Transcript

What is the worst storm that you've ever been through in your life? I mean a literal, physical storm. And where were you when that storm occurred? Can you, can you bring that occasion to mind? Maybe you were at home. Maybe you were down in a basement because there was a tornado. Maybe you're at a hotel or somebody else's house because you had to evacuate for a hurricane.

Hopefully you were not in a car or in a boat when you went through the worst storm you've ever been a part of. As many of you know, I grew up. primarily in West Texas. We did a lot of moving the first five years of my life. I was born in Lufkin, then we moved to Lubbock, and then we moved back to East Texas, then we moved back to the Lufkin area, all before I turned six years old.

But after we moved back that last time, that's where I stayed until I graduated high school. So, my storm stories are not hurricane stories, they're, they're tornado stories. And there are a bunch of them, as that used to be kind of tornado alley. There were multiple tornadoes every year that were somewhere around where it was that I grew up.

And I remember really clearly, I know that I wasn't 10 yet, so maybe I was 7, 8, 9, somewhere in there. My great grandparents were still living. I remember being at my granddad's house at the home place there in West Texas. We were all sitting in the living room, we were watching some TV program, and, and the storm comes up, and you can hear it outside, and, and the TV broadcast is interrupted by the weatherman, and that blaring sound, and across the top, and he's telling us there's a tornado warning in our area, and you see the little cone?

And it's going right to where we are. And I remember the weatherman saying something like, now, this is a, not a highly populated area. And I'm like, well, that's great for you. Not so great for us because we're the population. And I remember really clearly in my mind, going outside to the, to the outdoor cellar.

And the rain is coming down sideways, and like so many of those homesteads that have been there for a hundred years in West Texas, there's these big oak trees and big cottonwood trees. And I remember hearing the trees groaning, even over the rain. It was so loud as that wind was whipping one way or another.

And we go down the steps into this dugout earthen cellar that's got concrete and then earth above that. And it was almost like the door, once it was closed, was breathing. And I remember looking around at this smelly cellar, and I remember seeing on the wall there were these canned goods. And my great grandmother used to make homemade canned goods.

There was apricot preserves up there on the shelf. And I continued to look around. I saw my granddad's, you know, military background really on display because he had all the supplies that we needed, you know, there were some snacks there, there were some flashlights, there were some battery powered lanterns, and there was this army cot.

I don't know if it was his or if he bought it later on, this army cot that was made up perfectly. And I remember in my mind at that time, as all of this storm is going on around us, I remember thinking, Who could sleep at a time like this? And no doubt, as we've just sung, that must have been something like what the disciples felt as they were on that boat on the Sea of Galilee.

That feeling, or something like it, is what they were feeling. But not Jesus, he slept. And when they woke him, he said simply, Be still, may I suggest this morning that that kind of peace, even in the metaphorical storms of life in the midst of those storms, that kind of peace, whether the storms we're going through are big or small is available to us.

If you have your Bible with you, I I invite you to choose your own adventure this morning. If you would like to turn to Matthew chapter 8, that might be the one that corresponds most with what we will be reading. Matthew chapter 8, beginning in verse 23. But if you would prefer to turn to Mark chapter 4 in verse 35, or Luke chapter 8 in verse 22, we find the occasion to do so.

of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee with his apostles and the events of this great and mighty storm that comes up on this occasion. And what we see as we read through this account is that these, these men, many of whom were fishermen, fishermen on this very lake for generations were genuinely afraid for their lives because of the power of this storm.

Now you're welcome to turn to any of those gospel accounts. But what I'm gonna do is put the combined accounts on the screen so that we can get everything that Matthew, Mark, and Luke say in one reading. So read with me if you would beginning there, if you're in Matthew chapter 8, beginning in verse 23.

On the same day When evening had come, He, Jesus, said to them, Let us cross over to the other side of the lake. Then He got into a boat, and His disciples followed Him. Now, when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was, and other little boats were also with Him. As they sailed, he fell asleep.

No doubt Jesus was tired from his long day of teaching and healing. Suddenly, a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling, and they were in jeopardy. The gospel writers make clear that, yes, they had reason to be afraid. They were in danger of this boat sinking.

on this lake. But he was in the stern asleep on a pillow, that is Jesus, and they awoke him and said to him, Master, Master, we are perishing. Lord, save us. Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? You can almost imagine these men waking him up and all of them are shouting different things at the same time.

