Between a Boat and a Hard Place
Notes
Transcript
Christianity is plagued by idle believers. People who are content with their place on the pew, content with their place on the Sunday School roll, content with never growing. Do you know when a young bear grows the most? It is when the mother pushes the baby cub out on its own and it is face with challenges and struggles. Each new challenge that the bear encounters gives it experience for the next time. Each challenge the bear overcomes gives it the knowledge to overcome the next challenge it will face. Bears who survive in the wilderness are not bears who have run away from every challenge but learn and grow and put themselves into places to learn and grow. When is the last time you put yourself in a place that would challenge you with your faith? Many of us are content with walking away from challenges and finding reasons not to be in places where we are not in control. Today we will be in Matthew 14:22-31 and in this passage we will see three things. First we will see that God sets us up. Second we will see that God calls us to the extreme. Third we will see that with God we cannot fail. Read this scripture with me this morning.
God sets us up
God sets us up
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
I want you to think about this setting. Jesus sends the disciples out ahead of Him as He dismisses the crowds. Jesus then goes up and has His quiet time and then at 3 in the morning says its a good time to go for a stroll on the water. Not beside the water, not around the water, not on a boat in the water, no lets just go stroll on the water. I’m confident that Jesus was not a meteorologist simply because He was right about everything He ever said and you know them folks are not. It is literally the only job you can be wrong most the time and people still listen to you! Just kidding I think they do an amazing job these days. Seriously though it was no surprise to Jesus what the weather was going to be and what He was sending the disciples into. How many times have you ever been to a concert and the lead singer tells the sound guys and the support folks to go on ahead that they will clean up the mess and get things ready. We have to see that this was a set up. Jesus had a plan in this and knew what the Disciples would encounter and had been working on this from the minute He told them to get in the boat and go to the other side. In the same way there are no surprises in your life with our God. Nothing is going to happen in your life and God is going to go, well I didn’t see that coming. He is not turning to Jesus and saying well I missed that one. Did you see it coming? That simply does not happen. God knows the ins and outs of our days. Every day you are being set up to meet some type of challenge in your faith. Make no mistake there is something every single day that can help
you grow in your faith. You must open your eyes to these challenges and understand that every day you are alive there is an opportunity to grown in your faith.
Have you ever been set up? My wife loves to set me up. She will do things when I am trying to lose weight like put an oatmeal cream pie on the counter and she will hide away around the corner to jump out and scare me when I try to eat it. She will ask me to go do something for her and while I’m doing what I think she needed me to do she is hiding away somewhere so she can jump out and scare me. My wife sets me up all the time. She asked me one time to go tuck Aubrey into bed because she was scared. I walked in Aubrey’s room and she was sound asleep. Thinking that She must have gone to sleep without needing me I walked back towards my room in the dark. As I passed the laundry room Rhaynee jumped out and scared me to death. I am constantly jumpy because I believe everything she asks me to do is a set up.
We are not to be idle in our faith. From the minute you make your profession of Faith until you breath your last breath God is presenting you with opportunities to grow in your faith. What does the Bible say about God setting us up?
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
9 The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
I will tell you that there are people who believe that we are predestined and I believe they take the scripture out of context when it comes to the fact that God would only predestine certain people. Here is how I will summarize it for you. We are predestined for good works. You are being set up by God today, tomorrow, every day you are breathing. The thing is that you must look for the opportunities. When is the last time you looked for the opportunities? We often times get so into ourselves that we lose sight of what God might be using us for in others lives. As we land this plane on evangelism I want you to understand that you are constantly being set up to grow in your faith and to be the hands and feet of Jesus. How are you going to look at your days moving forward. God is not only setting you up, He is calling you to do something extreme.
