Fear and Faith
Matt 14:27…But Jesus spoke to them at once. "It’s all right," he said. "I am here! Don’t be afraid." NLT
Review:
Last week we dealt with the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. The challenge was for all of us to take a step of faith.
1. Faith Recognizes God’s Presence
Peter recognized the glory of God as Jesus passed by.
2. True faith Discerns Foolishness
Matt 14:28…Then Peter called to him, "Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you by walking on water." NLT
3. Faith takes a step
Matt 14:29 "All right, come," Jesus, said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. NLT
4. True faith Expects problems
Matt 14:30…But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted
Fear and faith part two:
Opening: Fear stops faith from working. When fear grips your heart, faith faints.
Yet faith in God can conquer fear. When we truly believe that God is able to assist, heal, bless, or keep us than we can conquer our fears.
Illustration: Otis on the 50-foot cliff and how fear conquered his life for a moment.
5. Faith recognizes fear as a price of growth
We will often come to times in our life where we are very uncomfortable. We will have to face some of our fears to enable us to follow Jesus where he wants us to go. When he wants us to get out of our boat in life and walk on some water, we will be uncertain of all the aspects involved.
The truth from this portion of scripture is. “The fear will never go away.” If you conquer one set of fears through faith in Jesus, then there will be another boat, another storm and another fear to conquer.
Real true faith recognizes fear as a price of growth
ILL Peter took a step of faith from this boat but would not take a step of faith after Jesus was taken captive and before the rooster crowed. Fear will never go away.
The fear will never go away as long as I continue to grow.
Fear and growth go together like cheese and macaroni. It is a packaged deal. The decision to grow always means a choice between risk and comfort.
To be a follower of Jesus means we must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of our life.
ILL Best selling chair in America:
La-Z-Boy
Not Risk – E – Boy
Not Work– R - Boy
We have a name for people who La-Z-Boy in front of the TV too much = Couch potatoes
The other eleven disciples who stayed in the boat could be called “boat potatoes.” They did not mind watching, but they did actually want to do anything.
New Term:
ILL Pew Potatoes: All want the comfort of spirituality, some assurance of heaven but they really don’t want the risk and challenge of doing anything when it comes to following Jesus.
Jesus is calling people to get out of the boat. He is walking by showing to all the boat people his Glory.
What is keeping you in your pew, oh I mean boat!
La-Z-Pews are very comfortable.
Every time someone conquers their fear and gets out of the boat, it makes it easier to get out of the boat the next time. Its not that fear goes away, we just get use to living with it.
On the other hand, each time we resist that voice on the water calling for us to get out of the boat, it becomes harder and harder to hear the call of God. Soon you hear no call at all.
6. Faith masters failure Management
As a result of seeing the wind and giving into fear Peter bean to sink. THEREFORE, the question come did Peter fail.
Def…Failure = It is not an event but rather a judgment about an event. Failure is not something that happens to us or a label attached to someone, “Failure”.
It is the way we think about the result of a situation.
Ill Heaven’s Gates and Hells flames in Colorado. We had raised the money, built the props, practiced the parts and preformed the first night. We concluded and the alter call taking place. At first, no one raised their hand for salvation, then finally one person. Eventually 30 people.
One board member said, I must admit, when I saw the low numbered response at first I was disappointed in my heart.
If we had had only one salvation the entire week instead of over 100, would we have failed?
Matt 14:30…But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted. NLT
ILL Jonas Salk = vaccine for polio= before he found the one that did work he had 200 other attempts. Once asked, “How did it feel to fail 200 times before you found the correct vaccine?
Jonas Said, “I never failed 200 times in my entire life, I just discovered 200 ways how not to vaccine for polio.
Did Peter fail? Well he did not finish what he started. He took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm. He sank into the water and was rescued by Jesus. Peter learned one way not to walk on water.
It truth there were 11 other bigger failures in the boat who have no idea at all how to walk on water.
Only Peter and Jesus knew the glory of walking on the water. He attempted to do something he could not do and felt the joy of accomplishing something impossible.
I don’t know how far Peter had distanced himself from the boat toward Jesus before he began to sink. However far it was, after Jesus reach out and took Peters hand, they walked, together back to the boat.
Failure never shapes your life, it is how we respond to failure that determines our existence.
7. Faith learns to wait on the Lord
We can pick up some instruction about waiting on the Lord to assist us or answer prayer. The disciples were in the boat from early evening to 3:00 AM in the morning fighting against the storm. They needed relief from the storm.
Do you need relief from the storm you are fighting? Have you found yourself in the storms of life struggling to get your boat to safety? The point of this story is, Jesus brought relief from the storm for the disciples, even for the 11 who never stepped out of the boat.
We often have to wait on the Lord for the answer we desperately need. Waiting increases our anxiety but it also develops our trust.
Go to insert # 1
Waiting on the Lord is the hardest part of faith.
8. Faith brings a deeper connection with God
So God is still looking for people who are willing to get out of the La-Z-Y Boy pew, but why take the risk?
• It is the only way to experience real spiritual growth.
• It is the way true faith develops
• It is the alternative to boredom and stagnation that causes people to die spiritually
• It is the only way to discover and obeying your calling!
But the greatest reason to get out o the boat is, The water is where Jesus is!
Matt 14:28…"Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you NLT
God used real world challenges to help us get out of the boat and walk toward him. We find ourselves in positions where we can no longer make it with our present walk with Jesus.
We need to learn more, grow more, believe more, understand more, and trust more.
Because Peter took a few steps on the water, he and the rest of the disciples were able to trust Jesus more than before.
Closing:
We tend to seek the world of comfort. We do our best to develop manageable lives with no storms. We maintain the thought that we are in control and all is well in the boat.
Then a storm shakes everything up causing Jesus to pass by and show to us His glory. He calls for active faith, trusting in His full deliverance, assistance and power.
Our response will determine the level of victory we experience in our life.
If we respond in fear, we will remain in the present life status and lose opportunities to experience God.
If we respond in faith, we may have to be assisted from time to time, but we will be with Jesus.
Altar:
What boat are you floating in? What storm is raging in your life?
It is time to walk on the water!
Prayer.
