WEBVTT 00:00:02.670 --> 00:00:04.990 Hello, you're listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:05.129 --> 00:00:07.969 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:08.589 --> 00:00:11.029 This epiphany in Lent, we're back in the Gospels, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.189 specifically the Gospel of Mark. We are seeing 00:00:14.189 --> 00:00:17.390 the revelation of God in Jesus. Mark is showing 00:00:17.390 --> 00:00:21.030 us the true King becomes a servant for us. He 00:00:21.030 --> 00:00:23.769 says right at the heart, the Son of Man came 00:00:23.769 --> 00:00:26.489 not to be served, but to serve and to give his 00:00:26.489 --> 00:00:30.519 life as a ransom for many. And Mark is nearly 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:33.539 always asking his audience, what do you make 00:00:33.539 --> 00:00:38.700 of that? So, what do you make of this good news? 00:00:40.979 --> 00:00:43.219 We'd love to meet you and we hope you'll consider 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:45.320 coming and joining with us each Sunday morning 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:47.399 at 10 a .m. in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:50.119 You can find us online at SecondCityChurch .org 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:53.039 and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We hope 00:00:53.039 --> 00:01:01.490 you enjoy this sermon. God bless. of your power 00:01:01.490 --> 00:01:07.370 over all things, to calm the greatest concerns 00:01:07.370 --> 00:01:10.530 of our life, the deepest fears of our experiences, 00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:16.829 even creation itself. God, the power of your 00:01:16.829 --> 00:01:20.349 word has been on display for us in this chapter 00:01:20.349 --> 00:01:24.170 in these last few weeks. But this astounded your 00:01:24.170 --> 00:01:28.920 disciples. They were great. They were full of 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:31.859 fear and said, who then even is this that the 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:36.079 winds and the waves obey him? God, I pray that 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:42.019 the effect of our time in this passage would 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:47.780 be a greater and greater faith in your ability, 00:01:48.739 --> 00:01:54.680 in your power, in your love, in your care. Speak 00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:57.689 to us now, we pray. Open our hearts to receive 00:01:57.689 --> 00:02:01.849 you, and our ears to listen and receive from 00:02:01.849 --> 00:02:08.229 you. Amen. All right, in 1895, Winston Churchill 00:02:08.229 --> 00:02:11.110 was a young officer in the 4th Hussars, which 00:02:11.110 --> 00:02:15.389 was a cavalry unit in the British Army. He was 00:02:15.389 --> 00:02:17.250 an officer and he was kicking up his heels in 00:02:17.250 --> 00:02:20.629 London, and he decided he needed to see some 00:02:20.629 --> 00:02:25.550 action. The only war though going on at the time 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:29.009 was over in Cuba and so he got permission actually 00:02:29.009 --> 00:02:32.069 from the Spanish government in Madrid and he 00:02:32.069 --> 00:02:35.530 sailed to Havana. There he took the train to 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:39.550 Cienfuegos, a boat to Tunas de Zara and then 00:02:39.550 --> 00:02:42.669 another train to Sancti Spiritus. He joined the 00:02:42.669 --> 00:02:46.169 Spanish army there under the leadership of General 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:50.210 Suarez Valdez. They trekked to Arroyo Blanco 00:02:50.210 --> 00:02:56.250 and it was on his 21st birthday on Winston Churchill's 00:02:56.250 --> 00:02:59.610 21st birthday on the 30th of November in 1895 00:02:59.610 --> 00:03:05.550 that he finally saw battle. Churchill actually 00:03:05.550 --> 00:03:08.849 only spent a few weeks in Cuba but that day on 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:12.229 his birthday after seeing battle he wrote to 00:03:12.229 --> 00:03:20.849 his mom this. There is nothing more exhilarating. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:27.599 than to be shot at with no result. There's nothing 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:31.319 more exhilarating than to be shot at with no 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:36.419 result. I think we know this in some other ways. 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:39.240 We are all glad, aren't we, that the Eagles won 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:43.419 the Super Bowl? Amen! It's like y 'all are almost 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:45.740 Pentecostal Presbyterians with that kind of stuff. 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:48.800 But y 'all, how much better would it have been 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.560 if it was a little closer? I mean, imagine, I 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:53.259 know, Jed and I have talked about this, we've 00:03:53.259 --> 00:03:56.159 debated this, but imagine if Travis Kelce and 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.759 Patrick Mahomes had the game of their lives and 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:03.639 it came down to the very last second to a Hail 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:08.060 Mary into the end zone and the Eagles won. I 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:12.280 mean, that would be a game. Goading down in history, 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:16.399 that would be a game to watch. I have no interest 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:18.759 in the Chicago Cubs. I lived in St. Louis for 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:20.220 four and a half years and attended many Cardinals 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:23.399 games. If you know baseball, you know that Cardinals 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:27.399 fans do not like the Cubs. But there was something 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:32.759 about their breaking the 108 year drought in 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:35.720 2016 that was really pretty remarkable. One sports 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:39.279 writer wrote this. The Chicago Cubs defeated 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:42.319 the Cleveland Indians 8 -7 in a mind blowing, 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:45.860 nerve jangling, heart stopping mess of a game. 