Step Out of Your Boat
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Faith & Trust: Stepping Stones Towards Standing in the
Impossible
Little did I know, that today I would be on a path of ministry.
If’ it’s ok this morning, I would love to share my testimony of where I am, because of God’s grace, power and love in my life.
I share my story with you this morning, because we should all be sharing our testimonies, our stories of how God met with us, saved us, and has been guiding us through our lives.
Every single one of us has an incredible God moment… and want to hear them all! Here is mine.
Share story of Childhood:
Beginning Roots:
Sierra Vista Family situation The pain and struggle Moving to Phoenix Meeting Jesus in High School Jesus meets me through pain (Cancer Story)
Sickness and Sadness leads me to Worship, Praise and a Call to Ministry.
When I look at my life, I many times felt that what was set before me was impossible, however, Jesus, doesn’t just call us to walk with him, he may call us at times to walk with him on the water. To learn to have faith, and trust in him through what may seem impossible at times.
- OF COURSE I am speaking of the moment Peter has with Jesus, from the book of Matthew…
I read from Matthew 14: 22-33:
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Peter at THAT moment experiences Jesus as the Son of God!
Just Imagine the moment:
1. At first, Jesus is not with them, he is on the shore.
2. Storms of the sea come in, Jesus must have taken shelter.
3. The disciples deal with the storm
4. They see not something but someone coming towards them on the boat
5. Jesus calls out to them (Do not be afraid, it is I)
6 Peter (Who reacts before he thinks) calls to Jesus,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come onto the waters with you.”
Matthew records that Jesus simply says to Peter, “Come.”
Jesus didn’t say:
“OK come on but don’t look down”
or
“OK but don’t take your eyes off me, you’ll fall in.”
Jesus uses this time as training moment… a precious example, illustrating, with the use of Peter, take some very important steps; faith and trust.
It is as if Peter forgot there were guys on the boat just seconds ago freaking out, because, let’s
face it, it could be seen as a scary moment, seeing the impossible happen.
FAITH and TRUST
Peter has decided to trust Jesus, and to put faith in Jesus, so Jesus tells Peter to
come.
Peter takes these important and vital steps out of the boat, and onto the water with Jesus.
These steps, are important ones for us all.
These steps are the major foundations of our life with God;
Faith and Trust. This leads me to my first point this morning:
The stepping stones out of our boat and into the Unknown with Jesus, is Faith and Trust
ILLUSTRATION:
According to the Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Faith is: “Belief in
that which has no tangible proof; trust in God.”
It goes on to say that Definition of Faith In the OT and NT, “faith” carries several meanings. It may mean simple trust in God
or in the Word of God,
and at other times faith almost becomes equivalent to active obedience.
It may also find expression in the affirmation of a creedal statement. Thus, it also comes to mean the entire body of received Christian teaching or truth—“the truth.”
In Colossians 2:7,
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
the term faith suggests something to be accepted as whole and embodied in personal life.
In 2 Timothy 4:7,
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Paul witnesses to having “kept the faith.”
This moment with Peter and Jesus on the water is a glimpse Into what it looks like to trust, have faith, and to move away from our own understanding, and lean into His.
Through a relationship with Jesus, and living a life devoted to Christ, we learn to trust not only what we have heard, but to trust the call He speaks directly into our lives.
God is an active God, and He is waiting for your response.
He is so active, that in his creation, the universe is expanding at the rate of about 41.9 miles per second per megaparsec
(a distance equivalent to 3.26 million light-years)
He never stops working and creating:
In the universe
In his creation
and he never stops working In you.
REVELATION
We all, whether we realize it or not, experience God, through different types of revelation throughout our lives.
There are two types of revelation we can experience: general revelation and special revelation.
General Revelation is the natural acts of God in this world
Special Revelation is a revelation that God has as an interaction with someone.
For many of us here today, we have had this moment of special revelation.
We have experienced a moment of seeing Jesus for who He truly is.
1. Maybe this was through growing up in the church.
2. Maybe this revelation was through the life of a friend or family member, who you walked closely with.
3. This experience can come through heartache, pain, and a cry out for help.
No matter what the revelation, God has, is, and will always be ready to respond to you when you experience these revelation moments.
QUOTE
In Jeremiah 33:3 it says,
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
GOD IS READY TO HELP US BUILD OUR FAITH.
The things of God become alive when we learn to believe in Him, accept Him and walk with Him. This moment with Peter shows us God’s promise in action.
1. Peter Begins to Believe, and calls to Jesus
2. Jesus answer back to him to come.
3. Peter begins, through faith and Trust in Jesus, to experience an impossible feat in his life. Walking on water.
That what the world sees as impossible,
what most will not do,
Peter was able to do it only through Faith and Trust in Jesus.
In fact, what Peter accomplished is only done with and through Jesus. The very same thing is true for us today.
What is God showing you?
What is God revealing to you through you calling out to Him?
What is holding you back from stepping out of your boat, and into the waters of the unknown with Jesus?
The winds and waves of the world, the enemy and our sinful nature will do their best to knock you off-balance.
As Peter stands there on the water with Jesus, we see that Peter has a weak moment. He has just stepped out in faith, and onto the water.
He is standing, with Jesus, when he begins to notice the wind.
In a split second, as he takes his focus off the Lord, he is consumed by what is going on around him,
by doing that, Peter falls into the water.
