Sermon Central
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The Fearsome Storm
Contributed by Mark Aarssen on Jun 25, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: Today the church faces storms coming from all corners of society and even from within. How do we face such fearsome events? Maybe you face a personal storm in your marriage, job, or your health? Maybe its conflict in a ministry team? Hang on to Jesus.
The Fearsome Storm
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Psalm 121 King James Version
121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Message:
Last week we celebrated Father’s Day and I shared what an extra ordinary experience it was for me. To realize that you are a part of new life coming into the world was entirely humbling and profound.
Suddenly you are swept up by an inexplicable emotional experience that goes into your soul. Life made by God is given to you and your wife that is coded with both your genes.
An entirely new person is born into the human family and you are entrusted with its care and development.
It is one of those “Awakening Moments” when we realize how intricately involved God is in detailing the course of our lives. We gasp to take in a fresh breath of air as we are consumed by this new perspective of ourselves, our spouse our child and how God has planned it all.
In a manner of speaking it is a “Born Again” experience.
That dear Saints is the experience that Jesus wants us to have each and every day we live. To feel fully alive, fully engaged and fully involved in God’s expression of love for us all.
Now you don’t have to have babies all the time to tap into that “Born Again” experience. It’s just that the birth experience is that kind of “Awakening” moment that makes you conscious of God’s presence in your world.
Your concept of mortality is exponentially enlarged and your concept of immortality becomes riveted the moment your baby takes its first breath.
Today we look at the flip side of that experience as we see the Disciples in peril as they look into the face of death instead of life. They are caught up in a fierce storm on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus is absolutely zonked out in the stern of the boat in a deep, deep sleep.
Here I want to remind you all that Jesus is fully God and fully man.
As such Jesus experienced what it was to be human. Jesus got tired just like you and me. Jesus got hungry just like you and me and Jesus body was just as prone to pain and suffering like you and me. He felt the heat of the day and the cool of the breeze. However being fully God and fully man Jesus was fully aware even though His human body was resting.
What had so exhausted Jesus took place a few chapters ago as He began His ministry. He had selected His 12 Disciples and then began to preach and teach and heal with them in tow.
Those were very, very long days as multitudes came to see Jesus, hear Jesus and others hoped to be healed by Jesus. As He went from town to town He taught alongside the Sea of Galilee.
Here Jesus stood in a boat a little off shore to use the water as a natural amplifier. Jesus knows science, He gave it to us. It is a scientific fact that sound waves travel further and in fact are amplified as they travel across water.
During this time of teaching Jesus focused on seeds.
The Parable of the Seeds scattered on the Four Kinds of Soils - The Lamp on a Stand - The Parable of the Sower - The Parable of the Mustard Seed
