WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to the Awakening Church Podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:25.359 We are so glad that you are here this morning for this final week of our series, Encounters with God. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:26.399 My name is Ashley. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:27.920 I'm one of the pastors here. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:31.519 And I'm so thrilled to be preaching again this morning. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:35.759 And today we're closing out this series that we've been in, Encounters with God. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:43.920 And each week of this series, we have looked at people in Scripture who had personal encounters with God. 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:59.600 It's a beautiful thing to be able to have this catalog, this scripture, of God's faithfulness at our fingertips, and an even more beautiful thing to be assured that the God of the Bible still wants to meet with people today. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:08.560 As we seek to meet with God in our everyday lives, the stories in the Bible are able to inform and encourage us. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:17.359 Last week we talked about how God's presence, through the Spirit dwelling in us, is with us everywhere that we go. 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:22.239 The place that we are standing is holy ground. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:27.760 I gave some ways that we can encounter God in our regular, ordinary life. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:36.400 And all of that is true and helpful and important, but sometimes it's just a nice thought, right? 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:42.319 Because sometimes life doesn't feel normal or ordinary. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:52.959 What about the times when we're going through something really difficult, and every waking moment feels like we're in turmoil? 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:54.879 Because church, life is hard. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:56.239 I don't need to tell you that. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.079 Life is hard. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:19.360 Life is hard when you've lost your job, when you're in the middle of a physical health crisis, when you're in a mental health crisis, moving houses or needing to find a new roommate, intense financial stress, making a big life decision about what school to attend or job to take or city to live in. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:44.240 When you get to a breaking point in your marriage, when you're parenting a kid who's struggling and going through something terrible, when you have a death of someone close to you, when you're walking through miscarriage or infertility, when you're caring for parents who are aging or sick, a romantic relationship or a close friendship that ended. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:51.599 Or having friends or family members going through any of those things, or any others that you might be thinking of. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:54.159 Life is hard. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:03:04.479 Today is our final week of this series, and this sermon is coming directly out of the message that God has been preaching to my heart over the last year or so. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.280 This is one that I've kept a little more tucked away. 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:23.680 I wasn't even planning to preach this when we planned this series, but I felt the Lord press that this is the message that our church needed as the final week of this series, that one that he's been preaching personally to me for this last year. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:30.639 So, this is a step of faith for me this morning as I've been following his leading for our church to close out this series. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:31.599 Sound good? 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:32.719 Are you with me? 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:36.639 All right, let's get right into the scripture. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:47.360 This encounter with God is found in three of the Gospels, and today we're gonna focus on the way that Mark tells this story about Jesus and his disciples. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:55.280 Jesus had spent the day teaching a crowd who had gathered around him near a lake, and Mark 4 opens like this. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.240 Jesus began to teach by the lake. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:09.759 The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.199 He taught them many things by parables. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:23.040 So Jesus had been teaching the crowd all day, and when the evening came, he decided that it was time for him and his disciples to leave the crowd. 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:30.879 And as we read this story, keep in mind that a few of these disciples were fishermen before Jesus called them to follow him. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:38.560 So they were incredibly familiar and probably excellent at navigating a boat across the sea. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:43.360 So let's read Mark 4, starting in verse 35. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:52.720 On that day when evening had come, Jesus told them, Let's cross over to the other side of the sea. 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:58.639 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat, and other boats were with him. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:06.160 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:09.680 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:14.959 So they woke him up and said to him, Teacher, don't you care that we're going to die? 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:22.319 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Silence, be still. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.480 The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.920 Then he said to them, Why are you so afraid? 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:32.639 Do you still have no faith? 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:37.120 And they were terrified and asked one another, Who then is this? 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:40.959 Even the wind and the sea obey him. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.800 Church, that is the word of the Lord this morning. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:50.959 Storms on the Sea of Galilee were known for their suddenness and violent nature. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:06:00.240 This sea is located about 700 feet below sea level in a valley of mountains that form this natural basin. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:11.439 Winds from the mountains funnel down to the lake, and when the cold air meets the warm air in this basin, an intense storm develops suddenly. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:21.040 Now, this translation that we read said that it's great windstorm, which makes sense when we learn how these storms happen on the Sea of Galilee. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:24.399 But other translations call this storm a squall. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:29.040 Now, this was something I had never heard of, so naturally I Googled it. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:37.920 A squall is defined as this: a sudden, violent gust of wind or localized storm. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:40.560 It's short and intense. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:43.920 Sudden and intense. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:48.319 Isn't this how hard times in our lives usually feel? 