Hey, welcome back here to the Semi -Seminarian,
another week, another episode of our Bible Study
Series. We call the Bible for Grownups. Tonight
we're going to look at a question you don't find
asked a lot. We focus so much on... Maybe our
past and our past mistakes. And then through
our transformation, we get this idea of maybe
where we're supposed to be. We don't talk very
often about what happens in between. What happens
in the meantime? We ask God, are we there yet?
I'll see you on the other side. Okay, first of
all, I'm glad to see everybody here tonight.
Awesome to see your faces all. I just want to
dive right in with my story tonight. And like
I just mentioned, we're going to be looking at
a few stories that we find in the gospel account
according to Mark 2, I'm sorry, 4, 5, and 6,
chapters 4, 5, and 6. I want to share a message
from this gospel account, and I'd like to look
at some storms that we find in... Mark. So chapter
four of Mark, verse 35, Mark says, on the day
when evening had come, he, that's Jesus, said
to them, let us cross over to the other side.
Now, when he had left the multitude, they took
him along in the boat as he was. By the way,
he had left the multitude, just context. Anyone
have idea what the... What had just happened?
That's right, feeding of the 5 ,000. That's exactly
right. And there were other little boats were
also with him. And a great windstorm arose, and
the waves beat into the boat, so it was already
filling with water. But he, that's Jesus, capital
H -E, was in the stern asleep on a pillow. And
they awoke him, and they said to the teacher,
do you not care that we're perishing? Then he
arose. and rebuked the wind, and said to the
sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and
there was a great calm. But he said to them,
his disciple friends in the boat, Why are you
so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?
And they, Scripture says, feared exceedingly,
and said to one another, Who can this be? that
even the wind and the sea obey him. Now, let
me jump to chapter five real quick, keeping with
our theme of the Sea of Galilee here. Verse one,
then they came to the other side of the sea to
the country of the Gadarenes. Now, you can't
hear me on the podcast, but here in the Bible
study, you'll see this kind of black circle here.
That's the Sea of Galilee, okay? This one. A
long one down here, that's the Dead Sea. In between,
the river. In between is the Jordan River. Okay?
Kind of place names. Now, typically up here,
like at, say, 10 or 11 o 'clock, is Capernaum,
and that's where Jesus and his buddies hung out
a lot. Okay? But directly opposite that, let's
say 4 or 5 o 'clock, is this place called the
Gadarenes. And it was a different country. Okay?
So this is where they are going. Now, I'm going
to leapfrog again. Remember I said we're going
to look at 4, 5, and 6. A few pages over in your
Bibles, Mark 6 and 45, another storm is now brewing.
And it says in verse 45, chapter 6, Immediately
he, that's Jesus, made his disciples get into
the boat and go before him to the other side
to Bethsaida, where he sent the multitude away.
And when he had sent them away, he departed to
the mountain to pray. Now when evening came,
the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he
was alone on the land. Then he saw them, his
disciples, out on the boat, straining at rowing,
for the wind was against them. Now about the
fourth watch of the night, overnight, early morning,
by the way, he, Jesus, came to them walking on
the sea and would have passed them by. And when
they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed
it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw
him, but again were troubled. Immediately. He
talked with them and said to them, be of good
cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. Now, I love
Jesus in these contexts. Be of good cheer. Meanwhile,
the waves are crashing in on our boat. We are
beginning to sink. The wind is howling. And Jesus
is like, be of good cheer. Right? If I'm in the
boat, I'm yelling back, what is there to be good
cheer of? Right? There's no reason. Jesus says,
It is I, do not be afraid. Then he went up into
the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they
were greatly amazed in themselves, beyond measure,
and marveled. Verse 52 says, For they had not
understood about the loaves. Because their hearts
were hardened. My pages are stuck together here,
guys. Mark 6 .52, their hearts were hardened.
And the next verse says, when they had crossed
over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and
anchored there. Now I want to draw attention
to the words here in Scripture, then and when.
Tonight's message is entitled, The Other Side.
And I believe that there is an other side for
each and every person listening to me today.
