Sermon

Who Is This? | Jason Martin

Acts Klang

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  1. You're listening to a message to go from X Church.

  2. We hope this message will light up your day.

  3. So, I wanted to start with a story. So, usually

  4. during holidays and stuff like that, right, sometimes we go

  5. and visit a different theme park, like say Sunway Lagoon

  6. or Legoland. And there was a time where we went

  7. to the theme park And then, you know, Team Park,

  8. they have roller coasters. You have roller coasters, you have

  9. people screaming like crazy. And most of the time, I

  10. was telling Jerome and Jude, hey, let's go on the

  11. roller coaster. So when they were younger, they were saying like, no, no,

  12. I'm not going to go. It's too scary. It's too scary.

  13. I want to play with the rides that are safer.

  14. You know, but even as they grew up, and then

  15. I keep asking them, then slowly they're like, Okay, let's

  16. try one of the smaller rides. So we tried the

  17. smaller rides. We went up. Of course, they were scared.

  18. But then after that, they were like, let's go again.

  19. Let's go again and again and again. And after that,

  20. I regretted asking them. Because then you have to go ahead.

  21. Because all these rides, right? The more exciting the rides,

  22. the longer the lines. Correct? And then, so we progressed

  23. and we went to more exciting rides. So one of

  24. the most exciting rides we finally went was, there was

  25. one in Singapore. It was in Universal Studio. So it's

  26. called The Mummy. I'm not sure if y'all have taken

  27. that ride before. So I was like asking Jerome and Jude, hey,

  28. y'all want to go and try the ride? Then they're like, yeah,

  29. let's do it. And then there's a reason why this ride,

  30. the line is shorter. Okay, there's a reason. So, and

  31. they knew that if daddy says let's go, means sure,

  32. exciting one. Okay, so they went and they got onto

  33. the ride. We went into a ride and roller coasters,

  34. you know how they go, right? You strap yourself in

  35. and then they launch you off. So the mummy is

  36. a roller coaster, but it is indoor. So you go in,

  37. it is pitch black. It's pitch black. You strap yourself in.

  38. And instead of launching forward, they launch you backwards. Down

  39. a slope. So you wouldn't see it coming. And then

  40. they were screaming. I think Jude was like screaming. Then

  41. Jerome was like frozen and pulling Jude's hair. The whole ride.

  42. It was hilarious. I should have bought the photos, you know,

  43. after the ride. It was hilarious. But after they came out,

  44. I mean, they were like, oh, that was so scary.

  45. Stuff like that. I said, you want to do it again?

  46. They said, no. I don't want to do it again.

  47. But then it didn't stop us from trying other rides.

  48. Didn't stop us from trying other rides. So we went

  49. and tried other rides, stuff like that. And then towards

  50. the end, I think I asked them, hey, do you

  51. want to try mummy again? Then they said, now it

  52. wasn't a strong no. They were like, maybe not today,

  53. maybe next time. So slowly, they get used to more

  54. scary rides and exciting rides. And that ties us sometimes.

  55. Why are they willing to go on these scary rides?

  56. Because they know that I'm going with them. So if

  57. daddy goes with me, means should be okay one. Because

  58. he's there and if he's there, it's safe. So that's

  59. why they will be willing to go. If I tell

  60. them that, hey, y'all go ahead, they'll be like, they

  61. will never take the rides. And that leads me to

  62. the sermon that I've prepared today. Because sometimes in life,

  63. we go through scary stuff. We go through scary stuff.

  64. And sometimes we don't have a choice. When we go

  65. to a theme park, we have a choice. Whether we

  66. want to take the scary rides or you want to

  67. take the carousel. Whether you want to take the merry-go-round

  68. or you want to take the moonshot that shoots you

  69. all up. But in life, we do not have a choice.

  70. And when we go through scary stuff, what happens? What

  71. do we do when we go through scary stuff? Okay?

  72. We scream. Yes, we probably scream. You might be screaming.

  73. That is definitely one of the things. So I wanted

  74. to start it with a video. Okay?

  75. Stories of the Bible. Jesus calms the storm. This is Jesus.

  76. Stories of the Bible. Jesus calms the storm. This is Jesus.

  77. Who is the son of God and the savior of

  78. the world. While Jesus was on earth, he taught everyone

  79. about God's love and healed people from their sickness. He

  80. did many miracles like walking on water and even raised

  81. people from the dead. One day after preaching to a

  82. crowd of people, Jesus said to his disciples, let's cross

  83. to the other side of the lake.

