West Village Church Podcast
West Village Church Podcast
…the wind ceased, and there was a great calm...
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Series: …AND… | The Movement of God and His People through Mark
Title: Week 10 “…the wind ceased, and there was a great calm...”
Text: Mark 4:35-41
Lent Prayer Practice Introduction
SPEAKER_02We're currently in the season of Lent, and one of the things over the past couple years that we've tried to do as a church is that we just want to use this space as we're preparing ourselves to reflect on what Jesus has done for us on Good Friday, going to the cross and his resurrection on Easter Sunday, of just inviting our church family into a couple of prayer practices. Um, these are not meant to be religious rituals or activities, but they're meant to help provide ways that we can create space to um build our relationship with Jesus, to learn to rely on him more, to learn to listen to him more. And one of the things that we've done is we've asked a couple of people to try them out and tell us about the experience. And so this is Brianna Williams, everyone. That's right. You can give her a hand. Uh Brianna is amazing. Uh, she actually used to do Michelle's job before Michelle. Uh, she's a mom of four kids. Uh, she and her husband David lead an amazing missional community, uh, and she's just an overall awesome person. Um, and she got to try our prayer practice. So, as you came in, you may have got one of these. Um, it just says prayer walking on it. And it's a very simple prayer practice. Um, so Brianna, first question: What is prayer walking and what did you understand it to be?
SPEAKER_00Um, going for a walk, often where you live, work, or play, and praying for that geographical area. Uh, you can lift up specific people and situations that are there.
SPEAKER_02So, what did you think about prayer walking before you actually had a chance to do it?
SPEAKER_00Um I think I don't know, it's just like a neat opportunity to get people together to pray and go for a walk. And yeah, our MC had done it a few times like before this week.
SPEAKER_02So Yeah. This wasn't your first time?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
Why Prayer Walking Changes You
SPEAKER_02Like, is that me? No, that's not me. Okay, good. Uh what were some of the things you heard or felt during um actually engaging this practice?
SPEAKER_00Um, it just like I found it ordered my heart like towards the places I was praying for. So um playing praying around our neighborhood, I just like God brought up like the names of all the families in our neighborhood, was able to like pray for them and think about them and just be like, oh, like could God be asking me to intentionally like be starting a conversation with them or inviting them over, like, okay, like it kind of just like orients your heart towards that place. And um yeah, Karen and I had a chance to go for a walk near the Cineplex here and just like pray for a church body and it just like stirs your affections for for the place you're praying for. So it's like, oh yeah, I love my church so much. It's such a pleasure to pray for them with a friend.
SPEAKER_02So that's amazing. Yeah. Why would you recommend others try this out?
SPEAKER_00Um, I think it's fun, it's relational. Um, it always leaves me feeling, yeah, just like more affection for the people and place that I prayed for um even than I did before. And it's a witness, an encouragement to the people we're praying for. Um, we've done prayer walks around the hospital before, and David was able to ask the manager on the hospital floor, like, hey, we're doing a prayer walk today. Do you have prayer requests? And so it could just be a way of uh to witness to people, like, oh, you actually are like praying for us. And um, yeah, the Holy Spirit does work through our prayers. We've seen prayers answered and yeah.
