(08-08-03) Walking on Water - Isaiah 55.1-5; Romans 9.1-5; Matthew 14.22-33
Walking on Water – Isaiah 55:1-5; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33
· Curate, Vicar and Archdeacon go fishing...
· Doubters
o Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Thomas
o we are amongst people who did great things for God!
o Faith and... doubt, fear, apathy/cynicism...
§ God calls us to have faith
§ But He encourages us when we doubt
o “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
· “You of little faith” (also Matthew 8:26)
o encouragement as much as rebuke
§ “Why did you doubt?”
· reminds Peter (and us) who He is
· what He can do
· Picture of the Christian life
o we call ourselves Christians, followers of Jesus
o we are living as we believe we have been called to
o yet we find ourselves in difficulty
§ trouble/hardship; stormy waters (v24)
o how is this possible?
§ God was meant to make everything alright!
§ to keep us safe
· here we are in a boat in the middle of a storm
o Jesus comes (v25)
§ He can calm the wind and waves (chapter 8)
§ He can make everything alright
o He keeps us safe from harm not safe from danger
§ yet maybe we don’t recognise Him and are still afraid
§ yet he asks us to trust Him even further
· to step out of the boat
· to do what seems impossible
o whatever that might be for each of us
§ we begin to sink when we take our eyes off Jesus
· begin to look at the wind and waves more than the one who has called us out onto the water
· Where are we today?
o back on the shore having heard about Jesus, even seen Him, but not following Him?
§ “Truly [this is] the Son of God” (v33)
o in the boat?
§ stormy waters
· life is hard
§ times when Jesus scares us
· He seems to act like we don’t want Him to
· asks us to do things we think are beyond us / impossible
o on the water?
§ heard His call and are trying our very best to follow
§ trying our hardest to keep our eyes fixed on Him
· Hebrews 12:2
o sinking?
§ the waves have grown larger than our faith
· we have trusted in a difficult place
· yet the sea has not calmed
· things are still hard
§ picture on ordination retreat
· two right hands coming up out of the water
· Faith
o R-I-S-K or S-U-R-E / trust and hope
o wherever we are, fix eyes on Jesus
§ object of hope
§ author and perfecter of faith