God is calling you to the extreme
God is calling you to the extreme
26 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. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
Peter is sitting in the boat and they are all being battered by the sea. They look up and see a figure on the water. Everyone is fearful of it being a ghost and then Jesus calls out and tells them not to fear. Peter then does the most logical thing and he says well Jesus, if it is you tell me to come out on the water to you. Peter probably did not think this through. What if it would have been an evil spirit? What if that spirit wanted Peter to drown. Why in the world was the first thing Peter thought to do was to say let me come out on the water to you. The thing with Peter is he was a pretty extreme guy. He is the same guy who told Jesus later that He would never let Him was his feet. He was the same guy who said that Peter stood up and told Jesus that He was the Christ and was not shy about it, a few verses later he was rebuking Jesus and telling Him that He would not suffer. Jesus had to call him Satan to get him back in line. Peter was an extreme type of guy. It is no surprise then that Peter was the one who said OK if it is you Jesus then call me out on the water with you! What about you? When you are presented with the opportunity to get out of the boat do you do it? When the challenges present themselves are you going to get out of the boat and follow through? Peter could have said a million things. If I was Peter I would have said if it is you Jesus, pull a fish from the water and fry it up, Ill take a side of tartar sauce with it, maybe some hush puppies. Peter though his first response was to go to Jesus. He did not want to wait around until things were good. Remember it was storming! Jesus is calling you to an extreme life that causes you to depend on His spirit to do the work. The thing about Peter is this, he was extreme but there was nothing in him that would have provided him the ability to walk on water. For Peter to walk on water the Spirit was going to have to do something amazing to make it happen. Peter did not say Jesus throw me some stepping stones. I will come out to you once the wind gets better or the sun comes out. Peter did not say well let me wait until this water freezes then I can do it. Peter trusted without boundaries. When is the last time you did something that only the spirit of God could help you do? When was the last time that you did not allow all the outward pressures prevent you from getting out of the boat? The thing is as long you are looking at the winds and the rains, you will never get out of the boat. The fact is that we must fix our eyes on Jesus. It is time for the church to fix its eyes on Jesus. The devil runs the world and he can change the circumstances around us but he cannot affect our Jesus. It is time that we stop looking at all the reasons we cannot do things and just get out of the boat!
Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.
Oswald Chambers in Run Today's Race.
We are called to step out of the boat in faith regardless of what the outcome may be. Here is my ask of you this morning. Begin to walk in faith when God places opportunities to share your faith. Talk when you have no words to say, serve when you have no strength to serve. Pray when you have no words to pray, walk when your legs have failed, trust when there is no rescue in sight.
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
How are you going to walk in faith? What is it that you are going to do this week that without the power of God and His spirit you cannot do. Are you doing things that are uncomfortable and cause you to grow? I am going to give you a final key this morning that can solidify your willingness to step out in faith.
With God we cannot fail
With God we cannot fail
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
When you step out in faith and you find yourself sinking below the waves, scared of the wind and uncertain how things are going to work out. God will reach out His hand of provision and rescue you. Faith though is not stepping out knowing God will rescue you it is stepping out whether He does or not. We serve a God who will not let us sink. Because of Jesus, because of the Father, and because of the Spirit we have nothing to fear in life. There is nothing that we do not have the power to achieve and when we do lose our faith and we begin to sink He will reach out His hand and pull you out. These times though will strengthen you and build you. No other disciple failed as many times as Peter did, but no other Disciple was told that he would be the rock on which Jesus would build His church. Are you ready to begin to really live? To really follow through? To really grow? It is time to start stretching yourself and going into areas that you are not comfortable in. Being around people you don’t like being around. It is time that the church grows content with never being content. We must seek to be uncomfortable, we must seek to depend on the Spirit. In a life of that style we will find our true success in the faith. When you do not have the money to help someone else out give the rest of your money, when you don’t have time to help others give the rest of your time, when you do not have enough energy to serve others give the rest. In doing these things God will bless you in ways you could never imagine. I will not promise you that you will have more energy here on earth or that your bank accounts will over flow. I can guarantee though that your treasure in Heaven will be great. With the Power of God we can do all things.
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
You know what I love about my kids? They are willing to do anything as long as dad is there to either catch them or watch them. I have told you all before that a few summers ago when we had a bigger pool out back we would get on the roof and we would jump into the pool. By we i mean all of my kids. Aubrey was timid at first and was worried about getting hurt. Hunter on the other hand didn’t even look he got up on the roof and took off running and jumped from the roof into the pool. My kids as long as I am involved with something will do almost anything.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
In your life Jesus is involved it is time to stop letting all of the circumstances distract you and overwhelm you from following through with the things God is calling you to do. God is calling us to step out and be extreme at doing good in our world. We are called to step out of the boat in faith. He will rescue us even when our faith fails. Are you going to be used by God this week? What ways will you open yourself up to possible failures and challenges?