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.279 Storms that are sudden and intense. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:07:00.959 We don't usually have a lot of time, a lot of notice, a lot of time of notice for these storms, and they usually overtake our entire lives. 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:11.519 Walking through these storms takes every bit of free time and energy that we have, and they come on so suddenly that we feel knocked over. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:17.680 As I was learning about what a squall is, an alternative definition caught my attention. 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:26.720 A squall is also defined as a baby crying noisily and continuously or a loud cry. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:33.360 We see here that in the midst of the storm, the disciples are crying out to Jesus. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:39.839 And in a storm that intense, they would have been calling out to him in this loud voice. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.160 Notice what they say to him here. 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:46.399 They didn't ask him to save them or to stop the storm. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:51.519 Instead, they said, Don't you care that we're going to die? 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:54.720 This question came out of fear. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:58.399 They were afraid of the destruction of this storm. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:01.040 What they were experiencing was real. 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.759 The waves were coming over the sides of the boat, and the boat was filling with water. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:07.519 Of course they were afraid. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.040 Of course they thought that they weren't gonna make it through this storm. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:20.079 And when Jesus said at the beginning, let's cross over to the other side of the sea, he already knew that this storm was coming. 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:22.240 But you know what the disciples didn't say? 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:24.959 They didn't say, I can't believe you had us go this route. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.360 Or look what you did, Jesus. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:33.440 They asked if he actually cared about what was going to happen to them. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:38.080 They were concerned about the great danger that they were in. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:46.799 But what Jesus saw was that the greatest danger that they were in wasn't the storm, but it was their unbelief, their lack of trust in him. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:57.200 The emphasis of this story is not how he rescued the disciples from danger, but it's on who Jesus is as the Savior. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:06.480 Jesus spoke to the wind and the sea with the authority of God Himself, with power over the wind and the sea. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:18.879 The calming of the sea and the wind was not only this demonstration of power, but God used this storm to reveal Jesus' identity as the Savior. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:27.600 The disciples see the wind cease and the storm calm, and they immediately recognize what this means about who Jesus is. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:34.799 In their time, there were many ancient stories of powerful people who could control and subdue forces of nature. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:40.559 But in Jewish tradition, that power was reserved for only God Himself. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:54.559 So when they saw that Jesus held that power, that authority over nature, they understood that this was the savior that their new their Old Testament scriptures had been pointing to. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:10:01.919 God uses the storms in our lives to reveal Himself, to reveal our Savior. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:05.600 These storms in our lives show us that we can't save ourselves. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:07.679 Only Jesus can do that. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:14.000 Only He can be our Savior, a Savior who is with us through the storms. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:18.639 This truth has been what I've been sitting in for the last year. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:25.039 I've dealt with anxiety since college, and in the last year it's spiked up to these new levels. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:31.200 I felt it in my body mainly with a racing heart, and it feels hard to breathe, and I'm not sleeping well. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.120 But the thing that I feel most is this swirling in my chest. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:43.279 All the emotions that I need to sort through at any given time feel as if they're physically swirling around inside of me. 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:49.039 And the swirling gets bigger and more intense anytime that I'm in a stormy season. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:55.440 And I've prayed over and over these words of Jesus peace be still. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:11:02.720 That Jesus calmed the storm in this story so he can calm what feels like a storm inside me. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:19.120 And about six months into this prayer and reading this story over and over again and searching for Jesus in the midst of the storm, asking him, Jesus, show up in this anxiety, show up in this panic so that I can have your peace. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:26.000 That's when it hit me that Jesus was already in the boat. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:33.279 The disciples were in the storm and crying out to Jesus to save them, and Jesus was already there. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:43.279 So this swirling storm that I have in my chest, calling back to the last week, if I have the Spirit of God dwelling in me, then he's already there. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.559 Jesus is already in the boat with me. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:53.200 So I don't need to ask him to show up in this storm because he's already here. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:12:05.759 Psalm 23, 4 says, even though I walk through the darkest valley or the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.679 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:25.279 When we're in these storms of life and needing Jesus, no matter how dark it gets, we can have full confidence that even if it seems like he's asleep in the boat, he is here with us. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:27.759 So here's what this means for us. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:33.919 Number one, the storm can't destroy you if you have Jesus with you. 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:41.440 Whatever the storm is that you are walking through, it can't destroy you if you have Jesus with you. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:46.559 The Apostle Paul talks about this in his letter to the Corinthians, the second letter. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:58.240 First in chapter 11, he says, Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:01.519 This man went through some storms. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:06.240 He also wrote about his travels in chapter one of the same book. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:13.919 He said, We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:22.559 We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:27.840 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:29.840 Have you ever felt that way? 