Jesus, at that moment, helps Peter out of the water. Jesus, in helping Peter, says to him, “you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
In this story, we see a very special moment with Peter and Jesus. Peter, though he has just SECONDS earlier put his faith and trust in Jesus, has a very quick moment of weakness.
The elements of the world around him got the best of him. His focus went to what he feared, and it knocked him off his faith and trust in Jesus just enough to make him fall into the water, just as if the foundation he was standing on disappeared.
What I see is an example of what happens to us with the elements in our own lives are able to effect our walk with Christ.
Whether it is the world, the enemy or our own flesh, there are things that affect our focus and faith, which can cause doubt, fear, anger and hopelessness.
As we step out of our own boats, and walk toward Jesus in faith and in trust, there will be things that will attempt to take us off-focus and to deter us away from our walk.
The winds and the waves that hit us from the left, and the right are the elements of the world. Elements of this natural world we live in that is effected by sin.
Our relationships, our jobs, and even our Home life can have these waves that can take us off course and unfocused on Jesus.
The waves in front of us are our temptations; things which we could easily put in front of God, which blurs our vision of Him.
Our own desires, will and sinful thoughts.
Then we can feel the waves that hit us from the back. This is our past.
The sins that you have not let go of, yet Jesus has forgiven. Sinful thoughts and old desires that creep up at you to tempt you, reminding you of your past.
All of these elements hitting us viciously, wave after wave, determined to put you in a place to lose your focus on the Almighty, all-powerful, loving Savior, who has called you, and placed you EXACTLY where you are.
There are times, that we fall in. The waves push, and push, and beat us down, until we can’t take it.
We cry out to him, and he answers. He lifts us out of the waters of sin and doubt, and draws us towards Him.
As we learn, grow and realize through our faith and trust in Jesus, He is equipping us. Teaching us. Guiding us to
learn.
Then, as we learn to live a life focused on Him, the waves become less scary, less vicious, and that waters still.
Yes, there will always be waves, there will always be temptations, however, Jesus teaches us how to stay with Him, standing in the impossible through Faith and Trust.
Peter learned an amazing lesson on faith. Following Jesus did not mean that he was not amounted from making mistakes.
The ear still came off, the rooster crowed, however despite the mistakes, and the sin, Jesus used Peter to not only spread the Gospel, but also to build His church.
Many people have had this amazing interaction with Jesus. This moment of struggle, exposure, revelation, realization, faith, and then action.
We all have this opportunity to get out of our own boat, and into uncharted waters, with Jesus. There is not one person that is kept from this gift from God. All people, no matter who you are, no matter what you have done all have a chance to hear Jesus say, “come.” To me one of the greatest examples of this type of struggle, exposure, revelation, realization, faith and action comes from a very unlikely person.
One who, at that time was already lower class because she is a woman, and a Samaritan.
but also because she was living in sin.
She was scorned by others.
She was rejected.
Until the day she meets a Jewish man at the well, asking for a
drink of water.
Watch This clip from the TV Show, “The Chosen.”
#3 Jesus equips us to Walk into the Unknown in Spirit and in Truth.
In this amazing clip, we experience the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.
We see his love for all mankind, not just the elite, the religious, the jewish… and his love for man and women is equal and perfect.
This Samaritan woman has been rejected. She is not liked. She has to go out and get water at the well at the worst time of the day, because the other women
did not want to be seen with her… a sinner.
She feels rejected, not just by other people, but also by God, because she can’t go to God according to the religious
traditions.
She doesn’t know where to go. She has been hardened, and untrusting towards others.
We see in this clip that the waves of life have hit her pretty
hard, yet we see how Jesus picks up up out of the water, and into a life, free to live for God, in Spirit and in Truth.
we see through this story:
1. She is frustrated and alone. (Samaritan, Woman, living in sin. – Life without Christ
2. Jesus meets her where she is, and shows her her error. (She is called out on her sin, exposed.)
3. Jesus shows her exactly who He is. He sees her past, and the thoughts that she has, on her husbands, on God, and herself.
4. She finally sees Jesus as Messiah, and begins to have faith and trust in Him.
5. She starts Using her Spiritual Gifts: Immediately goes out to profess Jesus: One of the first evangelicals was both a woman and a Samaritan.
CONCLUSION
Jesus chooses to use a scrappy fisherman to be a disciple, and the leader of His church.
A Samaritan woman is transformed into a fiery evangelist… saved by grace.
She was not judged for her past sins by Jesus, rather, she is given the opportunity to encounter Jesus and to walk with Him and His ways.
She has not status, no education, no friends. But she is not rejected by Jesus.
As the worship team comes back up, I want to ask you these ending questions.
let’s take a moment to close our eyes, quiet our minds, and listen to what God
has to say to you this morning:
INVITE THEM TO COME TO THE ALTERS AS LED. ALTERS ARE THE DOCKS TO THE WATERS…
What is your Misseo Dei? What is your mission of God?
Where is Jesus calling you to “come”
What waves are you dealing with that keep you unfocused on Him, and are you ready to take the hand of Jesus, as He pulls you out of your gunk, and back onto the path he destined for you?
God has equipped you and calls you… the choice is yours to take those first foundational steps of faith and trust in Jesus, our Lord, Savior, and God, out of your boat, and into the unknown waters with Him.
Let’s Pray