The Calm in the Storm
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03-22-2020
Calm in the Storm
Welcome
Well this is not a first for some of you who have been here before but this might be a new short normal for all of us as we navigate this unprecented time in our country and in out church
Please know that myself and the church leadership are continuing to seek the Lord and gather information to make the best decision that will glorify the Lord
As we continue to monitor things we will continue to grow and be faithful to seek the Lord
Thank you so much for joining us this morning at Maranatha Baptist Fellowship at HOME
I hope that you were able to find us and watch us
Of gather at someone else's house to have Home Church this morning
I pray that this message finds you all in good health and growing in Christ
This morning we will be in
And the title for the Message is the Calm in the Storm
If you have your phones you can go to the Bible app and click on events and then search for Maranatha Baptist Fellowship and then click on today’s sermon.
Hopefully you are able to see the text we are in this morning in a banner on the bottom of the screen but if not we will be in
So please open up your Bibles to
23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.
As we read this if sort of rings true
At first glance I would venture to say that some of you if not all of us have a better understanding of what the disciples felt like in the midst of the storm
Again we are not going to debate this virus and your thoughts or even my thoughts but what we will say that is we are in the midst of a storm right now
The disciples had followed Jesus into the boat
They began their trip across the sea, lake, body of water
The Sea of Galilee is 13 miles long and 8 miles wide with a circumference of about 33 miles
The trail around lake shawnee is about 6 miles so the Sea of Galilee is about 5 times that size
The particular body of water was prone to storms and 4 of those 12 disciples would have been comfortable on a boat and even in a storm
but
This must have been some storm because the waves began to come up over the ship or boat they are in
Let me explain it to you this way church
Storms happen even when Jesus is around storms happen
Right now we are in the midst of the storm
It doesn’t mean that Jesus has left us
alls it means is that there is a storm happening right now and to be honest it has a number of us very concerned and very panicked
Please hear me this is not a be or don't be concerned message and have faith in God
This is a message to tell you that you and I are in the midst of the storm like didn’t already know that and to have faith
25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”
Church in the midst of their panic and in the midst of their chaos they cry out to Jesus
Church we did that last Sunday and I pray that you are continuing to cry out to Jesus
But lets be honest, they are scared and they are concerned, even the more experienced people in the group are concerned which only causes concern for the less experienced people
Church let me use scripture to explain what is happening right now in our world
We are in the midst of a storm
Some of us are more experienced on the seas of life but we are panicking which as we have seen causes those around us to panic and fear
And church let me be very honest with you this morning the only reason that happens is because we have stopped listening to Truth Himself
We have stopped listening to Calm Himself
Please understand that I am not saying don’t be cautious during this time, I am saying please use good judgement run everything through scripture and use Jesus as your ultimate authority, not me, not the health department, not the president
Church that is what you and I as the church should be doing
Yes we want people to be healthy which is why we are doing this online, but we also want to preach that Jesus is called the Prince of Peace for a reason
Jesus is the only answer for the storm we are in right now
The disciples begin to panic and scream and wake Jesus up
Jesus then responds
26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
First off, and I believe I have said this before but if the creator of the universe is asleep in the front of your boat and He is not worried or scared then why are you and I
But Jesus answers
Jesus calms the storm
Jesus is who you and I need to run to in a storm
Jesus is our shelter during the storm right now
Then he asks them a question
Why are you afraid?
That same question is asked of us today
Why are you so afraid
The Bible tells us to fear not, and to do not be afraid some say 365 it would depend on your translation but i have found in just a quick search that it is more that in my particular
But back to the question
Why are you and I so afraid
I we afraid of what might happen
It may or may not happen
and Jesus could come back before that
I we afraid of the unknown
no sense in that because you don’t know it anyway
And Jesus could come back before that
But the Bible tells us to not be afraid and you know why
Because God is at the helm
Jesus is asleep in the front of your boat
God is still God
14 “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
We do not need to be afraid of anything because God is our Lord and Savior
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
again church no need to fear because Jesus is Lord and Jesus is hold you and I up during this storm
Just like with the Disciples Jesus can and will calm the storm
Jesus is the calm in the storm that you and I need to and we must run to during storms
8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’ ”
Church it is in the storms that you and I can have peace because Jesus is our shelter
Because you and I are a child of God
Because at some point in your life you realized you were a sinner and cried out to Jesus and confessed your sins to Him and invited Him to be Lord of your life
Peace Himself
Calm Himself came into your heart to live
That is why church during times like these the storms you can be at peace because Jesus resides in your heart
You don’t have to fear because Jesus says so
So for those of you who are watching this and are believers in Jesus meaning you have asked Jesus into your heart at some point in your life
Praise the Lord you no longer have to fear during storms because you have Jesus in your heart
For those of you who are watching this and do not have Jesus in your heart we want to help you with that if you want to invite Jesus into your heart
You can do that by simply asking Jesus into your heart right where you are right now
There is nothing special about these words or this prayer that I will ask you to pray
Sinners Pray
Dear Jesus
I am a sinner, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me, please forgive me.
I don’t want to sin anymore, I want to have you in my heart Jesus.
Please come and live in my heart.
Amen.
If you prayed that right now and meant it with your entire being then praise the Lord you are a new believer in Jesus and the Bible says you are a new creation.
If you did pray that then would you please send me an email, my email is below, and I would love to talk to you about the decision you just made
If you made another decision today would you please email me that decision today as well
Church you and I are to not fear because we have Jesus in our hearts
So in the words of Barney Fife
Nipe it in the bud
If you are not getting our church emails, please send me an email
Know that we are praying for you during this difficult time
Thanks for coming to Home Church today
Goodbye