March 22- Surprised By a Storm, Amazed By the Savior

Pastor Jeff's Message from Mark 4:35-41. This is part of the sermon series, "Living With Kingdom Urgency," from the Gospel of Mark.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

My title this morning is Surprised by a Storm, Amazed by the Savior. And while you just think about my sermon title, let me just give you a footnote to what Nathan has already shared with us. And yes, my alarm does go off every Friday morning at 9.54. And so for the past two or three years, I can't remember now how long you've actually done that. I've just uh paused and asked the Lord to bless the work there. So it thrilled my heart to know that some of those prayers have been answered in some of the specific ways that he mentioned. What you might not know, and what he probably doesn't know, is the the vote that we took last weekend, which was unanimous by the way, uh part of that gift that we gave to three different entities, one of them was to his brother's church that they're planting in Irvine, California. And so Stephen Kimbrell is Nathan's brother. And so interesting of the Lord, perhaps, that we would have an offering. Well, the the giving had been done over uh a few years, but we decided to give some of that money away. His brother was the recipient of part of that, and now we've got uh the other brother here this morning. And so, Nathan, we pray God's favor on you, uh Haley, and your family in the months and years for however long the Lord gives you there in Broward County. So it was several years ago. I'm not sure how many, but Jake was playing all-star baseball. And we were traveling to the next game. It was somewhere in the in the Kinston area. I don't think it was right in Kinston, but it was somewhere in the greater Kinston area. And on the way there, it started getting darker and darker and darker. And I'm thinking to myself, man, I don't know if we're gonna get rained out or not. So we get to the ballpark, I mean just a deluge. So we drove almost a solid hour only to turn around and come all the way back home. On the way back home, some of the sharpest lightning I have ever seen in my life, some of the loudest claps of thunder that I have ever heard in my life. I mean, there were times where and it started pouring down rain. Where I I mean, I I was I was a little fearful. Lord, please get us home. It was a brutal storm. And we all can relate to those claps of thunder, those sharp bursts of lightning that can just kind of uh disturb your soul. Um, there are any number of reasons why we become afraid at times, right? Um it's also been a few years ago, but not as many as when Jake was playing All-Star Baseball. But uh I'm coming uh down uh 10th Street and I'm going home, Highway 33, 10th Street, if you will, and it's the intersection by the sheets closest to my home where Walmart is, a little bit beyond it. And I'm just minding my own business, and I'm coming along, and all of a sudden, a student pulls out in front of me, bam, and uh totaled my car. Airbag, it's the first airbag experience I'd ever had. I'm gonna tell you what, that will get your heart rate moving. And so um I ran into part of the structure there in front of sheets, and uh that was a little, that was a little frightening experience. And some of you you've had far worse, but ever since then, for the past uh five or six years, um when I come to that intersection, I've got my eye on the car in that turn lane just to see if somebody is gonna do it again. A lot of things can strike fear in our hearts. Uh, if a patrolman, if a patrolman shows up at your front door, that's probably gonna strike a bit of fear in your in your heart. Some of you, when you get the phone call from your doctor's office and they say, ma'am, sir, um, we really would like for you to come back in. The doctor would like to talk to you face to face. That'll put a little bit of fear in you. If you've got major surgery scheduled, I mean the kind where you're gonna be in the hospital for three or four days and you're gonna have a three or four-week or three or four-month recovery thereafter, that'll kind of put a little uh fear in you. Um 2:30 in the morning, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Somebody's knocking on the door. Well, that'll that'll put a little fear in you. There's a whole lot of reasons that we can be smitten with fear. And it is fear. Fear is the emotion that we will see the disciples of the Lord Jesus experiencing in our text this morning. So think about how long this day has been, especially for Jesus. It all started with the extraordinary, unbelievable accusation that the scribes had made that Jesus, who's done these miraculous things, well, guess whom they said he did that did it in whose power? Satan's power. They said he's he's got his power from the prince of Beelzebub. And um, one writer said that this was a fierce adrenaline pumping confrontation. And so when you're when you're in a confrontation like that, that that can be very draining and taxing. Oh, same day, within minutes, perhaps, Jesus' mother and his siblings, his brothers, they've come to arrest him on the charge of having lost his mind. Or at least his brothers felt that way. Probably mom was a little bit more just more concerned about all of these rumors about all of these people, and maybe she'd heard a rumor that he'd almost gotten trampled on one occasion. And Jesus is like, No, I'm not going back to Nazareth with you. My real mom, if you will, and my real brothers and sisters are those who know me as their Savior. And so Jesus, instead of going with his family back to Nazareth, he says, Boys, let's go down to the lake. Let's go down to the Sea of Galilee. And there he gets in a boat and he pushes offshore a few feet, and there he stands and teaches in parables primarily for who knows how long in that hot Middle Eastern sun. And as the sun is starting to go down, and knowing that people need a little bit more light, perhaps, to find their way back home, Jesus says, That's it. I'm done. Let's go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. And with that in mind, we pick up reading in verse 35. On that day when evening had come, he said to them, to the disciples, let us go across to the other side, that is the other side of the Sea of Galilee. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was, and other boats were with him. Now, at least mentally, underline that phrase, let us go across to the other side, because I don't think the disciples heard it. Or at least maybe they thought they heard it, but it's almost as though a little bit later on, it's almost as though they heard, why don't we go to the middle of the lake where we can all drown? That's that's what it seems like they might have heard when Jesus says, let's go to the other side. Now, this boat was probably owned by Peter and Andrew or James and John. Yes, they had left their fishing business, they had stopped fishing for a living, they are now fishing for men. But the scriptures do tell us that they kept their boats, and on more than one occasion they would use them in ministry purposes for the Lord Jesus. Now, the Sea of Galilee. It is located up in the northern part of Israel. Um, I think you can figure out, I mean, the lighting is not the best, but you can see the Sea of Galilee up in the northern part of Israel. And um the Sea of Galilee has gone by a number of different names through the centuries. It currently is referred to as the Sea of Kenerith. Now, it is actually a large freshwater lake. It's about 13 miles long and seven miles wide, and sitting at just under 700 feet below sea level, it is the lowest body of freshwater on earth. And still today it provides fresh water for those who live in that area and supports a thriving fishing business. Now, if you ever visit Israel like Jennifer and I hope to one day, we were going in 2020 and then COVID hit. But if we ever get to go, or if you get to go like we hope to go, and if you were to maybe uh pay the fee to take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, I can almost assure you that the persons who are manning that boat will tell you something like this. Now, you you do need to be, is everybody, do I have your attention, please? Do I have your attention? You need to understand that storms in this area can come up swiftly, seemingly out of nowhere. And as we as we get as we're about to embark, just realize there's not a cloud in the sky, but that could change just like that. Because there are mountains surrounding the Sea of Galilee, this lake, if you will, and these valleys and these gorges between those mountains can funnel wind from the west off the Mediterranean Sea, or from the east off the desert, and those winds can stir up violent storms, and such a storm arose as Jesus and his disciples were crossing the sea. Verse 37. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. Now, these storms normally struck a storm striking in the evening, that was unusual. I mean, the best fishing would be in the evening hours. That's when the majority of these uh fishermen who are fishing for an industry would fish. So, a storm to strike in the evening, that was a little bit unusual. And that played into how caught off guard these disciples end up being. Now, the storm is described in the ESV as a great windstorm. The word great is the Greek word that we get our English word mega from. And by the way, you can find it three times in the ESV. There's a great storm, we're gonna eventually see a great calm, and then we're gonna see great fear. But it's a different kind of fear than the fear these guys are about to have from the storm. Um, it is variously translated the great windstorm as a furious squall, a fierce gale of wind. The word that Matthew uses to describe it is where we get our English word seismic from. This is no small storm. For us living in eastern North Carolina, it probably had hurricane force winds with it. I think that helps us get an image of what is happening. Now, Mark tells us that the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. I do not own a boat. My dad owned a boat, and I've been on a boat ride numerous times. I've actually been deep sea fishing twice. One was kind of so-so deep fishing, the other one was big-time deep sea fishing. So I don't I don't know a whole lot about a boat. Um, no, I mean I I I know so little about boats, but I can tell you this I do not even need my sanctified imagination to know that water in a boat is that that's not good. That's not good, and so it's already filling, and so I I I'm assuming they've got something to pitch to get the water out, and it's not being successful. Verse 38. But Jesus was in the stern asleep on the cushion. Now, folks, I don't know if anywhere in scripture do we see the humanity of Jesus and the deity of Jesus are compared and contrasted in one particular occasion. So Jesus, he is absolutely wiped out. And this is the only place in Scripture where we're told that Jesus slept. It's the only place. Now, Jesus slept at night, just like we do, except for those occasions when he spent all