Beyond Sunday
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the Podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week, with your Hosts Pastors' Lee and Jim.
It's Time to Inspire, Uplift, and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now!
Beyond Sunday
When Jesus Calls You Out of the Boat
Fear of the unknown keeps countless believers anchored in their comfort zones, missing out on the miraculous possibilities that await when we dare to step out in faith. In this compelling episode, Pastors Lee and Jim unpack the powerful story of Jesus walking on water from Matthew 14, revealing how this ancient encounter speaks directly to our modern spiritual challenges.
The journey begins with Jesus demonstrating the vital importance of solitude with God—retreating to pray alone before performing miracles. This intentional practice established a pattern we desperately need in our constantly connected world: finding intimate space with our Creator where distractions fade and transformation happens. As the pastors thoughtfully discuss, there's a quality of communion available in these private moments that simply cannot be replicated elsewhere.
When Peter boldly asks to join Jesus on the turbulent waters, we witness faith's active nature at work. His request wasn't merely intellectual belief but required physical movement—literally stepping out of safety into uncertainty. This courageous response to Christ's invitation challenges us to examine where we might be clinging to security rather than responding to Jesus' call to "come."
The turning point arrives when Peter shifts his focus from Jesus to the surrounding storm. His immediate cry for rescue models both vulnerability and wisdom in moments of failure. Unlike many who struggle silently with their spiritual doubts and fears, Peter acknowledged his weakness and called out for help—a powerful reminder that even our falls can become pathways to deeper relationship with Christ.
Perhaps most compelling is the disciples' response after witnessing Jesus calm the storm—they worshiped. This pattern of crisis, divine intervention, and responsive worship should characterize our own spiritual journeys. Too often we desperately pray during difficulties but neglect to celebrate God's faithfulness when peace returns.
Whatever storm you're facing today—whether in relationships, health, finances, or faith—this episode offers profound encouragement that Jesus stands ready to reach through the chaos, asking, "Are you okay?" and extending His hand to lift you up.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week with your hosts, pastors Lee and Jim. It's time to inspire, uplift and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now.
Speaker 2:Hey, what's going on everybody? This is Pastor Lee and, as always, I'm sitting here in studio at the table with my good, dear brother in the Lord, pastor Jim, and we are the pastors of Christ Family Outreach Church and we just want to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you so much for faithfully tuning in and listening to these podcast episodes of Beyond Sunday. We truly, truly do appreciate each one of you. Pastor Jim, how are you doing?
Speaker 1:my brother man doing so good. To be honest with you, I'm still reeling from last week's episode with Brother Frankie talking about worship, the importance of worship, how worship honors the Father, how our lives should be an act of worship in everything that we do say, and I just absolutely am reeling from that episode. It so blessed me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Lord used it to fill my cup this week. I was just excited all week, you know, after the episode, but I know you are as well. I'm looking forward to this one today as well. Today we're going to be digging into Matthew, chapter 14. So, if you got your Bibles, go ahead and get the pages turning to the text Matthew 14, 22 through 23.
Speaker 2:And there's so much to learn, there's so much happening and going on in this passage that today we want to take a deep dive into God's truth and see how it can impact our lives right now in 2025. So, matthew, chapter 14, verses 22 through 23,. Let's get going in the text Immediately. He made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he, jesus, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. So I just want to stop right there, pastor Jim, if we can, for a moment.