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:50.459 A 10 -inning acid trip. I'm like, gosh, I got 00:04:50.459 --> 00:04:56.060 to watch this game again. The test of the limits 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:58.660 of your sanity made baseball history and ended 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:02.500 108 years of anxiety. Every inning of this game 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:04.720 pushed the night closer and closer to becoming 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:08.540 a Salvador Dali painting brought to life. It 00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:12.920 was surreal. It was painful. It was delirious. 00:05:13.149 --> 00:05:17.709 was four hours and 28 minutes of madness culminating 00:05:17.709 --> 00:05:24.329 in an ending that still doesn't seem real. Nothing 00:05:24.329 --> 00:05:28.990 more exhilarating than being shot at with no 00:05:28.990 --> 00:05:38.889 result. And yet, truthfully, one of the things 00:05:38.889 --> 00:05:42.649 that we come to terms with in life, rather quickly, 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:46.300 is that for the most part we get shot at with 00:05:46.300 --> 00:05:52.100 results. So we learn to live in fear, to cower, 00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:57.199 to be timidly engaged with the world, with God. 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:00.300 You don't have to live long, too long in this 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:03.560 world before you feel the reality of a world 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:06.399 that is full of pain and sorrow and hurt and 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:09.899 words unkindly and intentionally unkindly spoken. 00:06:10.790 --> 00:06:15.649 of jobs lost and loved ones passing. And even 00:06:15.649 --> 00:06:17.889 knowing of our own sort of impending death and 00:06:17.889 --> 00:06:21.910 the storms across the waters of life often do 00:06:21.910 --> 00:06:28.509 rage. And we got shot at with result. We do all 00:06:28.509 --> 00:06:32.149 we can to keep death at bay. We distract ourselves 00:06:32.149 --> 00:06:35.389 with Netflix. We comfort ourselves with air conditioning 00:06:35.389 --> 00:06:38.660 and all the rest. We medicate. Taking supplements 00:06:38.660 --> 00:06:41.439 to keep us young, painkillers to keep us numb, 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:46.639 drinks to keep us distracted. We segregate by 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.240 age, almost as if to not have to think about 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:52.680 just the reality of what happens as we age. Churches 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:56.519 often divided up by the young and the old. We 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:58.399 sequester those who are closer to death into 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:01.240 nursing homes and the like, trying to not have 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:08.279 to deal with our own fate. We cannot get away, 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:10.879 it seems like, from the fact that we are shot 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:17.680 at with result. A number of years ago, Lily, 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:22.439 my daughter, had come to that age where she began 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:26.220 asking about death. And I told her about the 00:07:26.220 --> 00:07:28.699 passing of one of my dogs who I loved growing 00:07:28.699 --> 00:07:34.389 up. This dog's name was Shimmery. That dog, Shimmery, 00:07:34.389 --> 00:07:36.850 loved to dance. Maybe some of you have had a 00:07:36.850 --> 00:07:39.689 dog that loves to dance. She was a full -grown, 00:07:39.889 --> 00:07:41.930 a standard -sized golden retriever and loved 00:07:41.930 --> 00:07:44.329 to put her paws up and to dance. And I loved 00:07:44.329 --> 00:07:46.670 dancing with her. And when she died, we buried 00:07:46.670 --> 00:07:49.290 her in my parents' property and we mourned her 00:07:49.290 --> 00:07:52.689 passing. And this was quite a few years ago. 00:07:53.290 --> 00:07:55.990 But that week, Lily told me this story numerous 00:07:55.990 --> 00:07:57.750 times. It was just a short conversation. She 00:07:57.750 --> 00:07:59.730 said, Daddy, can I tell you a sad story? And 00:07:59.730 --> 00:08:03.129 I'd say, sure. He said, or she would say, There 00:08:03.129 --> 00:08:05.769 once was a boy who had a dog that liked to dance 00:08:05.769 --> 00:08:09.350 with him and the dog died. She told this story 00:08:09.350 --> 00:08:12.430 a number of times during the week. Sitting in 00:08:12.430 --> 00:08:14.709 the reality of the pain of getting shot at with 00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:20.250 result. But this coming to terms with pain, with 00:08:20.250 --> 00:08:23.290 brokenness, with sorrow, with fear, with death 00:08:23.290 --> 00:08:25.589 and the unrest that accompanies us because of 00:08:25.589 --> 00:08:29.139 all those prospects. The fact is that coming 00:08:29.139 --> 00:08:31.100 to terms with those things and actually engaging 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:36.460 them is often what God uses to bring us to himself. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.419 Being shot at is often what God uses in our lives 00:08:43.419 --> 00:08:47.919 to build faith. Some of you have read C .S. Lewis' 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:50.299 book, The Problem of Pain, and if you haven't 00:08:50.299 --> 00:08:52.779 read it, maybe you've heard this quote. He says, 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:57.909 pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers 00:08:57.909 --> 00:09:02.049 to us in our pleasures. He speaks to us in our 00:09:02.049 --> 00:09:07.769 conscience, but shouts in our pain. It's his 00:09:07.769 --> 00:09:12.009 megaphone to rouse a deaf world. What we're talking 00:09:12.009 --> 00:09:14.429 about in Mark chapter four is the words of God 00:09:14.429 --> 00:09:17.830 going forth, right? Seeds that have been scattered, 00:09:19.070 --> 00:09:22.450 the little mustard seed that grows and the surprising 00:09:22.450 --> 00:09:27.039 effect of the words of God in the world. And 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:29.700 in the midst of the chaos of world, the midst 00:09:29.700 --> 00:09:33.019 of getting shot at, is actually often how Jesus 00:09:33.019 --> 00:09:37.100 begins to shout who he is and how he loves us 00:09:37.100 --> 00:09:40.399 and how he cares. Think of this. Jesus' ministry 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:46.379 wasn't very long. Three years. Remarkably busy. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:49.399 And actually in Mark, most of all, we get the 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:51.580 sense that he jumps right into the busyness. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.480 I mean, in chapter one, he's preaching throughout 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.539 Galilee. He's beginning to heal. In chapter two, 00:09:57.539 --> 00:09:59.500 he's healing. In chapter three, he's healing. 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:02.559 Of course, we have this long narrative of the 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:04.820 parables of the sower and all that in chapter 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:07.460 four, but we know right from the get -go that 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:09.559 his disciples and the crowds were just amazed 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:12.879 at his power and his words and how insightful 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:15.279 they were and how compelling they were and how 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:18.080 they drew you in to ask questions, but also how 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.799 he could just simply reach out and touch and 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.299 the leper would be made well, would be restored 00:10:24.299 --> 00:10:28.960 to society. We know how the crowds that engage 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:31.620 with these things grew, grew and grew and grew 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:34.399 to the extent that by the chapter, by the time 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.899 when chapter four comes, we believe that he was 00:10:36.899 --> 00:10:38.919 preaching there at the Bay of Parables along 00:10:38.919 --> 00:10:41.059 the Sea of Galilee and the beginning of the chapter 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:43.139 actually says he gets into a boat. We talked 00:10:43.139 --> 00:10:45.120 about this a couple weeks ago how actually the 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.279 water itself would have reverberated the words 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.519 of Christ and thousands of people, studies have 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:54.139 shown, could have heard his teachings. Anyway, 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.700 the busyness of such a life with that sort of 00:10:56.700 --> 00:10:59.279 busyness in his humanity, he would have become 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:02.600 very, very tired. So it should be no surprise 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:04.139 that as he says, let's get into the boat, let's 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:06.779 go to the other side, and disciples begin to 00:11:06.779 --> 00:11:10.379 row out into the water, sort of the rocking of 00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:12.820 the boat, the lowing of the waves would have... 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:16.299 rather quickly put him to sleep. Because for 00:11:16.299 --> 00:11:19.740 all of Mark's really clear teaching that Jesus 00:11:19.740 --> 00:11:24.259 is in fact God. What Mark also tells us is he 00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:28.159 is fully man. Right here in this little story 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:31.000 we have sort of the essence of Christology, the 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:35.519 study of who Christ is, the God -man. One commentator 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:38.600 said our Christology, our understanding of Jesus, 00:11:39.580 --> 00:11:42.970 is what leads to our discipleship. How he lives 00:11:42.970 --> 00:11:44.850 and who he was has everything to do with how 00:11:44.850 --> 00:11:49.509 you live Anyway, they're in this boat after a 00:11:49.509 --> 00:11:52.789 long day of teaching and It's then when they're 00:11:52.789 --> 00:11:55.389 in this boat and when he is asleep. They're sailing 00:11:55.389 --> 00:11:58.529 across the Sea of Galilee Jesus has fallen asleep 00:11:58.529 --> 00:12:03.129 and this windstorm Begins to blow upon the waters 00:12:03.129 --> 00:12:08.610 now This would not have been an entirely abnormal 00:12:08.610 --> 00:12:11.830 thing Some of you might know this, that the Sea 00:12:11.830 --> 00:12:14.409 of Galilee actually has these storms to this 00:12:14.409 --> 00:12:18.330 day kind of show up. Sea of Galilee is 700 feet 00:12:18.330 --> 00:12:22.110 below sea level. It's very low, but actually 00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:26.230 if you go off in one direction from the Sea of 00:12:26.230 --> 00:12:29.110 Galilee, sort of the northwest, there's actually 00:12:29.110 --> 00:12:31.850 the heights of Geshon up there, and the mountains 00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:35.580 there are 9 ,200 feet. And so you can imagine 00:12:35.580 --> 00:12:38.379 that sometimes the wind will blow down and the 00:12:38.379 --> 00:12:40.919 cold mountain air will come down and the warm 00:12:40.919 --> 00:12:43.879 air down below gets pushed out and it gets going 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:48.919 fast and the waves begin to rock and to roll. 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:53.200 Those gorges of the mountains are like amphitheaters 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.120 for the teaching of Jesus, but they create this 00:12:55.120 --> 00:13:00.399 wind tunnel along the Sea of Galilee. Anyway, 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:02.639 a boat would have easily been swamped, easily 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.200 been capsized in the midst of a storm like this. 00:13:05.659 --> 00:13:07.460 And it's right there in the middle of this kind 00:13:07.460 --> 00:13:09.980 of storm in the Sea of Galilee that Jesus is 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:13.659 with his disciples in the boat and he sleeps. 00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:17.480 And of course, the disciples are thinking, what 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.960 is going on here? This storm that we have heard 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:22.759 about, that we've experienced in our lives on 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:26.019 some level, is going to swamp us, is hitting 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:34.649 us, and Jesus is just sleeping. And listen to 00:13:34.649 --> 00:13:40.250 what happens, verse 39. And he awoke, it just 00:13:40.250 --> 00:13:44.570 sounds so simple. And he awoke and he rebuked 00:13:44.570 --> 00:13:50.730 the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. 