God has another level. God has a miracle brewing
for you, a breakthrough. There is another side
to what you are currently going through. Each
and every one of us, this is true. So let our
hearts be open. Let us pray together and ask
the Holy Spirit to reveal us this truth in the
person of Jesus Christ. So as I begin this discussion
tonight, I'd like to start with, I think, a question.
No, I don't think it's a question. It really
is actually a question, interrogative statement.
How many of you have ever been on a road trip?
Okay. For we Americans, we probably pride ourselves
being the home of the road trip, right? So how
road trips went down when I was a kid, we didn't
get on airplanes, jet airplanes, right? Wherever
we went, dad took us driving. So brother, sister,
sit in the back. Dad's driving and mom rode shotgun.
It's weird how we don't go to conventions as
children or conferences to learn these kind of
things, isn't it? Somehow or another, it's just
universally, globally understood and accepted.
And I think if your experience is anything like
mine, when you were on a road trip, there is
this classic question phrase that's always used
by children everywhere and anywhere. This is
approximately 45 minutes into each road trip.
Every single summer, I would ask the question,
Dad? And there would be silence. Dad? Yes? Are
we there yet? Are we there yet? Are you there
yet? And sometimes, there would just be silence
in the front seat. As if the driver of our car
was saying, help me, God, my children are idiots.
Right? Because now that I'm a dad, my response
is, well, what do you think? Are we there yet?
Has the car stopped? When the car stops and I
open the door and I pull you out. Then we're
about there. What do you mean, are we there yet?
Of course we're not. But the truth is, you, if
you ever asked that question, me, I knew we weren't
there yet. That's not the point of answering
the question. I knew we weren't there yet. The
point was, hey, Dad, I have done everything that
I know how. to do to keep myself entertained
in this car, and now I'm bored. We need to coordinate
when I'm done doing what I'm doing when you arrive
so that, right, I don't have to be bored. We
can get where we're going. I've already counted
all the cows. I've played I Spy with my little
eyes, right? I've played the slug bug game. I've
already listened to both sides of my Billy Squire
cassette and my yellow Sony Walkman, right? Dad,
I have done it all. What else do I do now? What
do you mean we're not there yet? I've now run
out of all toys and games to keep myself occupied
and entertained. Are we there yet? No, son, we're
not. I wonder, have we ever asked God that question?
God, are we there yet? Hello? Are you there?
God, are we there yet? I don't know how God might
speak to you, but I'll just go ahead and let
you in on a little secret. God doesn't come to
me in big mountain -shattering earthquakes. God
typically speaks to me. And a very still, quiet
voice. Right? As a matter of fact, that's what
makes him God to me. Right? Yes, my child. We
hope to hear. But have you ever asked the question,
God, are we there yet? Wherever there is, right?
Are we not there yet? Now, we know that. Some
of us, in fact, have been following Jesus. for
quite a while. And as a result, we know that
we're not there yet. And we also know that's
really not the point anyway, is it? The point
is, Lord, I know that you have for me a plan,
a purpose, a pathway, a destiny. And I have a
grand sense in my heart that you are, God, in
fact, taking me somewhere. But I just need to
know, are we? There yet? Because now I've done
everything I know to do. I've upped my daily
prayer time to like 12 .2 minutes on average.
I've read my one -year Bible three times already
this year. Right? I even invited somebody to
church last week. Shouldn't I be there yet? Here's
a question I want you to consider. What do we
do when we're not where we used to be, but we
also know that we're not quite where we're supposed
to be? What do we do in the meantime? You know,
it's interesting. We don't talk a lot about...
the meantime. Because in our culture today, meantime
doesn't make headlines, right? Like here in America,
SportsCenter doesn't show the meantime highlights.
SportsCenter doesn't show the athlete getting
up and eating their Wheaties in the morning or
whatever. We just see them dunking the ball.
We just see the scoring of touchdowns. We are
a highlighted society, oriented society. We want
the highlights. And we would rather each and
every one of us live. We would rather live from
highlight to highlight to highlight. One promotion
to the next promotion to the next promotion.