Speaker 2:The first thing I would like to point out because, for the viewers that do not yet know this, we're building up to the verse where it talks about Peter walking on the water, but I just want to stop right here, at verse 23, because it says that Jesus dismissed the crowds. He goes up onto the mountain by himself to pray and when evening comes, jesus is there alone. Now we know the Father is with him, but as far as people go right, jesus is there alone. So the first thing I want to point out here is that Jesus got by himself to pray. Many times in Scripture we find Jesus purposefully being alone. Times in Scripture we find Jesus purposefully being alone. He's purposefully retreating to quiet places by himself to pray, just all by himself, right? So, pastor Jim, what do you feel? The benefits for being alone while praying are for us today as followers of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Well, I think the word intimacy comes to mind. We're called to have a deep relationship with God and I think and maybe this is just true for me, but it could be or should be for everybody, I believe. But you know, sometimes in prayer and sometimes when we're around other people to our left and to our right I don't want to say that we're not authentic, because absolutely I believe that we're authentic, but there's a difference between me praying in a corporate setting. There's difference between my relationship with the Lord in a corporate setting versus my bedroom floor or my closet or wherever I am alone in the. You know whether that could be my vehicle. There's an intimacy to being with the Lord by myself, and then, more than that, you know, the distractions get cut down. I don't have to worry about what maybe somebody else is thinking about my prayer, and I'm not saying that that's something that I'm struggling with, but I certainly could imagine that being a struggle for people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that when we are in a corporate setting, sometimes our mind can wander a bit, especially while other people are praying. And prayer is a discipline, right, like we have to be disciplined in honing in and focusing and remaining in tune with the Spirit while other people are praying, so that our mind it's like we have to train our mind and our heart not to wander off. Right, so it is something to be perfected, it is a discipline, it is a practice, and I think that that's another benefit of us as followers of Christ being alone so that we can hone in on that discipline, so that we can practice that, so that we can work on perfecting our mind not being easily interrupted or swayed. Right, so that when we get into corporate settings, we can just be like a fine-tuned praying machine right, dialed up, dialed in, no interruptions. Even if there's potential interruptions in a room, nothing's going to be distracting us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, jesus here to me prioritizes prayer. Okay, and really that reflects on even though he's God in flesh, he still has a dependence on the Father, right Even in his divine authority. And what he did was when he sent the crowds away and he sent the disciples away and he went to pray. What he was doing was he was sort of setting the stage to go get strength for a miracle that was about to happen, as you talked and alluded to. We're getting ready to talk about how he calmed the storm. That's Jesus showing complete control over the elements, complete control over God's creation, and so he has this dual nature, human and divine, and it's evident that believers, in following like Christ and his example, we should be prioritizing prayer for our strength and our alignment to God's will.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Moving on in the text, we're going to jump right into Matthew 14, 24. But the boat, by this time, was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night, he Jesus. He came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said it is a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying Take heart, it is. I Do not be afraid. You know, pastor Jim. The point I'd like to make here is that the disciples were scared of that which they did not know. Is that the disciples were scared of that which they did not know? They did not know this was Jesus Christ walking on the water out towards them. They thought it was a ghost.
Speaker 2:Oftentimes Christians fear what they do not know, even when it comes to godly things, whether it be letting go and truly selling out in worship, whether it be the topic of praying in tongues, whether it be reading and studying the end times in the book of Revelation. Oftentimes people fear these types of things, even though clearly, pastor Jim, it's in the Bible, it's talked about and taught in the Word of God, but they stay away from it because they just don't know about it. So how do you think Christians today who are dealing with fearing godly things simply because they just don't know about it? So how do you think Christians today who are dealing with fearing godly things simply because they've never experienced them for themselves, how do you think those types of Christians can get over that fear? Because I think there's probably some listeners listening right now that have some fear in their lives when it comes to their walk with God. They fear some things even though they shouldn't, but they fear some things simply because they don't know about those things.
Speaker 1:I think you have to get into His presence. You know, the calming of the disciples happened after Jesus walked on the water and showed his presence and you kind of talk about it a little bit. You've been preaching through the book of Revelation and every single Sunday morning, before you get ready to preach through the book of Revelation, you always say this isn't something that should be feared. Yeah Right, this is the victory, this is the truth, this is the word of God. We have nothing to fear in Revelation. Well, in the same way, we have nothing to fear when we're in the presence of the Lord. And when we get into the presence of the Lord, we begin to kind of more clearly see His identity and who he is and who we are in Him. So it's a lot less likely for us to fear circumstances because we know we're in the presence of the Father, who knows us, and we know Him, and it's more of a again back to that word intimacy.
Speaker 2:Pastor Jim, I can remember a point during a worship service. This particular service, the anointing was just heavy, it was beautiful, and there was an older sister in Christ. And there was an older sister in Christ and she came to the front of the church. I didn't know she was coming. The worship team's playing. She comes to the front, just down below there at the altar, and just right there she doesn't make this big announcement that she's there. You know, she just comes to the altar and she just begins to do this little dance. And I'm going to tell you, man, I knew it was of the Lord because, number one, I could feel the anointing, you could feel the presence of the Lord. But, number two, she wasn't doing it as a look at me type deal, right, and it was so of the Lord that people didn't break out of their own worship to just sit there and watch this dance.