  84. You got it.

  85. So they got into a boat and started out. Other

  86. boats followed him too. And as they sailed across, Jesus

  87. fell asleep. But soon a fierce storm came down on

  88. the lake. The boat was filling with water and they

  89. were in real danger. The disciples went and woke Jesus

  90. up shouting, Wake up!

  91. Save us!

  92. We are going to drown! Don't you care if we drown?

  93. Jesus responded, Why are you afraid? You have so little faith.

  94. Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, saying, Silence,

  95. be still. Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a

  96. great calm. Then he asked them, Where is your faith?

  97. The disciples were terrified and amazed. Who is this man?

  98. They asked each other.

  99. When he gives a command, even the wind and waves

  100. obey him.

  101. Alright. So this is a story that we are quite

  102. familiar with. It's about Jesus calming the storm. So the

  103. title of my sermon today is this. Who is this?

  104. Who is this? Who is this is a question that

  105. the disciples asked themselves at the end of this story.

  106. It was a question that they asked among themselves after

  107. Jesus calmed the storm. And when somebody asks this question,

  108. who is this? Usually, Jerome and Jude, they won't go

  109. and look at Jess and ask and point to me

  110. and ask, who is this? They won't, right? Because they

  111. recognize me. But the disciples suddenly couldn't recognize who Jesus was.

  112. Or they saw Jesus in a different light. And this was, wow,

  113. this is someone else. So this story is about when

  114. storms reveal the truth. Okay? Next slide. So the big

  115. idea If you don't catch anything, the main thing is this.

  116. Storms don't primarily teach us about our circumstances. They teach

  117. us about Jesus. That is the big idea. So when

  118. we are going through storms, like what I mentioned, sometimes

  119. we do not choose the storms that we go through.

  120. And we are thinking that, what is this storm going

  121. to teach me about? Am I going to become a better...

  122. colleague at work? Am I going to be a better parent?

  123. Am I going to be a better father, mother? But primarily,

  124. storms are about teaching us who Jesus is and revealing

  125. Jesus to us more and more. That's why just now

  126. during prayer time, right, when we sang that song, I

  127. want to know you more. Reveal yourself to me. God

  128. of everything, Reveal yourself to me. Take me as I am.

  129. More of me for all of you. All of me

  130. for all. Yeah, okay, I forgot those lines. But reveal

  131. yourself to me. And usually storms are the only way

  132. where it reveals a new dimension of Jesus that you

  133. have never experienced before. So like, when you're going through

  134. a rollercoaster, you discover emotions that you never had before. Right?

  135. Do you discover emotions that you never had before? You

  136. probably discover voice pitches that you never heard before. High pitches. Okay? Okay?

  137. So could I turn to Mark 4, 35 to 41?

  138. Let's turn to Mark 4, 35 to 41. Even as

  139. you read the scripture. So if you're there, say yes.

  140. Mark 4.

  141. Okay.

  142. Okay.

  143. So let me read. On the same day, when evening

  144. had come, He said to them, Let us cross to

  145. the other side. Now when they had left the multitude,

  146. they took Him along in the boat as He was.

  147. And other little boats were also with Him. And a

  148. great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat,

  149. so that it was already filling But he was in

  150. the stern, asleep on a pillow. And when they awoke him,

  151. they said to him, Teacher, do you not care that

  152. we are perishing? Then he arose and rebuked the wind,

  153. and he said to the sea, Peace, be still. And

  154. the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And

  155. he said to them, Why are you so fearful? How

  156. is it that you have no faith? And they feared

  157. exceedingly and said to one another, Who can this be,

  158. that even the wind and the sea obey him? Okay,

  159. so we know that we face storms. And how many

  160. of us like storms? Nobody. Who are you like storm?

  161. Be careful what you pray for. That's my only advice

  162. to you. Because when you are in a storm, you

  163. have no control over the circumstance and the situation. I

  164. think yesterday there was a heavy rain, downpour. I think

  165. we were in church. Even in church, we could hear

  166. the thunderstorm outside. And KL was flooded. When a storm hits,

  167. you cannot control the circumstance and the situation. And a

  168. lot of times when we are hit with storm, we

  169. think that, oh, is it because I've done something wrong?

