Intentional Shifts

Sermon Notes

Shift from fear to love.

Shift from fear of the unknown to knowing you are secure in God.

Shift from shame and judgement to trust in God.

Introduction

general familiarity with the text on theme of drawing close from the inside out. honing in on peter who lean into what Jesus was saying in uncertain times. Peak their interest in learning how to lean into God for themselves. summarize what is happening in the text and how it relates to us now. and how we can mirror the principles in the text today. point 1-as Jesus was in prayer the disciples made it about 2-3miles out from sore. (find out how far they were from destination) around 3-6am in the morning. Just witness Jesus perform a miracle feeding the 5k+. point 2-as Jesus walked out toward them still at a distance they became afriad it was an evil spirit. Jesus wasn’t with them. they were still in training. still learning to trust God. point 3-as Jesus spoke to them from a distance Peter leaned into Jesus voice. His fear subsided as he stepped out on faith. he was only able to do this because he knew who Jesus was and what Jesus was able to do. but because he was still learning and growing in his faith and trust in God he began to focus on the circumstances around him. relay this to how we do the same. point 4-but Peter noticing his shift in focus began to turn towards Jesus again and ask for help. how often do we sink because we fail to turn back to God? we become shamed or feeling judged by other or God or we simple get so consumed in our circumstances we don’t notice that we are not focused on God anymore. point 5- lets learn of Peter and find out how we can lean into God even when we are afriad, even when we are in uncertain times, and even when everyone else around us is not moving in the same direction as us.

sea of Galilee is 7 miles at its widest point. The disciples were no more than 3 miles out from where Jesus began walking from. it was anywhere from 3-6am in the morning. so its still dark. In Greek literature the term “ghost” (phantasma) is used for dream appearances or spirit appearances or apparitions, but in the Old Testament it means a “deception. so in essence when Jesus spoke saying it is I, in the way God has identified himself in OT saying I am that i Am. they still didn’t really trust it because it could have been a deception. That’s significant because Peter tested to see if it really was a deception by stepping out on the water based off what he knew about God. How often have we heard God speak to us but we weren’t quiet sure it was God and just simply dismissed it? how often does God try to get our attention but we ignore it because we aren’t sure its God? how do we like Peter learn to test the deception by what we know about God?

first point Trust-trust in who God is and what God is able to do.

second point-because of his trust we was able to have faith in an unknown situation.

third point-His trust was birth from time spent with Jesus, getting to know him. our trust will be birth in our time spent with God in prayer as Jesus demonstrated, our time spent in understanding who we are in Christ and learning the power we have because the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us. We need to know, understand, and develop a relationship with God that requires we understand every aspect of God. The Triune God in three persons. how steeped are you in God? God is love. How steeped are you in the presence of Love? Peter began to sink because his circustances began to frighten him because he only had so much time with Jesus. he trusted enough to step out but not to stay out on the water. if you’re like Peter and can make those steps forward great but how long can you stay there in faith? keeping our eyes on Jesus requires time spent with Jesus. we can’t get to trust without knowing who God is. we can’t get to faith without trusting in who God is and we can’t do what Peter did without spending time with Jesus ourselves.

what does this look like?

application for each point.

learn God’s characteristics in good times and bad. understand how God operates. Study Jesus characteristics. study the Holy spirits characteristics.

next time you hear God speaking to you or think God is leading you to do or say something lean into it. step out on faith trusting in what you know about God. give examples...

lastly, have a regular practice of spending time with God in some capacity. its more than coming to church. doing activities in church. but like Jesus how do you separate from everyday activities to connect with God? how do you spend time with God not wanting anything not asking for anything but simply enjoying God’s company? there are plenty of practices like meditation, various prayer practices, solitude and silence that helps us disconnect from life to connect with our source-God who is love. if you can work on these three things the next time you are faced with fear, unknown situations/circumstances. you can do what Peter did and lean into what you know about God and take appropriate action that leads you towards God.

Body of the Text.