00:13:53.250 --> 00:13:57.450 And amazingly, the wind, the raging waves, they 00:13:57.450 --> 00:14:01.230 just cease, they're still. Just like a word like 00:14:01.230 --> 00:14:06.009 that. Jesus wakes up, he rebukes the wind, the 00:14:06.009 --> 00:14:11.330 raging waves, and it's peaceful. It's just one 00:14:11.330 --> 00:14:14.289 word, and the storm is still, just like that. 00:14:15.710 --> 00:14:18.289 And we stand in awe of that, and Christians have 00:14:18.289 --> 00:14:20.029 always stood in awe of this story. It's a very 00:14:20.029 --> 00:14:21.970 short story. It doesn't take a long time to read, 00:14:22.070 --> 00:14:25.129 and yet this story kind of looms large over Christian 00:14:25.129 --> 00:14:29.720 imagination. Mean it says they were filled with 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:32.360 great fear They said to one another who is this 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:34.600 that even the winds and the sea obey him and 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:36.799 we think yeah That's exactly what I would have 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:41.320 thought what is happening. It's just a word But 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:44.440 here's God in the flesh Here he is demonstrating 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:48.039 that he has all power over all creation Just 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:52.120 as he was the one who speeds and the wind the 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:56.919 Ruah of creation goes over the waters And the 00:14:56.919 --> 00:14:59.659 earth is formed. Here he is right here and he's 00:14:59.659 --> 00:15:02.299 speaking over the waters. And just as he has 00:15:02.299 --> 00:15:05.860 power in Genesis 1, here again Jesus has power 00:15:05.860 --> 00:15:09.519 over creation itself. And they stand in awe and 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:14.639 in fear of who he is. Here in a powerful way 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.779 we see Jesus, the man sent from God, but the 00:15:17.779 --> 00:15:22.620 man who is God. doing what God first did there 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:25.720 in Genesis chapter one. He's displaying divine 00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:29.799 authority and his power on behalf of those who 00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:33.299 would call out to him and trust him. Again, it's 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:35.220 for this reason that this has just grabbed ahold 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:38.659 of Christian imagination. This story has been 00:15:38.659 --> 00:15:42.700 so central to Christian life. Probably many of 00:15:42.700 --> 00:15:44.840 you have seen some of the great paintings that 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:46.580 have been done from this story. There are many 00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:49.960 of them. Maybe you've seen Rembrandt's painting 00:15:49.960 --> 00:15:53.600 or Delacroix's or Bruegel the Elder. Maybe you 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.840 know that actually it was this image of the boat 00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:59.480 on the waves, which was one of, along with images 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:03.919 like the Good Shepherd and the Lamb, one of the 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:07.899 great images of the early church. This is who 00:16:07.899 --> 00:16:11.940 we believe, the God who carries us through the 00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:16.490 storm to the other side. Christ the long waited 00:16:16.490 --> 00:16:19.990 for Messiah the God man with his disciples in 00:16:19.990 --> 00:16:23.529 the storm with them Calming the storm for them 00:16:23.529 --> 00:16:29.389 the dark waters the raging waves Disciples and 00:16:29.389 --> 00:16:35.690 Jesus right there with them The Bible time and 00:16:35.690 --> 00:16:39.889 again actually uses the imagery of seas and waters 00:16:39.889 --> 00:16:44.529 to depict actually how crazy life is And we know 00:16:44.529 --> 00:16:46.830 this, like we even say, now the storms of life 00:16:46.830 --> 00:16:49.769 are hitting me. That was an image that was used 00:16:49.769 --> 00:16:52.990 in the Bible a lot. It was depicting death and 00:16:52.990 --> 00:16:57.850 chaos and the unknown. But it's into that kind 00:16:57.850 --> 00:16:59.830 of stuff, into the death and the chaos and the 00:16:59.830 --> 00:17:02.629 unknown. And that which gives us fear that Jesus 00:17:02.629 --> 00:17:05.710 simply speaks. Just a couple words, peace, be 00:17:05.710 --> 00:17:11.309 still. And all of that that brings fear is gone, 00:17:11.970 --> 00:17:18.140 done away with. It's amazing. They come to him 00:17:18.140 --> 00:17:21.039 in the midst, as you would say, sort of of getting 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:24.920 shot at, in the middle of the storm of their 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:29.039 life, and he helps. And one of the things that 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.220 we see in the Bible is this is always what Jesus 00:17:31.220 --> 00:17:36.480 does. Come, help me Lord, save me. Jesus never 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:41.279 turns away anyone who says, come, save, come, 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:46.089 help. But here's where I want us to go with this. 00:17:47.809 --> 00:17:54.750 He then rebukes them. He says, why do you lack 00:17:54.750 --> 00:18:00.490 faith? Luke tells us this, that he said, where 00:18:00.490 --> 00:18:04.589 is your faith? Matthew, actually this is really 00:18:04.589 --> 00:18:07.269 interesting. Matthew, and you can imagine there's 00:18:07.269 --> 00:18:10.230 a bunch of disciples in this boat. Very likely 00:18:10.230 --> 00:18:12.660 actually there's been a boat uncovered. from 00:18:12.660 --> 00:18:14.299 exactly this time in the Sea of Galilee. It was 00:18:14.299 --> 00:18:17.740 about 26 feet long with a little bow and stern 00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:19.920 where Jesus would have likely slept. And room 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:22.539 for about 12 to 16 people on there. So you can 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:24.059 imagine all the disciples. Maybe he was saying 00:18:24.059 --> 00:18:25.640 different things to different ones as they came 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:28.519 to him. But what Matthew tells us is he gives 00:18:28.519 --> 00:18:33.160 them a nickname. And the nickname is Little Faiths. 