  170. Did I do something that God told me not to do?

  171. Is that why I'm in a storm? Or have I sinned?

  172. What do you think? The disciples, why were they in

  173. the storm? Why were the disciples stuck in the storm?

  174. Any thoughts? It's in the verse that we have just read.

  175. The disciples were in the storm because Jesus asked them

  176. to go into the storm. Did Jesus know there's going

  177. to be a storm? Of course He knew. He's Jesus.

  178. But Jesus told them, let's go over to the other side.

  179. So why were the disciples in the storm? The disciples

  180. were in the storm because Jesus asked them to go.

  181. And sometimes, Jesus, we are faced with storms. It's because

  182. it is a journey that we have to go through

  183. to reach the other side. So next slide. So the

  184. first point is this. I got into the boat. Okay, Jesus...

  185. I accept you as my personal Lord and Savior. You

  186. are my Savior. Jesus, you are in my boat now.

  187. You know, with Christ in the vessel, we can smile

  188. at the psalm. You know that children's song, right? Ex-kid's song.

  189. But then when the storm hits, you say that, hey,

  190. I only signed up to be in the boat. I

  191. didn't sign up for the storm. But you know that, again,

  192. we cannot control storms and situations. but we know that

  193. Jesus is in the boat. What we signed up for

  194. is a life with Jesus. And that's what the disciples

  195. signed up for as well, a life with Jesus. So

  196. if we go to the next slide, when we sign

  197. up for a life with Jesus, we think that, okay,

  198. everything is going to be smooth. That is not the case.

  199. When we sign up for a life with Jesus, He

  200. has promised us what? What has Jesus promised us? Eternal life.

  201. That is the thing that He has promised us. If

  202. you believe in me, you will receive eternal life. That

  203. is the promise that He has given. He didn't say

  204. that if you believe in me, you will have an

  205. easy life. So it is a myth to say that, hey,

  206. you become a Christian, right? Everything will be okay. everything

  207. is okay because God is with you and if you

  208. put your trust in Him, you know that He is

  209. in control. You are not in control. When we are

  210. in the storm, we are not in control. But we

  211. know that God is still in control. So the expectation

  212. is that when we obey Jesus, Jesus, I followed what

  213. you said. You told me to take this job. You

  214. told me to go for this mission trip. You told

  215. me to do this. I did it. Why am I

  216. facing these problems? And sometimes we think that by obeying Jesus,

  217. we won't face problems. But do you know that that

  218. is exactly where God wants you to be? And there

  219. is a reason for it. So the reality is obedience

  220. often means entering the storm. And there's two stories, right?

  221. There's one is Jonah. Jonah went into the storm. Why?

  222. Because he disobeyed. He ran away from God. God had

  223. to bring a storm. And that storm also brought Jonah

  224. closer to God. The disciples also went through a storm.

  225. And the disciples were then had a revelation of who

  226. Jesus is. They had a new perspective of who Jesus is.

  227. So the storms aren't meant to crush us. The storms

  228. are meant to reveal something to us. Right? So, do

  229. you know that, how do you know if a sailor

  230. is a good sailor. If a good sailor has never

  231. faced a storm, do you know if that sailor is

  232. a good sailor?

  233. No.

  234. Because you only know what you have done in theory.

  235. But in practical, when the rubber meets the road, if

  236. you are able to go through the storm and still

  237. Steer your boat accordingly. That's what makes good sailors. So

  238. a calm sea never made a good sailor. A stormy

  239. sea has made excellent sailors. And that's what the storm

  240. does to us. We are not meant to be fair-weathered Christians.

  241. We are meant to be all-weathered Christians. That means regardless

  242. of the circumstance, regardless of the situation, with Christ in

  243. the vessel, I can smile at the storm. So it

  244. doesn't matter whether it's bright skies or stormy nights. Okay,

  245. the next slide. So if you see, the disciples and

  246. Jesus were both in the same boat. They were both

  247. in the same circumstance, but they had different perspectives. The disciples,

  248. they were awake. They were frantic. They were desperate. You know,

  249. they were really scared. They were trying to bail the

  250. water out. It's raining. And the boat was exactly like

  251. the boat you saw in the cartoon just now. It's

  252. not like the Disney cruise. There's no Disney cruise. There's

  253. no roof. There's nothing. So when it's raining, it's pouring.