Invitation To Try Prayer Walking
Church Finances And Youth Fundraiser
Mark 4 Setup And Purpose
A Childhood Riptide Story
The Sea As Chaos In Scripture
SPEAKER_02Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing, Brianna. Can we give a hand for Brianna? So I just want to encourage all of you, if you have a chance, take one afternoon, one evening, one morning this week, find a place where you live, learn, work, or play, and just take a moment to pray. Uh, I know for myself, this is a practice I've been integrating into my life for the past several years, uh, in particular in our neighborhood. And we have seen the slow work of God in the hearts of our neighbors over the past several years as uh people have joined our missional community, people start coming out to our Sunday gatherings. Um, we've had opportunities to pray for people who have church hurt uh and see restoration happen in that. Um, and Les Brianna said, it has just grown our affections for the people in our neighborhood who do not yet know Jesus. Um, so I would encourage you to do that. Uh, before I dive in this morning, uh I want to just give you a quick financial update. One of our uh commitments to you as our church family is just continued transparency. And so one of the things that we do every couple of weeks is just share with you where we're at. And so this is our numbers from February. So in February, we received uh$32,000 about. Um, then we spent$44,000, which is about what we budgeted. Uh so we had a bit of a deficit, about$12,000. Uh, the reserve fund, so this is sort of our contingency. We try and keep about three months' expenses, so roughly about um$140,000,$150K. So we are a little bit down, we're at$125k. Uh, we're not hurting, we're not worried. Um, you know, we typically do see fluctuations in giving as we come out of Christmas. And uh the one number I do want to highlight for you is that uh we are in the process of trying to fundraise a position for a youth and young adults um full-time staff member. Uh you you heard Michelle talk about this. Like we really do recognize as elders, as leaders, that we probably have underinvested in our youth and our young adults. And uh and we see that in the sense that um, you know, there's a few less young adults than there used to be here. Um and we just wanted to be faithful and say we want to actually create space for people who are in their 20s and late teens and people who are in their teens to have someone who is especially dedicated to helping shepherd and equip them as they're wrestling through what it looks like to have faith in Jesus and to share that with others. And so we just want to challenge you, our church family, to um to give above and beyond what you would normally give to that position. Uh, what we want to do is we want to fundraise about a two years salary plus expenses for that. And we estimate that'll be about$180,000. So the good news is we are have$81,000 that we banked already. Um, it's awesome. That's a lot of money. Uh, but we are we are seeking to get that last um$99,000. And so I just want to ask each and every one of you, whether it's you know, an extra$5, an extra$10, an extra$25,000, whatever it is, if the spirit is saying, hey, uh, I want to call you to invest in this area, please just give, uh, as Michelle said, faithfully uh to what Jesus has called you to give. And we are praying that we would be able to start looking for that person. Our goal would be actually to try and hire someone by June. So um we want to just continue to challenge you to um give as the spirit leads you. All right. Uh that was a lot. How are we all doing? We're all still tracking. Okay, perfect. Uh, really quick, if you are new here with us and I haven't had a chance to meet you, my name is Andrew. I am one of the leaders here. And uh, and whether this is your first time or your 500th time, I am really excited you are here. And the reason for that is I actually believe that you are here, not because you just woke up this morning and said, Hey, I need to go to a church gathering or someone invited you, but because there's actually a God who knows you, who loves you, who's in pursuit of you, and who wants to speak to you this morning. The Bible tells us that where two or three are gathered in his name, there he is also. Now, just quickly take a little Pixie around. Guys, there's more than two or three in this room. That means Jesus is present with us. And so I'm excited because I am not just here to like speak to you, and you're not just here to listen to me. We're actually here to listen to Jesus. And we're gonna do that through reading his word together. So if you have a Bible, you can open it up. We're gonna be in Mark chapter four. If you don't have a Bible, we would love for you to have one. We have them for free either side of the theater. Grab it, take it, mark it up, consume it, uh, ask questions about it. Um, and of course, you can always get a digital copy. There's a number of apps on any app store that you can use. As I said, we're going through the book of Mark. We're gonna be in Mark chapter four. Uh, Mark is one of the four books that deals with the life, death, burial, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus. And Mark has really been outlining for us in the first few chapters of his book what we would call the kingdom of heaven. What he is doing is he's showing a series of scenes of Jesus at work, and he is helping us see that this is what it looks like when God's kingdom inbreaks into our human reality. And as we come to chapter four, he takes a step back and he shares with us some of Jesus' teachings, some of the things that Jesus was teaching to his disciples and to the crowds that were around him in the form of parables to help us think deeply about what the kingdom actually looks like. As we come to the end of chapter four, Mark is going to return back to sharing stories. Now, at face value, this is the story that we're gonna read today, it's just another miracle story. Uh, probably if you