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:36.099 Hey, Little Faiths. Not exactly the nickname 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:39.960 you want, right? But Mark actually says, have 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:44.039 you still no faith? Have you still no faith? 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:49.200 Why I think this kind of sits with us funny is 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:51.200 that on some level they have demonstrated faith, 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:56.619 haven't they? They have. Peter, James, and John, 00:18:56.619 --> 00:19:00.900 way back in chapter one, were told, hey, come, 00:19:01.019 --> 00:19:02.680 I'm gonna make you fishes of men. And what did 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:04.920 they do? They came and they followed him. It's 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:12.130 an act of faith. Matthew, deo cop. preached the 00:19:12.130 --> 00:19:14.430 call of Matthew. Actually, Dale came to me and 00:19:14.430 --> 00:19:16.009 said, can I do that? And I said, I don't think 00:19:16.009 --> 00:19:17.509 so. I really want to do it. And then when I looked 00:19:17.509 --> 00:19:20.589 at the script, I was like, shoot. Dale's doing 00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:25.390 it. OK. But back in chapter two, Matthew left 00:19:25.390 --> 00:19:28.589 his occupation of being a tax collector to follow 00:19:28.589 --> 00:19:33.390 Jesus. These are acts of faith. What we heard 00:19:33.390 --> 00:19:35.369 earlier in the chapter, when they were confused 00:19:35.369 --> 00:19:37.029 about the parables, what did they do? They went 00:19:37.029 --> 00:19:39.890 to Jesus and asked him, teach us, right? These 00:19:39.890 --> 00:19:44.599 are acts. of faith even here they find themselves 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:47.680 in their hour of need getting shot at at the 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:53.579 wind and the waves where do they go where do 00:19:53.579 --> 00:19:57.500 they go guys they go to jesus thank you act of 00:19:57.500 --> 00:20:02.539 faith maybe they shook him awake you know yelled 00:20:02.539 --> 00:20:07.670 in his ears over the loud waves What's what I'm 00:20:07.670 --> 00:20:09.750 saying is there's no question that on some level 00:20:09.750 --> 00:20:11.869 they did have some faith Okay, they're acting 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:14.509 out of this reality of the on some level they 00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:19.529 need Jesus Think back though with me to the parable 00:20:19.529 --> 00:20:21.410 that Jesus had just taught them the beginning 00:20:21.410 --> 00:20:25.930 of the chapter He taught them in the crowd and 00:20:25.930 --> 00:20:28.750 and he'd actually taken time to just Explain 00:20:28.750 --> 00:20:31.490 this parable to his disciples what it meant the 00:20:31.490 --> 00:20:35.339 words of God are the seeds that are sown And 00:20:35.339 --> 00:20:38.579 some of them fall on hard ground and, you know, 00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:42.319 the bird comes and they are taken away and some 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:44.299 are sewn along rocks and they shoot up quickly 00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:47.960 but they die when trials come. Some fall on weeds 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:49.720 and they're choked because of the cares of the 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:53.019 world. And then there's some that are actually 00:20:53.019 --> 00:20:55.440 sewn and they become deep rooted and they grow 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:59.019 and they bear much fruit. And on some level Jesus 00:20:59.019 --> 00:21:03.099 was even asking there, where's your faith? Like 00:21:03.099 --> 00:21:06.880 the one that maybe just receives it a little 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:12.380 bit and the trials of life come and scattered 00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:16.319 Anyway Jesus comes and he says to them where's 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:19.559 your faith? Have you no fear? Why do you live? 00:21:19.619 --> 00:21:22.660 Why are you afraid? And I wonder what you do 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:25.119 with this. What do you do with Jesus here in 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:28.410 this story? What do you do with his questions 00:21:28.410 --> 00:21:30.869 to his disciples? Because I think that there's 00:21:30.869 --> 00:21:32.829 a possibility that Jesus sounds a little bit 00:21:32.829 --> 00:21:37.789 crazy here. Right? I mean, wouldn't you think 00:21:37.789 --> 00:21:39.690 that it's the right response in the midst of 00:21:39.690 --> 00:21:43.089 getting shot at to think, well, we should rouse 00:21:43.089 --> 00:21:50.670 Jesus. He's sleeping. How often our experiences 00:21:50.670 --> 00:21:52.650 like the disciples, the waves of the world are 00:21:52.650 --> 00:21:55.430 bashing against us. The pain of the world is 00:21:55.430 --> 00:21:59.009 overwhelming us. The weeds of the world are choking 00:21:59.009 --> 00:22:02.950 us. Reality of living in a world where death 00:22:02.950 --> 00:22:05.109 and destruction and decay seem to be the way 00:22:05.109 --> 00:22:08.670 things are. And this is simply battering us time 00:22:08.670 --> 00:22:12.089 and time again. And often what happens when we 00:22:12.089 --> 00:22:14.309 are getting battered with these kinds of waves 00:22:14.309 --> 00:22:17.450 is our inclination is to think God is not there. 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:22.640 Or maybe he doesn't care or maybe at best what 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:24.279 we do is we do what the disciples did and they 00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:33.559 say we say Lord help Of course it's these stories 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:35.619 of Jesus and these kinds of experiences why so 00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:37.480 many people were once Christians and why they 00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:39.799 now are not because the seeds are sown along 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:43.140 the ground and Among the rocks and among the 00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:45.460 weeds and the trials of life come and they say 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:50.589 I'm giving up on this But some disciples, when 00:22:50.589 --> 00:22:52.569 the trials of life come, they go to Jesus and 00:22:52.569 --> 00:22:59.230 they cry out to him. Think about this too. This 00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:01.170 experience actually that we're reading right 00:23:01.170 --> 00:23:03.549 now, we don't know a lot about many of the disciples 00:23:03.549 --> 00:23:05.390 yet, but we know three of them were fishermen. 