WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:01.439 Alright, well, good morning. 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:02.879 I am so thrilled to be here. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:08.000 I have been looking forward to this ever since Heather invited me about a year ago. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:20.239 And just kidding, we were at Thanksgiving last year, and uh Doc had actually given me an invitation last year, and um and uh we decided to go back last year, but I'm so thankful to be here. 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:23.120 Uh this church is amazing. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:28.480 This is a special place, it's a special uh church, and God is doing amazing things. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:34.240 I cannot say how much your pastor and his wife mean to my wife, Michelle and I. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:51.280 Uh they uh trained us in college, and I often say uh that anything I do right is a direct reflection of him, and anything I do wrong is also a direct reflection of me not listening to what he has shared with me. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.399 But um, we had a wonderful time there at Liberty. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:55.439 Went through seminary. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:01:03.840 Doc was the uh the president there at the seminary at the time, and uh my wife was personally uh challenged, discipled, encouraged through Mrs. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:09.040 Lovett's teaching uh all the way through college, and uh we're so thrilled to be here. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:12.079 Uh our relationship did not end there, it actually grew from there. 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:20.400 Doc has been my church, our church there in Indiana for uh a couple times now, and uh always been encouraging. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:26.640 He uh and I'll share more in a bit, but he has been there through some of our roughest days there in Connorsville. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:36.799 He was there probably our roughest day there ministering, but um, but uh I'm so thankful for them, love them dearly, and certainly call him every time I get into uh trouble. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:41.599 Uh but um and Rick and Heather, you are a blessed church to have them. 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:50.239 I forgave him uh about I don't know, three years after it happened, but anyway, uh not really. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:57.359 Um I can tell you after seeing firsthand what God is doing, this is where God led Rick and Heather to be. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.480 And they are truly, Michelle and I, best friends in the whole world. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:02.959 And it was very hard to see them go. 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:04.959 It was hard to release them. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:17.280 And uh, you know, I I often say uh pastors don't get a whole lot of good friends in their life, but Rick has been uh one of my best friends in the whole wide world, and I miss him uh greatly. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:24.000 When I need a good laugh, I usually call him, and uh and he always puts things in perspective for me. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:25.520 But I am so thrilled to be here today. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:30.319 I'm excited to be here today, and uh so excited to share the Word of God with you. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:34.159 Turning your Bibles this morning to the book of Psalm, chapter 107. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:35.199 Psalm 107. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:37.919 I've not been to Alabama uh too many times. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:44.479 I think this is my first time preaching in Alabama, and I was told when you get to Alabama they're gonna ask you two questions. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:46.719 One, do you have a relationship with Jesus? 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.080 And two, war eagle or roll tide? 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.800 All right, we all know there's a ball game yesterday. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.120 By the way, this is more exciting than the ball game, right? 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:55.439 Amen. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:03.680 Alright, I was hoping that wouldn't pass me out the door, but anyway, most of you saying that because Alabama won, but um, but uh it was a good game. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.520 No one's gonna beat Alabama this year. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:08.080 Um and uh and I had my answer already. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:14.319 Of course, I have a relationship with Jesus, uh, but when I was gonna ask that question, I'm kind of disappointed, no one's really even asked me. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:18.080 And my answer is I'm a Florida gator, okay? 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:19.280 Oh, okay. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:22.479 All my credibility just went out the window there. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:30.400 Uh I jumped on the Tim Tebow bandwagon years ago, never got off, but I see myself just kind of drifting a little bit there. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:33.599 And who knows, I might be an Alabama fan eventually. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:36.159 Although most time I'm rooting for anyone playing Alabama. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:39.199 Psalm 107 this morning, Psalm 107. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:49.680 I want to share a message to you that's really in my heart, on my heart, and where I'm at in my life right now, and I hope I can be an encouragement uh to someone here this morning. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:04:06.159 Years ago, uh my wife and I, we uh we were we were married, we've been married almost 19 years now, 19 years now, uh almost 20 years now, and uh we went on vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and and um and my mother-in-law was with us on that vacation. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:13.360 And and I don't know about you, but uh a week at the beach is not a good week at the beach if the sun never comes out. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:25.680 And uh the sun never came out all week long, the sun never came out, but I had in my mind on uh Thursday of that week that I was going to go on a deep sea fishing trip by myself. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:34.319 So uh I went out, it was a charter boat, so I wasn't completely by myself, but no one I knew on that boat, and and remember there had been storms all week long. 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:36.959 There have been terrible uh storms that had come in. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:41.360 We hadn't seen the sun all week long, but my wife, mother, said, Go ahead, have fun, fish. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:45.759 And I went on out on this boat, it was not a half-day fishing trip, it was a full-day fishing trip. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:55.439 And as I got out on that boat, uh, we got out of the the dock area there, and boy, I realized how little that boat really was. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:04.000 We were facing big waves, little boat, and as time progressed, we got further and further away from the shore. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:08.399 Now here's the problem: I could see no land, and I'm not a very good swimmer. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:16.160 I don't know if you've ever been in that situation, but I was there, and boy, uh, we got further from, I understood we were 60 miles out from land. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.279 And uh boy, I was I it was it was eventful. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:21.680 I mean, people were getting sick all around me by that way. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:26.560 That's another story that I don't know, I don't do good with that, but anyway, I mean people were getting sick all around me. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:31.920 And I'm telling you, I I was one of one times in my life I was fearful for my life. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:34.720 And uh we went out and all of a sudden they said fish. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:36.879 I didn't really want fish, I wanted to go back, you know. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:59.120 Uh I was a little scared, a little fearful, and uh, and boy, I we caught more fish that day than ever, and the sunshine uh for a bit for us to get some fishing done, and then we came back into shore and we were going against the waves and against the current on the way back in, and uh the captain was all words on the way out, but I'm telling you, it's a bad deal when the captain goes silent. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:08.399 And he wasn't saying anything, and I know he was up there and I was looking up there, and boy, you know, he was he was trying to steer the ship and uh he got us in safely. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:14.319 You know, I've shared that story with many people, and and uh the church that I'm pastor over there just real. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:20.800 I mean, they just say whatever's on their heart and on their mind, and I had a fellow tell me one time uh you shouldn't share that story. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:22.800 It really wasn't that big a deal. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:24.480 But you know what I think? 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:26.800 You weren't on that ship. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:35.120 How many of you know if you've ever been through a storm, it's always a bigger deal to you because you're the one going through it. 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:35.759 That's right. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:47.920 And the truth of the matter is so many times in our lives as we think about the storms of life, so many times in our lives we make light of the troubles and trials of other people because we're not the ones going through it. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.639 In Psalm 107, I want to share it. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:56.079 Doc's taught me this many years ago, and I've heard him share his message on the storm many times, but you know this. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:58.399 I'm sure you've heard it at least 10,000 times. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:00.639 By the way, thank you for allowing me to preach today. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:03.600 I know how hard it is for you not to be preaching. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:06.399 But this is what he said. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:13.839 Everybody, when it comes to storms, is either about the face of storm, going through a storm, or just coming out of the storm. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:24.480 And in Psalm 107, there's four pictures of people whose lives are becoming unraveled, whose lives are falling apart, whose hope is literally lost. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.519 And I want to take one of those pictures in Psalm 107. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.720 I want to share some truth with you that I will hope will be a help to you. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.480 Psalm 107 and verse 23 and 24, we'll begin reading there. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:44.560 The Bible says this those who go down to the sea in ships who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:47.439 Father, I pray you bless the preaching of your word. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:48.480 Use me. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:49.839 Help us today, God. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:55.680 Someone today, God, is about to go through a storm, someone's in a storm, and someone's coming out of the storm. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:59.040 So, Lord, I pray you meet our knees today in Jesus' name. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:07:59.839 Amen. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:09.040 Verses 23 and 24, today I want to share with you five quick truths of how we can become storm survivors, how we can survive the storm. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:13.360 You know, that incident happened to me there off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:17.040 Happened uh uh almost two decades ago. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:19.920 I've never forgot the storm that I went through. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:29.120 Can I tell you today, someone here is going through a trouble, you're going through a trial, you're going through a hardship, and you may be going through something, and you will never forget the storm that you're going through. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:35.840 But I want you to understand some things that the Bible tells us that we can remember as we go through the storms of life. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.559 Number one is God's work is great when the storms of water are deep. 