grew up in the church, if you've been to church at any time, you probably have heard this story. It's the story of Jesus calming the storm. And I think because this is such a familiar story, we can easily just categorize it as the same as any other miracle story. Jesus heals the sick, Jesus casts out demons, Jesus calms the storm. But Mark is actually telling this story in a profound way so that we cannot miss that he is inviting us to see not just what the kingdom looks like, but to help us better understand who the king of the kingdom is and what he is like. Before I dig into this, I want to start off with a story of my own. When I was younger, my parents did a lot of uh traveling. In particular, we would go down the Oregon coast, uh, the the like the Washington coast into Oregon, sometimes uh as far as California, and we would get to come and visit all of these amazing beach towns and beaches. And on one of these visits, we found ourselves at the beach, and I can't remember where it is, I think it was probably somewhere in California. And so our family was there at the time. It was just me and two of my uh brothers were born. My third one hadn't been born yet. And we go down to this beach and it is gorgeous. You come through this field, and I'm you gotta imagine, I'm like a 10-year-old kid. I love critters. There's snakes and lizards to like chase and play with, but then I get to the beach and all that gets left behind because the beach is incredible. White sand, out in the water, these incredible rock formations. In fact, there was an arch that had been formed where the water had pummeled the sandstone all the way through. Of course, I had to go into the water. And so I start swimming. And I had done lots of swimming lessons. I was a strong swimmer. My parents were busy with my brothers at the beach and they were kind of watching me. Uh, but I just I just kept swimming. And then they knew I was a strong swimmer, so they weren't too concerned. But I went out further than I should, and suddenly I felt the riptide. I felt this crushing force of water start to pull me under, and I began to panic. And I started waving my arms and screaming, and my parents were not close enough to come and get me. By the grace of God, there was someone in the water not too far away, another adult who saw me panicking and swam out to me and pulled me safely to shore. But what I learned that day is that far from being a serene therapeutic force, the ocean is a source of chaos and terror. Now, I still love the ocean, I still love swimming in it, but I know that it's not safe, that it can be very, very dangerous. I want you to imagine how someone in the ancient world would have viewed the ocean. The thing that came and crashed against the shore, the thing that could wreck your ships while you were traveling. When you think about it, the ocean becomes less of this beautiful therapeutic thing that we want a view of and more of this force of chaos and terror. In fact, when you read the biblical account, what you see is that the ocean, the waves, the storms began to symbolize chaos and evil and darkness itself. Right from the very beginning of the Bible, the symbolism is present. Genesis chapter one begins with this epic phrase. Most of us probably know, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. But I think most of us gloss over Genesis chapter one, verse two. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over what? The waters. The literal Hebrew phrase for formless and empty is tohu vavohu. You want to say that 10 times fast? Tohu vavohu. And if we literally translated it, as far as I understand, it means wild and waste. Here's the picture that the biblical authors give us of the pre-creation reality: chaos, darkness, waters. And that image just continues on throughout the biblical account. Let me just read a couple of passages from the book of Psalms. This comes from Psalm chapter 88. Let me just read uh verse 9 here. You rule over the surging seas. When its waves mount up, you still them. Speaking about God, who is the one who can calm the seas? God. Psalm 107. Psalm 107, uh verse 23. Some went out on the sea in ships. They were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep, for he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted the white lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths. In their peril, their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunkards. They were at their wits' end. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper. The waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. And I can read more and more and more, but let me just go right to the very end of the Bible. This is the Apostle John, he has this vision of the new heavens and the new earth when God comes and fully consummates what he started in Jesus. And John writes, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven, and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any what? Sea. Why? Because for the biblical authors, the ocean wasn't just a body of water, it was representative of evil, darkness, chaos. Only God could still. Theologian N.T. Wright puts it this way. He says, The sea came to symbolize for them, meaning the Hebrew people, the dark power of evil, threatening to destroy God's good creation and God's people. The reason I tell you this is today we're going to read a story that we've heard a million times if you've grown up in the church. Maybe for some of you, you haven't grown up in the church, and this is going to be fresh. And if so, I want to invite you to see what most of us gloss over. This is not simply a story about Jesus doing another run-of-the-mill miracle. No. What Mark wants us to see is that Jesus is in fact the good king, God in flesh, who has come to conquer chaos and evil that threaten his creation. And as we encounter this Jesus, this King, we are also being invited to bring the chaos and evil that lives in us and that we experience to him, understanding that he is the only one who can comment.