It's kind of similar to the way the song begins that we sang a moment ago. It just jumps right in there. It's almost like we're asleep and the song starts, and Jesus, no doubt, wakes up to all of these people yelling at Him, all of these different things. But He, calmly, arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the raging sea, Be still.

And the wind ceased and there was a great, but he said to them, you so fearful. How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly he ironically says, why are you fearfully? And what, what do they do? They fear exceedingly and marbled saying to one another. No longer afraid of the storm. Now, somewhat afraid of this one.

Who is with them? Who can this be? That even the wind and the sea obey Him. And so, they were, in their own mind, about to perish. They were genuinely in danger. And while that's an interesting part of the story, have you ever thought about what caused This storm, why this storm arose on this occasion. We know of course, that storms like this were and are common on the sea of Galilee.

The Sea of Galilee is not really what we would think of as a sea. It's actually a large freshwater lake that is shaped like a harp. We see, if we compare it to Lake Rayburn, for example, it is about half the surface area in a different shape, and it has a maximum depth of 141 feet, as opposed to 80 feet or so for Lake Rayburn, so it's a similar size lake, but, but the Sea of Galilee is smaller and deeper.

And while it is fairly small, it has some unique features that make storms like this fairly common. It basically sits in a giant bowl, surrounded on all sides by hills. And the hills in this picture actually, are probably if we follow the events of, of this evening correctly, are probably the actual hills, so we're on one side where they would have left, and the actual hills where they were heading as they were going across the lake.

So, this is the view initially that they would have had before the storm arose. And the wind patterns, because of this giant bowl, cause storms to pop up. Almost without warning. I had a chance a few years ago to go with my dad to Israel, and there is a local company, actually several companies, that give boat tours.

In boats replicating the basic size and shape of a first century fishing boat. So this gives you an idea of the basic size, basic shape of what this boat would have looked like. As you can see, 13 men would have fit fairly easily without being too uncomfortable. Jesus would have been asleep up here under the stern.

Down in here somewhere, whether that was open or closed off, we don't know. But Jesus would have been asleep in there. And the man who led us on this tour David, or David with his name, giving us the thumbs up there, kind of a surfer dude there in Israel he said that his family has been on the Sea of Galilee for generations.

And we asked him, How quickly do storms pop up on this sea? And I remember he just did this. He snapped his finger that fast. And he said that these storms can be very powerful. Here's a video clip of an actual storm on the Sea of Galilee from just a few years ago. And even with modern weather tracking, storms can develop right on top of you almost without warning.

So, that's where the apostles and Jesus found themselves in this text. But my question still stands. Was it just coincidence that this storm happened at this time, to this boat? Why did it happen? What made this storm necessary as a teaching tool? And what is the lesson learned? For us. Well, the fact is that it was Jesus' idea to cross the sea to begin with.

If you're there in Matthew chapter eight, we see that very thing in verse 18. And when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave a command to depart to the other side. So Jesus's controlling the timing here and whether he caused the storm or in his foreknowledge, he knew the storm was coming. He is the one who says.

Let's get into boats. Let's go to the other side. Disciples wanted to follow him. They did. They wanted to follow him wherever he went. Especially after what he said beginning in verse 19 of Matthew chapter 8. So, wherever you are, look there in Matthew chapter 18 and verse 19. This is what Jesus says.

Then a certain scribe came and said to him, Again, you can almost imagine him yelling out to the crowd, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus doesn't respond the way we might expect him to respond. Jesus hears somebody say, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus doesn't say, everybody be like this guy.

That's what, that's what we need. More of this. Instead, Jesus says, are you sure about that? Because this is his response. Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Then another of his disciples said to him, Lord, let me first go and bury my father a reasonable request to our ears.

But Jesus said to him, follow me, ed bury their own dead. Jesus is pretty harsh. He says, if you wanna follow me, it has to be total commitment. You have to really follow me wherever you go, even if you have to give up other things. Even if it's difficult and you don't have the comforts of life in following me, if you really want to follow me wherever I go, there's going to be commitment involved to it.