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:50.080 In verses 23 and 24, we see that even when the when when the waters are rising, we can see the work of God. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:57.279 I want you to know this morning that we know that we are we have found ourselves in a place of a storm when our total dependence is upon God. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.480 Have you ever been in a place that you have nowhere to look but to God? 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:02.960 Here's the truth of the matter. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.960 We're a whole lot better when we're looking to God all throughout the life. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:18.480 We're a whole lot better when we when it's not just, oh no, the the waters are rising, oh no, life is in trouble, oh no, my family's in disarray, oh no, I'm going through this hardship. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:21.200 The truth of the matter is we're always good. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:27.120 If life is always better on earth, and as we look to eternity, when we spend our lives looking to God. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:37.840 We also see in the text here, verses 20, 23, and 24, the greatest tests of faith are encountered in the deep waters of the storm, not in the shallow waters near the shore. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.639 You know, that storm for me would not have been such a big deal as long as I could see the shore. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:47.519 You see, my security is it was what in what I could see. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:51.919 My security and my safety was was that I could see the shore. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:57.679 But I'm gonna tell you this when I couldn't see the shore anymore, um, my faith was tested. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:00.000 My faith was in disarray. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:03.759 I was wondering if I would ever see my wife again. 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:08.720 I was wondering if I would ever make it to the seashore, because I knew one thing, I couldn't swim that far. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:19.120 I knew one thing, those waves were rising, and I knew another thing, that boat was little, and and when the captain went silent, I'm here to tell you it was a scary moment. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:26.320 But the Lord sent me here to tell someone that God's work is great, even when the stormwaters are rising. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.000 You see, in your life this morning, someone's stormwaters are rising. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:34.480 You're going through a hardship in your life, you're going through a health issue, you're going through a financial issue. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:39.120 There are things in your life that are totally uh just falling apart. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:52.399 And you found yourself in some deep waters and you can't see the seashore, you can't see, because here's the thing: real faith in God is not in what we can see, faith in God is trusting Him in the things that we can't see. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:57.039 How many of you know today God's greatest work is in the things that we cannot see? 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:08.320 And I'm here to tell you this morning, I I've been at this for some time now, and I faced some things in my life, and I want you to know that God wants to work in the things that we cannot see. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:21.200 Years ago, we were at uh Discovery Cove down in Florida on a vacation, and my son was only, he's 12 now, but he was only about five years old then, and that's the place you can swim with the dolphins, right? 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:40.320 And boy, we were looking forward to that moment, and and we were there in this cove area, and there were these dolphins there, and and uh, and uh my wife and and she says, Hey, someone has to someone has to go out into the deep water with Nate, you know that he had a life vest on, and I had a decision to make am I gonna put a life vest on or am I gonna act like I can do this on my own? 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.080 What do you think I did, Rick? 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.320 I act like I could do it on my own. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:56.720 So he's got his life vest on and he's having fun, and the dolphins are surrounding him, and he gets on the dolphins, and I go out to the deep water, and and uh, and and and he falls off the dolphin. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:00.960 And he, hello, man, I'm trying to get to church, doc. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:05.519 And um, and uh, and he falls off the dolphin. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:10.159 And uh you ever get a phone call when you're preaching? 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.279 Uh that wasn't the Holy Spirit, I can tell you right now. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:17.840 Um I fell off the dolphin. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:20.159 I didn't mean my son fell off the dolphin. 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:27.039 This church just preaches right back at you. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:28.240 Alright. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:29.679 I wonder what. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.399 I think my clip broke, so I can take a handheld. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:34.159 All right, all right, I'm just gonna wait. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:35.759 Alright. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.639 Oh dog, he's talking to me in my ears. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:40.399 Oh, praise the Lord. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:41.039 All right. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:42.240 You gotta be on that. 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:42.799 Gotta be. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:43.919 Oh, go man. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:47.120 Oh boy. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:49.519 So he fell off, fell off the dolphin, right? 00:12:49.759 --> 00:13:01.440 And um I'm swimming in the deep water, and here I am in the deep water, and and he's he's falling off the dolphin, and my wife sees him from a distance, and she sees me from a bigger distance, and I'm thinking, oh no, what am I gonna do? 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:02.320 Well, here's the problem. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.240 Remember, I'm not a good swimmer. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:11.039 And I chose not to take the life jacket with me out into the deep water, and I'm beginning to struggle a little bit. 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:15.200 And he has a life jacket on, thinking he's okay, but the dolphin's not anywhere near him. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:21.679 All of a sudden, I didn't want anybody to realize that I was struggling, so I tried to hide my struggle. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.399 But I'm about to go down. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:26.799 I mean, I literally about died. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:35.120 And um, and uh, and my son, the dolphin came back, he got my son, he forgot me, but he took my son and uh took him to the shore. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:36.799 And boy, I just I swam over there. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:39.600 I've never been so happy to be back by the shore. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:54.559 But what I was thinking is thinking this, as I was thinking about this, as those stormwater's arising, as the water's coming up, you know, oftentimes in our life, somewhere along the line, Christianity has breathed this lie that it's that it's that we're not supposed to struggle. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.000 And that we need to hide our struggles. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:04.960 And what the Lord sent me here to tell you, here's the thing: if you're doing anything for God, hard times are coming. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:10.320 I've had people say, I don't face hard times, the two things, either you're lying or you're lost. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:23.440 Either you're not being truthful, either you're not living in reality, or you don't know Christ, because I'm here to tell you the enemy doesn't come against anyone that's not that that unless um unless unless you're an enemy of God. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:25.679 I want you to know today, either you're lying or you're lost. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.399 I want you to know it's okay to struggle. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:40.399 If you are going through a hard time today, if the storm waters are arising, I want you to know this morning that God's greatest work is on the move. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:42.399 Verse 25, look what the Bible says. 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:48.799 The Bible says, for he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves in the sea. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:52.720 Secondly, this morning, we need to seek comfort in the one who controls the storm. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:57.279 You know, all throughout the word of God, we see this happening time and time again. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:05.279 We see in the New Testament with Paul and he was shipwrecked, we see him, the Bible says uh that he had a thorn in the flesh. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:07.519 We see the attack of Satan. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:14.399 Um, we see in the Old Testament, we see Jonah that uh chose to go to Tarshish instead of Nineveh. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:18.720 He lived in disobedience to God, and as a result, a storm came his way. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:30.320 In the Old Testament, we see the life of Job that lost everything in one day, didn't do anything wrong, that was living in the will of God, and all of a sudden the storm uh was raging in his life. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:37.919 What I'm saying to you today, the Bible says in verse 25 that it's God who commands and raises the stormy wind. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:47.440 The greatest encouragement I heard was many years ago as I heard the narrative, the message on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:55.519 And I I heard the story of how he they were, and I've read through it many times through the word of God, and they were the fiery furnace. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.320 Remember, they were standing for what was right. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:03.360 And then the Bible says, as the king looked into the fiery furnace, he counted them. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.600 You know, at Houston we have a problem. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:08.159 How many do we throw into this fiery furnace? 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:12.960 Remember the Bible says it says there there was a fourth one and he likened to that of the Son of God? 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.639 Can I tell you this morning what an encouraging thing that was? 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:18.240 Here's the truth that was shared with me. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:29.440 I want to share with you today that that as they were put into the fiery furnace when the live when living in the fiery furnace in the midst of the fiery trials trials, God always has his hand on the thermostat. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:35.679 And maybe you're going through something hard today, maybe you're going through something tough today, and maybe you're about to go through or just coming out of it. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:41.440 But I want you to know today that God is the one that controls the storm, and God is the one that has his hand on the thermostat. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:57.759 God, listen, God, God knows what you're going through, God cares about what you're going through, and as the Bible says there in verse 25, that it's he who raises a storm, and it's he that lifts the waves, but I'm here to tell you, he is also he that calms the storm. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:01.200 My sister used to sing a song years ago. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:02.320 She didn't write it. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:07.519 I know you probably remember these words, and the lyrics were like this I know the master of the wind. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:09.680 I know the maker of the ways. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.039 He can calm the storm, make the sun shine again. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:14.640 I know the master of the whim. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:15.839 I don't know about you today. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.519 Maybe you need to be reminded that Jesus is the master of the wind. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:23.759 God is the one that can calm the storm, he's the one that can rise the ways. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:29.279 But I want you to know this morning that we need to seek comfort in the one that controls the storm. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.079 Thirdly, today, look in verses 26 through 28. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:33.359 The Bible says this. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:44.559 They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths, their soul melts because of trouble, they reel to and from and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits' end. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:48.720 Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:53.519 Thirdly, this morning, God truly cares even when we cry out. 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.559 God cares even when we cry out. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:00.240 Have you truly been in a place that you cried out to God? 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:09.440 Have you been in a place where you realize I'm not talking about praying to God, I'm talking about cried out to God, I'm talking about being in desperation. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:17.759 Have you ever faced something in life that you were just uh at your breaking point and it wasn't just a mutter, it just wasn't a prayer. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:22.880 You knew as Doc has taught me throughout the years, if God doesn't come through, then I'm through. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:24.799 I've been there. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:26.960 You've been there, we've all been there. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:30.960 And I'm gonna tell you right now, there is no shame in crying out to God. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:39.759 Years ago, uh I was a youth pastor five years in uh Middletown, Delaware, and uh we went to Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:45.440 And um uh again, I don't know why all these bad things happened when my mother-in-law was there, but she was there with us on this trip. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:47.519 Hope she's not watching today. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:19:02.640 Uh anyway, and uh there we were at Six Flags, and we had a bunch of teenagers with us, and they had this new thing, it's not new now, but have you guys seen those those swings where they they wrap you up like in a taco and they like kill you, they like drop you? 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.400 And uh they were new then, and it cost$20 to ride. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:11.839 And I had about, I don't know, 30, 40, 50 teenagers with me, and they said, Hey PJ, why don't you ride this with them? 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.240 Oh, I don't have$20, it's okay. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:18.640 My mother-in-law steps up and says, Hey, if you want to ride it, I'll pay the$20 for you. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.960 And I was like, that wasn't the point, but okay. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:30.319 So I paid her$20, got on the thing, kissed my wife goodbye. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:31.759 I thought that was it. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:36.240 And they wrapped us up in this taco, me and two other teenagers. 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:41.920 And they raised us up, and I'm thinking I don't feel secure. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:46.559 I don't feel as tight as this is, I want it tighter, you know? 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:49.039 Uh and and they raised us up. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:54.559 And here I'm trying to be the good, sophisticated youth pastor that I thought I was. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:58.640 And when when we got to the top, they said, guys, when you're ready, just pull the cord. 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:00.960 And teenager reached for the cord, I smacked his hand. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.880 I'm not sure that's the right thing to do, but I'm telling you, I didn't want the cord pulled. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:07.119 No time was soon enough, right? 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.480 And all of a sudden he reached up, he grabbed that cord, he pulled that cord. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:14.000 I'm gonna tell you what, I cried like a baby. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:22.240 I mean, I screamed from the top of my lungs all the way down, and you know, there's videos and all kinds of stuff. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.119 I looked back, I was a little embarrassed. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:28.240 I was a little embarrassed about that moment. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:30.000 Can I tell you today? 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.559 When it comes, when you're going through hard, you know what? 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:33.519 I didn't care. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:34.960 Because I was scared. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:38.480 And I thought, I thought, if I'm going down, I'm going down screaming, right? 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:39.759 Uh I don't know. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:40.960 No one else was there. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:44.319 You don't know how much better it made me feel when I was screaming. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.240 Can I tell you this morning? 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:51.039 It is always a good thing when we find ourselves in a place to cry out and call out to God. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.160 I love what David says here. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:21:01.920 You know, David had some issues, David had some problems, but two things about David I want to remind you of this morning. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:05.200 He was a good repenter and he was a good worshiper. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:08.240 And David didn't care what anybody thought about him. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:15.680 If you go and you study the life of David, I want you to know David, he didn't care about what others thought about how he expressed his worship. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.240 He poured his heart out before God. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:19.759 And look what he writes here. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.200 The Bible says it describes maybe someone here today. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.039 It says they go down to the depths. 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:28.880 When I read that, I think about the person that's in emotional despair. 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:30.799 I mean, your emotions are going crazy. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:36.000 There's something that's happened in your life, and they're and your thoughts and emotions are going wild. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:39.839 He describes this person as their soul melting. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:50.559 I think of the person today that even during this Thanksgiving season, when we're we're to give thanks all the time, but especially this time of the year, that that that they are in the place of a broken heart. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:59.039 Maybe a spouse is left, maybe a child that's in uh living in rebellion, maybe something you're going through today, and your heart is broken. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.759 I also Read here, and we see the Bible says they reel to and fro. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:11.200 I think about the person that seems to feel uh they have to make all the wrong decisions before they make the right decision. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:17.119 I I look here in the text and it describes the person, the Bible says they stagger like a drunk man. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:25.200 I read that and I think about the person that's lost control of their life because of bad choices and disobedience in their life before holy God. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:27.519 I read in the text, and you can too. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:30.079 The Bible says they are at their wits' end. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:36.400 I think about the person that is that is just so hopeless that they have no idea what to do next. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.519 Let me share something with you this morning. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:44.640 It is always God's priority that He gets the glory. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:54.160 Because you're here today, and I'm here today, and I've been through things in my life, and I'm gonna tell you, I look back and I still don't have answers. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:19.599 And I know some of you today have gone through things, going through things about to face things, and there are no answers to the things that you're facing, but I can tell you this morning in my life, when I when as I as we're challenged to cry out to God that God's greatest priority, I don't know the whys, I don't know the answers, but I can tell you this what I do know is God's greatest priority is that he gets the most glory. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:25.920 And when sometimes he has to knock us down, sometimes he has to encourage us, sometimes he has to break us down. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:35.839 But I'm here to tell you right now in your life what I know about your life, and I don't know most of you here today, but I do know this that God seeks to get glory from you and in your life. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:44.319 In fact, I will tell you this morning the whole reason that we are still here on this earth is that God would get glory out of our life. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:24:00.559 And we see that God truly cares even when we cry out someone here today is going to the depths, your soul is melting, you're reeling to and fro, you're staggling like a drunken man, you're at your wit's end, and you're in a place today, and gee, I need to act different in church. 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:02.079 Boy, I need to hold it together. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:10.000 Can I tell you this morning that God desires from his heart to have a broken heart before him from his people? 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:17.279 I want you to know today that God's greatest priority for John Reynolds is that he would get the most glory. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:22.799 As I look back 20 years uh ago from my life, maybe this is true of you as well. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:25.119 I can tell you, I had a blueprint every year. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:26.240 Rick remembers this. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:28.160 We'd have annual reviews, doc. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:32.640 And I'd say, what's your three-year plan, five-year plan, ten-year plan? 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:36.960 And uh coming to Alabama was never in that meeting. 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:39.680 Uh I can tell you that right now, just a thought. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:44.240 But anyway, uh I can tell you this. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.000 There are often things shared that never happened. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:25:07.599 And 20 years ago, if I were to look back at my life now, there are some things happening in my life that boy, I that are so awesome and great, and God's doing some wonderful things, and and God's taught me some truths in my life that I am thankful he taught me, but I really am struggling with how he taught me. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:12.880 But I can tell you this, his his chief priority was to get the glory out of my life. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:16.319 The text goes on to say, look there in verse 28. 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:23.920 The Bible says, after, as they experience, as the psalmist writes, he's experiencing all these emotions, all these hurt and all this pain. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:30.799 He says, Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:38.319 Fourthly, today, God gives his deliverance in our cry of desperation and distress. 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:43.759 You see, the prayer of desperation leads to a life of deliverance. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:46.000 That is not even a hope, so there. 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:51.920 That is like a promise from God that when we cry out to him in our trouble, are you in trouble today? 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:56.960 Are you, hey, the Bible says in the book of James that life is full of trouble. 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:00.880 So we shouldn't be surprised when trouble comes our way. 