Because the truth of the matter is each and every
one of us really aren't into the meantime. For
example, history doesn't typically record the
meantime either. The Bible. Does it record the
meantime? Let me give you an example. Jesus,
pretty important character in the Bible. The
Bible, the story of him, doesn't say anything
about him from the ages of 12 to 30. The meantime.
And that meantime had to have mattered. I mean,
he had to go through puberty. He had to discover
armpit hair. Right. How about that zit you get
on the day of school pictures? He had to learn
how to work a job with his dad. So what happens
is oftentimes in church. At least let me say
that this is often our experience. And if you've
been with us, I think you'll share in this experience.
Because because we talk about what God has brought
you out of and. and where God is taking you.
But wait, what do I do in the meantime? And that's
what really caught my attention about these two
stories in the Gospel account according to Mark.
It uses these two rather unambiguous words, or
ambiguous, depending on really how you look at
it. Words that sometimes we just simply read
right over and we don't even give much thought
about. It says, one says, and then they crossed
over. And Mark 6 says, when they crossed over.
So, when is then? It's when it is. You can do
your research on these two particular passages,
and you'll discover that there's no exact timetable
involved in these stories. We don't know exactly
how long it took the disciples in the boat to
go from one side to the other. And a lot of us,
not you God -fearing beautiful people, but a
lot of people encounter church, right? Looking
for something. And ultimately what we want is
we want to say, just tell me the seven, whatever
number, non -negotiable, indispensable, indisputable
steps that I need to for sure ensure that I can
get this spiritual breakthrough. So before we
know it, we turn the meantime. And to whoever
knows some sort of weird secret password to make
it to the next level. And then, before we know
it, our relationship with God becomes like we're
relating to a vending machine. We've talked about
this example all the time. We find out the code,
we punch it in, and we get what we want. But
that's not relationship. The basis of relationship...
is that there are people involved who are unpredictable.
Now, sure, God is predictable from Genesis to
Revelation, but there's a lot of wiggle room
in there for us, and God will often surprise
us. But we want to narrow it down to three, four,
five, seven, whatever steps that will get us
where we need to go. Well, if we have the seven
steps that will automatically get us there, then
where's our need for God? I've discovered that
there are people that I mean filled heart integrity
people. that are trying to get to the other side,
whatever their other side is. It might be a healing,
a miracle, a manifestation of a personal ministry.
It might be a blessing in your home or your business.
It might be dreams and visions in your life coming
to fruition. All of these things, and we start
making these steps up, and we tell everybody
that if you just do these seven steps, God will
ensure that those seven things... will not work
for the person you just told because God doesn't
work that way. This is a relationship. God knows
and does not want to be a vending machine to
us. Put your dollar in, push the button, get
your Diet Coke. Automatic. And if it doesn't
come out, the Karen in us comes out and by golly,
we go get a refund from somebody, right? Or you
shake the machine until it comes out. Don't shake
vending machines, guys. You know that picture
on the front of the machine where it's got like
the stick guy getting squished? You know they
had to put that sticker on there because somebody,
bodies, were getting squished. That's right.
So the question remains, what do we continue
to do in the meantime? Because it might be for
you, for me, it might be, man, I think God's
given me a vision for my future. But I don't,
what I don't know is that from here, where you
are, to here, where God is going to eventually
put you, could be years and years and years.
For Jesus, a lot of years. For Paul, the Apostle
Paul in the New Testament, Paul gets knocked
off a donkey. Let me just paraphrase our story
here. Paul gets knocked off a donkey, and he
hears the audible voice of Jesus Christ. Who
are you, Lord? I'm Jesus, he says to Paul, the
one you have been persecuting. Now, I wonder
how many of us might think that at that point,
Saul, who ends up becoming Paul, He's probably
ready to preach right after that experience.
Put yourself in his sandals. I mean, if you heard
the audible voice of God and he pulled you out
of your Prius and says, I've called you, right?