Speaker 2:That was this woman's time to come forward and offer this dance as a gift to the Heavenly Father. You know, if she'd have stayed in her chair, there wasn't room to do what she was doing. So she gets herself out, she goes to the altar, right, and she does this beautiful kind of like an interpretive dance type deal and it was just amazing. Haven't seen it done since then, but it was absolutely a beautiful, beautiful thing and, again, everybody who was towards the front of the room who was blessed enough to be able to have an opportunity to witness it, there was no bad feeling because you could tell that it was done in humility and for the love of the Father.
Speaker 2:The Spirit never quenched, it just actually intensified because the Spirit of God was edified. God was pleased. He accepted this woman's interpretive dance as worship and the entire room just continued to worship. So you are exactly right in what you say. When you're in the presence of God, even things that you don't know about, you can still receive peace. It's as if the Holy Spirit of God is saying calm down, calm down. This is okay and this is of me and this honors me. So, even though you don't know about it yet, my son or my daughter, all is well and it is still okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, god's sovereign, not just in the good stuff, he's also sovereign over the chaos, you know. And when Peter's in the boat and the storms are rolling, they're in chaos, like they're not just kind of going through little waves, I mean. It is a storm brewing and so they have fear. And it's Jesus demonstrating this sovereignty he has over the chaos, that it's this call that we should trust him in all circumstances. And so I thought a really interesting thing kind of in this point is when Jesus says in the 27th verse, he says, take heart, it is I, you know, it is I.
Speaker 1:In the Greek is actually the term I am where God calls himself I am. So the Greek is ego, I am me. And when Jesus uses his authority over the sea, he uses this term I am. And I thought it was really neat because it's just another place in the Bible that kind of affirms his identity as God. Right, jesus is calling himself God. In that moment he says I am, I am, is here, and that's how he, when he came onto the scene. He said I am, and then there was peace.
Speaker 2:And what a blessing it is that the great I am is not just in the midst of their storm, but he's in the midst of ours as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we can trust Jesus's presence and his power in our trials. We can overcome our fear through faith in him.
Speaker 2:Amen. Let's keep on moving into scripture. Matthew, chapter 14. We're going to look together at the 28th and the 29th verse. It says this and Peter answered him Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. So something I want to think about here many people give Peter a hard time because he sank.
Speaker 2:But before Peter sank, he did walk on the water. I've referenced that a lot when I talk about the life of Peter. Right, christians give him a hard time. Oh, he was walk on the water. I've referenced that a lot when I talk about the life of Peter. Right, christians give him a hard time. Oh, he was looking at the waves, the wind, the sea, the rain. You know he was paying attention to the chaos, focusing on the chaos rather than his faith in Christ. But man, let's give the man credit. You know he's walked on water. I don't know if anybody else has done it. You know what I mean. You know I mean, yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 2:The Bible it does not let us know how far he walked, but it does tell us that Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. That's what it says. So one thing I love about Peter, pastor Jim, is that he wanted to get out of the boat. Like first and foremost let's give the brother credit for that, you know like he wanted to get out of the boat and he trusted Jesus to make it happen. So he could get out of the boat. Lord, bid me come.
Speaker 2:Some translations say you know so. He doesn't know exactly how deep this water is, but he does know it's dangerous waters, he does know it's dark, he does know the storm is raging, he does know that the waters are rough and it's storming. So how many times in life are we called, you and I and our listeners, called to step out in faith and just start walking? And maybe it's a new business venture, maybe it's getting married, maybe it's starting a family, maybe it's beginning a new ministry, maybe it's building a new home, purchasing a new vehicle, and the list can go on and on. But are we called to step out? And if we are, then we got to take that step, even when we don't know all the details. Hebrews 11, 6 says it lets us know that without faith it is impossible to please God.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, peter stepping into the water. It's showing faith's active nature. So you can't just say, oh well, I have faith for something to happen and sit in your chair and wait for it to happen. I mean, there are times for that. But this specific situation, peter, is showing us that faith is active, right and it's also enabled by Jesus' power, because it didn't happen until Jesus said, okay, come on. You know. And then also to that point where you say he just wanted to get out of the boat. You could also say he just wanted to get close to Jesus. He just needed to be close in his storm to the one who Just needed that presence. That's right. And so he said bid me, come. And Jesus said, okay, come on. So his faith, active in nature, was enabled by the power of Jesus saying let's go. And Peter's walk on the water. It proves that faith, when focused on Jesus, can achieve the impossible through his strength being Christ's strength.