And so it, it kind of gives us more context for that throwaway line in verse 23, Now, when he got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Yeah, after that conversation, they're going to follow him wherever he goes. And Jesus desired that they follow. And some had made that commitment. It wasn't just one boat.

Mark chapter 4 and verse 36 tells us that there were lots of other little boats that were following behind the one fishing boat that had Jesus and His apostles. And what Jesus was going to do was give them a vivid lesson on what following Him will sometimes look like and what we need to do in response.

So the first point that I want us to see from this text is that following Jesus sometimes includes going through unexpected storms. It always does at some point in our lives. It will include going through unexpected storms. Becoming a Christian, a follower of Jesus, does not exempt us from trials and temptations, from difficulties and other issues of various kinds.

You can be a Christian and still suffer illness or accidents where the physical toll drags on and on. Christians, along with the rest of the world, experience death of loved ones. In some ways worse, even Christians experience adultery, or divorce, or abuse, or other betrayal by a loved one. Christians certainly and uniquely experience persecution for righteousness sake.

Big decisions with big consequences. And yes, we experience unexpected consequences. powerful temptations to sin. How quickly these storms hit, and who would have expected them to be as strong as they sometimes are. On other occasions, these storms aren't some big major event like that. They're just the reality of living our life.

Many people, even many Christians, struggle with fear and anxiety and distraction and uncertainty in their day to day lives that, that feel every day like they're living. in the midst of a storm. Young people have been especially impacted by a lack of peace in recent years. While most age groups have seen a slight uptick in anxiousness and depression in the last 15 years, if you look at the charts every group has seen a slight uptick in these things, but it is most alarming among the youngest of us, our, our kids who are Gen Z or younger.

One set of data shows A 139 percent increase in anxiousness among young people from 2010 to 2023. Another 2023 study of American college students found that 68 percent of students on American college campuses feel anxious half the time or more. Not, they ever feel anxious, they sometimes feel anxious, 68 percent feel anxious half of the time or more.

Other indicators related to depression or socialization or peer interaction or work ethic or attention span are just as concerning. We live in the midst of an anxious generation that lacks oftentimes the peace that is promised by Jesus. Where is Well, it won't come from ourselves. And it won't come from the environment of the world around us, just as it didn't come from those disciples themselves, and certainly not their environment in that storm.

The unexpected storms of life will come, but if Jesus has peace, then we, How is Jesus able to sleep through this? A storm, and the waves, and the water coming in. He's sleeping in the midst of all of this. How is He able to do that? Something that I do, I've done this throughout my life I guess, is when I see something that's really cool, that's really amazing, that blows my mind, that's really cool.

I always think to myself, what would somebody from the first century have thought if they could see this, you know? Did you see, like, Elon Musk's rocket when it came back and, like, landed on that pad? Imagine that you're somebody from the first century there, and you see this rocket come out of space and land on this pad.

I mean, how mind blowing would it be to them to see where we are today? But that's true of, like, smaller things also. Have you ever imagined what it would be like for somebody from the first century to ride in a car? I mean, maybe they've ridden in a chariot. Maybe they've ridden on a horse, and there's some thrill and exhilaration to that.

But getting into a metal box on wheels that drives 75 or more miles an hour? I mean, that would be terrifying, wouldn't it? Put yourself in their shoes to get in a car like that and imagine that kind of scenario. And yet, we are so used to that, what do we often do? While somebody else is driving, hopefully not while we're driving, we often fall asleep, because it's no big deal to us.

This is something where, hopefully, we sleep and we trust the one who is driving the car. We're used to this situation, and so we can have peace enough even to sleep. May I suggest that everything is like that with God. He can control whatever He chooses. The universe is His and all that is in it, it is His creation.

How is Jesus able to speak the word and calm all? I've read that the Greek leaves the impression that the storm falls asleep in calm at what Jesus says. So Jesus is asleep, the storm falls asleep, he says to it, peace, be still. Because Jesus is the source of all peace in this world and the one that is to come.

