us that we

need to take time in our lives and recognize Christ's presence

in our life right now. Right where we are, right?

Oh, but it's calm, Brother McGee.

He's there. I'm not up some type of

instrumental odds. That's great.

He's there. He's already in your boat.

Secondly, I want to challenge you today.

Make room, make a space that's comfortable enough for him to

settle down in in your life. Let there be a place where he

can have repose in your life. Trust him with the outcomes in

spite of what you're observing. We got ADHD sometimes when our

storm was gone ahead. Trust Him with the outcome and

let's just be a little less than human and not be selfish with

our storms and understand it may be helping somebody else.

And for caution, start taking inventory.

Who's all in the boat? Are they pulling sails and doing

oars? Are they tabulating and taking

down stories? Our God is fighting for you.

Your answer is already in your boat.

We bow our heads all across this place.

Your answer is already in your boat, Imperceptible at times to

us. He's already there.

There may be someone under the sound of my voice this morning,

says Brother McGee. I'm on the turbulent time right

now. I'm in a turbulent time right

now. And I've had turbulent times

before. Maybe you're like these

disciples and fishermen. This, this is different than

other times. This seems more fierce.

This seems more vicious. And maybe you're crying out.

Maybe you're needing help. But, but, but he's already

there. He's already there, Sir or

ma'am, he is already there. Maybe you just need to find a

place today in an altar and say, Lord, Lord, open my eyes, open

my eyes. So like the prophet with the

young man that was praying over him and saying, Lord, open his

eyes. Let him see what was he doing?

He said open his eyes so he can see the host of help that we

have right now in this battle because they're already here.

Let him see the host of help. Maybe our eyes just need to be

open and our awareness needs to be dialed in to His presence.

Amen to His presence. God, make me more aware of your

presence. Make me more aware, O Lord.

Sorry, ma'am. He's here today for you.

He's here today for you. If you're a man, like a man in

the tombs that's living in a constant storm, He's headed in

your direction. There's going to be a divine

timing of him stepping out of the boat and intersecting the

path of your life immediately it happened.

According to the book of Mark, There's going to be a divine

intersect action of the Savior meeting you in the middle of a

constant storm emotionally of your life.

He's going to meet you there. Woo woo shy.

I'm not under the Josiah. These altars are open today.

Can we talk to God right now? God help me, Lord, to dismiss

the crowd, but to keep Jesus because he's already here.

Listen, just as whenever Jesus finally made it to Jerry's

daughter, what happened? He had to dismiss some that were

in the room that they were just laughing and mocking and

everybody else. He dismissed them.

He pulled a few disciples in the mother and father, and he

brought that girl to life. Sometimes there's times you got

to dismiss some people from the arena, Amen.

In order for the Lord to come in, Amen.

With those that have a conscious Lord, faith and hope, He can do

what He's going to do. You got to just got to take

inventory. But your answer is there.

Don't let somebody else review and mock your answer.

Don't let somebody else review and mock your answer.

Christ is the answer. Don't let anybody tell you any

different. Don't let anybody try to.

If you will change your mindset or your view on Him, He is still

the answer. It's not archaic, it's not old

fashioned, it's relevant and it's effective.

Here's the answer and He's in your boat.

Hallelujah.