00:23:06.009 --> 00:23:08.289 Which is to say they were in the experience that 00:23:08.289 --> 00:23:11.430 they had trained their life for. You know, they 00:23:11.430 --> 00:23:14.009 had studied fishing and they'd studied the sea 00:23:14.009 --> 00:23:15.630 and they'd probably spent years because most 00:23:15.630 --> 00:23:18.150 likely at least We know with James and John, 00:23:18.230 --> 00:23:20.869 you know, the father had the business, right? 00:23:21.789 --> 00:23:23.809 They were fishermen, generational fishermen. 00:23:24.509 --> 00:23:26.609 They had spent their life preparing for these 00:23:26.609 --> 00:23:29.109 kinds of moments. The boat was where they lived. 00:23:30.390 --> 00:23:31.950 But in this moment, it seemed as though the boat 00:23:31.950 --> 00:23:33.430 was not just where they lived, but where they 00:23:33.430 --> 00:23:37.210 would perish. And I think also that's actually 00:23:37.210 --> 00:23:39.289 an insight into where our faith becomes most 00:23:39.289 --> 00:23:43.970 unstable. Place where we think we live becomes 00:23:43.970 --> 00:23:45.950 the place where we think we are going to perish. 00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:52.059 and we wonder if God even cares. We read parenting 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:54.380 books and attend conferences and our children 00:23:54.380 --> 00:23:59.799 reject Jesus. The thing that we spent so much 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:02.920 time studying and devoting our life to. We spend 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:05.099 years of work only to be told that the company's 00:24:05.099 --> 00:24:08.839 restructuring our jobs not needed. Our spouse 00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:12.359 that we had been devoted to for years and years 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:16.400 thinks that another will give the joy that they 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:20.680 longed for and it's in those moments most of 00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:27.839 all that we cry out and we wonder God don't you 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:34.940 care that we're perishing but I also want to 00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:37.619 say that it makes all the sense in the world 00:24:37.619 --> 00:24:40.420 though it seems I think initially to sort of 00:24:40.420 --> 00:24:44.140 rock us in a strange way that Jesus says Why 00:24:44.140 --> 00:24:52.720 are you afraid? That's what he says And he awoke 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:54.700 and rebuked the wind and said to the sea peace 00:24:54.700 --> 00:24:57.740 be still and the wind ceased there's a great 00:24:57.740 --> 00:25:03.240 calm Verse 40 he said to them. Why are you so 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:11.140 afraid? Here's here's the truth the disciples 00:25:11.579 --> 00:25:16.940 could have reveled in the storm. I mean, the 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:22.480 whole story begins on that day when evening had 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:24.980 come, he said to them, let us go across to the 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:27.940 other side. It was Jesus' idea to get in the 00:25:27.940 --> 00:25:30.160 boat. And he says, we're going to the other side. 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:34.940 God himself in the boat with them. God, Emmanuel, 00:25:35.819 --> 00:25:39.079 with us in the boat. Do they really think that 00:25:39.079 --> 00:25:41.140 the one who raised Lazarus from the dead and 00:25:41.140 --> 00:25:43.700 healed the leopard and the lame and all the rest 00:25:43.700 --> 00:25:46.460 could not get them to the other side of the lake? 00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:53.599 Did not care about their fate? Did they really 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:56.119 think that the savior of the world would be overcome 00:25:56.119 --> 00:26:00.420 by a storm? I mean, in some ways as soon as we 00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:03.519 think about it, it almost does seem kind of laughable. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:06.039 One who can just touch somebody and they can 00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:09.980 be healed. Does he not believe that when he says 00:26:09.980 --> 00:26:12.240 let's go to the other side we're gonna get to 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:18.200 the other side They really think that the one 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:21.059 who spoke the very waves and the wind into being 00:26:21.059 --> 00:26:27.660 not Speak and give them great calm They realize 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:30.000 that as high as the waves were as deep as the 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:36.420 sea is as loud as the sound of the crashing There's 00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:41.200 no safer place ever than to be in that boat with 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:49.059 Jesus. You are never safer than with Jesus in 00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:56.740 the boat. Which is to say that the disciples 00:26:56.740 --> 00:27:01.880 really missed an opportunity that night. They 00:27:01.880 --> 00:27:08.299 did. they were being shot at and There was no 00:27:08.299 --> 00:27:11.220 chance that what Jesus had in store for them 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:14.160 to get to the other side Was going to happen 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:18.079 that was going to happen There's no chance that 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:21.180 wasn't gonna happen They could have reveled in 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:23.960 the delight of being in the craziest storm of 00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:31.460 their life Yet they were filled with fear I Know 