When Everything Around You Is Falling Apart

March 7, 2021 Good Morning, LEC family and those of you watching online through LEC Online. I'm Pastor Bill Isaacs and we are so happy you have joined us today. I've got a feeling today is going to be something special for somebody. So grab your Bible and notepad and let's get ready... Let me remind you that we will be having our annual church conference at the conclusion of today's service. This meeting is open to any person is a regular attender and contributor of LEC. When Everything Around You Is Falling Apart (Mark 4:35-41) As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake." So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?" When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Silence! Be still! Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? The disciples were absolutely terrified. "Who is this man? they asked each other. Even the wind and waves obey him! Introduction: In late 1980, the Ladies Home Journal surveyed families in the US and using some criteria of their choosing, determined that a family in Houston, Texas was their "Family of the Year"-He was a surgeon, she a teacher. They had two teens and toddler, a nice suburban home, a two car garage and a boat. The children went to private school and the parents were members of prestigious clubs in the city. One day he came home from work and the house was unusually quiet, he called out but got no response. Then he began noticing blood on the steps and he rushed upstairs to find his teenage daughter in the hallway bleeding out from a stab wound and she screamed, "Momma has gone crazy, Daddy-she tried to kill me!" Further down the hall his son lay already dead and rushing into the toddler's room, he found the lifeless body of his little boy. About that time, he heard a blood-curdling scream in the backyard and ran to find his naked wife screaming "I can't take it anymore, the pressure is killing me!" as she thrust a large knife into her chest and fell into the swimming pool. What appeared to have been the perfect world came crashing down in mere moments! What's scary is how quickly things in life can change without much warning. * You're healthy today and tomorrow you're staring at x-rays and a bad prognosis. Life is fragile and there are no guarantees. * Yesterday, I helped preach the funeral of a great friend who died from Covid at age 57, leaving a wonderful wife, two married children and a granddaughter... on January 20, there were no problems, 5 weeks later-we had his funeral. It moves me to suggest to you: 1. Don't take life for granted 2. Make sure you are ready to meet God today We see this in the passage we just read. Jesus and his disciples are taking a trip (not unusual) across the sea of Galilee after a busy day of ministry and then the Bible says, (v.37)...But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. The ferocity and unexpectedness of this storm can be seen in the reaction of the disciples-they were not prepared and the storm overwhelms them. Storms are like that...I once sat in a room where a doctor told me that the cancer in my loved one was so expansive he feared for the my loved one's life and unless you've been there you can't understand how quickly the air can be sucked right out of the room and you feel like you can't breathe! Or maybe in your case, you listen to a person who told you they would love you forever now tell you they love someone else or you find out they've been living a double life behind your back. The unexpected storm will rock your world! Here's what you do (from this passage) REMEMBER WHOSE IN THE BOAT WITH YOU (v.35)...Let's cross to the other side of the lake. No matter what you are/will be facing, you have this promise (Hebrews 13:5-6) For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" There is a continual and sustaining PRESENCE of Jesus Christ that is always with you no matter what. The thing that scares us is the feeling that we are alone-facing our nightmares without anyone to help-but there is a promise-I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU. Pentecostal preaching has a rhythm to it-a cadence and sometimes that cadence is repeatable-you get a pastor excited and you'll here them repeat a phrase over and over for emphasis-works well in church but is problematic at the drive through at Burger King- (Dennis Page-I will never, never leave you) OUTSIDE CIRCUMSTANCES DON'T DEFINE WHAT'S INSIDE OF ME (v.38)- Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown? * First of all, I don't know how you sleep in such a stormy moment but Jesus was asleep. * If you look at the outside circumstances, you might miss the reality that I'm at Peace with God. * What we are learning from the Revelation teaching (Tracy) is to understand that there are things going on in the Spirit that cannot always be seen in the natural. o Jesus is not afraid of drowning-He walks on water. o Jesus is not afraid of storms-He created the lightning and thunder. * What you are seeing in me does not tell the whole story... o I may be going through something but I still belong to God o You may see me raising my hands but you may not know how hard things are for me-my praise is an exercise in faith. * What happens on the outside is not an indication of what is going on inside o I may be falling apart on the outside but I'm not falling apart inside-Don't mistake my pain for quitting o Don't think just because I'm heartbroken that I don't have confidence in God to see me through o Don't assume because I'm overwhelmed with my challenges that I don't know there is a power inside of me greater than all the power that is against me o I may not look like it but I'm coming through o I may not talk like it but I'm overcoming o I may not appear to have it altogether but I'm stronger than you think HIS PRESENCE IS PEACE (v.40) Then he asked them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Sometimes life is hard and sometimes it gets harder and we want God to deliver us from every storm but sometimes He causes Peace to settle upon us so we get through the storm. I don't know if God is going to heal you I don't know if God is going to rescue your marriage I don't know if your job is coming through What I know is He is with you... When you feel Him When you don't feel Him When things are well When things are awful There is a constant and continual presence of God-always there. He knows where you are He knows the storm is overwhelming you He is with you!