  254. and the water got into the boat. They were trying

  255. to bail the water out with buckets, stuff like that.

  256. They were panicking. But you look at this Jesus. I

  257. don't know. Honestly, I really do not know how Jesus

  258. can be asleep in the storm, especially in this kind

  259. of boat. When the water, when the rain is falling

  260. on you. The rain is falling on you. Everyone around

  261. you is shouting. You are probably wet. You are splashed.

  262. Jesus was not dry in the boat. He was probably wet,

  263. but he was still asleep. How is that possible? How

  264. is that possible? When do you get your best night's sleep?

  265. When do you get your best night's sleep? When you

  266. have no cares in the world. When you don't have

  267. any worries. When you have anxiety, when you have worries,

  268. you're thinking about, hey, how am I going to pay

  269. this bill? How are my kids going to do in

  270. the exams? I'm bringing up my, I got different challenges

  271. with my boss. Oh no, the inflation. You know, different things.

  272. Or is AI going to take over my job? That

  273. was the topic of the... Yeah, and some of them,

  274. actually after the workshop, right, they actually came up to

  275. me and said that some of them actually had sleepless

  276. nights because they are thinking about AI really taking over

  277. their jobs and they went through a spiral. And when

  278. you have all this, you can't have a sleepless night.

  279. But for Jesus, He's like the Prince of Peace. even

  280. in the midst of the storm, where the circumstances and

  281. the situation is not ideal at all. The external circumstances

  282. and situation is not ideal at all. But he still

  283. could be sound asleep. That shows that he is secure.

  284. He feels safe. If you don't feel safe, I'll give

  285. you an example.

  286. You.

  287. How many of you all have taken an early morning flight?

  288. You've taken an early morning flight, maybe 5am, 6am flight.

  289. How many times you wake up before the alarm rings?

  290. You keep on 1am, 2am, 3am. You'll be like thinking like,

  291. am I late? Am I late? Because you're so anxious.

  292. You're anxious, you're worried that you will miss the flight.

  293. But Jesus, you know, regardless of all this, He could

  294. sleep through the storm because He was secure. He knew...

  295. What did Jesus say? Do you think that if the disciples... Okay,

  296. I'll ask you all another question. Do you think if

  297. the disciples didn't wake Jesus up, would they drown? Some

  298. say yes, some say no. What do you think? They

  299. will drown. Some say they will drown. Some say they

  300. won't drown. They won't drown. Okay? So there's either two.

  301. Some say they will drown. Some say they won't drown.

  302. But I want to go back to what did Jesus say.

  303. What did Jesus say? If you go back to Matthew

  304. 4 verse 35. Matthew 4 verse 35. Jesus said, let

  305. us cross to the other side. Jesus didn't say, let

  306. us go and die in the middle of the sea.

  307. Jesus said, let's not get into a boat and sink.

  308. Jesus said, let's go and get to the other side.

  309. So even if the disciples didn't wake Jesus up, they

  310. would reach the other side. Because that is what Jesus said.

  311. And sometimes we have to cling, not sometimes, When we

  312. are in doubt, we have to go back to what

  313. did Jesus say? And then we have to cling on

  314. to what Jesus said. And if Jesus said, Jesus said

  315. that I'm going to reach the other side, I'm going

  316. to reach the other side. It's not the end until

  317. Jesus says that it's the end. So the disciples, they

  318. could have chilled in the storm. They could have had

  319. an awesome story. If they knew that Who is Jesus?

  320. They could chill and have a nap exactly like Jesus

  321. and still reach the other side. But instead, they were frantic.

  322. They were doing so many things, wasting so much of energy.

  323. And still, the outcome would still be the same. Sometimes,

  324. we try and help God. But do you know that our...

  325. whatever effort that we do is useless. Okay? So that's

  326. the first point. The disciples couldn't sleep. Jesus could. So

  327. the second point is this. He's asleep. We are drowning.

  328. Does He even know or care? That's what the disciples said. Jesus,

  329. Do you not even care that we are drowning? Do

  330. you think the disciples were happy? How do you think

  331. the disciples were feeling when they told Jesus that? Any thoughts?