night praying. But Jesus, he is utterly exhausted, completely worn out, and he is sleeping right through the storm. Some people are that way. They can sleep through anything, and evidently Jesus was one of them. So at the back of the boat was a small seat with this leather cushion. And so in my sanctified imagination, I can just see Jesus saying, Boys, I'm done. He goes straight to the back, gets on that seat, takes that cushion, lays down, and I mean, within minutes, max, he is out. He is sound asleep. Now, don't you hate it when you're sound asleep and somebody tries to wake you up? Man, that will fire me up because I'm gonna be up for what one or two hours now. Thanks a lot. Well, that's exactly what the disciples do, verse 38. And they woke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Now keep in mind, several of the disciples, four of them we know, maybe as many as seven, were fishermen. They spent their lives navigating storms, they were well aware of what the boat could handle. And they're thinking to themselves, man, this this we're at the tipping point. This is not good. And so they they go to him. And um, have you ever have you ever said anything that you wish you hadn't said? I think this was one of those for the disciples. Do you, teacher, do you not care? Matthew tells us they called him Lord. Luke says they called him master. I think the differing accounts is not because of error, not at all, but because of the chaos of the moment. And maybe some of them were saying, teacher, some master, some Lord, just Lord, wake up. Just wake up. The pandemonium. I think we need to capture that to see exactly what the context is. Now, before we finish the story, let me go ahead and share my purpose in preaching the balance of my sermon. My purpose is simply this. I want to show you two ways, how two ways you can respond to scary, fearful moments in life. And I believe these two ways can apply to whatever fearful situation, scary situation you might be facing. Number one, uh, in order to respond to scary moments, first thing, expect them. Expect them. I know that's not like, wow, what a theological truth. But if you would just learn to expect them, it will help you when it's time to deal with them. Life will present many occasions when you're tempted to feel overwhelmed by fear. Because we live in a sin-cursed world, bad things are common. Bad stuff happens. And so, therefore, you, not even as a Christian, I'll prove that in a minute, you shouldn't be shocked when fear-provoking events occur in your life. That's why Peter wrote what he wrote in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12. Beloved, come on now. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. Notice a lot of times these scary moments, these frightening circumstances, from God's perspective, it's a test. It's a test to see how you're going to handle it. Trials, tribulations, and suffering are normal for Christians. Listen to Philippians chapter 1, verse 29. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. Sometimes suffering is because of your relationship with Jesus, which means if you didn't have a relationship with Jesus, there's some suffering you might could have avoided. Listen to uh John 16, 33. I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. But now notice, in the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Now, think about this. The storm hit those with Christ in their boat, as well as all the other boats that didn't have Christ in their boats. Remember, we read earlier that there were many other boats. And so I I'm assuming that when Jesus told the boys, let's go, let's get, let's, let's go to the other side, others are like, hey, let's get in my boat. Hey, can I get in yours? And they're, man, they're wanting to follow, I don't blame them. I don't blame them. If Jesus is able to do what he's been able to do, I would want to follow him too. So there are these other boats. Now, if this were a fairy tale, we might read that when the storm arose, the other boats were swamped, went under. Oh, but those in Jesus' boat, they were they were as dry as possible. Their sailing was on smooth as glass waters. But the fact is, don't miss this, my brothers and sisters. Christians are not mysteriously, let alone supernaturally, exempt from the storms of life. We're not. Sometimes being in the same boat with Jesus is going to bring choppier waters than if you didn't have Jesus in your boat. And don't forget, having said that, the disciples are exactly where Jesus wanted them to be. He's the one who said, guys, let's go across to the other side. So they're smack dab in the middle of God's will for their lives. They obeyed, they did what was right, and yet they find themselves in this life-threatening storm. So how do you how do you respond to life's scary moments, fearful temptations first? It helps simply to expect them. But then, number two, and this is where we'll spend the rest of our time, um, the second way to respond is to trust him. Expect them and trust him. Verse 39. And he awoke, Jesus awoke, and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Now, the word for peace is the same word we looked at several weeks ago in Mark chapter 1, when there was a demon, and the demon had actually spoken truthfully about Jesus' identity, and Jesus said, Shut up, stop. He rebuked him and told him to be quiet. It's the same word that is used here. And so, folks, this is another, as we'll see in a moment, Jesus is kind of peeling back more about his identity. Not only does he have the authority to rebuke the demon world, the spiritual world, and they obey because the demon did come out, but he's got power over the natural world as well. This is the creator that they're interacting with. And the waves cease. I mean, almost immediately. I mean, normally if you've got a storm and it starts to die down, it it takes several minutes. The front moves through. This one, boom, over. Smooth as ice. Now, verse 40. And he said to them, why are you so afraid? Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Now, the answer to Jesus' first question is implied in the second. They were so afraid because of their lack of faith. Now, folks, think about this. The incarnate Christ, who's 100% human, the incarnate Christ, he models for us how believers should live life and go through whatever storms, whatever fearful moments in life that come our way. Because the incarnate Christ, he lived in absolute total dependence upon the Father. That was his MO. Constant total dependence on the Father. And when you are in perfect dependence upon the Father, you can find yourself in a frightening situation and still have peace. So, for how many of you might the Lord say today, why are you so afraid? Why do you have such little faith? You see, we can all listen carefully, we can all fake it in the calm waters. In the calm waters, we can all look as though, man, we're we're composed and we've we've got our act together. We're good little Christians. The disciples could handle normal storms as well. They were experts at managing their boat in rough waters. At first, they probably thought, no problem, man, we got this. We've been in storms before. Well, don't don't don't mess with Jesus for crying out loud. Let him sleep. We don't we don't need him. We don't need him. Just let him sleep. But this storm brought them to the end of themselves and revealed how they were trusting in their own strength. And folks, often a crisis moment will reveal things about us that maybe we didn't know were there or we wished weren't there, but yet they are. So let me therefore further develop our need to trust the Lord in frightening circumstances first. Trust his goodness and his compassion. Trust his goodness and his compassion. Man, Jeremy and the praise team and praise band did an excellent job of weaving our song service around this theme in particular. Trust his goodness and compassion. So we've already heard the disciples question Christ in verse 38. Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Do you ever do you ever find yourself asking similar questions? Lord, do you not care that my child is sick? Lord, do you not care that my marriage is falling apart? Lord, do you not care that I've run out of money? I don't know how I'm gonna make the end in end of the month bills meet. Lord, do you not care how how alone I feel? Lord, do you not care that my husband has died? Do you not care that my wife has left me? Do you not care? Ever find yourself wondering, Lord, do you not care that I lost my job? Why didn't you prevent that? Lord, do you not care that my health is broken? Lord, don't you care that we've already had two miscarriages and we still don't have any children? Lord, don't you care? Folks, you see, I don't I don't like seeing myself and the disciples, but that's what I do so often. Lord, don't you care? Mark this. Don't measure God's goodness or compassion based on your circumstances, but on the scriptures and on the cross. So as you're tempted in your frightening, scary storm event to wonder, does God don't, please, I'm begging you, don't measure God's goodness or God's compassion on your circumstances. Read the word, get into the scriptures, make sure you know what you believe about the goodness and the compassion of God and of the Lord before circumstances make you question it. Just, I mean, just think about the cross and what Jesus did for us there. Romans 8, 31 and following capitalize on this truth. If God is for us, and he is, well, then who can be against us? Well, now, a lot of people can be against us. The implication is who can be against us successfully if God be for us? The answer is no one. He, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Don't read prosperity gospel into that. Don't get greedy and think, well, man, if I just depend upon the Lord enough, he'll give me anything and everything I want. He's got the wisdom to give you what you need, and he will give you whatever you need. Verse 35, who? Just tell me, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Well, let's just think of some things, maybe. Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword or any other frightening thing? Verse 38. And the answer again is no, none of those can. Verse 38, for I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so therefore, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5, verse 7, look, people, cast all your cares, all your anxieties on him. Why? Why would you want to do that? Because he cares for you. He cares for you. Folks, no matter how frightening your circumstances or how uncertain your imminent future, I urge you to trust God's goodness and compassion. No one has ever cared for you like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as he. No one else could take your sin and darkness from you. Oh, how much he cares for you. Trust in his goodness and compassion. Secondly, trust his power and sufficiency. Trust his power and sufficiency. Verse 41. And they were filled with great fear. We had a great storm, we had a great calm, and now we got great fear. And they were, this is a