SPEAKER_01So again, if you have your Bibles, Mark chapter 4.
The Storm As Kingdom Opposition
Jesus Sleeps And Human Limits
SPEAKER_02We're going to be right in verse 35. That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, Let us go over to the other side, leaving the crowd behind. They took him along just as he was in the boat. There were also other boats with him. So I want to pause here for a second. This is what's happened. Jesus has been spending his entire day preaching and teaching to crowds, people clamoring after him, people who are needing him and wanting him. He's pouring himself out. And he's been doing it from the shore or from a boat as he preaches to people on the shore. And now he is exhausted and he is tired. And he's like, Man, I need a break. We need to get away. And so him and his disciples, they get into their boats and they start going across the Sea of Galilee, this large lake that they are on. And then says this a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. There's something interesting here. Jesus is leaving what would be considered the Jewish part of the Lake of Galilee, and he is now traveling towards the Gentile part of the Lake of Galilee. And as you compare stories in the book of Mark, what you're going to see is that there are two storm accounts. And each storm account comes as Jesus is leaving the Jewish part and going into the Gentile part. And there's parallel miracles. But as you come to the Gentile side, what you see is this continual opposition from the forces of evil and darkness. In particular, the next story that we're going to read in chapter five is a story of Jesus meeting a man who's possessed by a legion of demons. And I don't think this is an accident. What Mark is helping us see is that Jesus' kingdom is going to advance. And it's not just for one people group, it is a kingdom that will advance into the world, and yet there is an enemy. An enemy, an evil enemy that wants to resist him. And this storm is representative of that resistance to the advance of the kingdom of God. Now I I I I give you this little tangent because I want us to understand something. As long as there is evil in the world, there will be opposition to the kingdom of God. And if you are part of the kingdom of God, you should not be surprised when storms come up to try and dissuade you. So here they are, they're in the boat, the storm comes up, the chaos waters are all around them, and what's Jesus doing? Verse 38. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. What's Jesus doing? Sleeping on a cushion. The storm is raging, and Jesus is claps in exhaustion, chilling out on the back of the boat on a pillow. The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don't you care if we drown? As we look at this story, we can focus on the we can focus on the storm, we can focus on the disciples, but I actually believe that Mark wants us to focus on Jesus. And there's something very interesting that Mark does here. I think Mark is putting on display Jesus' humanity. Think about the circumstances for a moment. Jesus has been pouring himself out all day. Have any of you ever done that where you know you come, uh you've been working really hard, you've been serving other people, and you just come at the end of the day and you're like, man, I need a nap. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Are there any moms of littles in the room? You know what I'm talking about. Like, Shannon, at the end of the day, she's never like, I have so much energy. I can come home from work sometimes and be energy, uh, energized. And she loves our kids, and I love our kids, but by the end of the day, we're like, okay, time for time for bed. When you pour yourself out, when you give of yourself over and over and over again, at a certain point you run out of energy. At a certain point, your emotions have nothing left to give. See, we look at Jesus and we think Jesus is God in human form, and we've emphasized the God bit. What Mark is doing in this moment is he's um emphasizing the man bit. Jesus is a human being. And as a human being, Jesus actually had limits. There's a few of you are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, Andrew, God, no limits. But Jesus was also a human being, which means the same limits that are true of every single human being were true of Jesus. He did not have inexhaustible energy, he did not have infinite time, he was not able to be in multiple places at once. He limited himself to the same realities that every human being has.
SPEAKER_01And as a human, he recognized and lived into his limitations. Jesus was tired. He had poured himself out, he had given everything he had, and in exhaustion, he got into the boat, left the crowds behind, and had a nap. Now I I tell you this.