  332. How do you think the disciples were feeling when they

  333. woke Jesus up and said, Jesus, don't you care that

  334. we are drowning? They were scared. They were scared. They

  335. were probably angry They'll be like, bro, come and help

  336. us lah. Come and help us. We are scooping the

  337. water out of the boat. We are trying to do everything.

  338. We are trying to steady the ship and then you

  339. are there chilling, sleeping. So they were really, in that sense, annoyed, frustrated, angry.

  340. But they also had fear. And sometimes when we are

  341. going through the storm, that's exactly how we our emotions are.

  342. So if you go to the next slide, there was

  343. actually two different storms. One storm was external. The external

  344. storm was the winds, the waves, the lightning, the water

  345. coming into the boat. But the internal storm was their emotions.

  346. They were not at peace. They were struggling. They were panicking.

  347. And that's why they started accusing Jesus. They said, Jesus,

  348. don't you care? They started questioning Jesus' character. Because of

  349. external circumstances, they start questioning, Jesus, do you love me? Jesus,

  350. do you care for me? Jesus, why are you not

  351. helping me? And that's how we are in our circumstances.

  352. When we go through the storm, we sometimes like, God,

  353. where are you? God, I have prayed so much. Why

  354. are you not answering my prayers? I hear so many

  355. other people's testimonies. When is mine? God, do you love

  356. them more than me? God, do you even care for me?

  357. And suddenly, everything that you know about God, you question.

  358. when you're going through the storm. There's an internal storm

  359. that's happening that is caused by an external storm. And

  360. because of that, it goes to anger. So the next...

  361. So this is quite interesting. Because I caught myself getting angry.

  362. I mean, we are going through different storms. I was

  363. stormed like very long. I don't know why. It's an

  364. ongoing storm. Sometimes it's just like heavy rain, less rain,

  365. more rain, less rain. But it's always raining. But with

  366. Christ in the vessel, I can smile in the storm.

  367. I'm here to say that, yes, I can still smile.

  368. But I caught myself, why am I getting angry? Why

  369. am I getting angry? And I don't like getting angry.

  370. You know, when I was growing up, people used to

  371. call me smiley. That was my nickname. They call it smiley. Yeah.

  372. But right now, so being angry is not me. I'm

  373. usually very chill. It takes a lot to get me angry.

  374. But right now, I seem to be getting angry a

  375. bit more. So I started looking at it.

  376. Why?

  377. Why is that so? And sometimes, it's because the deep-seated Reason.

  378. Why anger? Anger is actually a secondary emotion. Fear. I

  379. have a fear. I have a fear. I cannot control

  380. the circumstances. I cannot control the circumstances. I feel helpless.

  381. When I feel helpless, what do I do? I need

  382. to do something. I need to do something with that energy.

  383. When I need to do something with that energy, instead

  384. of turning to God and venting to God, like how

  385. David did in Psalms, I take that energy and vent

  386. it out at somebody else. Usually it is somebody closest

  387. to you. Because then you feel like you're doing something. Hey,

  388. I'm doing something, what? I'm getting angry. And you think

  389. by getting angry, it will remove your fear because you're

  390. trying to control the circumstance. You get angry at your kid.

  391. You get angry at your spouse. You get angry at

  392. your colleagues. And you think that because of that, it

  393. will appease your fear. But it doesn't. And like what

  394. the disciples did, the disciples couldn't control the storm. They

  395. couldn't control the amount of water coming into the boat.

  396. They couldn't control the lightning. They couldn't control anything. What

  397. could they do? The only thing they can control is

  398. attack somebody. I need to channel my energy into something.

  399. So they started attacking Jesus. Don't you care? Don't you worry?

  400. Why are you not helping us? And that's how we are.

  401. And to be honest, that's why I get angry as well.

  402. Because a lot of times, I have no control over

  403. the storm I'm going through. I have no control over

  404. the fear. But right now, I have learned to recognize it.

  405. Next slide. So it's a universal pattern. Anger is what

  406. we see on the outside. But what we see on

  407. the inside, what is the reason of the anger is

  408. actually hidden. It is a deep fear. It is a

  409. deep fear. You know, like sometimes, right, at home, either parent,

  410. either mom or dad, you try and discipline your kid.