You'd be ready to preach too. You've just had
an audible encounter with God. In this instance,
God says, no. Instead, for three years, you go
to Arabia and Damascus, and you'll actually be
silent. Wow. Evidently, meantime matters to God
as well. So what do we do in the meantime? I
promise you, this message is not because I saw
somebody and thought, oh my gosh, I need you
to hear this. Right? I just want to say this
is a Bible study that I have put together, and
I'm saying it in public for myself, and I'm just
inviting you to come along for the ride, okay?
Because I want you to know I only deal in the
stuff that I use, and this stuff's changed my
life. So what do we do? Does the meantime matter?
Do we just hope and wish and pray and beg someday
that the next highlight will come? Finally come
along. Or do we realize, in fact, that there
is value, that there is significance in the meantime?
What do you do when you're not where you used
to be, but you know in your heart you're not
where you're supposed to be yet? I think a lot
of people have a misconception. They think that
it's only the spiritual elite that make it through
the meantime. It becomes this way, for sure,
in church life and in the culture of the church.
We look to people who've really had a breakthrough
financially, physically, relationally, emotionally,
whatever it might be, and we convince ourselves,
we believe, man, they've got some secret I don't
have. There's that password thing again, right?
There's that mathematical equation again. They've
got the secret. They just pray more than I do
or somehow or another they're just more spiritual
than I am. And only the spiritual elite get this
blessing. So a lot of people just seem to conclude
I'm never going to make it through this storm.
I'm never going to make it to the other side.
I'm never going to be able to pastor that church.
My business is never going to get off the ground
floor, whatever it might be. It's just never
going to happen. The dream is never actually
going to be fulfilled because I'm just not spiritual
enough. Because it's only the spiritual elite
that make it to the other side. But the Bible
says in Mark chapter 6 and 52, it says that the
guys in the boat that Jesus had handpicked to
put on the boat. and cross over this body of
water to take them on a mission. God has a mission
on the other side. He's not just meandering his
voice through a body of water. He has a mission
on the other side. So these guys, he picked Jesus.
The Bible says their hearts were hardened. These
guys are hard -hearted jokers. But the next verse
still says, And then they crossed over to the
other side. Now, you might not have thought about
it yet, but those two verses probably shouldn't
go together. If I'm God and I discover that you've
hard hearts and we ship them around and we go
back to the shore rather than continuing to the
other side. No, I'm going back to where I...
and I'm telling all you guys, you guys are being
traded for another group of dudes. I am replacing
you. I'm going to find me some soft -hearted,
kind, meek, mild people. Not you insensitive,
self -centered, self -serving jerks. But not
Jesus. Jesus takes even the... Hard -hearted
all the way across. He takes the hard -hearted
like you and like me. I mean, the text seems
to beg us to ask, what is it that they did do
to actually earn making it to the other side?
Because that's that secret we all want to know.
How do I get to the other side? Listen, God is
a good God. And I'm convinced I believe you know
this. God is good all the time. And he wants
to do good things. He wants to take bad things
and actually turn them into good. God wants to
see the desire of your heart, of my heart, which
he has put there in the first place, to actually
be fulfilled. But Jim, what do I do in the meantime?
How do I access the other side? Well, there's
one thing. You were looking for a list of a bunch
of cool things? I just have one tonight. There's
one thing in this passage I think we could hang
our hats on today. What is it that they did to
access the other side and extend the mission
of... their and our Savior? What did they do?
And we have to sometimes maybe read these stories
two or three hundred times to finally get it
because there's only one thing I found, Scripture
says. Now you can do further study and research
in the original text and you can... learn it
in the original language, and then you can email
me your thoughts later. But here's the one thing
I found. They simply stayed in the boat. That's
what they did. They stayed in the boat. It's
funny. It seems so small, so insignificant, doesn't
it? Just staying in the boat. But it's actually
amazing. Because the longer you simply stay around
Jesus, the more significant just staying around
Jesus ends up becoming. Just stay in the boat.
Translation for us today, stay in the house.
Stay in that relationship. even though it might
be broken. I'm not talking about violence or
anything like that, right? I'm talking about
you've got relationships that are strained, and
you want to save them, and you might be thinking
it's easier just to walk away. It's easier just
to jump off the side of the boat and swim back
to shore than to actually stay in the boat. It's
not. It's not. Stay in church. Keep coming whatever,
right? Now, I was actually just talking about
this earlier this evening. First and foremost,
I think every single one of us needs to hear
this. Whether you think to yourself, man, I have
some big, heavy mistake that I committed in my
past. Or you don't. Because many of you don't.
