WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:06.959 Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:16.640 Growing up in a home where your dad is a professor means that class is always in session. 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:23.920 Now, it's he's not, he's a he's I have, yes, I have my doctorate, but I want you to know he's a smarty, smarty. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.160 He has two PhDs, like in the sciences, like the sticky stuff. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:36.240 So when you got two PhDs, that means that not only class is in session, but every single day is a lesson. 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:41.920 And one of the most memorable ones is the one of him teaching me to ride a bike. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:55.520 Now, when I say that, you might pan to a movie-esque scene where there's a flat road, a little girl with a helmet on, because safety matters. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:02.320 Elbow pads, knee pads, the whole the whole fit would be there, right? 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:20.000 And then you would see the proximity of that dad next to his daughter, hand on the seat right there, letting her get a couple of pedal strokes in before the gentle push, the success, she rode a bike. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:26.480 You would not be seeing how I learned to ride a bike. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:30.239 The road, in fact, was not flat. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:36.000 We actually walked a flat road to get to a hill. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:48.400 Now, if you visited said hill today, something in the 20, probably 30 years has changed in the topography. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:56.799 But you can guarantee it is still true, there was not a flat road. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:02.239 It was definitely graded upward. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:09.439 I don't have a helmet on my head, I don't have elbow pads, I don't have knee pads. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:10.240 You know why? 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:13.280 Because it's the 80s and nobody cared. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:15.360 Nobody cared. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.759 I don't even remember seat belts, guys. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:22.479 I don't know how we made it out of these decades. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.879 And so my dad, he does, he is close to me. 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:31.120 We do we do walk side by side on a fly road up to the hill. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.120 Hand is on the saddle, but he's a man of physics. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:44.240 And he understands it won't take much effort to get this lesson over. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:48.400 So there is the hand on the saddle. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:50.879 It's more of a release. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.400 And I had a lesson to learn. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.039 You either pedal or you crash. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:02:59.120 I pedal. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:03.759 Lesson learned. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:10.879 Every single day you and I are in class. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:21.680 You are a student or a pupil learning from something or someone every single day. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:42.639 What you woke up thinking about, what you fell asleep worrying about, the books you read, the music you listen to, the podcasts, the phone conversations, who you call when you're frustrated, the socials you swipe through, the game you play to avoid. 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.159 Oh, and I'm not judging, we all got them. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.159 And they're teaching us every single day. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:52.479 What are we gonna think on? 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.039 What lessons are we gonna learn today? 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:04.879 You may have associated this to something that's very uh innocent, and and it's not doing any harm, but actually it is forming you. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:08.159 Another way to say it is it's discipling you. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:12.000 And that's not just a term that was for the 12 in the Bible. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.560 In Matthew 28, we get a great commission where he says, go and make disciples. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:18.319 So that's you and me. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:22.480 We're in this discipleship. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:31.360 We're in a series right now, and this is uh where we're concluding it, and it's been called Follow Me. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:34.160 It's a series on discipleship. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:39.839 Pastor Mark warned us that the enemy is trying to isolate you from discipleship. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:48.319 Pastor Daniel told us that in the midst of discipleship, we are gonna face a spiritual battle, and the spiritual weapon you need is prayer. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:55.439 Pastor Joachim, he leveled it out, he was pretty honest, and he talked about the cost of discipleship. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:08.720 You're gonna have to lay something down, week by week by week, pointing you to the teacher, ringing the bell, telling you class is in session. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:22.560 Week by week, what they're doing is they're connecting you to a relationship because discipleship, by its definition, a pupil and a teacher is relationally connected. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:32.560 So I know this is gonna be hard today to say, but right now, listening to a sermon is not discipleship, it's information. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:41.519 And until you take that information, you bring it into your relationship with the Lord and let him transform you, then it just stays information. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:46.639 And information detached from that relationship just makes us critical. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:53.680 We're like, she was she was kind of funny, she was she was okay, it was alright. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.360 I thought it was a good point. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:00.720 God's saying, come and bring it to me. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.079 I want to do something with that information. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:11.519 He wants to form you, and he's asking you to choose who you will follow. 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:16.240 So each week we've been declaring, go to Jesus. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:22.800 He's the teacher, not man, not circumstances, not your worries, not your boss, not your family. 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:24.639 He's your teacher. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:27.360 Follow him. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.279 And as the great theologian Dr. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:35.199 Seuss once said, oh, the places you will go. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.519 Have you been in some places and following Jesus? 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:44.800 Let's discover one of those in Matthew that the disciples found themselves in. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:47.360 Matthew 14, 22 through 24. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:50.560 It's in the amplified, which means I get to say more words. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:07:01.680 Immediately he directed the disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, while he sent the crowds away. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:06.160 After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:08.639 When it was evening, he was there alone. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:18.959 But the boat by this time was already a long distance from land, tossed and battered by the waves, for the wind was against them. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:22.319 Oh, the places you will go with Jesus. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:34.079 Here we see Jesus has what the disciples think that the bell is rung in class is dismissed, because here Jesus is gonna, he's gonna give them a little pop lesson in it. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:37.839 Hey, you don't know this, but I have something more for you. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:43.519 But in their minds, class was over because they had just witnessed the feeding of the 5,000. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:47.199 That was 5,000 men, not even counting women and children. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.160 The lessons were plenty. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:55.360 I mean, it's the best illustration ever. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.560 Literally, you think you have lack, no, you have plenty. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:00.959 You have need, God has provision. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:04.000 And they're like, man, this is the best sermon ever. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:06.480 I mean, the illustrations are on point. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:08.240 Nailed it, Jesus. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:09.199 Nailed it. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:11.759 We're coming back to your church. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:18.959 And so they show up onto uh the shores, and it's really the shores of familiarity. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:22.560 This is the place of Sea of Galilee. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:29.920 This is where a lot of their fishermen had that are in in that are the disciples, are familiar with. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:36.639 How many lessons are we not paying attention to because they're on the shores of familiarity? 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:38.559 God, I know this. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:39.519 I know what we're doing. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:41.679 Oh, I know what she's about to say about the story. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:43.120 I don't need him. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:44.799 I already know. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:47.600 Your spouse starts talking. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:48.320 I've already heard this. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:50.639 I know what you're about to say, I know your pattern. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:52.720 God, you're not trying to speak right now. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:53.759 Not through her. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:56.080 Not through him. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:57.919 Not through this. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:03.600 But for Jesus, class is always in session. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:11.440 And the first lesson he wants us to learn is that circumstances aren't always as they appear. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:16.480 Jesus, it says right there in verse 22, he directed. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:24.320 Mark's gospel says that he insisted that the disciples get into the boat and cross over to the other side. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:30.399 We need to lay out pretty quickly that all circumstances are not equal. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:37.840 There are circumstances that you are in that are caused by other people's choices. 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:43.360 If you do not delineate your circumstances, you will create a broken theology. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:47.519 You will put God on responsible for something that man's free will did. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:50.559 So you want to know there are circumstances. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.600 People make choices and they affect your life. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:54.480 Period. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:59.759 Then, nobody else has to raise their hand because we all know we could. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.519 There are circumstances you get in all by yourself. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.200 You know those choices. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:10.320 I can make dumb mistakes alone. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.440 I don't even think I need a counselor or advisor on it. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:15.759 I I I have I can self-counsel on it. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.759 We we we can come up with some really, really poor choices. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:22.080 I call it testimony building. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:32.960 And then there are circumstances that occur because God asks you to be there. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:42.720 And that's what I want you to understand that this story gets dropped into is a place that Jesus asked them to be. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:47.120 In fact, Mark's gospel says he insisted. 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:51.440 Insisted that they would go there. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:55.840 This is a holy setup for them. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:07.759 But can you capture that this circumstance, the one that they find them themselves in, with the wind and the waves and the battering, is where God wanted them to be? 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.039 That's pretty hard. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:19.360 I want you to see that there's these formalized moments of discipleship, the feeding of the 5,000. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.320 We're sitting here, we're writing, we're learning. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:28.960 But there are these informal moments that Jesus is speaking to us and saying, I want to speak to this. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:33.919 Because discipleship, it's not an arrival point, it's a posture. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:41.840 I've got to constantly say to myself, I am, I am gonna learn from whatever you put in front of me. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:46.480 Every conversation, every moment, every disappointment. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.440 And this is where the disciples find themselves as they're following Jesus. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:57.519 In the mess of the middle. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:07.600 The place that you did not expect that would show up. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:10.879 But I can normalize it for you. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:14.559 Don't run from everything that is uncomfortable. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:18.480 Can you hear that today? 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.519 We absolutely need to talk about our traumas. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:24.480 We absolutely need to go and get help. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:28.000 I had my session already last week with my counselor. 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:31.120 I want to normalize that for you. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:36.240 But what you can do is run from everything that is uncomfortable in your life. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:41.039 Therefore, you'll never be challenged, you will never be shaped, you will never grow. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.639 We have to balance that. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:54.000 The disciples found themselves too far from the shoreline to go back, but too far from where they were supposed to go to feel any hope. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:00.000 But the Lord, Jesus is saying, in this lesson, your circumstances aren't as they appear. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:16.240 No matter if it's what someone else's choices did, if you're in that circumstance, your own choices with those created in that circumstance, or the one that God calls you to, he's telling you, I can do anything with any circumstance in your life. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:19.279 There is no circumstance that's bigger than him. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:25.440 He will not waste time, he will not waste frustration and pain and hurt. 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:28.480 But we can. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:39.600 Because we have a choice. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:43.840 Matthew continues the lesson in verse 25. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:50.720 It says, In the fourth watch of the night, 3 to 6 a.m., Jesus came to them walking on the sea. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:56.720 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, Is a ghost? 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:58.639 And they cried out in fear. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:05.200 But immediately he spoke to them, saying, Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:11.279 Lesson number two, Jesus is greater than you've encountered him. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:19.519 At this point, their circumstances were overwhelming them. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:23.440 So Jesus becomes greater than their circumstance. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:30.159 They had encountered Jesus before in a boat in a storm. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:31.759 So you can normalize this. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:33.679 You can go back to Matthew 8 and read this. 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:35.440 This isn't the first time. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:47.519 So, so it would have been normal to them if Jesus didn't just say to them from the shoreline, hey, you go over to the other side, I'll meet you there. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.440 What would have been normal was he got in the boat with them. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.440 But Jesus is saying, I'm greater than you've encountered me. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:14:59.840 Will you let me show you something else? 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:01.200 I want you to see that. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:12.080 That in the verse 22, it said, immediately he directed the disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:18.559 Isaiah 55, 11 declares that God's word doesn't return void. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:28.080 He said to them, Go ahead of me to the other side, which means that there was a promise that he was gonna be on the other side. 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:38.320 John 1.1 says, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:43.039 Okay, capture all this. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:49.039 In God's promise is encapsulated, tucked in, right there, infused in it. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:54.240 Both his power to make it happen and his presence to go with you. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:04.639 Jesus is showing them, I don't have to physically be with you for you to actually accomplish the things that I've called you to do in your life. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:08.000 He knows that he physically is gonna be gone. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.240 And he needs them to pick this up. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:16.000 I already showed you that you can do this in Matthew 8. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:22.720 But see, they don't they don't know, they don't expect Jesus to show up like this because that's not what rabbis did. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:32.399 There was a hierarchy, there was a privileged nature to it in the priesthood that said, you could do things, but I can't do things. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:40.159 And and we can sit here today and we can say that doesn't exist in our society, but it still happens. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.279 Oh, that's what pastors do. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:48.399 When you talk about TKU ministry, that's not what I do, that's what we all do. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:58.080 And so Jesus is changing their mind because they believe that he's supposed to be the one that calms the wind and the waves. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:02.080 And he said, I actually showed you this. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:07.599 I showed you that you can do this, I showed you you have access to something greater. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:13.920 I don't even know if Jesus had planned to show up on that sea that night. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:18.160 I know he did. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:23.680 I just wonder if he was like, hey, I'm gonna meet you on the other side. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:29.680 And I've already shown you it's not just me that can calm the wind and the waves. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:34.880 I'm showing you what you had access to back in the garden to have dominion and authority. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:37.279 You can do this. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.319 I'm empowering you to do this. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:46.720 This encounter must have changed why Peter says in First Peter that we are a priesthood of believers. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:49.680 Wait, wait, Peter, you can't say we all are. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:51.359 Aren't you trying to say certain people are? 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.279 Don't you want to create a distinction? 00:17:53.519 --> 00:18:00.960 No, because he watched Jesus empower us to do things because we encounter him in different ways than we ever have before. 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:04.400 And he's saying to you, you can do this. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.640 But this is what I love. 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:20.319 Even when they miss it, they're stuck in the middle, wondering where is Jesus? 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:24.079 And I don't know if you've ever felt that before. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:27.039 I don't know if you're in the middle of feeling it right now. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:36.880 Stuck in the middle, battered by the wind and the waves, feeling like you're rowing and you're rowing and you're rowing and you're getting nowhere. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.319 Jesus says, let me show up. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:43.519 Encounter me in ways that you never have before. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:53.519 Even in the midst of them not speaking to the wind and the waves, Jesus shows up. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:07.440 You need to hear that today, no matter how inadequate you feel, no matter how much you're you're missing the test that you aren't making it, Jesus saying, You feel I can show up. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:15.759 Now I'm gonna be honest, the way Jesus shows up is not quite how they would like him to show up. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:28.400 He comes in, he rings the bell, pushes, play on a horror film to start class. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:31.039 It's right there in the text. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:33.759 I mean, I don't even like scary films, guys. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:35.359 I can't even do a scary commercial. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.319 So, like, honestly, this is not my jam. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:42.559 You and I know because the text says it, that Jesus is there. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:47.839 You have to understand that the disciples don't know it's Jesus. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:55.839 And so for them, they literally, he he's picking all different kinds of ways to show up. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:01.440 And Jesus decides, I'm coming, and they're gonna think I'm a ghost. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:05.599 And then when we read the text, it is so clean when we read the text, guys. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:09.359 When we read the text, it is like, it is a ghost. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:15.680 It's like, hark, what comest thou across the water? 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:17.279 It is a ghost. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:19.119 It is a ghost. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.119 And they didn't do it all at once. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:23.839 It was like, it's a ghost, it's a ghost, it's a ghost, I'm a ghost, it's a ghost. 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:27.759 And every bit of junior high pitched like reached their moment. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:30.400 And somebody peed in their pants. 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:34.480 They won't admit it, nobody's gonna call it. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:37.039 There was water and waves, nobody could call it out. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:40.240 So it was good and they were safe. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:43.519 But somebody didn't go in the same. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:47.359 Because Jesus showed up in a way they didn't even expect. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.880 They had never encountered him this way before. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:57.039 And maybe today you are in a financial struggle and you're saying, God, I need you to show up as Jehovah Jirah. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.200 I need you to be my provider. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:04.000 But what if he needs to show up as Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals? 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:07.440 Will you let him? 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:09.519 Will you entertain that? 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.400 Will you be discipled by that Jesus that you've never encountered before? 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:24.799 It sounds great that you'll encounter him in new ways, but most often it stretches you. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.559 It's a wrestling place. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.799 You can see he's showing you this is uncomfortable for them. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.200 Everything that is uncomfortable, don't run from it. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.039 Jesus is also discipling their fears. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:55.119 He's telling them what to do in the midst of them feeling afraid, because the first thing he says is take courage. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:59.519 It is I do not be afraid. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.960 Oh, we're in that jam about the promise again, guys. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:10.559 If he's saying, do not be afraid, that means that there is both the power in his presence to fulfill that promise. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:18.240 We know this in 1 John when it says that perfect love means a complete love casts out fear. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:24.480 And he said, if you will love me completely and stop holding back places to let me love on, I can cast fear out. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:30.160 But if you're letting fear be your teacher, I can't, you can't listen to two different teachers. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:35.359 That's where doubt enters in. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:39.839 He's saying, I'm greater than your fears. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:40.880 It is I. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:48.480 It has the echoes of the Old Testament when Jesus, when the Lord is talking to Moses, I am that I am. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:52.400 I can be anything anywhere that I need to be for you. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:54.400 There is no limit to me. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:55.759 It is I. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:03.680 This is what he chooses to call out to them. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:11.279 Someone here today needs to let Jesus speak to this fear. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:20.480 Whatever fear is in front of you, whatever you're facing in the mess in the middle, the anxiety that's keeping you up. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:22.480 He's saying, Let me in. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.680 Let me disciple that fear. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:27.519 Take courage. 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:29.599 He has it in abundance. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:31.920 Stop taking fear. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.319 Stop taking anxiety. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:38.000 Take his courage. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:40.880 He's offering it to each of us today. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:52.319 And just when it seemed like class was finishing up, Jesus seems like he's wrapping up the lesson, everybody's packing up their bags. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:54.480 Peter speaks up. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:59.279 Yo, Peter is just that kid in class. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:00.480 Do you know? 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.640 And it's like, sorry, can I ask you one more question? 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:04.480 You'd be like, Pete, shut up. 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:06.960 Just one more question. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:09.039 Can we do extra work on this? 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:10.000 You can. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:12.400 Just you, all by yourself. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:16.079 He makes Glasgow longer. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:20.720 Now remember, you and I have this framework. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:21.599 It's Jesus. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:22.640 They don't. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:24.960 So they're in the boat. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:27.519 They think they see a ghost. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:30.960 The ghost is talking. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.720 Peter wants to raise his hand and talk back to the ghost. 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:38.640 Can you imagine? 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.839 And I would have been, bro, shut up. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.319 He's gonna find us. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:48.559 You're playing Marco Polo with a ghost. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.119 Like, dude, really? 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:54.480 And this this is what he does, verse 28. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:59.599 Lord, if it's really you, command me to come out on the water. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:03.839 Y'all, Peter's totally the first person to die in that scary film. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:05.599 Hands down. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:08.559 He's like, killer, I'm right here. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.519 With your handle, we can connect. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.920 He said, Jesus, this is Jesus talking. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:20.799 Come. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:27.920 So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came towards Jesus. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:34.720 But when he saw the effects of the wind, he was frightened and he began to sink and he cried out, Lord, save me. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:42.400 Immediately Jesus extended his hand and caught him, saying to him, Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:53.839 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased, and those in the boat worshiped him with awe-inspired reverence, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:59.039 We have a response in discipleship. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:08.880 We can't just learn these lessons about circumstances being different than they appear or encountering Jesus in ways that you never have. 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:16.480 If it doesn't actually change our lives, what does it matter? 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:20.079 We're back to just information. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:28.160 We're back to showing up to church and groups and places like spectators. 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:30.880 Grading. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:33.440 Rating. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:43.680 Lesson number one, circumstances aren't always as they appear. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:48.559 Lesson number two, Jesus is greater than you've encountered him. 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:53.519 And lesson number three, you'll be tested on what you've learned. 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:58.400 Did anybody get a little moment, the PTSD from a class? 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:01.039 Like there will be a test. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.720 From the shorelines is where they started. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:14.720 That shoreline of familiarity quickly became something that they did not expect. 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:19.279 They didn't expect to be in the midst of the sea. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:21.359 Can you imagine that sea? 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:25.519 Can you picture what it felt like in the middle of that sea? 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:27.440 Right there. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:32.240 In the middle of the chaos and the mess. 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:36.480 Guys, this is when the test shows up. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.480 This is where the lessons, where the rubber meets the road. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:52.079 And Jesus is saying, in this moment, I want to show up for you in ways that you've never ever seen me show up. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:55.359 And Peter is responding. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:59.039 He's trying to give an answer to this test, and it's totally honest. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:04.160 And I love it because in this, he says, I don't know if it's you. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:07.680 Lord, if it's you. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:10.000 The answer is it A. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:11.920 Are you supposed to answer C all the time? 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.160 Like which one statistically works? 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:22.240 He says, Lord, I don't know if it's you, but if it is, if that's where you are, call me to where you are. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:23.519 Tell me to come. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:34.480 I don't know if you realize this, but the storm did not stop for Peter to step out of the boat. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:41.839 In my mind, everything's, you know, Jesus is there, so it's always still. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:43.279 No, no, no, no. 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:45.839 Everything is still happening. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:55.440 You are waiting for the storm to stop before you're gonna go and spend time with him in the morning, before you're gonna join a group, or to come to community night. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:57.839 You're waiting for everything to stop. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:00.880 I promise I'll get it together when the storm stops. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:05.519 And he's saying, no, in the midst of it, it's when you need it the most. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:14.000 In the midst of it, when you don't want to be with people, I'm asking you to connect, to get in community, not to isolate. 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:20.559 In the midst of it, Peter is in that mess and he says, you know what? 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:24.079 Circumstances don't seem to be the same. 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:28.319 Jesus doesn't seem to be the same. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:32.400 Maybe there's something else that could not be the same for me. 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:38.000 And he steps out of that boat in the middle of this chaos. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:41.519 Guys, in the middle of his chaos, he's saying, Step out. 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:43.359 Step out, respond. 00:29:43.839 --> 00:29:45.279 Don't just sit here. 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:48.640 Don't just write another note and go home and don't apply it. 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:51.440 In the middle of your storm, he's saying, You can do this. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:52.640 I'm right here. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:54.160 I've got you. 00:29:55.680 --> 00:30:06.240 And I know that we we remember that Peter falls, but don't miss the fact that he walked on water, y'all. 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:10.720 He walked on water, he did what he could not do. 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:19.039 Do you realize Jesus wasn't just there to show them that he could walk on water? 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:22.799 He wanted them to do it too. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:26.559 He wants you and I to do the impossible. 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:35.440 And when it looks like that he's failing and he starts to think, oh man. 00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:38.240 The test is done. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:39.920 He's failing it. 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:43.039 Jesus curves the test. 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:47.440 Okay, can I get an amen for a teacher that curves a test? 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:51.599 I know y'all are it's especially students in here, you're like, you heard the word. 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:53.440 She said, give us a curve. 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:59.119 And then let's pause and let's forgive those that mess up the curve. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:03.680 Jesus. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:06.720 Bless them. 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:09.519 May they not study so hard tonight. 00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:13.039 Let me show you where the curve is. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:18.319 It says in verse 31 immediately Jesus extended his hands. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:24.160 I know you only took a couple of steps, but I can take all of them. 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:27.039 I'm the one who has you. 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:30.799 And then Jesus gets into the boat with him. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:32.319 I want you to hear that today. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:35.839 Jesus wants to be right in the middle of your mess with you. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:40.480 And all of the waves and the wind calms. 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:48.480 I want you to sense that in your life. 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:55.039 I want you to take in that peace that he brings when he comes into a boat. 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:03.599 When we get to this part in the chapter, most often we read this like a rebuke to Peter. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:05.519 Oh, ye of little faith. 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:09.519 You can tell I learned it in the New King or the King James Version. 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:12.480 Oh, you of little faith. 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:24.880 Jesus is telling him, Peter, I'm reminding you, you have access to so much more faith. 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:28.960 You only took a little. 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:33.359 And you can see it because he walked on water. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:38.319 And he said, But you had access to so much more faith. 00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:41.200 Just remember that the next time. 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:43.440 Why did you doubt? 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:49.279 Doubt is literally you being caught in your gaze in two different directions. 00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:50.319 You can see it. 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:54.079