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:33.700 because I watched this scene again this week 00:27:34.029 --> 00:27:37.490 That when lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump is strapped 00:27:37.490 --> 00:27:41.369 to the mast He's taunting God But if you watch 00:27:41.369 --> 00:27:42.950 the scene before and you watch the scene right 00:27:42.950 --> 00:27:44.890 after it seems as though actually that's a conversion 00:27:44.890 --> 00:27:48.049 for him Actually, it really does if you if you 00:27:48.049 --> 00:27:51.109 watch the whole thing together But just imagine 00:27:51.109 --> 00:27:55.690 these disciples guys tie me to the mast Let's 00:27:55.690 --> 00:28:02.920 go It's every surfer's dream Put me on the North 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:07.019 Shore, the biggest waves of the world. If Jesus 00:28:07.019 --> 00:28:09.400 says we're going to the other side, we're gonna 00:28:09.400 --> 00:28:19.059 get there. Why did we cower? Don't you think 00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:21.099 that was exactly their questions? They're all 00:28:21.099 --> 00:28:23.059 huddling around the fire that night on the other 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:27.640 side. Man, we missed it. How great could that 00:28:27.640 --> 00:28:32.140 have been? Jesus, in verse 40, which I read, 00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:34.420 he says, why are you so afraid? It's actually 00:28:34.420 --> 00:28:36.759 a different word than the fear verse used in 00:28:36.759 --> 00:28:39.019 the next verse. The next verse, fear, actually 00:28:39.019 --> 00:28:41.579 when it says the disciples, and they were filled 00:28:41.579 --> 00:28:44.740 with great fear, that word there is phobos, which 00:28:44.740 --> 00:28:47.019 is the word we get phobia for, like arachnophobia, 00:28:47.079 --> 00:28:49.799 stuff like that. But the word for why are you 00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:51.940 so afraid that Jesus speaks is actually the word 00:28:51.940 --> 00:28:56.980 for cowardly. Why are you so timid? Why are you 00:28:56.980 --> 00:29:00.299 so cowardly? Do you not think that I control 00:29:00.299 --> 00:29:03.700 all things? That you are never safer than in 00:29:03.700 --> 00:29:08.839 the boat with me? I mean, think about it. Being 00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:12.480 tossed by the waves and the full assurance that 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:15.420 the Lord will take them through would be the 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:18.859 wildest ride of their life. They missed an opportunity. 00:29:21.660 --> 00:29:24.039 Which is to say that part of what Mark is trying 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:31.579 to communicate to us about Jesus is that he longs 00:29:31.579 --> 00:29:41.980 for his disciples to not live in fear. Winds 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:47.039 and the waves are nothing for the Lord of creation. 00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:52.319 He longs for us to have the freedom that comes 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:56.519 with his absolute love and attention. Push out 00:29:56.519 --> 00:30:00.680 any cowardly fear that we have in this life Perfect 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:03.960 love casts out fear. That's what we're told by 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:08.180 first John and Jesus says I am going to love 00:30:08.180 --> 00:30:14.000 you perfectly in the midst of the storm No fear 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:19.480 So he's not rebuking them because he's somehow 00:30:19.480 --> 00:30:23.420 angry with them He's rebuking them because he 00:30:23.420 --> 00:30:26.720 loves them and he desires their freedom, their 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:33.039 life. Rebukes them out of love. Calls them to 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:36.559 a deeper faith, to a rooted faith, to a surer 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:43.000 faith, to a bold and a daring faith. Shakespeare, 00:30:43.240 --> 00:30:45.559 some of you, if you know a sonnet by Shakespeare, 00:30:45.779 --> 00:30:50.000 you probably know Sonnet 116. He's talking there 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.289 about True love. And he says true love looks 00:30:54.289 --> 00:30:59.329 on tempests and is never shaken. It looks on 00:30:59.329 --> 00:31:05.309 the storms of life. It's never shaken. Churchill 00:31:05.309 --> 00:31:08.309 said there is nothing more exhilarating than 00:31:08.309 --> 00:31:14.190 to be shot at without result. I don't really 00:31:14.190 --> 00:31:17.309 want to be shot at, but I think if I didn't know 00:31:17.309 --> 00:31:19.569 I was going to be hit, it could be rather exhilarating. 00:31:19.900 --> 00:31:23.500 Blaise Pascal and his Ponce's, the great Christian 00:31:23.500 --> 00:31:27.140 man wrote, there is some pleasure being on board 00:31:27.140 --> 00:31:31.519 a ship battered by storms when one is certain 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:42.279 of not perishing. The fact is that the storms 00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:45.180 of life can really do divide in some ways. They 00:31:45.180 --> 00:31:47.420 can show us, as Jesus has said in this chapter, 00:31:48.140 --> 00:31:53.019 what kind of soil The seed was sown upon This 00:31:53.019 --> 00:31:56.299 was the seed sown in soil that was with rocks 00:31:56.299 --> 00:31:59.559 with weeds and when the trials and the cares 00:31:59.559 --> 00:32:05.140 of this life came They were decimated That's 00:32:05.140 --> 00:32:09.779 one option Jesus is saying there is another option 00:32:09.779 --> 00:32:12.500 That when the storms of life from the trials 00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:15.119 of life come your faith is just made all the 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:19.299 more certain because Jesus says When I say we're 00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:21.200 getting to the other side, we're getting to the 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:29.279 other side. I heard this little snippet from 00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:31.759 Kaia DeLonga. Maybe you've heard of him. He's 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:34.539 a writer, actor, comedian, social commentator. 