totally different kind of fear. They were filled with great fear and said to one another, Who then is this that even the wind and sea obeyed him? Again, Jesus is pulling back more of the cover, he's pulling back more of the veil, and again, he's making them realize guess what? I have power over it all. I'm God. And when the glorified Christ appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos, Revelation 1.17 tells us that John fell at his feet like a dead man. And these disciples, they're not, they're not, they're not so much fearful that they're gonna drown now, but man, they're they're in the presence of God the Son. And this continual, increased revelation about who he is, man, it just filled them with reverential awe, fear. Oh Lord, I can we go back and take back what we said? We're sorry. Now, you and I can fix many things, right? A mom or a dad can maybe fix a broken toy. A surgeon can repair a broken muscle, uh, torn ligaments, broken bones. A mechanic can fix our automobiles, but when it comes to the weather, nobody can fix it. We can't even predict it. I mean, when it's raining, what you gonna do? Get your umbrella. When it's cold, what you gonna do? Put a coat on. When it's hot, what you gonna do? Take the coat off and maybe some other pieces too. But you can't stop it, you can't change it. Only God can. And here, God the Son has exercised divine power over the natural world. It's as though Jesus is saying, I am the Christ and I am sovereign over all creation. You see, Jesus was teaching them more about himself. Jesus does not say, I cannot believe that you would even suggest that I don't care for you. I think what he's really saying in love is, how is this? How is this that you have no faith? Do you not yet understand who I am? In light of all the miracles I've already done, the power I have exhibited over the demonic world, the healing of limbs, the restoring of sight. Do you not know who I am? And perhaps that's what Jesus is saying to some of you this morning. You see, you and I have no excuse for our weak faith. No excuses. We have the full revelation of God, the full revelation of Jesus. We know more about Jesus than the disciples could even think about at the moment that this is happening. We have no excuse. So imagine with me, imagine I invite you home for lunch. And imagine as you come in and Jennifer is still putting things together, getting the meal finalized and putting things out on the table. I say, Well, hey, won't you come in, come in the den with me and have a seat? And I point to a chair that is made with toothpicks, glue, and band-aids. Have a seat. I don't think you're gonna sit there. And so I then say, Well, why don't you sit in my lazy boy? And you go over. Now, did you not sit in that chair because of weak faith? Did you sit in this chair because of great faith? No, no. The difference was the object of your faith. And when you put your faith in Jesus, you have put your faith in a great place. A great person. Faith in Jesus is very well placed. Now, folks, don't miss this. God often shatters your competency to develop trust in his sufficiency. God often shatters your competency to develop trust in his sufficiency. You see, in the story, Jesus takes the disciples to their own backyard. He took them to where they're familiar, the Sea of Galilee. They knew that lake well. They understood the winds, the waves, the dangers. They had faced many storms on that same body of water. They were competent and comfortable on that lake. In the same way, you and I have areas where, truth be told, we feel we feel pretty competent. Pretty competent as well. Your finances are secure. Your marriage is strong, your health is excellent, your grades are excellent, kids are well behaved. You might quietly, but not publicly, think to yourself, you know, Lord, I got this. I got this. But sometimes Jesus allows difficulty to strike the very place where you feel the strongest. Why? Not to harm you, but to teach you that true strength comes from depending on him. That's where true strength comes from. Paul longed for that thorn in his flesh to be taken away. And Jesus said, no, not gonna do that. But my grace will be sufficient. And then Paul realized, man, in my weakness, that's when I'm the strongest because I'm depending upon him. So the Lord knows that you and I are never truly self-sufficient. I don't care who you are, it don't matter who you are. You and I are never truly self-sufficient. You and I must learn to trust him in every area of our life. So trust his power and sufficiency. And then thirdly, trust his providence and presence. Trust his providence and presence. Providence can be defined, and I just realized that I need to hustle. So listen quickly. Providence can be defined as God's sovereignty in the service of wise purposes. Or you could say that providence is God's wise, God's wise and purposeful sovereignty. Providence is God seeing that absolutely everything that needs to be done to bring about kingdom purposes gets done. And so you and I, as believers, men, we should live in the joy of knowing that there is a loving God who's in control. And yes, providence is not synonymous with sovereignty. Sovereignty just speaks to his power, but providence means he's got all the power, all the authority, and he works things out to accomplish purposes. Isaiah 46, verses 9 and 10. I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. In other words, I will see to it. I'll make sure it gets done. And so God's working in your life, and there are any number of things that he wants to accomplish, and he'll see to it that it gets done. Now, it is God's providence that allows Romans 8.28 to be true. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Randy Alcorn wrote, God sovereignly uses difficulties in our lives as a fire to refine, purify, and strengthen our faith. Tim Keller, the name may resonate for some of you. Tim Keller was uh three decades long, three decades plus long pastor, founding and pastor of Redeemer uh Presbyterian Church in New York City. In 2020, he was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer. He underwent um three two years of chemotherapy and then followed that up with an immunod, immunotherapy drug that helped keep his cancer at bay and gave him three Christmases with his family that he really didn't think he would get because pancreatic cancer has no cure. Um as he was going through this and would eventually die. I think he died in 2023 or four, I can't remember. Um, quoting Psalm 90, he said, which says, Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Keller said, the way you look at God, the way you look at your spouse, the way you look at everything changes when you realize time is limited and you are mortal. Now, Keller credits cancer with the soaring improvement of his spiritual life and his prayer life. Listen, this is going to sound like an exaggeration. My wife and I would never want to go back to the kind of prayer life and spiritual life we had before the cancer. Never. Ever so often, Kathy and I will say, we're having a much better life now. Wow. Trust him. Trust his providence and his presence. So don't miss this either. God never promises the absence of storms, but he does promise his presence in them. Look, stop listening to these nut jobs on TV or the books that you might be reading there talking about. If you have enough faith, maybe you can get rid of all this. It's not true. It's just not true. God never promises the absence of storms, but he does promise his presence in them. Just revel in this truth. Psalm 23, verse 4. Even though, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Why? Because you were with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Folks, get a hold of uh Hebrews 13. We we often quote verse 5 without verse 6. Hebrews 13, God said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we who know Jesus can confidently say, The Lord is my helper, helper. I will not fear. I will not fear. What can man do to me? At the conclusion of the Great Commission, go and make disciples. What did Jesus say? Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. David Dykes and his wife, they pastored uh in a smaller community when this story takes place. And uh they were good friends with a couple in that particular town and of the church. Their friend's daughter was in all sorts of trouble. All sorts. She was keeping them up at night. And uh David preached on this story of Jesus calming the storm, and soon afterward, he visited these heartbroken parents. And uh later, the mom, Pat, wrote her then pastor David Dykes a letter and said, Um, the only thing I remember from your sermon was, Jesus is in my boat, so I'll I will get to the other side. Within a year, her husband was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, and as he was dying, Pat wrote David another letter. At the bottom, she wrote, Jesus is in my boat, so I know I'll get to the other side. After a long battle, Don died at age 43. David could hardly speak at the funeral because they were such good buddies. Within a year, God led them to a different church. But then Pat wrote him another letter saying that she was really struggling with her pain and grief. And after signing her name, Pat wrote at the bottom of the card, but Jesus is in my boat, and I know I'll get to the other side. They stayed in touch through the years. And then when David was on a study leave in Birmingham, uh, Pat invited him to dinner, he and his wife, and on the dinner table was a cake decorated with a boat and a figure of Jesus standing in the boat. Can you guess what the words on the cake said? Jesus is still in my boat, and I know I'll get to the other side. Now, some of you, you are struggling. You're struggling with various storms, fears, anxieties. And in fear, you're begging God to stop them. Stop them, Lord. Look to Jesus. Look at him. He's calm, he's in control and he's God. He's worthy of your trust.

unknown 41:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:03

And even if he does not calm the storm, he can calm you as you go through it. And we who know Jesus, if he's in our boat, as it were, we're going to get to the other side. Let's pray. Father, um, just in the quietness of the moment as we conclude our first service, some of my brothers and sisters need to just lean into you and begin to trust you in maybe ways they haven't in quite a while. Some of us, Lord, have raised questions that ought not to have been asked. May we seek your face for forgiveness of that. Lord, help us to trust you, to trust you with all our heart and to not lean on our own understanding. Lord, in all our ways, may we acknowledge you so that you can chart the course for our lives. And so, right now, just in the quietness of the moment, we need to dismiss and get ready for the second service. Would you just cry out to the Lord, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. I trust. Help me, Lord, when I don't trust like I should. Father, that's my prayer. And I prayed along with my brothers and sisters in Christ in Jesus' name. Amen.

unknown 42:27

Amen.