Speaker 2:You know what I love about it. Peter says Lord, bid me, come. And Jesus says come on, yeah, you know like. So I just want to tell and encourage our listeners here today I don't care what you've got going on in life. If you want to accept Jesus Christ in your life right now as Lord and Savior, if you want to draw closer to the presence of the Lord, jesus every time is going to say come, yeah, come. Why? Because he loves us. We are not good enough. We are not good enough. So if you're out there feeling today like you're not good enough to get into the presence of God, can I just say welcome to the club? Nobody is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't have a blind faith. I have a faith that's a response to the call of Jesus, because he's calling every single person who's unsaved. He's calling you, and so your faith isn't something that's just blind. Well, I think I'm going to believe this today Now. It's a response to Jesus' call to come, follow him. He says follow me. So you know, we're encouraged, I guess, to say you could take risks in obedience, right, Only when you're relying on Jesus' sufficiency.
Speaker 2:Absolutely man, and the fact that all of us are not worthy enough to come, but that God still invites us to come through Jesus. What a miracle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, these are disciples of Jesus too. So I think his desire to want to go be next to Jesus in this moment shows, you know, the mark of true discipleship. Man, I want to be with my shepherd, I want to be with my teacher, and so if we look at the text and the scriptures and we look at Jesus as the ultimate teacher, rabbi, shepherd, we should want to be in his presence, we should want to be in the Word of God, because he's the one teaching us all things that matter.
Speaker 2:Yes, he is teaching us how to live life and he has given us everything we need, every biblical principle we need to make life come from a place of victory, so that we fight from a place of victory.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so you alluded to it. We have Peter out on the water. He's walking on the water, but then in verse 30, we find out that well, let's just go to the text. It says this but when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out Lord, save me. Have we all been there? You know? I think Peter's sinking reveals how fragile our faith can be when we're distracted by fear or we're distracted by the things around us. It kind of underscores our human weakness and the need also to rely on Jesus for all things. You know, peter cried Lord, save me, save me. And that shows that even with our failing faith, we can always find rescue in Jesus's mercy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what I find interesting here is and we're all guilty of it at some time or another is that Peter has gone back to focusing on what he first knew the storm is dangerous, the wind is blowing, it's raining, the waters are dark and deep. I don't want to drown out here All completely normal feelings, if we're being honest with one another. Right, but the problem is that he let his faith slip. He let his worry get in front of his faith and he quickly sees the results of what happens In Life. Pastor Jim, we got to remember that distractions are just about everywhere. They're just about everywhere. You know, there are going to be times, mentally, where we take ourselves back to the beginning. Okay, those battles are real and they are going to happen. Storms are going to come, but we cannot focus on, you know, those things that we knew back at the beginning. Our faith has to help us overcome those things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because our faith falters, though without it being focused on Christ.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. Matthew 14, 31 through 33 says Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased and those in the boat worshiped him, saying Truly you are the Son of God.
Speaker 1:Doesn't his immediate cry? Going back one verse, his immediate cry. It models repentance and dependence. And so then, when we get to this next verse and Jesus saves Peter, it's like this immediate, redemptive story that we're just reading.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Yeah, yeah, well, let's not forget too, then. That's a great thing that you point out there. It makes me think of this.
Speaker 2:Peter cried out man, I can't tell you how many people that I've known in my life that have failed and they never cried out, yeah, in the process of failing. You know people that I would say, let's just say, who struggle with drinking, and I and I would give them my personal number and I said, man, please call me. Call me if ever you need help before you walk in that store. Call me. If ever you're being tempted when you're walking through that store and you do not want to purchase alcohol, call me. And I'm talking about alcoholics with serious problems, you know.
Speaker 2:And then you know, later on they would confess to me, they'd talk to me and they'd share their storm and they'd say, man, I failed this past weekend. I'm like, yeah, but man, you didn't call. I told you to call. Why did you not call? And they would say, well, you know, I didn't want to bother you, you know, and I think that there are Christians like that that feel like, well, I don't want to bother God, or I just don't want to take the time crying out, or maybe it's some of this If I cry out, then maybe God's actually going to snatch me out of what I enjoy being in. But here's the thing Peter called out. Peter cried out and every single one of us need to be able to cry out to God, and if and when we do it from a pure heart. Just like Jesus reached down and helped Peter up, I promise, friends, god does the exact same thing for us today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the truth is, it didn't come without a gentle rebuke.