Too often, and I speak of my own life, but I think the lives of many of us as Christians, we have all of this angst and worry and stress over things that, frankly, Jesus just isn't very concerned about. Now, He's concerned about us, And he cares about us, but he's not concerned about these things. He knows that they are things that provide little threat to us in the grand scheme of things if we are with him over things that will soon be over, over things that will pass away and be burned up.

And we need to listen to the words of Jesus in these moments. Are we worried about being accepted by the world? Is that something that gives us hope? Anxiety, is that something that gives us pause? Well, hear the words of Jesus in John chapter 15, beginning in verse 18, where he says to these same apostles, If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Jesus says, peace, be still. If the world hated me, don't be, if sometimes you won't be accepted either. And we can find peace at Jesus's words. Are we stressed out about our financial independence and prosperity?

Are we worried and troubled about many things in this life? Well, in the sermon on the mountain, Jesus, Jesus says in Matthew chapter six, three times, do not worry. And he begins, he brings all of that to a conclusion in verse 33 where he says, But seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Peace, be still, seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will work themselves out. Are we anxious about the uncertainty of the future? Where am I going to go to college? What am I going to do for a living? Where am I going to live when I do it? Who am I going to marry? What does my life look like?

The very next verse in Matthew chapter 6 in verse 34 says, Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Peace, be still. What about when plans fall through, and there are unexpected detours in life, where we look around at our life and say, this is not the right way.

Life that I imagined for myself, this is not what I thought was going to happen, what I planned to happen, what I hoped would happen. Well, Jesus says, as He inspires James, in James chapter 4 and verse 13, Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit.

Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live to do this or that. Peace. Be still. Make your plans, but know, ultimately, It is God's will that is to be done, and we can accept it, whatever it is.

Maybe this lack of peace comes from something that has more spiritual ramifications. What about the burdens of past sins? What about our failures and shortcomings that so often we know so well ourselves? Hear the words of Isaiah in speaking about the Lord. And certainly looking forward to Jesus when he says, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Peace be still. Jesus is near. And if we have faith in him, we will be saved. These things and the things of life cannot sink us. If I were to summarize all of this, I can't do it better than what Paul does in Philippians chapter 4 beginning in verse 5.

This is what Jesus offers those who are willing to come to him in humble submission.

Let your reasonableness be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This is the peace that only Jesus can offer.

A peace that passes our own physical understanding. The, the understanding of the physical mind. I should be scared. I should be anxious. I should be worried. Master, we are perishing. But I am not, because I believe that Jesus is near. In our text, Jesus rebukes the disciples for their fear and their lack of faith.

Why? Because there wasn't really a storm around them? No, because Jesus was in the boat with them. Where do you think, at this time, at this moment, where was the safest place to be on the entire Earth? If not right there, in the boat, with the creator of the universe. As the chorus of that song we just sang says, Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea, or demons, or men, or whatever it be, No waters can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and sky.

If Jesus has peace, we can have peace if we are with Jesus and rely on him. To the disciples credit, they did go to Jesus. But when they do, they go to him with a demand, a complaint, and an accusation. There in the text, they say, Master, Master, we are perishing. They say, Lord, save us, demanding that. Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

That's an accusation against Jesus. Do you even care that we're perishing? And I think there is a lesson for us to learn in this as well. The third thing that we should see in this text, Jesus inaction should not be confused with a lack of care for us. Like the apostles, we are tempted to ask, in those moments when we're going through storms of life, Why isn't Jesus And maybe what we're really saying is, why isn't Jesus doing what I want him to do?

Doesn't he know? Doesn't he care? Well, I'm here to tell you this morning, the scriptures are here to tell you that Jesus does care. That's the very reason for which he came to rescue the perishing, not from a storm, but from our sins. And he has proven his love and his care over and over and over again.

And it is our responsibility, as those who love him, Who are we to demand anything when He has given us everything that we need in this life? Who are we to complain when He opens not His mouth, when He was led as a sheep to the slaughter for our spiritual salvation? Who are we to accuse Him of not caring when we are the one guilty?

And we are the ones deserving of death for our sins against Him. Jesus has acted in giving Himself for our sins, and we need to remember that. And that is proof of His care for us in every other storm of life. That Jesus will act in judgment against the unrighteous. And we need to remember that too. And sometimes God doesn't, that's true.

