Jesus in the Storms of Life

Welcome

God

who is always near?

in the stillness of this moment,

we tune our hearts to yours.

Submerge us.

in the wonder of your love

and draw us.

to worship you

from the depths of our being.

Amen.

526 Lord of all hopefulness

Prayers

Amazing God

you touched the earth in Jesus,

embraced the mess and muddle of humanity,

blew the wind of your Spirit.

through our stagnant world

and released us into Life.

Lift high our hearts,

give us tongues to sing your praise,

and fix our souls on you,

that through our worship

we might encounter you.

and be strengthened in our faith,

to follow and to serve you,

that we might know true joy and fulfilment,

now and always, Amen.

Living God,

When our words wound,

when our selfishness triumphs,

when our thoughtlessness destroys.

Forgive us.

When our faith falters,

when our minds doubt,

when our hearts fear.

Renew us.

When our love weakens,

when our hope dims,

when our dreams shrivel.

Hold us. When, our lives shatter,

when our courage fails,

when our energy ebbs,

Remake us.

Living God

we long for a life

lived in you and for you.

We want to please you,

and follow your life-giving paths.

Help us to know,

that you are always beside us,

as we fix our eyes on you,

keep us as your people,

and guide us on.

Amen.

64 Praise is rising.

Mark 4:35–41 ESV

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

SERMON

(CHINESE MAN)

I recall reading about a Chinese American who felt called to go to China to help the underground Christian movements, called by God to venture into dangerous areas.

Eventually he was arrested and imprisoned where one of the punishments was a prisoner had to stand in his cell without moving for hours on end.

As he stood there de described the sense that someone was holding his hand and began to smile, the guards got annoyed at this and told him to lie down on his bed. Jesus was with him in times of trouble, but it was the God who led him into this situation in the first instance.

God can ask us to go to uncomfortable places and allows us to be tested, sometimes when we are low, we wonder if he does care.

THE PASSAGE READS AS A MEMEORY

When you view the reading from this morning, we find it is full of vivid eyewitness details such a reference to the cushion Jesus lay on in v 38. The observation that other boats had sailed with them. Mark 4: 36 it reads “And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. OTHER BOATS WERE WITH HIM. But hear nothing else about them. This little addition of detail marks this as memory of an eyewitness account perhaps by Peter. These are obviously statements from someone who was there at the time so when come to the storm we can almost see the storm on the lake and the terrified disciples.

THE THEME CAN BE READ AS GOD IS WITH US IN OUR TRIALS

We often associate this reading with God being alongside us times trails. And certainly, we can rely on God to be with us, God is always with us in the bad times even though we may well be unaware, but in this reading, I think there is more to this than we may see.

JESUS CAN SOMETIMES LEADS US INTO DANGEROUS SITUATIONS

What do we think is meant by just as he was? This may well refer to Mk:4-1 Jesus got into the boat to preach. And that he was already in the boat and told them to cast off.

So, it is by the request of Jesus that they set out on the lake, exhausted by the day Jesus possibly fell fast to sleep, as the disciples sail out into the waters.

DON’T YOU CARE WE ARE DYEING?

In v 38 from our reading the disciples cry out don’t you care we are dyeing?

Now this isn’t a cry to Jesus please save us, this is an out and out rebuke you have led us into this mess, and you don’t seem to care if we live or die!

DOES GOD CARE WHAT IM GOINING THROUGH

Do you feel at times God does not care what I am going through?

Does he not see my pain and suffering?

Why has he let this happen to me?

Do we act sometimes as the disciples did crying out do you not care if we are dying?

THE MAIN FOCUS IS THAT IT REVELS WHO JESUS IS.

But don’t get bogged down in this, the focus is who Jesus is.

His followers had seen him cast out demons heal the sick but here when Jesus is woken by his disciples, he actually rebukes the storm in the NLT Jesus says, “silence be still” and suddenly the wind stopped suddenly, it didn’t gradually decrease, but suddenly stopped.

This may not seem a big deal to us but only the creator himself could have done this, in the OT it is God alone who can create storms or calm them. The disciples only half grasp the truth of this and are in awe asking each other “who is this? even the wind obeys him”

There is an awful amount of rebuking in this, the disciples rebuke Jesus then Jesus rebukes the storm, then Jesus rebukes his followers for their lack of trust.

We must learn to trust completely, even if our obedience to him leads us into storms, whether persecution or anything else. (It was Jesus, not the disciples who had suggested crossing the lake; they were not out of his will.) Sometimes we assume that storms show disobedience, but this is not always so.

Some say that they feel that we should trust Jesus to calm actual storms and save us when we are travelling. Of course, God can do whatever he wants, but he didn’t calm the storm for Paul in (Acts 27), although Paul was a man of great faith. The disciples on this occasion had little faith, so the calming (or not) of a storm does not seem to depend on faith, but on God’s will. God strengthened Paul to endure the storm in quiet faith. Sometimes God saves us from trouble; sometimes he saves us in trouble.

But we are not privy to God’s plans, we just need to trust in him. That in the end by trusting in God’s word.

God has a plan for each and every one of us, it may be little, or it may be great, it may take little faith, or it may take a vast amount of faith and trust.

Jesus is Lord, and in him we should place our trust over all that we have and are.

STILL

PRAYERS

It says in Psalm 91 that no matter what we go through, God will cover us with

wings. That means that we’re surrounded by feathers!

Let us pray:

God our rock and our shelter,

who walked our path in Jesus?

and suffered fear and pain,

you know how it feels when times are hard,

when life feels overwhelming.

You know the fears that we harbour,

for our loved ones, ourselves, our world.

When we are beset with worry,

when we feel anxious or afraid,

when we lose the ability to enjoy life,

carry us through the storms,

and rest us in the comfort of your presence,

safe in the warm feathers of your wing.

We bring our prayers for our world,

for the insecurity of our times,

for those who make decisions that affect many,

for those who misunderstand religion and use it as a means to foster division,

for those who believe they are driven to desperate measures,

for those living in the wastelands of war.

We pray that they might know peace,

and the warm feathers of your wing.

We bring our prayers for our church,

as we seek to worship you and serve you.

We pray for… (particular groups, events in the life of the church/circuit/local

area)

We pray that we might support each other through times of difficulty,

and be a community of love and light to all who are in need.

We pray that your church might enable all to know your love and peace,

and the warm feathers of your wing. We, bring our prayers for our loved ones,

and those we are concerned about,

in a moment of quiet naming them in our hearts before you…

We pray that they might know peace,

and the warm feathers of your wing.

Thank you, God.

for your indestructible love

which can carry us through the darkest night,

you are with us all the way,

and wait to comfort us,

to give us your peace

and wrap us in the warm feathers of your wing.

Amen.

FOOTPRINTS

One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. "Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you Never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses.

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation.

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power, and the glory

for ever and ever. Amen.

624 Calm me Lord

Blessing

May our God of strength and comfort,

bless us and uphold us.

in our journey of faith.

May the Christ of compassion and grace,

inspire in us renewed discipleship,

that we might share our hope.

May the Spirit of freedom and joy,

crown us with delight

as we remain in divine love,

now and for eternity,

Amen.