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Before we jump right into our text, I want to ask you a question and tell a bit of a story…

Have you ever had a time where you felt completely out of control

where you felt like one moment you know you had things figured out… but the next moment everything was falling apart, and you were out of control?

Anyone who knows me knows that I like to have a plan I like to feel the sense of control and I think all of us have that to some extent

Maybe not as much as me, but still the feeling of control brings us comfort or what we would call maybe peace.

The other day I was horseback riding… And for a little bit of context, this was my first time riding a horse in about 10 years

If i’m Being Honest thought I was gonna do terrible, Thought I was gonna somehow fall off the Horse get trampled and die, but As it turns out I obviously survived and I had a great time.

(Insert round of applause) I'm kidding, obviously.

But there was one moment where I felt very out of control. Hand felt as though my Worst fears were realized.

We were in an open field and two other horses And the riders took off

And for those of you who know me, I can be a bit competitive And as it turned out my horse, Stewart happened to be competitive as well…

So what did we decide to do? We decided to chase after those other two horses and catch up

And it was super exhilarating, As we took off, it was a rush of power and speed and excitement.

And I still felt in control. I was the one that told him to get going give him a little kick gave him some reigns.

But then we reached a point where the open field we were in, began to narrow into a path into the woods.

And when I began to see that I began to say, whoa and pull back on the rains, trying to slow My horse down,

But Stuart, my horse being much like me wanted to have control as well…

The weather was super nice for the first time in a long time and these horses wanted to run,

As we continue to approach this narrow path I felt my control begin to slip.

My horse wasn't responding to me telling him to stop and my feet began to slip out of the stirrups and in that moment… I felt Out of control…

It felt like For a small moment, my life was no longer in my hands, but outside of my domain… Outside of my control…

Now worst case scenario, I wasn't gonna die. I didn't think I was going to see Jesus that weekend, but I felt the The feeling of control slipped out of my hands… I didn't have peace. I began to be filled with anxiety and fear… PAUSE

Now if I had had experience with horses and had Grown-up riding horses for years, you might say I might not have been so worried.

I might have had better skills and been able to have better technique to handle the situation you might AND Probably would be right.

but I want us to think about the text that we're about to read. These disciples these men were experienced.

Those techniques that I didn't have… the time on the saddle that I didn't have…

The Disciples had when it came to fishing.

These men were skilled tradesmen that Jesus had chosen as his disciples. They were fishermen by trade. They had grown up on the water fishing with their dads And even possibly their grandfathers.

These men had experience and yet…

these men in the midst of this storm that we're about to read about, felt out of control.

They weren't like me, they weren't a novest horse rider, they weren't novest fishermen. they were Skilled & Experienced…

but they were brought to a place where their skill wasn't enough

Where their strength wasn't enough

Where their ability and everything they knew how to do wasn't enough

They were brought to the end of themselves, and they were out of control.

That is where these men are at in our text tonight.

Rough draft:

Now, if I had been experienced with horses and had grown up riding for years, I probably wouldn't have been too worried. I probably would have been fine. I would've had better technique and ability to control the situation.

But when I want us to think about tonight is the disciples had the same scenario, but to the max

I'm a nervous horse rider. I don't know what I'm doing for the most part. These men that are around. Jesus are skilled tradesmen.

These men have grown up on boats and have been fishing since they were young. They've probably sailed this part of the sea of Galilee, 1000 times.

And yet, despite all their experience and knowledge, they were terrified, they feared for their life and they felt out of control.

Extra:

and I want you to realize that when we reach the end of our control we reach the beginning of God's ability. We reach the beginning of seeing how God can move when we finally let go and know that we're out of control that my strength isn't enough. that's where we meet the power of God, but let's go ahead and look at our text today.

What's been happening in this passage is Jesus has been teaching in parables

He has taught the parable of the sower and the seed with the different ground that the seed would land in

Jesus has taught the parable of the mustard seed being a very small seed, but growing to be one of the largest plants in the garden

That's why we see in verse 33-34 Mark say

Mark 4:33–34 ESV

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

The gospel of Mark emphasizes miracles over teaching. We see that the gospel of Mark only has 18 out of Christ 70 parables but then we see he Lists over half of Christ 35 miracles.

Mark is trying to emphasize the action and power and godhood of Christ, with his teachings along the way. And this passage is no different. We see teaching that flows right into a miracle.

So today we're gonna finish out chapter 4, looking at the miracle of Jesus, calming the storm on the sea of Galilee

What is peace?:

See the reality for these men is they were sailing across the sea. They had a calm now have you I want you to picture this we most people see peace as the way we were described. Peace is just tranquility. You know it's if you love to see like these men would have if you love fishing like these men would have it would've been just cruising across t. It's calm. It's quiet. You hear some birds chirping in the distance the water flowing around you total absence of conflict it's calm. It's quiet.

There's a part of the ocean that is the furthest point from everything and it is calm and quiet and you can see more stars than you could've ever imagined

That's worldly peace people consider worldly peace as quiet to the lack of conflict the lack of war, the lack of yelling, the lack of fighting, but that's not what peace is with Chris Christ

Peace with Jesus is different. It's more powerful. It's more profound and we can see the difference just within this text. These men didn't have peace. They had quiet they had calm. They had distraction, but they didn't have peace.

True biblical piece that comes from Christ will affect our lives in several different ways. We first and foremost, have peace with God, which means we're not enemies of God no longer, but we are his friends. We are his children, and we know that he will save us and he loves us and that he died for us, and he would never leave us or forsake us.

He says come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest this piece. This piece that comes from God that comes from the Holy Spirit is peace with God our sin no longer separates us from him. We no longer have to worry about our righteousness because our righteousness comes from Christ and we're able to accept that as a free gift and then we know that Christ will sanctify us and make us more and more like him by his power. All we have to do is submit ourselves to him

But then this second type of piece that comes from Christ it's not just peace with God, though that is immensely powerful and insane because the Bible says that God, the grief leads to repentance to life without regret that is the piece that comes from God that is the piece that comes from salvationbut worldly grief leads to death. That's the lack of peace with God that is you sitting here thinking I'm gonna try harder. I'm gonna go home. I'm gonna live this week out and I'm going to trust God I'm going to walk with God. I'm going to do this. III me me methat's not peace with God that's you trying to earn salvation, but it's a free gift and if you try to earn salvation, it will lead to your death. It will lead to hell.

For these men on the boat, they did not have peace with God. They had God physically with them yet they had no peace.

And we see the second type of peace displayed peace with the world around us these men when the storm hit were shaken, stirred, scared, and terrified, but if we look at them in the future, if we look at these men after Christ is raised, and they have the Holy Spirit. These men will be crucified upside down, and be preaching the gospel having no fear for their lifepeace with God and peace that comes from God, this extraordinary peace from Jesus will affect every aspect of your life.

These men were terrified of a storm and they were terrified of the authorities, but then when the Holy Spirit entered them and they were saved, and they were given to Christ and they knew he was God, and they followed him and accepted him for salvation. Then they had this boldness and this piece that allowed them to live and die for Christ. They were no longer fearful. They were no longer enemies, but they were allies, sons, and daughters willing to live their life for Christ and give their life up for Christ that is peace.

Peace with God is the ability to walk through impossible circumstances with indescribable peace