Limits As An Invitation To Trust
SPEAKER_02Because I think as we look at Jesus sometimes, when we underemphasize his humanity, we start to em underemphasize our own humanity. We think, man, we're we're in a church and we talk about mission all the time. We're like, man, we we need to be on mission more. And so I I've gotta create more capacity, I've gotta do more, I've gotta work harder, I've gotta be more active. Then we hit these moments where we come against a limitation and we start to internalize that as hey, there's something wrong with me. I'm not believing enough. I'm not being faithful enough. I'm not doing enough. And maybe sometimes that's true. But maybe sometimes we are just coming up against a natural limitation that God in his grace has given us so that we can trust and rely on him to do what you and I cannot. There's a group of guys that meet together once a month that I'm part of, and we read some things together. And we're currently reading a book by a man named Paul Tripp called Lead. It's about leaders. But I think this is true for all of us. Every single human being. He says every leader is a package of God-given gifts and God-assigned limits. He says every single human being has things that God has given them to use for his glory, but also things that God has given them that are limitations. Then he says this: it is dangerous to focus on the one without humbly remembering the other. If you're a leader, you don't know everything, you can't do everything, you aren't completely mature, and you don't have inexhaustible energy. Now, again, think about Jesus. Jesus, was he mature? Yes, he was absolutely. He was the most spiritually mature human there was. Jesus, did he like follow the will of the Father perfectly? Was he perfectly attuned to the Spirit? Did he have the Spirit's power working through his life perfectly? He had all of those things. And yet, as a human being, he still had limitations. You are not just a package of strengths, gifts, and experiences. You're also a collection of weaknesses and susceptibilities. But, church, listen to this. It is here that the gospel is such a sweet encouragement. We do not have to fear our limits because God doesn't send us out on our own. Where he sends us, he goes to. We do not have to curse our weaknesses because our weaknesses are the workroom for his grace. Our limits and weaknesses are not in the way of what God can do through us, but our denial of limits and our delusions of independent strength are.
SPEAKER_01Jesus, as a human being, was modeling for us what it looks like to live into the limitations of being human.
SPEAKER_02He was fully human. He didn't have inexhaustible energy. He needed rest. He needed sleep. He needed to get away from people. Some of us, we we come against our own internal limits and we chafe at them. I remember when Shan and I first moved to Victoria, we were gung-ho. We had come to do a church planting internship with West Village. They were in the process of attempting a church plant sandwich, and we poured ourselves into this thing. And it came to this point where, you know, on Thursday nights we had a missional community meal. On Friday nights, we had a leadership team, a core leadership team for the church plant. On Saturdays, we had our full church planting crew, like three missional communities gathered together for a meal. Uh, and then Sunday mornings we'd be here at the theater. And then, you know, we would be doing all these other things, missionally, we'd be inviting neighbors and coworkers into our house. Uh, I had had like a beer and board games night with another friend that we would do to try and engage people who didn't yet know Jesus. And we poured ourselves out, and then we had a baby. Guess what a baby is? A gracious limitation. Right? Because suddenly you don't have inexhaustible energy or time. I can't come home from work and be like, hey hun, I'm gonna go out with the boys. She's like, no, no, you're not. I have been sleep deprived and caring for her baby, and I need some help. And it chafed at my soul.
SPEAKER_01I felt like I was failing God. You know what I love about this picture?
SPEAKER_02Jesus isn't worried that his father's like, yo, buck up, sunshine. You didn't do enough. Get back to the crowds, get back to work, keep working harder, pour yourself out more, get that last little extra, like just tinge of energy.
SPEAKER_01No, Jesus rests because he knows that he can trust his father, even in his limitations.