  411. Then your kid is like, whatever, you know, I'm not

  412. going to listen. And you know, the kid's not listening

  413. and stuff like that. And then, like, for example, the

  414. mom gets very annoyed at the kid. The kid's not listening,

  415. gets very frustrated. What does the mom do? Call the father. Hey,

  416. you see your son, not listening. Then the father will

  417. be like, what the world? Why suddenly it's my son?

  418. I thought it's our son. And you start channeling your

  419. anger towards something else that you feel you have control over.

  420. And you want probably your spouse to come and intervene

  421. and do something. But if you realize it, it's because

  422. you have a fear. And, you know, like, when you

  423. go to the doctor, like, sometimes you go to the doctor, right?

  424. And in some clinics and some hospitals, you will see

  425. that we will not tolerate violent behavior towards our staff.

  426. Sometimes you see that at the airport as well. We

  427. will not tolerate rude behavior to our staff. Why is that?

  428. The root behavior stems from anger. The anger is because

  429. somebody is scared they are going to miss their flight.

  430. Somebody is scared that the doctor gave them a diagnosis

  431. that they cannot control. Somebody gave them bad news. And

  432. instead of being able to cope with the bad news,

  433. they take it out on the bearer of the bad news.

  434. They take it out on the doctor. They take it

  435. out on the frontline staff. You know the call center staff?

  436. So now in my job, right, I deal a lot

  437. with the call center agents. So call center agents, right,

  438. if you think your job is tough, it's one of

  439. the toughest jobs. Because your job is to answer calls

  440. from customers who are not happy. When do you like

  441. a Facebook page of a company? You only like a

  442. Facebook page of a company when you want to go

  443. and post a complaint.

  444. Right?

  445. If you had a good experience, highly likely you won't

  446. say anything. But if you had a bad experience, you'll

  447. go and like the Facebook page and you will go

  448. put a negative thing. Same, call center agents. So call

  449. center agents, they have to have a very high EQ.

  450. Customer calls in, start shouting, you have to de-escalate. Find

  451. out what was their actual fear. What was your actual concern?

  452. And don't take it personally. And that's how they de-escalate

  453. the situation, then they can finally help the customer. And

  454. the disciples were going through the same thing with Jesus.

  455. They started attacking Jesus. So the question for the room,

  456. next slide. Think of the last time your fear surfaced

  457. as anger towards someone who didn't deserve it. What were

  458. you actually afraid of underneath? Sometimes it could be at

  459. a football match. You get angry at your teammate. You

  460. get angry at your teammate because you're scared to lose.

  461. You're scared that you don't want to look bad. Maybe

  462. the girl who you like is in the fans and

  463. then suddenly your team is losing. Then you're like, wow,

  464. I need to look good. My teammate is not doing

  465. so you get angry. So a lot of times, it

  466. is about fear. We have to recognize the fear.

  467. Okay?

  468. And now this is the third point, last point, is this.

  469. You know, they survived the storm. The disciples survived the storm.

  470. It's because Jesus told them that they will survive the

  471. storm in the first place. Jesus said that they will

  472. reach the other side. So they survived the storm. No surprises.

  473. But the disciples were more terrified of the calm than

  474. the storm. Do you realize that? If I go back

  475. to Mark chapter 4, verse 40. And Jesus said to them,

    Mark 4:40

  476. why are you so fearful? How is it that you

  477. have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and said to

  478. one another, Who can this be that even the wind

  479. and the sea obey Him? You know that the disciples

  480. were more scared of Jesus than the storm. How is

  481. that possible? It's because they recognized that Jesus was more

  482. powerful than the storm. Jesus was greater than any fear

  483. that they had before. And that's why they were terrified.

  484. Another point, right? Jesus asked them, why are you so fearful?

  485. How is it that you have no faith? Next question.

  486. Next slide, sorry. Jesus asked them these two questions, right?

  487. Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?

  488. Why do you think Jesus asked questions? Do you think

  489. he doesn't know the answer? Usually we ask questions. Sometimes

  490. you can ask a sarcastic question. You know the answer

  491. but you purposely ask a sarcastic question. But why do

  492. you think Jesus asked the disciples questions? Jesus didn't ask

  493. the questions for information. He asked the questions so that

  494. there will be transformation. He wanted the disciples to understand

  495. actually what do they fear? Why are you afraid? And

  496. do you still have no faith? And a lot of

  497. times it's like this. Why were they afraid? It's probably

  498. because they didn't recognize who Jesus was. They just thought

  499. he's a good preacher. You know, before they got onto

  500. the boat, Jesus was preaching the Sermon on the Mount,

  501. one of the greatest sermons. So they probably knew him

  502. as a great preacher. They know him as a healer.