Speaker 2:Jesus says why did you even doubt me? Yeah, because there has to be a lesson, right, there's got to be a lesson learned. And he did it without condemning.
Speaker 1:It's not like he said. I can't believe da-da-da-da-da-da-da, it was simply. Why'd you doubt me?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's so good. He is their teacher. You mentioned earlier, you alluded to the fact earlier that they're his disciples, right, so he is their teacher. So, even in this incident with Peter, jesus is going to teach in the moment man. That's what he does, and can I just say that that's what Jesus still does today, as we walk with him and are in step with his spirit, as we walk in the word, as we walk in prayer, as we walk in worship, as we walk with other believers, as iron sharpens iron, jesus is always teaching. The question is are we always listening?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love this next part, when we get into verse 33. Well, I'll jump back to 32. And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Here's 33. And this takes me back to last week. And those in the boat, what'd they do? They worshiped him. They worshiped him.
Speaker 2:Praise be to God. Praise be to God they worshiped him they worshiped him. Praise be to God. Praise be to God. Can you worship during your storm and when the storm is over? Can you still keep worshiping when?
Speaker 1:Jesus calmed the storm.
Speaker 2:it prompted worship it prompted faith and adoration in Christ. Yeah, that's so good, because I think oftentimes people cry out to God to calm the storm. God calms the storm, and then people still don't keep talking to God. Yeah, they just keep moving. They just keep moving. Yeah, but man, this should be a time of celebration, a time of praise you know what I mean A time of thank you, god, that you have spared me once again time of thank you, god, that you have spared me once again.
Speaker 1:And so to your point where people kind of experience the crying out and the calming of the storm and then they just keep moving it and forget to go back to God. If we do it in even the small things, in all of the things in our life, then we're never going to forget to praise worship, even in the storm. And then, when the storm happens, giving thanks and adoration to the one who got even in the storm, and then, when the storm happens, giving thanks and adoration to the one who got us through the storm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think if I had to quickly recap this passage of text that we just studied together, I would have to say Peter cried out for God and Jesus responded. One of the most important things to me in my faith walk right now with this, because I've got some things going on in life right now, some personal things, some really deep personal things, and, man, I'm just crying out every day morning till dark, I'm just talking to God off and on throughout the entire day and I'm just asking God. I'm crying out to God for help and I'm expecting him to respond. Why? Because that's what my faithful father does, you know. And here's the thing, man, while I'm waiting for his response, it doesn't mean that he's not working. Just because I don't see the answer yet, the provision yet for what I'm praying for, it doesn't mean that he's not already making moves. You know what I mean. So I've just got to keep crying out until I see a response.
Speaker 2:The issue with Peter was he had enough faith to get out of the boat, he had enough faith to walk, but he went back to what he knew and therefore it caused the lack of faith.
Speaker 2:And I think that, while I'm praying for these major things in my life right now, just being personal here, and hopefully the listeners can be blessed by it and they can relate it to maybe their own lives I have to make sure that I do not let the enemy interfere and intervene and try to put a dent in my armor.
Speaker 2:You know that I've got to keep pressing, I got to keep pushing and the devil's not going to take me back to where he had me prior to being saved in Christ. You know so, even though there may be a storm around, I've got to choose not to pay attention to that. And then the last thing I grasp here and then I'll throw it over to you, pastor Jim, is that the wind ceased. And if I was taking notes right now, I'd write this one word down victory, the wind ceased. Therefore, brother, we have victory, and I'm just believing that this storm that I am facing right now in life, that the wind is going to cease, the wind is going to stop, the rain is going to stop, the waves are going to go calm and that water is going to look like a sea of glass, amen, and I'm just believing that I will see the response of God. I'm standing on promises from God's word, and I'm believing that God always keeps his promise, yeah, amen.
Speaker 1:This last text, really, just in this last verse, just it teaches me that when we encounter a relationship, or when we experience Jesus and we walk and live and act through his power, it leads, or should lead, to worship. Right, we should be affirming his divine worth, yeah yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think another thing that's worthy just kind of recapping this episode, I think another thing that's worthy to think about is where you and I talked a little bit about Christians being scared of what they do not know about and they could be godly things, things of the faith. I personally know that that keeps people out of churches. You know, I personally know of people that will not go to certain types of churches because of things or ways that are practiced there, gifts that are practiced there. It's just because it's not that those things are not godly things. It's just because those people were either A bought up in a church that didn't practice those things and maybe they were taught to be fearful of them, or maybe they're just fearful because they don't know anything about it they haven't educated themselves on what Scripture actually says about it or, b they were never raised or grew up in church and to them it just looks cultish or like somebody's crazy.