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:05.279 And the book of Job says that man is a few days in what? 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:06.559 Full of trouble. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:10.079 My elementary teachers used to think that was my life verse. 00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:14.079 I'm here to tell you this morning that life is full of trouble. 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:21.200 But when we are in trouble and we cry out to God, He He gives a promise of His deliverance in our distress. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:29.119 Because here's the thing prayers of consistency show God our commitment, but prayers of passion show God our dependency. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:35.440 And maybe you're here today, and I want you to know maybe you're in a place that you have nowhere else to turn but to God. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:39.759 I'm here to tell you today the best place to turn even before that happens is to God. 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:44.799 Is in relationship with God, is in fellowship with God. 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:49.440 God gives his deliverance when we cry out to him. 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.000 All throughout the Word of God we see this. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:55.599 In the Old Testament, we see Hannah that was barren and without children. 00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:01.200 I just read about this this morning as I was meeting with God and she cried out to God for a baby. 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:08.640 It was her utmost desire at that stage in her life, and God heard her prayer, and God delivered her out of her distress. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:17.039 I think about David, and he had troubles, and he had trials in his life, and he brought pain upon himself by bad choices and disobedience. 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:25.039 But I can tell you this if you look at the book of Psalms, you see a man that was desperate in his trouble, and he desired to worship God. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:34.880 I think about Isaiah, a few pages over there in the Old Testament, that though he was a prophet of God, came before God and said, Woe is me, for I am undone. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:36.720 He came to God in repentance. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:39.359 There's someone here today, and you're far from God. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:42.720 And hey, hey, you're thinking that I'm just gonna turn over a new leaf. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:44.000 I'm gonna get some things right. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:51.279 And what God's wanting from you is for you to allow him and surrender to him that he can do a work in you through repentance. 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:53.839 Oh, I even think of Peter there in the New Testament. 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:54.240 Yeah. 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:58.000 Walking on the water, took his eyes off Jesus, began to sink. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:01.279 He had no time for an invitation, he had no time for the sinner's prayer. 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:02.960 He just said, Lord, save me. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:06.799 Maybe someone today needs to cry out to God, God, save me. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:13.200 God, I've tried this relationship and I've tried this addiction and I've tried this uh temporal satisfaction. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:18.640 You've tried everything but Jesus, and maybe today's the day that you say, Lord, save me. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:28.079 You see, God hears us in our cry and desperation and distress, and he delivers us out of our troubles. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:31.200 Final thought today, verses 29 and 30. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:33.599 The Bible says, I love it. 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:38.640 He calms the storm so that its waves are still. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:41.200 Then they are glad because they are quiet. 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:44.160 And here's the phrase I want to focus on as we close. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:48.640 So he guides them to their desired haven. 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:54.960 God always has a purpose for the pain in the storm. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:29:03.680 All throughout the Word of God, we see people that had storms come to their lives, and God had a purpose for the pain. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:09.839 Can I tell you today the same God that was the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Paul, Moses? 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:13.359 I'm here to tell you is the same God that we serve today. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:18.720 And here we see in the New Testament, we see Paul was faced with storms. 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:21.200 The question was, will he continue to serve? 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:22.160 Will he give up? 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:25.759 And we see that the storm for Paul was to test him. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:33.839 Maybe today you're encountering something in your life, as have I, and maybe the purpose of the storm is to test you. 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:45.920 Maybe it's like in Matthew 8 when the disciples were in the midst of a storm, and there Jesus was asleep, and they cried out that God, Jesus, Master, cares not that we perish. 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:52.880 He woke up, wiped his eyes, calmed the sea, went back to sleep after rebuking them for their lack of faith. 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:57.759 Now that's a good day right there, but I'm here to tell you that storm in their life was shaken. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:05.519 Let me tell you this morning, every difference maker that I have known has had something happen in their life that has shaken them at some point in their life. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:06.160 Yeah. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:12.640 The truth here is the disciples needed to know that the one riding in the storm was the one who created the wind and waves. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:23.359 Can I tell you today, no matter how deep the waters are, no matter how bad the storm is, I want you to know that the one that calms the storm is the one that created the wind and the waves. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:23.920 That's right. 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:28.079 He shakes us, and then in Jonah, he changes us. 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:31.519 Maybe for someone here today, you're living in a life of disobedience. 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:38.000 You're living a life making some bad choices, bad decisions, running the wrong way from the direction that God is calling you to go. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:43.039 And maybe God sent me here to tell you that he wants to change you through that storm. 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:47.839 You see, God always has a purpose for the pain that we face in the storm. 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:55.839 I just read this week about that tornado that happened years ago in Tuscaloosa, uh, right outside the University of Alabama. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:00.480 Of course, you guys are close enough, you probably knew people that were touched through that storm. 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:04.000 And I read the story of this lady that lost a lot. 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:05.599 She lost a lot of possessions. 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:10.480 I believe uh many of her family members were injured and hurt as a result of that storm. 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:18.480 And shortly after that storm, about a year after that storm, another storm happened in the state of Oklahoma. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:20.640 And she said, I couldn't hesitate. 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:29.440 Because I knew the people that were going through that tornado there that happened in Oklahoma were experiencing pain that no one there could relate to. 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:36.960 So she said, I packed up my bags and I went to Oklahoma and I ministered to them and I helped them in the midst of that storm. 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:44.319 Can I tell you today, maybe one of the purposes of your storm is to help someone else in their storm. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:52.960 Maybe, hey, hey, maybe what you're going through now is to prepare you to help encourage someone else down the road. 00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:59.680 1 Corinthians 1 tells us that through our trials and troubles, God helps uh comforts us that we can comfort others. 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:09.599 I don't know what your storm story is, but I'm here to tell you today there's a God that wants to bring you security, safety, and comfort in the midst of your storm. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.400 He wants to help you in the midst of your storm. 00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:18.960 You see, I've had, I've had, um, I have loved the life that God has given to me. 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:23.839 I I um I have have I was brought up in a pastor's home. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:28.240 I um I did my best to serve the Lord, walked away from the Lord as an adolescent teenager. 00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:33.519 But I remember I went to Liberty University when I was uh 18 years old. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:37.359 I promised my dad I'd give him one year of Christian college. 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:44.799 And I was going to another college, but I realized I was going to get kicked out, so I went to Liberty University, where I knew they took anyone at the time. 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:56.799 And I went there uh with no intentions except, except to give one year of Christian college to make my father happy. 00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:04.480 And in 1994, fall semester, 1994, uh Randy Hogue was speaking there at Liberty, and it was there. 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:15.599 Now I had I'd never been in an altar, I never really responded to an invitation, but it was 1994, fall semester that I surrendered my uh life to whatever God wanted in my life. 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:18.640 Now I had accepted Christ as a five-year-old boy, but I just surrendered totally. 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:22.720 I got my face before the Lord, before thousands of other students. 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:27.119 And I remember thinking uh this is where the journey begins. 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:36.160 And God began to do a work in me and began to help me, and I was trying to find God's will and God's purpose in my life and what he wanted me to do. 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:40.480 For the next two years, I majored in five different majors. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:47.759 Because there was one thing I knew that even though I was surrendered to God, the one thing I wasn't gonna be was a preacher. 00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:51.599 So I tried everything. 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:57.039 I was an exercise science major, I was a PE major, I was a government major. 00:33:57.119 --> 00:34:00.319 Uh I was exercise science, I thought I was gonna be like Richard Simmons. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:01.839 I don't know what I was gonna do with that. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:06.640 But I, hey, you ever notice that sometimes you do crazy things and running from God? 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:27.840 And I remember it was um shortly after that, one year I was there, Michelle, my wife now, she uh we began to date a little bit, and I remember we were at Thomas Rove Baptist Church, her um my junior year of college, and we were getting ready to go for Christmas break, and we were up in the balcony, and she had a sore throat. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:38.000 And I remember uh she she had she had complained a little bit about uh uh uh one of her lymph nodes in her neck, and she said, I'm gonna get this checked out when I get back home. 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:39.440 So she went home. 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:46.800 I went home over Christmas, I returned back to college, I had to be back to work a little bit early, and she called me and she was devastated. 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:53.039 She said, uh they they they um they did a biopsy on that lymph node and and I have cancer. 00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:54.559 She was 19 years old. 00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:56.320