Quiet Be Still Jesus As God
SPEAKER_02We are all going to hit moments of limitation. You don't have inexhaustible time. Some of you keep cramming your calendar full because you're just convinced that you can keep doing more and more and more, and it's killing you because it is too much, because you haven't embraced the God-given limitations that you have. And because you're cramming too much into your time, you're not actually able to give the energy, time, and effort to the things that God has actually called us to. Some of us have changed our stage of life and we are chafing at it. Instead of embracing the reality that God has called us to minister differently in that space. You know, one of the things I've learned over time is that when I had kids, God didn't call me to stop making disciples. He called me to double down on making very specific disciples. It means I had to create time, energy, and effort to invest in my kids so that they can come and know Jesus just as much as my neighbors and coworkers and friends need him. You don't have inexhaustible energy. Some of us, we really want to have a particular kind of gift set. And so we're like, man, I'm going to try and work really hard to become this type of person that God's never meant us to be. And then we feel like a failure all the time when God is simply inviting us to understand that He's made us for something different. And so we're exhausted and we're tired and we feel defeated. When Jesus is actually inviting us to come and experience rest. Church, our limitations, they are not bad news, they are good news. Because it means when you cannot do it, God is inviting you to bring those things to Him and trust Him. He's not angry, He's not disappointed, He's not saying, I'm gonna squeeze a little more drops out of you. He's inviting you to bring your limitations to Him and come to rest. Jesus put this on full display for us. But Mark, he's not just interested in showing us Jesus' humanity, he is also wanting us to see Jesus' divinity. So verse 39 says, He, meaning Jesus, got up and rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Quiet, be still.
SPEAKER_01Then the wind died down, and it was completely calm.
SPEAKER_02Church, the reason I gave you this long information, a long list of information on the sea is because this moment, I want you to understand like how much of a powerful punch this moment is for his disciples.
SPEAKER_01For us as readers. Jesus isn't just doing a miracle, he is decisively showing that he is God. That he is God in the flesh. He does what only God can do, which is he is the one who can calm the chaos waters. The symbol of darkness, the symbol of chaos, the symbol of evil.
SPEAKER_02For the disciples, this wasn't just good news because they got out of a storm. This was good news because of what the storm represented. There was a God who had come into their midst who was going to decisively act to conquer evil, to bring order to chaos. Now, most of us are probably not going to be in a situation unless you, you know, ride BC ferries at the wrong time of the year, where you're stuck in a storm and it's scary. But all of us are going to face storms. All of us are going to hit moments of chaos, moments where the darkness and the evil of the world hit us like waves crashing over the side of our boat, and we feel like we are about to drown. Some of you are feeling that right now. You're looking around at the world and you're seeing things that have been norms unravel around you. Or you are looking at our country and you are seeing political decisions that you think are going to have dramatic detrimental effects to you and to our country. Or you're looking at society and you're looking at the way that it is devaluing some of the things that we as a church hold dear that we think are the ways of God and it is falling apart around us. Or simply you're experiencing personal storms. Your marriage is in trouble. Your kids don't want to talk to you anymore. You went to the doctor, and the doctor said, We need to come and do more tests. We found something.
Storms Today And The Ultimate Storm
SPEAKER_01Your job is miserable. You can't get along with your boss. The people in your class hate you. Whatever it is, these storms are things that Jesus is inviting us to bring to him and trust that he is the one who can calm them.
SPEAKER_02One scholar put it this way, he said, uh, when when you look at this, it's like looking through binoculars backwards, where instead of having a really wide view, a large view, it's like a micro view. He said, This story is like a micro view of what Jesus is doing ultimately. So, what is it that it is referencing? Well, it's repres referencing the ultimate storm that Jesus calmed. What is the thing that threatens humanity? What is the thing that every single person tries to fight against? Why do we have beauty products and Botox and all the because we are terrified of death?
SPEAKER_01Our society is terrified of death. It is the ultimate evil, the ultimate chaos. And yet, Jesus takes on death and wins.
SPEAKER_02In a couple of weeks, we are gonna gather here together on Good Friday, and we are gonna celebrate, and I mean that very literally, we are going to celebrate Jesus going to the cross. Jesus at great expense to himself goes into the chaos waters of death. And yet, on the third day, Easter Sunday, we will reper, we will celebrate his resurrection because Jesus has calmed the ultimate storm.
SPEAKER_01Here's what that means.