  503. But they didn't know him as somebody who can control

  504. the weather. So they thought, probably they are afraid that

  505. Jesus will not come through. Or Jesus can only heal

  506. the sick. He cannot stop the storm. Jesus can only

  507. answer questions Some of my prayers, not all my prayers.

  508. That's why I am afraid to bring up my needs

  509. towards Him. I'm afraid to bring up my needs towards

  510. God because if He doesn't answer my prayer, then how?

  511. I'm afraid to believe because if I don't, I'd rather

  512. don't believe and not be disappointed than believe and be disappointed.

  513. And sometimes that's us. When we are afraid, We are

  514. afraid to pray. We are afraid to bring it up

  515. to God. and that's why we try and solve our

  516. problems on ourselves, because we think that, hey, God only

  517. answers somebody else's prayers. God will not answer my prayers.

  518. Our God is big, but He's not this big. God

  519. can do everything, but maybe not this. Or I have

  520. prayed about this before and he didn't answer my prayer.

  521. So I'd rather not. And the second question is, do

  522. you still have no faith? When we are going through

  523. the storm, do we remember everything that Jesus has done

  524. for us? Because most of the time in the storm,

  525. we are focused on the storm. We forget about everything

  526. that He has done for us. We have forgot about

  527. all the previous storms that led us to being in

  528. this storm. The fact that we have gone through other

  529. storms means we have survived other storms. And we are here.

  530. And I will be still in the next storm. Just

  531. as I went through the previous storm, I will go

  532. through the next storm. And that was what Jesus was

  533. trying to tell them. Jesus didn't get angry of them,

  534. angry with them, angry at their accusations. Jesus, you remember

  535. the disciples said, right? Do you not care that we

  536. will drown? Jesus didn't answer their accusations. Jesus just asked

  537. them another question. Why are you afraid? And with that,

  538. that was a discipleship moment for Jesus. So even as

  539. I draw towards the end, probably can go to slide 15.

  540. So slide 15 is this. The classroom is the storm.

  541. The calm was the lesson. And the graduation is when

  542. they recognize who Jesus was. So we go through the storm.

  543. It's when God is teaching us different lessons. And then

  544. when we come out of that storm, we realize and

  545. we recognize, wow, God, you are God and I am not. Wow, God,

  546. you have loved us. You care for us. You are

  547. almighty God. You are the way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper,

  548. light in the darkness. That is who you are. In

  549. the calm, that is why the disciples said, who is this?

  550. Because previously, maybe Jesus was the way maker, but he

  551. was not the miracle worker. He was not the promise keeper.

  552. He was not the light in the darkness. But when

  553. we come out of the calm, then we recognize more

  554. and more of Jesus. He reveals more and more of

  555. His self to us. And the graduation is that then

  556. they recognize, God, You are God. To God be the glory.

  557. So next, So the question, who is this? The storm

  558. stripped away every other category and left one single question standing.

  559. The storm didn't change Jesus. He was the same person

  560. asleep in the stern and standing and rebuking the wind.

  561. What changed was what the disciples were able to see.

  562. So that's why the storm changed helps us to see

  563. the truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

  564. And that is what He reveals to us regardless of

  565. the storm that we are going through. And even as

  566. I get the band up, this is the final slide.

  567. So Proverbs 9 verse 10. The fear of the Lord

    Proverbs 9:10

  568. is the beginning of wisdom. When we fear the Lord,

  569. God will give us the wisdom to go through the storm.

  570. When we fear the Lord, that means we do not

  571. fear the storm. And He gives us the wisdom to

  572. help others. He gives us the wisdom to draw closer

  573. to Him. And He reveals Himself more and more to us.

  574. So church, this morning, with Christ in the vessel, we

  575. can smile at the storm.

  576. We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

  577. information on our church, please visit xchurch.org. We are also

  578. active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week

  579. is going to be a good week ahead for you.

  580. God bless.