Speaker 2:All the while that Bible that they may have in their house or that Bible that they may be toting around in their car or taking inside their church, actually talks about the things that they're scared of. So it goes back to the point that you made about just being in the presence. So I just want to encourage our listeners. If there's things that you're unsure about or there's things that you think you know about, because maybe you've been taught about it under a certain denomination and you're just totally against it, but yet it is in the Word of God, I would just encourage you, begin to get in the presence of the Lord, begin to study it, begin to pray about it, begin to find somebody who maybe does operate in those particular types of gifts and hear their heart, not their defense, but hear their heart and hear from them what Scripture says and how the Spirit of the Lord works those types of gifts out in their life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think we can all take a little bit of a note from Peter here and be a little bit more like Peter that in the fear of the unknown, in the unwavering or not the unwavering, but in the waves, we just need to look for Jesus. Yeah, where we're unsure, look for Jesus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, when you said in the waves, it reminded me of a time when my parents took us to the beach. Yeah, and we used to have back in the day they would have those really old blow-up rafts. They were like real tough, maybe, stood like four feet tall. They had a little white rope that went around them. They were always the same color red on one side, blue on the other. It was almost a canvas material it was like canvas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like everybody had one, everyone had one.
Speaker 2:Those were the boogie boards back then. You know, there were no boogie boards. I think some might have been yellow and blue, but I remember the red and blue ones. And the cool thing about it was, brother, when you were done, when you were done boogie boarding on it, you could get back up onto the beach and lay on it. You know what I mean, because it was tight. You know right where the wave just breaks up and starts pushing you and it kind of fizzled out. And so I go to stand up and a huge wave just came right behind me and just crushed me from my back and just blew me over. Well, I was so not prepared for it. Again, just a little fella.
Speaker 2:And it's funny what you remember in life. I remember going down Very vividly, I remember this. I remember being knocked. Life. I remember going down very vividly, I remember this. I remember being knocked down. I knew it was a wave when it hit me. I could just tell. So I know, I know I'm being knocked down in this wave.
Speaker 2:I opened my eyes because this wave literally is tossing me around underwater and I remember opening my eyes and just seeing sand just going everywhere in the water and the next thing I remember is my mom. Now, I didn't know that my mom was anywhere near me, right? But I'm sure my mom was not going to let me get, but so far in this great, big, vast ocean, without knowing that you know where I was. So I'm tossing, I'm turning, I got my eyes open, sands everywhere and then my mom reaches through the water. Now, in the in, in the grand plan of it all, this water is probably just a few feet deep, you know, a couple of feet deep. My mom reaches down and she picks me up and pulls me out of the water. And this is what my mom says. I'll never forget it. She says are you okay? And I just remember wiping the water out of my eyes, getting sand out of my eyes Uh, you, my eyes. You know I've got snot coming out of my nose.
Speaker 2:You know she went, she got my raft and she comes back and she says that was a big fall, are you okay? And I just share that story because maybe there's some people out there today that God is trying to reach down. He so desperately wants to reach down and pick you up. He's standing right there beside you, just like my mom was. God's standing right there beside you and, just like my mom, says wow, that was a big fall. God recognizes. You know, god is merciful, he's got grace, he's got forgiveness, he understands that we're in flesh and he understands, pastor Jim, that we mess up. And it's like God is just waiting to reach down, pick us up and say wow, son, daughter, that was a really big fall. But then, just like my mom said, you know, it's like God is saying are you okay? Are you okay?
Speaker 1:Yeah, like he says, take heart, I am is here, I am is in the house. Let's pray Amen. Father, we are so grateful for your presence. I am so thankful that, even in the midst of our storms, you are there to reach down and ask are you okay, father? I pray that this word would bless somebody who may be going through a storm. Yes, and, father, that they would be reminded to refocus whatever they have going on in their life back to you In the middle of the storm, Father, would they refocus and look for you in the middle of it. And, father, that you would be right there to remind them. And would the Holy Spirit just gently remind them that they are a child of you. And, father, you would not leave or forsake them. And, father, when we rely on you and when our faith is put in you, we can see and do the miraculous, because that is what your word says. In Jesus' name, amen.