00:32:35.099 --> 00:32:41.819 He was on Trevor Noah's podcast, What Now? And 00:32:41.819 --> 00:32:43.480 Trevor Noah actually asked him a question. Why'd 00:32:43.480 --> 00:32:46.500 you start going back to church? Tell me about 00:32:46.500 --> 00:32:51.640 that. Why are you following Jesus? And he says, 00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:56.819 you know, my mother died a year ago and I'm in 00:32:56.819 --> 00:32:58.579 the car. I'm going to her funeral and I prepared 00:32:58.579 --> 00:33:01.279 some words and I'm with my sisters and I'm telling 00:33:01.279 --> 00:33:04.259 them I don't think I can give them. I'm so full 00:33:04.259 --> 00:33:06.039 of sorrow. I don't think I can get up in front 00:33:06.039 --> 00:33:07.960 of people and talk. He hasn't been in church 00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:10.680 for years and he's just feeling the utter weight 00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:13.420 of living in the storm of his own mother's passing. 00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:16.900 And he said he walked into that church building. 00:33:17.289 --> 00:33:22.430 there's these ladies up front and as he says 00:33:22.430 --> 00:33:25.250 specifically there's this 94 year old woman up 00:33:25.250 --> 00:33:31.369 front who's just doing this she's dancing she's 00:33:31.369 --> 00:33:36.490 just celebrating that his mother who died was 00:33:36.490 --> 00:33:40.349 with Jesus because the promise in Christ is that 00:33:40.349 --> 00:33:43.150 those who die in him will live he's gonna take 00:33:43.150 --> 00:33:45.799 him to the other side And he said, in that moment, 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:47.660 he said, actually, I didn't give the speech. 00:33:47.720 --> 00:33:49.819 I prepared. What I did instead is I sang with 00:33:49.819 --> 00:33:53.400 them. And I went back to church the next week. 00:33:54.779 --> 00:33:57.000 Because there is something totally different 00:33:57.000 --> 00:33:59.539 with the courage of Christians to say, if Jesus 00:33:59.539 --> 00:34:01.640 says it's going to happen, it's going to happen. 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:05.259 He's going to take us through. He's going to 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:10.619 take us through. Say this, the beauty of the 00:34:10.619 --> 00:34:15.409 life. and the death of Gale Penne is that she 00:34:15.409 --> 00:34:21.329 knew to live is Christ but to die is gain because 00:34:21.329 --> 00:34:24.750 Jesus says I'm taking you through and he will 00:34:24.750 --> 00:34:29.690 make good on that. They could have reveled in 00:34:29.690 --> 00:34:34.909 the storm being absolutely certain that they 00:34:34.909 --> 00:34:40.360 will not perish with Jesus by their side or If 00:34:40.360 --> 00:34:46.800 they did, it's gain anyway. And the truth is, 00:34:47.139 --> 00:34:54.239 that is your situation if you're in Jesus. That's 00:34:54.239 --> 00:35:00.760 what Romans 8 tells us. Nothing can separate 00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:05.679 you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Nothing. 00:35:07.340 --> 00:35:13.400 Nothing. It's not that we don't experience storms. 00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:18.239 It's not that we're not shot at. It's not that 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:22.360 life's trials are nothing. They are very significant. 00:35:23.920 --> 00:35:27.360 But that Jesus, this God -man, the long -for 00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:34.480 awaited Messiah, is still Emmanuel. God with 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:40.949 them in the boat. God with you in the boat. That's 00:35:40.949 --> 00:35:46.190 still true. He will never leave you. He will 00:35:46.190 --> 00:35:50.750 never forsake you. His perfect love will cast 00:35:50.750 --> 00:35:56.909 out fear. Manuel, God with us. The Lord was right 00:35:56.909 --> 00:36:02.590 there in the boat with them. They roused him 00:36:02.590 --> 00:36:05.309 calling out, don't you care that we're perishing? 00:36:08.289 --> 00:36:12.670 And he cared for them. He will care for you if 00:36:12.670 --> 00:36:16.429 you call out for him with just little faiths 00:36:16.429 --> 00:36:20.010 But you know what his desire for you is to live 00:36:20.010 --> 00:36:26.289 Live boldly To live in the deepest faith that 00:36:26.289 --> 00:36:29.489 God who says he will take you to their side will 00:36:29.489 --> 00:36:35.010 absolutely do it Let's pray brothers and sisters 00:36:35.010 --> 00:36:41.699 Lord, what a wonderful story And God, I know 00:36:41.699 --> 00:36:44.800 that some of us here need to hear that he did 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:49.679 answer the disciples little faith cry. That if 00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:52.400 we just call out to you with little faith, you'll 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:56.000 hear us in your compassion. Some of us deeply 00:36:56.000 --> 00:37:00.059 need to hear that today. But God, many of us 00:37:00.059 --> 00:37:03.579 need to be assured that what you actually deeply 00:37:03.579 --> 00:37:06.519 long for us is to not be those who cower and 00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:09.579 who are timid and who live in fear, but that 00:37:09.630 --> 00:37:15.570 We be those that know the perfect love of God 00:37:15.570 --> 00:37:18.909 and Christ, that that perfect love casts out 00:37:18.909 --> 00:37:27.989 fear. The wind and the waves may blow, but as 00:37:27.989 --> 00:37:30.789 long as we're with Jesus, let them blow all the 00:37:30.789 --> 00:37:35.349 more. God, I pray that we would be a bold people, 00:37:36.030 --> 00:37:39.159 that we would be full of courage, like joshua 00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:47.039 long ago because the lord is on our side because 00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:51.219 jesus is in the boat because jesus says lo i 00:37:51.219 --> 00:37:57.519 am with you always even to the end of the age 00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:04.199 lord move in us in this way give us great faith 00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:09.079 great courage Because you, Emmanuel, are with 00:38:09.079 --> 00:38:14.239 us. Amen. Thank you for listening to Second City 00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:17.119 Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has encouraged 00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:19.340 you to worship God and to celebrate the gospel 00:38:19.340 --> 00:38:22.460 of Jesus. Please consider subscribing to this 00:38:22.460 --> 00:38:24.900 podcast and joining us in person each Sunday 00:38:24.900 --> 00:38:28.139 at 10 a .m. You can find us online at SecondCityChurch 00:38:28.139 --> 00:38:30.519 .org and on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. 00:38:31.519 --> 00:38:33.239 Thanks again for listening. God bless.