Some of you do. Right? First and foremost, by
being here tonight, let's celebrate that you're
not where you used to be. We could stop right
there and have a celebration. I'm not who I used
to be. I don't think like I used to think. I
don't talk like I used to talk. I'm not the husband
I used to be. I'm not the dad I used to be. I'm
not the man or the woman I used to be. Thank
you, God. But at the same time, I know in my
heart there's more. The best is yet to come.
Around the next bend, God has even greater things
for you in your life. More life. My life. For
this church, for yourself, for your family. God
has more for you. So, what do we do in the meantime?
I'm convinced of this. Some people do too much
in the meantime. Especially, guys, we're the
worst. Because we're programmed to want to fix
problems. Our wives come to us, and they just
start crying, and we're like, who did it? What's
his name? What's her name? I'll fix it. I'll
fix it. And she's like, I don't need it. I just
want you to listen to me. That's all, right?
That's all? Just listen? Right? Guys, don't do
that. I don't want a guy to just listen. I want
him to go with me and pick a fight, right? Pull
up our bootstraps, whatever. I'm going to fix
this. I'm going to do this. But what happens
often, in fact, you might be listening to me
now. You have a wife. You have children. You've
been in the meantime, and you've just concluded,
I'm going to handle it. I'm going to take care
of it. I'm going to deal with it. I'm going to
fix it. You end up doing too much. All of the
straining that you do on your own can't get you
to where God wants and needs you to be. Which
means at times you've got to rest. You've got
to trust. You've got to have faith that he's
the captain of the ship. Now, let's remember.
Who was the one that tricked us to get in his
boat in the first place? Who was the one that
called us to the boat? Who was the one that saved
us? Put that desire, that dream inside of us?
It was Jesus. What Jesus starts, Jesus finishes.
What that means for us, what it means... For
the mother who's a housewife and loves God and
taking care of your babies, what does it mean
for you to stay in church, for someone that needs
to stay engaged, to stay in the word of God,
to trust in Jesus, right? Knowing that this is
working together for good. Remember this, one
thing about storms, unless you're on Jupiter,
they don't last forever. Storms come. And storms
go. What do I do when I, where I'm not where
I used to be, but not where I'm supposed to be.
Stay in the boat. Galatians six and nine. Galatians
is a fantastic letter written by Paul. It's one
of my favorite books in the Bible, right? It
says, and let us, let us not grow weary while
doing good. For in due season, we shall reap.
If we do not, lose heart. There's that ambiguity
again. Due season. Hey, Bible study guy. When
is due season? How long is due season? It's when
your season's due. And when is it? I don't know.
It's a due season. I don't know. But it's not
my job. Thankfully. to answer all of the cosmic
questions. Nor is it yours. It's our job to stay
in the boat. Even when the waves are crashing,
the winds are howling, it's our job to stay the
course and to trust God. For if we do not lose
heart, don't lose your heart. We will reap in
due season. Maybe you are in the meantime. And
this is just a simple message that I feel like
God's given me this evening. And if you're in
the meantime, you know, I'm in the meantime and
I hear what you're saying. I agree. I'm not who
I used to be. I know I'm not where I'm supposed
to be. What do I do? Stay in the boat because
we'll reap if we don't lose heart. Because the
one thing that we can always, always, always,
always have faith in that our God is a good God.
Amen. Amen. Hey, thank you guys for coming tonight.
Thank you. See you guys. Staying in the boat.
Simple. It's profound. And it is so hard to do.
Because inside of each and every one of us, there
is this simple desire. To jump over the side.
To swim to shore. To run away. And wonder, where
has all of our spiritual power gone? So in the
meantime, when wondering, when asking God, are
we there yet? Let us focus on simply staying
in the boat. staying the course, and trusting
in God. Anyway, something to think about. Until
next week, friend, be blessed.