SPEAKER_02When there's something going on in your life that feels out of your control, is it worse than death? If Jesus can deal with death on your behalf, he can deal with it. If there is something in your life that is going on that feels like chaos, know that there is a God who has dealt with the ultimate chaos and he has decisively calmed that storm. And so you can entrust him with your storms. When you come to know Jesus, he doesn't say the storms will end. In fact, the opposite. In John chapter 16, verse 33, Jesus speaking to his disciples says, I've told you these things so that you may have peace.
SPEAKER_01In this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world, he says.
SPEAKER_02Church, as we look at Jesus' divinity, put on display, we see what kind of king he is. We see he is the king that is able to go to battle and conquer the chaos monsters, the storms in our life. And he is inviting you and I, in the midst of those storms, to come to him, to find our peace in him, because he is the one who can actually bring the calm that we are so desperate for.
SPEAKER_01I want to finish off with one last note that we see here.
SPEAKER_02Mark writes in verse 40, he said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? When I read this, I don't know about you, but it seems a little counterintuitive to me. Like, didn't the disciples just go to Jesus and cry out to him? That seems like they had some faith.
SPEAKER_01But Jesus seems to think that somehow they missed the mark. What is it? What did they miss?
SPEAKER_02I think as we look at Jesus and his humanity and we look at the disciples and their humanity, Mark is actually calling us to see a contrast in responses to the storm. On one hand, you have the disciples. We know that they were fishermen, which means they were experienced on this particular body of water. They knew how to uh sail a boat, row a boat. They knew how to deal with storms. They had been in that before. They had expertise. They thought they had it figured out. And you have Jesus who has none of these things.
SPEAKER_01And yet the disciples panic in Jesus rests in peace. What was going on?
SPEAKER_02I think when we think about fear, fear, fear is produced when we see something that is bigger and greater than ourselves. You see, the disciples they looked at their own resources, they looked at their own skill set, they looked at what they had to bring to the table, and they worked it and they tried to kind of navigate through the storm, and suddenly it was too much for them.
SPEAKER_01And it was only then that they took their faith off of themselves and they placed it on Jesus.
SPEAKER_02Jesus, however, not being a sailor, having no, as far as we know, nautical experience, can sleep in peace. Why?
SPEAKER_01Because he trusts that there is one greater than the storm who is in control in that moment.
SPEAKER_02As the disciples' response in verse 41, they were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.
SPEAKER_01Do you catch that? Their fear changed. Why? Because they suddenly were confronted with the reality that there was someone greater than the storm there.
SPEAKER_02Jesus in Matthew chapter 10, speaking to his disciples about the persecution, the storms that they'll face when people come against them and hurt them, says this do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Now, some of you are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what? He just dropped the H-E double hockey sticks word. What kind of church is this? What what uh Jesus is saying is he's saying, Don't don't worry about someone who can just kill your body. Worry about the God who created all of you. He's the one who has the greater power. He's the one that you need to worry about. But then listen to what he says next. And this church, this is so good. So, so good. Verse 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your father's care.
SPEAKER_01And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. Not more than Michelle's sparrow, but and Tim.
SPEAKER_02And Aaron. Here's what Jesus is saying. He's saying there's one who's far more powerful than the storm of your life. There's gonna come storms that you can't handle, but don't be afraid of that. There's someone greater that you need to worry about. But he says, You don't you don't actually need to worry because look at what he is like. The God who cares about birds, tiny little birds that mean nothing to the average person, that they die and no one notices.
SPEAKER_01How much more valuable are you?
SPEAKER_02This is the God who saw you, who knew you, who loved you enough to send his son to go to the cross for you. So when when Jesus is inviting us to is to see his example of true, mature humanity, Jesus is the ultimate human, the one who fully puts his hope, faith, and trust in his Father, that no storm can shake because he has full confidence that his father is in control. This is what he calls us to. When you hit the storms of life, Jesus is calling you to not just run from it, not even just to run to him, but to just be with him, to trust that he is there with you in peace. I know some of you are like, I don't think I can do that. I'm with you. I fail at this all the time. But look at the kind of God Jesus is. When his disciples come to him screaming in panic because they've come to the end of themselves, does he say, Well, should have just had faith in me. Guess you gotta deal with this on your own. No. He still enters into their pain and their fear and calms the storms of their life. No matter what place you are in this morning, Jesus is inviting you to come to him. And as you continue to see that he is faithful to do what he's promised to do, he promises that he will grow your faith and your trust in him. Just look at the disciples, terrified in this moment, and yet church history tells us that every single one of them, except for John, who was exiled, goes to his death. And do they go to their death screaming and begging and whining and crying out? No, they go to their death in peace because they know the one who is greater than death.