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:38.159 Being under great pressure, that was far beyond your ability to endure, feeling like you're despairing of life itself. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:39.200 I have. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:50.080 But he continues and he says, but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:01.519 On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:08.240 He has delivered us and he will deliver us again, and he will continue to deliver us. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.120 This is pointing to the faithfulness of God. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:20.720 And as we walk through these storms, we can remember previous storms that God has delivered us from, and we can have hope. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:24.639 This is how Paul talked about storms and how we can too. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:37.759 In the same book, chapter four, he writes, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:49.679 We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:59.440 Paul reminds us of exactly what this story of Jesus and the disciples showed us: that God is the one who saves us. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.320 That's what Jesus came to do. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:13.679 So when we are hard-pressed, when we are perplexed, when we are persecuted, when we are struck down, we aren't crushed because Jesus has overcome every battle. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:18.080 We aren't in despair because Jesus is where our hope is found. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:26.000 We aren't abandoned because Jesus is in this boat with us, and we aren't destroyed because Jesus gives us life. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:32.799 Whatever the storm is in your life, it can't destroy you if you have Jesus with you. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:41.279 And second, not only will it not destroy you, but you can have peace in the midst of the storm. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.159 Jesus spoke to the storm. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:47.200 He said, silence, be still. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:51.120 Different translations have a different word for this silence. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.720 The NASB says, hush, be still. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:58.720 The NIV says quiet, be still. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:02.320 The ESV, peace, be still. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:08.639 Silence, hush, quiet, peace, be still. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:13.679 They're all Jesus bringing calm to this scene. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:16.799 Now I have two kids, like I've said. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:26.639 And when I first read this definition of squall, a baby crying noisily and continuously, I immediately thought of my babies. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:38.879 These loud cries that they had as babies, and if we're honest, still now as kids, when they're calling out, when they're crying out in need, do I just sit idly by? 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.759 Does their dad just ignore them? 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:43.679 No, of course not. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:53.519 We comfort them, we tend to their needs, I scoop them up and I say to them, hush, calm your body, be still. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.120 I've got this. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:57.120 Mama will take care of it. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:00.320 I'll make sure you have what you need. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:04.480 Hush, shh, be still, I've got this. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.559 Doesn't that sound like how God might comfort us? 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:13.440 Hush, quiet, peace, be still. 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:14.799 I've got this. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.200 I'll provide what you need. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:23.519 The squall is the storm, but it's also our cries to him. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:30.559 It's also what's happening internally as we battle through the circumstances around us. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:36.319 And when God hears our cries, he has great empathy for us. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.160 He sees not only our needs, but he sees us. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:46.000 Growing up, I had a dad who lacked empathy. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:48.799 He could only see himself. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:53.279 He couldn't see past himself to see me and what I needed. 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.559 He couldn't see or understand when I was in distress. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:01.279 He could only see how that distress that I was in affected him. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:05.519 And many of us have that experience with people, don't we? 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:10.319 The friend who only talks about themselves and never asks how we're doing. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:16.559 The family member who diminishes your pain saying it isn't that bad compared to what they're going through. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:24.559 The doctor who tells you your test came back all normal, so nothing must be wrong, even though you know in your gut that something isn't right. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:37.200 The person you thought was your friend carelessly posting on social media about some political issue that's deeply personal to you because you've walked through that very thing. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:42.000 We face this lack of empathy all around us. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:52.960 And it can bring us to a belief that no one cares about us, that no one understands us, and that we're on our own to face everything in this life. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:57.119 But, church, that is a lie from the enemy. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:01.680 It's a lie that no one cares about you because God cares deeply. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:07.839 1 Peter 5:7 says, cast all your cares on him because he cares about you. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:12.960 It's a lie that no one understands because Jesus understands pain. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:28.559 Isaiah 53, 3 says he was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain, like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised and we held him in low esteem. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.880 Jesus understands pain. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:37.440 It's a lie that you are on your own because Jesus promised to be with you always. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:39.119 Matthew 28, 20. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:44.240 Jesus says, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:50.880 And it's a lie that we won't make it through, whatever storm we're facing, because Jesus has already won every battle. 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:56.400 Jesus says in John 16, 33, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.519 I have overcome the world. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:07.279 We can have peace in the storms of life because God will carry us through. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.400 He cares for you, he sees you. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:14.960 You can only receive empathy when you have truly been seen. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:20.640 And we heard in week two of this series that God is the one who sees us. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:30.079 When it feels like no one understands or no one cares, we can have great peace knowing that God does, that he sees us, that he understands. 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:40.559 Psalm 107, 28 through 30 says, Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:43.599 He stilled the storm to a whisper. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:46.720 The waves of the sea were hushed. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:52.559 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:56.160 We cry out to God in our trouble. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.279 He has empathy for us and he delivers us. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:06.000 He calms the storm around us and inside us and he brings us to the other side. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:08.319 Now here's what I'm not saying. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:13.839 I'm not saying that God is just gonna end every painful storm in our lives. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:22.400 One day, when we get to eternity, he will wipe every tear from every eye, and there will be no more sorrow or suffering. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:27.359 But here on earth, we have suffering, we have pain, we have storms. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:33.359 That's guaranteed back in John 16, 33, where Jesus says, you will have trouble. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:40.559 But here's what I am saying about the state our souls can be in if we are tethered to Jesus. 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:46.640 That you can be heartbroken and still have peace from Jesus. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:54.480 You cannot know what's coming next in your life, and you can still have peace from Jesus. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:59.759 You can have a sick body and you can still have peace from Jesus. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:06.799 You can be living with great grief and still have peace from Jesus. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:17.039 And you can be at the end of your rope in the darkest valley and still have peace from Jesus. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:22.400 As I walk through the darkest valley, you are with me. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:25.519 He walks with us through the darkness. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:28.880 He is in the boat with us in the midst of the storm. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:31.599 You're going to make it to the other side. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:38.640 And God will be with you and comfort you along the way because he's already in the boat with you. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:43.920 Isaiah 12, 2 says, Surely God is my salvation. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.039 I will trust and not be afraid. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:56.559 The Lord, the Lord Himself is my strength and my defense, and He has become my salvation. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:59.279 The Lord Himself. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:07.920 The disciples were afraid in the boat because they didn't know the true identity of who was in the boat with them. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:13.440 They were afraid that the storm was going to destroy them and that Jesus didn't care. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:22.240 But when they encountered the man that was with them, who Jesus really was, they saw their salvation. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:24.640 They met their Savior. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.799 And this is what we've been building to through this series. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:32.480 An encounter with God isn't momentary. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:36.079 And it isn't just what we get out of it. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:41.680 When we encounter God, his character is revealed to us. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:46.720 And the more we know about his character, the more we know him. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:58.480 And the more we can trust him, the more peace we have when we're in the midst of the storm because we're confident that Jesus, our Savior, is in the boat with us. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:05.839 As we've been seeking how we can encounter God in this series, we've been uncovering his character. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:12.559 In week one, Robbie talked about how God is the answer to everything we need. 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:16.640 We think we know what we need, but really God is what we need. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:19.839 He provides all sorts of other things for us to survive. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:23.920 But the main thing is that God is what we need. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:29.759 Week two, Carolyn gave us this beautiful testament of how God sees us. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:35.279 He meets us where we are and he gives us a hope and a future. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:42.400 God sees you just like he saw Hagar in the wilderness. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:50.640 Then last week we saw when Moses encountered God in the burning bush, God was already there with him. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:59.039 And now we get to have the Spirit of God dwelling within us, which means that God is with us wherever we are. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:00.079 He is present. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:03.279 He is the one who is present. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:19.920 And that brings us to today, seeing how Jesus was already in the boat with the disciples in the midst of a terrible storm, and how the storms in our life reveal that Jesus is the only one who can save us. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:46.000 When we draw our attention to God and discover his character through encountering him, this is what we see that God cares so deeply for us, that he rescued us, that he will provide all that we need, and that he is faithful to his people throughout all of time. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:56.640 So to close our time today, I'm gonna read this psalm over us as a blessing because the words of scripture are always gonna be more powerful than mine. 00:25:56.799 --> 00:26:20.880 So would you please stand, close your eyes if you're comfortable to and let these words of Psalm 23 and let the Spirit of God speak to whatever you need from the Lord today, and then we will worship together. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:28.160 I have what I need. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:42.240 He lets me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he renews my life, he leads me along the right paths for his name's sake. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:49.759 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me. 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:54.240 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:27:00.799 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:06.000 You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:19.440 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:20.559 Amen. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.240 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:28.880 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:31.119 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:37.200 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.