But if He does not act, it is because that is what is in our spiritual So what really was the problem here? Why were they not relying on Jesus in faith? Well, I think a big reason in the text was a lack of faith and understanding of who Jesus was. And this is our final point from this text. An incomplete picture of Jesus leaves us fearful and confused.

Notice, they come to Jesus, and again we said that's a good thing. What do they call him? Master, Master. Lord, Teacher. All of those are good and accurate descriptions of Jesus, but they're almost like they're surprised that he can do something about the storm, because then they ask, who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?

They call him Master and Lord and Teacher and, and thus he is. But they still don't have a full picture of who Jesus is. He is all of that, but he is more. These are still incomplete descriptions of Jesus because he is God. He is the Christ, the promised Messiah. He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is just their master.

He is master of the universe. But I think another way we can have an incomplete picture of Jesus. I mean, we believe those things about Him, that He is, that He is Master and Lord and Teacher, that He is God and Christ and King. But maybe there's another way that we sometimes have an incomplete picture of Jesus that we don't think about as much.

And that is when we consider carefully and deeply what Jesus taught in the scriptures, but maybe neglect to consider and study. Jesus lived in the scriptures when we, as we've talked about a couple of times over the last several weeks when we disembody Jesus's teachings from the way he lived his life when we disembody them from Jesus himself and who he was while on this earth which leads to our congregational focus for 2025.

You probably saw the sign as you walked in, say, is he ever gonna get to that? Our 2025 congregational focus is Walk Like Jesus. Finding peace by imitating the prince. Jesus taught us, no doubt as Christians, how we can have, but that is only part of the puzzle. It is not just about what Jesus taught on this subject.

It's also about how He lived. And we can find peace, not just when we hear the Prince of Peace, but when we obey and imitate the Prince of Peace. He is to be, not just Lord and Master and Teacher, He is to be my Lord. He is to be my Master. He is to be my Teacher. And I am to be his servant, his subject, and his disciple.

Jesus is the perfect example of how we should live, and we should follow him wherever he goes in faith. And if that's your attitude, if you have that attitude like the apostles and those other disciples in the little boats, even in the midst of the storm that you're willing and ready to follow Jesus wherever he leads.

And you're ready for a great year of learning to live like Jesus by doing the things that he did to find his peace. What Jesus requires is the desire and the knowledge, but also the work ethic to imitate him and his way of life closely. And there are many areas where we should be seeking to imitate Jesus, but our purpose this year.

is to look closely at the daily habits of Jesus. Like Jesus, we will examine and practice doing four basic categories of habits this year. To walk like Jesus, we will do this by, first, finding the quiet places. And that will be our focus for this first quarter. We'll find the quiet places to be alone with God, because that's what Jesus did.

That's what he taught his disciples to do, and that's what we should do as well. In the second quarter, we will walk like Jesus by falling at God's feet, by laying aside physical things and going to God in prayer. In those quiet places, we put aside the physical to focus on the spiritual and go to our God.

We will walk like Jesus by, in the third quarter, feeding on God's Word. Like Jesus did and like he taught his apostles, his disciples to do. We will read the Word and meditate on it and memorize it to get it into our hearts. This must happen in those quiet places. And then finally, in the fourth quarter, we will walk like Jesus by focusing on others needs.

Peace. That sounds great. But all of this peace isn't just selfishly for me. You know, I have peace. Everybody else doesn't, but I have peace. Isn't that wonderful? We must turn outward. And put the needs of others for our own through hard work and service to others, which amazingly brings us further joy and peace.

Now, a more thorough outline of this congregational focus is available to all of you, and those will be on handouts on your way out. We're going to have four gentlemen back there who will be handing those out. You have the opportunity to look through this and consider this but Preston and Harold and I will be preaching on these subjects giving you some practical things to consider and to do so that we might imitate Jesus and seek to have peace like the Prince of Peace.

This is what Jesus did and this is how he lived and he had peace. And if we live in a similar way as Christians, disciples, His followers, we can have peace, too. Peace that allows us to sleep through the storms, but even more, peace that hears the command of Jesus. Peace. Be still. I pray that that's your desire in this life, because that is the Lord's desire for you.

And if you need that in your life, and we can help you with that in any way, please won't you come now, while together we stand.