SPEAKER_01Each and every one of us is going to come to places where storms hit.
A Personal Story About Money Anxiety
SPEAKER_02And yet those aren't just places where Jesus is inviting us to call out to him. They're places where Jesus actually wants to grow us, to grow our faith so that we can grow in our love and trust of him. As I'm finishing off here, I'll invite the band to start coming up. I want to just share one quick story. Um I am a type A anal retentive control freak. Confessions with Andrew. Imagine being married to me. You can all pray for Shannon. Um of the places where uh I deal with a lot of anxiety is around finances. Um I grew up in a family that was very like financially uh just conscious, and and that's sort of been internalized for me. And so what would happen when I first got married to Shannon is uh we would have a crisis, a storm, if you will, that would come up in our finances, and I would start to freak out, and I would start to be like, okay, I gotta work this and try and figure it out and control it. And I would be like a total jerk. I'd be mad at her. She'd be like, I I bought us, I bought a coffee. I'm like, how could you spend this wasteful money? We have a coffee maker. So some of you are like, oh my gosh, Shannon, you're a saint. She is. She is a saint. But over time, as Jesus has invited me to call out to him, he has been maturing my faith. And I am not there yet. I am not, I have not arrived, but I can tell you, and Shannon will testify to this, that my faith when those financial crises come, when those storms come, when things feel unexpected, when you hit that bill, is far different than it was. Why?
SPEAKER_01Because I am learning to trust that God is in control, that he is in the boat, that he is greater than the storm, and it is producing more peace.
SPEAKER_02As we finish off our time together, Mark isn't simply telling us another miracle story. Mark is putting on display the king of the kingdom, fully man and fully God. And Jesus' humanity reveals to us that as human beings, we will hit limits. We cannot exhaustibly come and continue to be part of the king's advance without waiting for the king. To do the work. Our limitations are an invitation to trust Him. And He promises that as the kingdom advanced, there will be resistance, there will be storms, there will be evil, and we will face it. But He's inviting us to see that He is not just the man, but the God who can calm them for us. And inviting us to continue to rest in Him. So as we finish off, let me give you three questions just to reflect on. I say this often, but I think it bears repeating. We don't want to just be hearers of the Word. It's good to come to a place like this and to hear a message, but it's actually something that we want the Holy Spirit to use to change and transform us. So if you have a phone, take it out, take pictures, write these down, whatever it is. I encourage you, take it from here, talk about as a family in your drive home over lunch, talk about with your mission community with friends. If you're a journaler, think about these questions and journal through them. Whatever it is, take some time to consider these things. Number one, what limits has God allowed in your life that He may be inviting you to trust Him in more, but that you have been resisting?
SPEAKER_01Are you getting older and your energy levels are down? Have you just had a baby and you don't have the same time capacity? Has your job changed and you don't have the same amount of energy? Whatever it is, take some time and ask, why am I resisting?
SPEAKER_02Number two, where are you relying on your own strength or resources instead of resting in the power and presence of Jesus? Are you like the disciples who are sitting on the boat being like, We got this, we know how to sail a ship? And Jesus is simply saying, Nope, you don't got this. Stop trying to rely on your own strength, your own wisdom, your own methods, and rest in me. And finally, what is one area of your life right now that Jesus wants to mature your faith in so that you can trust in him in the storms ahead? Is there a place that feels like it's a storm right now? Perhaps it's actually an invitation. An invitation for you to come and trust him so that he can grow your faith. What are those moments? What are those places?